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Change of venue requested in Fort Dodge murder/arson case

February 28, 2006 By

The attorney representing a man accused of raping and killing a Fort Dodge woman is asking a judge to move the trial out of Webster County. Public defender James Koll is representing 35-year-old Sessions Harper of Fort Dodge. Harper is accused of sexually assaulting 22-year-old Holly Michael on January 8th and then setting her on fire. Michael died last month at University Hospitals in Iowa City.

Harper is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse and arson. Koll told district judge Alan Goode that pre-trial publicity and Sessions’ race are factors in trying to move the trial out of Webster County. Meanwhile, Scott Brown of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office says the amount of media coverage is not a sufficient reason to move the trial. Judge Goode will make a recommendation on the change of venue next week. The trial is scheduled for September 18th.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Crawford County soldier returns home

February 28, 2006 By

A Crawford County soldier is back in the U.S. after being on active duty in Iraq with a Wisconsin National Guard unit. James Woodard is a member of the 890th Transportation company based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Woodard says they were stationed near the Suni Triangle north of Baghdad.

Woodard arrived home in Charter Oak Saturday and was welcomed home by several people. He says his unit had to do a lot of driving along the dangerous highways of Iraq. He says they drove semis up and down the highways, hauling supplies to different troop areas.

Woodard is on what’s called a terminal military leave, and says he looks forward to returning to a normal life. After his leave he’ll be off active duty and will go back to his job and family. Woodard’s unit had arrived in Iraq on March 3rd of last year and left February 18th for the U.S.

Filed Under: Military

Stinson considers NBA

February 28, 2006 By

It is senior night in Ames when Iowa State hosts Missouri but it could also be the last home game for junior guard Curtis Stinson who ranks third in the Big 12 in scoring and assists. ISU coach Wayne Morgan says Stinson may be moving on at the end of this season. Morgan says there’s the possibility that Stinson may declare for the N-B-A draft. He says there’s as good a chance that Stinson will return as there is Stinson will leave.

Morgan says any decision would not be made until the season is complete. He says it depends on what he hears from N-B-A scouts and general managers. Morgan says if he hears positive things, then he would give Stinson his blessing, but if not, he says they’d have a different conversation.
The Cyclones are 5-9 in the Big-12 and 15-12 overall after a 91-73 loss at Baylor.

This season has been a nightmare at Missouri. Quinn Snyder resigned as head coach earlier this month and Melvin Watkins has taken over as team that is 4-10 in the Big-12 and 11-14 overall. Watkins says the key is keeping the players motivated.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Professor, Senator debate cost of death penalty

February 28, 2006 By

A Drake University law professor says the cost of reinstating the death penalty in Iowa is higher than supporters think. Republican state senator Larry McKibben of Marshalltown is trying to bring back the death penalty in the wake of convicted sex offender Roger Bently being found guilty of the murder of a 10-year-old Cedar Rapids girl. McKibben says after initial startup costs, it may actually be less expensive to execute someone like Bently — rather than sentencing him to life in prison.

McKibben says there are defense costs, but he says the costs would be the same as Bently has now. McKibben says they’ve cut the appeals process so that the death penalty would automatically be appealed to the Supreme Court. McKibben says it’s not cheap to keep Bently in prison. McKibben says Bently is 37 and could live another 37 years with an annual prison cost of 25 to 35-thousand dollars a year, and he says Bently could develop a disease that raises the cost.

Drake University law professor David McCord says McKibben “vastly underestimates” the cost of a death penalty. McCord says the death penalty cases have two phases, the guilt/innocent phase that Bently had. There’s also the penalty phase, which Bently didn’t have, that McCord says requires mental evaluations and expert witnesses and adds greatly to the cost. McCord says there’s also the cost of training prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges to handle the death penalty — which Iowa lawyers haven’t done since 1965..

McCord says if Bently lived another 37 years at a 30-thousand dollars a year prison cost, that’s just over one million dollars, “That’s a drop in the bucket for what it would cost to take that case to a death penalty.” Senate democrats are vowing to block the death penalty debate this session. McCord and McKibben made their comments Monday on call-in program on K-U-N-I radio.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Education, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Petroleum Institute against ethanol mandate

February 28, 2006 By

A spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute says the industry opposes statehouse efforts to enact legislation that would direct greater use of ethanol fuel within Iowa’s borders. Ed Murphy works for the American Petroleum Institute, the trade association for petroleum companies Exxon and Conoco.

Murphy says the American Petroleum Institute favors nationwide standards which already require growing use of ethanol. “We don’t think that state mandates, if you will, are in the consumers’ best interests,” Murphy says. “It makes for what we call a ’boutique fuel’ problem.”

Murphy says if states like Iowa start passing their own requirements on ethanol, then refineries will have to start producing a blend of gasoline for Iowa stations that has ethanol content that may be dramatically different from that sold in other states. Murphy contends that will raise pump prices dramatically in Iowa.

Murphy, however, disputes the idea that “big oil” is fighting the ethanol industry. Murphy says about five years ago the American Petroleum Industry agreed to a national ethanol mandate that’s part of federal law. “So we have been supportive of ethanol for quite some time,” Murphy says.

Some Iowa lawmakers, however, complain “big oil” companies write their contracts with local gas stations so those stations cannot sell blends of ethanol, like E-85, that’re higher than the 10 percent blend that is commonly available. Democrats in the Iowa House are hoping to pass a bill that would those kinds of anti-ethanol contracts.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

February expected to end on warm note

February 28, 2006 By

On this last day of February, parts of Iowa may see high temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s. National Weather Service meteorologist, Frank Boksa , says for some areas, that’s 30-degrees above normal, and is capping off one of the warmer winters on record for the region.

Boksa says we’ve had very little snow across much of the Midwest, leaving the ground warmer while the sun rises in its angle as we get closer to spring, plus the air is dry, all factors that are bringing warmer-than-normal weather. He says the spring-like forecast is out of the ordinary but it’s not out of bounds.

While Boksa says it’s unusual, it’s not unheard-of, especially as March approaches and 60s become more common in the forecast. Still, he would -not- go out onto a limb and predict that we’re done with snow for the season. He says with the March Madness of the college basketball tournaments about to begin, there’s usually another hefty round of snow before spring arrives on Monday, March 20th. Boksa says to enjoy the 60s and 70s while they last as the forecast calls for temperatures much closer to normal, and much colder, within a few days.

Filed Under: Weather

U-S Marshals seek help in finding Texas man

February 28, 2006 By

The United States Marshals are asking for the public’s help in finding a wanted man. Deputy Michael Powell says they’re looking for an 80-year-old Iowa man, Thomas McCabe, who’s wanted in far southern Texas. Powell says McCabe was indicted for negligent homicide after he was involved in a fatal car-pedestrian accident. Prosecutors charged McCabe was the driver of the vehicle and told him to appear before a Texas court but he failed to do so.

The fatal car-pedestrian accident was last November, and when he didn’t show up for trial in January, a warrant was issued for McCabe’s arrest. Texas authorities asked the U.S. Marshals, the Polk County Sheriff’s office and a fugitive task force to help try and find him. The Marshall in Iowa have been asked for help by Texas authorities, since he has a former address in the Des Moines suburb of Grimes.

They interviewed some acquaintances but didn’t find him there. If anybody has information on his whereabouts somewhere else in the country, the Iowa investigators would be happy to receive it, and pass on the tip to Texas authorities. Cameron County, where the incident took place, is far south past the town of Corpus Christi. Check out details and the other “most wanted” people on the Iowa U.S. Marshals website.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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