A Des Moines woman has entered a plea of guilty in connection with the 2018 hit-and-run death of 14-year-old Kaiden Estling. 27-year-old Kelli Jo Michael entered the plea last week. Police say she was texting and driving when she hit the back of Estling’s moped the night of June 28, 2018, along Iowa Highway 150 near Fayette. Michael faces up to 10 years in prison when she’s sentenced at a later date.
A judge has condemned an Iowa police chief for using his city-issued stun gun to shock guests at two parties in 2016, calling it an “immoral activity” that could have caused serious injuries or death. Judge Nancy Whittenburg recently rejected Armstrong police chief Craig Merrill’s arguments that his deployment of the Taser device in an off-duty, social setting against voluntary participants was not a crime. She wrote that he did not have any justification to use the weapon for entertainment purposes, and that he’s lucky no one suffered a medical emergency. Merrill is charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and other counts as part of a wide-ranging corruption investigation in which Armstrong’s former mayor and three others face charges.
The State of Iowa has agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle eight separate discrimination and negligence claims at its public universities. Those payments include $3.5 million to an Iowa City couple who accused UI Hospitals and Clinics doctors of negligence during the birth of their daughter, leaving the baby with permanent brain damage. Another $1.8 million will be paid to a Massachusetts sound technician hurt while working at a Luke Bryan concert at the University of Northern Iowa in 2018. The state also agreed to pay a total of $150,000 to three former UI police officers who sued in 2018 accusing the institution and its administrators of age and disability discrimination.
Republicans in Iowa and the three other early presidential nominating states are jointly opposing a Democrat push in Nevada to make that state the first to hold a primary. GOP chairs Jeff Kaufmann of Iowa, Stephen Stepanek of New Hampshire, Michael McDonald of Nevada and Drew McKissick of South Carolina say in a statement they want to preserve the historic schedule, which has led off with Iowa’s caucus followed by New Hampshire’s primary. The move comes as a bill that would push Nevada up from the third-in-line caucus state to the first-in-the-nation primary sits on Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak’s desk. Sisolak supports the effort.
Health officials in eastern Iowa are looking for the source of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened several children in Maquoketa. At least three children from Maquoketa are being treated at an Iowa City hospital after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a serious complication caused by a toxin-producing E. coli strain. Doctors say the strain can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting. HUS symptoms include dark-colored urine, increased fever, abdominal pain and headache and can affect kidney function. The Jackson County Health Department is working to determine what might have caused the outbreak. Community Health Manager Michele Cullen says the process involves contact tracing, but a source has not been identified.
A man originally convicted of his girlfriend’s murder then later granted a new trial on appeal has been found guilty again. 29-year-old Fontae Buelow was found guilty of second-degree murder for the death of Samantha Link in Dubuque, in a trial held in Clinton County. Two Iowa appellate courts had granted Buelow a new trial saying the judge did not allow information about Link’s prior suicide attempt and mental health records. Buelow claimed Link turned the knife on herself during an argument, but prosecutors said Buelow stabbed Link to death during a fight at a home in Dubuque in March 2017 after the two had returned from a night out at area bars.
Des Moines Area Community College campuses remained closed yesterday following a data security incident that happened last week. DMACC shut down portions of its network last Friday, and all campus have been closed since Monday. DMACC says it has no evidence that any student or faculty information has been acquired or is at risk as a result of the incident. Students, faculty, and staff are being asked not to use programs like Blackboard and Office 365.
