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Des Moines man charged after fatal Fort Dodge fight

March 30, 2009 By

A Des Moines man is facing charges after a fist fight turned fatal last night in Fort Dodge. Police Chief Doug Utley says they were called to a residential area at 1124 10th St. Southwest at 8:45 p.m. on the report of an altercation.

"When officers arrived, there was a group of people there with one individual lying on the ground having some difficulties," Utley said. "The officers called for an ambulance…shortly after that, (the victim) was pronounced dead at the hospital."

The victim is identified as 45-year-old Kenny Lee Thornton of Fort Dodge. The other man, 51-year-old Edward Ailey-Roberson, was booked in the Webster County Jail on a charge of second-degree murder.

Bond was set at one-million dollars. It’s not clear why the men were fighting. "There were several people there and the officers took some statements at the time and they’re following up today," Utley said. Police said some of the witnesses were intoxicated. Investigators don’t believe any weapons were involved in the fight.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Hatch on racially-charged outburst: "The moment overcame me"

March 30, 2009 By

Senator Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines A white state senator says he was overcome by the moment when he used the "n" word last week in a conversation with another legislator who is black.  Senator Jack Hatch, a Democrat from Des Moines, publicly apologized this afternoon during remarks on the senate floor.

"It was an unfortunate incident and one in which I am terribly sorry for," Hatch said.  "It was a comment that was started out of my great belief and dedication in finding health care for all and the moment overcame me." 

Hatch shepherded a bill through the senate that expands the number of Iowa children who are covered by health care insurance and he was angry about changes a House Committee made to the legislation.  During his three-minute-long speech this afternoon, Hatch listed some of the programs he’s worked on in the past to aid minorities.

"I’m a senator and legislator that has spent many years, my whole adult life, looking for ways to achieve racial and economic justice for all," Hatch said.  "…In my commitment to try and eliminate the disparity between health care for African Americans and other minorities propelled me to get too emotional.  I made a not only an inappropriate but a despicable comment…I realized immediately that I was wrong and I apologized to the legislator that I was speaking to." 

Hatch told his colleagues he had learned from his mistake. "No matter how well we think we are engaged, no matter how well we think we are connected, the difficult of race relations sometimes overcomes us," Hatch said. 

Hatch, angry at House leaders, compared himself and Representative Ako Abdul-Samad to a "slaves" and top Democratic leaders as "masters" in the battle over the bill Hatch hopes to advance.

Earlier today Hatch sent an email to every member of the Iowa Senate and House as well as all legislative staff.  Read it here . 

Click on the audio link below to listen to Hatch’s remarks on the Senate floor.

 

 

AUDIO: Hatch apologizes 3:00 MP3

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Kurt Warner to help rebuild Cedar Rapids

March 30, 2009 By

NFL quarterback Kurt Warner is planning to help build some houses for low-income residents in his hometown of Cedar Rapids. Warner and his wife, Brenda, say they will help volunteers with Habitat for Humanity build 20 houses this summer.

The Warners will take part in the annual Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon scheduled for June 14-20. The June 14 start date will mark the one year anniversary of the day the Cedar River crested and buried ten square miles of Cedar Rapids under water.

The Build-a-Thon houses will be constructed in partnership with families affected by last year’s floods.

In Cedar Rapids alone, nearly 4,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Kurt Warner has helped raise more than $650,000 for flood victims in the last year through his First Things First Foundation.

Warner is a Cedar Rapids native and Northern Iowa alum who led the Arizona Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance last season.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Bomb destroys pop machine in Cedar Rapids

March 30, 2009 By

The Cedar Rapids police bomb squad is investigating an explosion that heavily damaged a pop machine this morning around six o’clock. Police spokesperson, Sergeant Cristy Hamblin, says the machine was at an apartment complex on the Kirkwood Community College campus.

Hamblin says the machine was located between two buildings of the apartment complex and the device was place right inside the area of the machine where you would receive the pop. Kids sometimes make bombs out of pop bottles, but Hamblin says this device packed much more punch.

She says it was "quite and explosion" that scattered debris over 100 feet. Hamblin says they don’t have any suspects yet. Hamblin says they don’t have any suspects, but are looking over the evidence, including three vehicles that were damaged. They are also asking for the publics help in finding the culprit.

Hamblin says there are two possibilities for a reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case. The first is from Crime Stoppers at 1-800-CR-CRIME. Callers remain anonymous. The second is the Arson Hotline at 1-800-532-1459. There is there is a $15,000 reward fund throught he Arson Hotline.

