WATERLOO, Iowa (KXEL) — Waterloo voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved sale of $20 million in low interest general obligation bonds to pay for a large portion of Waterloo’s new fiber optic broadband communications system. The creation of a utility to manage such a system was approved by voters several years ago. A total of 84.3% voted Yes, while 15.7% voted No; 60.0% was needed for passage. 2,634 citizens cast ballots. Construction on the Waterloo fiber optic system is expected to begin next spring. Officials say the services offered through the new Waterloo facility will be similar to those currently offered by Cedar Falls Utilities.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A teenage human trafficking victim who was initially charged with first-degree murder after she stabbed her accused rapist to death has been given a deferred judgment and five years’ probation, along with being ordered to pay $150,000 restitution to the man’s family. Seventeen-year-old Pieper Lewis was sentenced Tuesday after she pleaded guilty last year to involuntary manslaughter and willful injury in the June 2020 killing of 37-year-old Zachary Brooks. Lewis was 15 when she stabbed Brooks more than 30 times in a Des Moines apartment. Lewis has maintained that she was trafficked against her will to Brooks for sex multiple times and stabbed him in a fit of rage after he had raped her yet again. Police and prosecutors have not disputed that Lewis was sexually assaulted and trafficked.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawyers for Iowa’s largest abortion provider argued in court documents that there’s no precedent or legal support for bringing back a law banning most abortions. A judge had permanently blocked in 2019, saying it violated the state’s constitution. Planned Parenthood lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa were responding Tuesday in state court filings to arguments made by lawyers for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds last month. Reynolds contends that federal and state supreme court decisions have changed the legal landscape and justify reversal of a judge’s decision that declared the law unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable.
WATERLOO, Iowa (KXEL) — A 33-year-old Waterloo man has been charged with propositioning a teenage girl who was riding her bicycle. Police arrested Justin Bruce Chihak Monday on a charge of felony enticement of a minor. Bond was set at $5,000. Court records indicate Chihak rode up behind the girl on his bike just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 5 on Ruth Street and made suggested comments to the girl, who was under age 16. Officers detained Chihak at his home, first taking him to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital for an evaluation and then arresting him after he was released. The Courier reports that court records show Chihak was released from prison in 2016 after serving time for an incident where he was blocking traffic and running up to vehicles on Kimball Avenue. He then threatened to harm himself with a box cutter when officers arrived. In September 2020, he was charged with breaking windows at homes on Butternut and Redwood lanes and breaking into parked vehicles. He then struggled with police and assaulted paramedics when he was detained.
