A criminal complaint shows 20-year-old Alex Jackson told investigators a masked man broke into his family’s Cedar Rapids home Tuesday morning. That’s where his parents and sister were found shot to death. Jackson is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths. He was arraigned at the Linn County Courthouse Wednesday morning and is being held at the Linn County Jail on $3 million bond. The complaint shows Jackson called police and said he woke to the sound of gunshots, and that he and his father were shot by a masked gunman after a struggle with the man over a rifle at the home located in the 4400 block of Oak Leaf Court NE. Jackson told police he and his father had cleaned the rifle the night before and left it on the fireplace. Investigators say they did not find any signs of forced entry or indication the home had been burglarized. It also states the bodies of all three victims were found in different rooms in the home after they’d been shot to death. Jackson denied shooting his family, but admitted his father had recently told him he needed to find a job and move out of the home.
Nearly a year after a derecho caused devastation across Iowa, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources believes it will take a full generation for the state’s ecosystem to recover from the storm. A new DNR report estimates the derecho wiped out more than four million trees across central and eastern Iowa. The agency believes the lack of trees could cause Iowa’s air quality to plummet, and hurt our flood mitigation ability, and that regrowing the lost trees could take decades.
Des Moines City Council members on Wednesday finished what they started on Monday night after the first in-person meeting in more than a year was shut down due to protests. Mayor Frank Cownie started Wednesday morning’s virtual meeting by noting that a review of video of the Monday meeting was underway and could lead to arrest citations. Protesters swamped council chambers on Monday, shouting and stomping, many of them calling to defund the Des Moines Police Department.
A Mason City man has been jailed for his role in a robbery earlier this year. 27-year-old Johnny Hovenga is facing a second-degree robbery charge in connection to an incident in January. Hovenga is accused of using force to enter the residence before he hit the victim in the face and upper body with a fist and a small baseball bat. The victim suffered visible injuries. A warrant for his arrest was issued June 9 and he was taken into custody this past Tuesday.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a bill that will lower taxes and place the burden of funding mental health on the state. Prior to this, Iowa had been the only state to fund mental health services through a local property tax levy. The bill, SF 619, changes the tax code by dropping the tax rate from 8.53 to 6.5 percent, reduces the number of tax brackets from 9 to 4, and eliminates federal deductibility. It also phases out the mental health levy over 2 years, saving property taxpayers more than $100 million, and phases out state inheritance tax over 4 years, saving taxpayers nearly another $100 million.
In another sign of the recovery, the Iowa Department of Public Health says all five “Test Iowa” sites will close over the next month…all operations will end on July 16, 15 months after the effort to test for COVID-19 was launched. The site in Cedar Rapids will actually close next Thursday, June 24th…while the site in Waterloo will close the following day, on Friday, June 25th.
As Independence Day approaches, Cedar Falls Public Safety reminds you of Cedar Falls ordinance #16-24 regarding fireworks. The ordinance does allow for the use of sparklers, snakes, and other novelty fireworks, but firecrackers, bottle rockets, and Class I / Class II fireworks are not permitted at any time in the city. The state of Iowa regulates the licensing and sale of fireworks in Cedar Falls. Vendors that sell fireworks in a permanent building may do so from June 1–July 8, or from June 13–July 8 if selling from a temporary structure.
Fire has destroyed a western Iowa business that made pipe organs for churches, schools and customers from around the world. Officials say the fire at Dobson Pipe Organ Builders in Lake City was reported around 4 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters found the building engulfed in flames that caused its exterior walls to collapse. Officials said one employee of the company was burned when he tried to put out the flames. The State Fire Marshal’s Office says it believes the fire was started by a malfunctioning fan that caused sawdust to ignite. Dobson Pipe Organ Builders’ website says it was founded in 1974 by Lynn Dobson, a Carroll, Iowa, native who attended Wayne State College in Nebraska.
Police in the north-central Iowa city of Fort Dodge say a woman riding a three-wheeled bike on a city street was hit and killed by a truck. The accident happened Tuesday morning at the intersection of 8th Avenue South and 31st Street. Police called to the scene found 65-year-old Melissa Ristau of Fort Dodge lying in the roadway. She was declared dead at the scene. Investigators say a large pickup truck being operated by an 18-year-old driver hit Ristau as she crossed 31st Street. No charges or citations had been issued in the crash at last report.
