A federal jury starts deciding the fate of Angela Johnson today in Sioux City. The 41-year-old Johnson was convicted last week of five counts of conspiracy to commit murder as part of a drug conspiracy and five counts of committing murder while engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise in helping her boyfriend Dustin Honken in the 1993 drug-related murders of five north- central Iowans. Jurors must decide whether or not the murders were premeditated and the victims were killed in a cruel and heinous manner. A jury last year recommended that Honken receive the death penalty in two of the five murders, pinpointing the deaths of the two children, Kandace and Amber Duncan. Honken could be called as a potential witness in the penalty phase of the trial, but his attorneys have made it known that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to testify.
Two injured in accident in Ringgold County
Two Ringgold County men were seriously hurt in a one-vehicle accident on Memorial Day. Brock Still of Kellerton was going west on a Ringgold County road when cresting a hill he encountered another vehicle in the same path. Still overcorrected his vehicle which went out of control going into the south ditch overturning several times in the ditch. Both Still and passenger Jeff Starlin of Diagonal were thrown from the vehicle. Both were taken to the Ringgold County Hospital then lifeflighted to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines where they are being treated for their injuries which are not known at this time. The vehicle Still was operating was totaled. Still was cited for failure to maintain control and not wearing a seatbelt while Starlin has been cited for not wearing a seatbelt.
Polk City enters spotlight hosting Aliianz Championship
The Tournament Club of Iowa near Polk City takes center stage this week as it hosts the Allianz Championship for the first time. Less than two years old, the course takes over for the Glen Oaks Country Club as the host of the Champions Tour event. The tournament begins on Friday but TCI general manager Pat Franklin says the week will be full of action. There’s a junior pro-am on Tuesday, the pro-am’s Wednesday and Thursday, and then the first round starts Friday.Franklin says the course will offer fans a great view and they have worked hard to make it accessible. He says they’ve been working for a year to get things worked out and have it organized so people can get in and out of the club.Franklin predicts the fans and players will be impressed with what they see. He says it’s a beautiful piece of property with four of the best finishing holes on the tour that he knows of.D.A. Weibring is the defending champion.
Drake coach says summer league should be more competative
Drake basketball coach Tom Davis predicts a new summer league in Des Moines will be even more competitive than it was in its first season. The YMCA- Capital City men’s basketball league is run by former Iowa player Troy Skinner and offers competition for college and high school players in central Iowa. He says for the first year they did a good job and says it was well organized with good officials.Davis expects all of his current and incoming Drake players to be in town this summer and take part. He says there should be lots of Iowa State players sign up too. Competition will begin in June.
Adult basketball deadline approaching for Iowa Games
The Iowa Games most popular basketball division is facing a deadline early next month. Executive director Jim Hallihan says entries for the men’s open division must be post-marked by June eighth or on-line registration is available through June 13th. He says they usually have 50 teams in the open division and the participants in the finals will be determined by regionals.Hallihan says while the Iowa Games need to compete with a growing number of youth basketball tournaments, that is not the case when it comes to adult teams. He says there are fewer things available for adults and there are fewer adult teams.The teams that make it through regional play will compete in Ames July 14th through the 17th.
It’s "World No Tobacco Day"
Anyone who smokes, chews or otherwise consumes tobacco products is encouraged to give up the habit for the day. Not to be confused with the “Great American Smokeout,” today is “World No Tobacco Day.” Doctor John Lowe, in the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health, says the global effort was created in 1988 to draw attention to the harmful effects of tobacco use. The American Cancer Society and similiar groups in Australia, the U.K. and Europe set aside the day as part of an initiative to have smokers put down their cigarettes and give it a go. Lowe says the premise is — if you can quit for one day, you can quit for life. He says it’s not just smokers but anyone who uses tobacco in any form, especially those who “dip”. If someone just spent Memorial Day chewing tobacco, Lowe says today’s the day to show yourself you can quit, be tobacco-free and lead a happy life. He says the numbers of smokers are falling in Iowa and nationwide, but new smokers are still being lured in to take up the addictive, deadly habit. While the overall numbers are falling, he says the numbers are rising among young women and young men, groups that haven’t been smoking before. He says the young smokers are, unfortunately, getting much younger. For folks who’d like more information on quitting, call Quit-line Iowa at 866-U-CAN-TRY.
Thousands of kids tour State Capitol each year
The high season for young tourists at the state capitol is winding down with the final field trips of the school year. Each year, about 30-thousand kids tour the statehouse in Des Moines. The kids walk in the first floor through the metal detectors, then when they reach the center, their eyes are drawn up 275 feet to the inside of the golden dome that caps the statehouse. That dome — inside — is painted blue like the sky, with some white clouds. A Civil War-era flag is stretched from one side of the dome to the other. Joan Arnette, the tour guide supervisor at the capitol, had no idea when she started the job 30 years ago that it would turn out to be her career. “I was looking for something and I didn’t really know what I was going to do and so I said ‘Well, I’ll just do this until I figure out what I want to do’ and I’m still here,” she says. “I think I found it.” Arnett is one of two paid tour guides. There are another 16 volunteers who lead tours. Most of the grade school field trips to the statehouse are scheduled from March through the end of May. The tours stop in the governor’s reception area. If the governor’s not working in his office, tour groups can go through the office. Other highlights include the display case that has replicas of all the gowns governors’ wives have worn to their husband’s inaugural balls. Kids in fourth grade and above can all the way to the top, to the upper rim of the dome. Arnett says moon rocks on display in the governor’s office used to be the highlight of the tour for many kids. “The moon rock was a big thing, but once we found out how valuable they were, they were removed from the governor’s office and they’re kept in the museum now where they can be safely stored,” Arnett says. A replica of the battleship Iowa catches kids’ fancy. “They love the battleship…It doesn’t seem to matter if they’re male or female,” she says. “They love going up into the dome — that’s one of their favorite things and they the (law) library. They’re absolutely amazed with the library because it’s so cool.” Arnett and her guides lead the visitors up and down about 400 marble steps during the tour. Arnett says the kids ask a lot of questions. “Some can’t be repeated…kids are so funny,” Arnett says. “Recently, one of our tour guides was about halfway through with her tour…and the young person came up and tugged on her arm and said ‘When’s the tour going to start?’” “I love the kids. They’re just so fun,” Arnett says. One kid once asked her where she was during the fire of 1904 which damaged part of the statehouse. Many ask the tour guides this question: “Where’s your bedroom?” You can find information about the capitol tours on-line at www.legis.state.ia.us/Pubinfo/Tour/