Hamblin says you can also call the Cedar Fire Department with information at 319-286-5241 and still be eligible for the reward.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Cedar Rapids police officer seriously injured investigating robbery

March 30, 2009 By

A Cedar Rapids police officer was seriously injured early this morning while investigating a robbery. Cedar Rapids police say officer Tim Davis and partner Tracy Brumbaugh were working in a neighborhood in an unmarked car and plain clothes when they got a call reporting someone had been robbed at gunpoint by three men.

The officers responded to the call and arrived in the area to find three black males matching the description of the alleged robbers. They identified themselves as police officers and two of the men took off running. Officer Brumbaugh chased the two men, who eventually split up and lost her. Police then received a report of a man who was out of breath and sitting on a porch in the area. Officers then arrived found officer Davis at his car and unconscious.

Davis was taken to a Cedar Rapids hospital and then flown to Iowa City where he was to undergo surgery for a head injury. Police later identified Robert Lee Watkins the third as the man spotted in the area and arrested him and charge him with first-degree robbery and interference with official acts causing serious injury.

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the other two men. Cedar Rapids Police Chief Greg Graham released this statement:

"Our department will not stop searching until we find these individuals responsible for Officer Davis’ injuries. It is going to be in their best interest to turn themselves into us, because we will not stop. "I ask that any citizen that knows anything about this, please come forward. If this was your son or brother or husband, you would want them held accountable, just as we do. This is a crime not only against Officer Davis, but against our community, as that is what Officer Davis was doing, protecting our community."

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

White Senator apologizes for using the "N word"

March 30, 2009 By

(This story updated at 1:33 p.m.)

A white state senator who made a racially-charged comment last week emailed an apology to his colleagues this morning and spoke publicly about the incident early this afternoon. 

Senator Jack Hatch, who is white, used the "N" word to describe how he thought he was being treated by legislative leaders. Hatch made the comment to Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, who is black.

Hatch suggested he and Abdul-Samad were being treated as "slaves" by the "masters" at the statehouse.  Hatch, who is a Democrat from Des Moines, has sent an email to not only his fellow legislators, but to all staff members in the Iowa House and Senate.

In the email, Hatch told his colleagues he had made "an inappropriate reference" that was "wrong and inexcusable." He promised it would not happen again. Hatch’s racially-charged statements were made in reference to a bill which would expand the state program that provides health care coverage to kids who aren’t currently covered.

Hatch had shepherded the bill through the senate and he was expressing outrage over changes a House committee is making to the bill.

Shortly after the senate convened today, Hatch spoke publicly about the incident.  You may listen to his remarks by clicking on the audio link at the bottom of the page.

Read Hatch’s email below.

Dear colleagues and legislative staff,

I am writing to apologize for a comment I made last week. As legislators, our comments reflect on everyone, and last Wednesday I made an inappropriate reference. It was wrong and inexcusable. We are to reflect Iowa values, and Iowans are a tolerant group. Our values embrace diversity and legislators need to reflect our highest standards. Last Wednesday, I failed that standard and for that, I am sorry. It will never happen again.

If you want to discuss this with me, please seek me out.

Jack
___________________________________________________________________________________________

AUDIO: Hatch offers apology (mp3 runs 3 min)

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Audit reviews $5 billion in federal funds spent by State of Iowa

March 30, 2009 By

A state audit reviewing how state officials spent over $5 billion in federal money has concluded all but one of the 570 programs which are financed by federal funds spent the money appropriately.

State Auditor Dave Vaudt says an "amazing" amount of federal money is distributed by state agencies. "We talk about our $6.5 billion budget at the state level from state tax dollars, but federal money coming back through is over $5 billion on top of that," Vaudt says, "so almost doubling up as far as taxpayer dollars go."

The review covers the 12-month state budgeting period that ended June 30th of 2008. It includes federal research money being spent at the state universities, unemployment checks sent to Iowans and federal highway money. The single largest chunk of federal money — about $1.7 billion — was spent providing health care coverage to poor and disabled Iowans who qualify for Medicaid.

Of the 570 different programs that were reviewed by the audit, problems were identified in just one — the "Family Investment Program" or welfare program. Vaudt says those Family Investment Program dollars were going to families or individuals who had qualified for other federal assistance because of an adoption or because the family had taken in a foster child.

"In 344 cases that we looked at, we found 70 cases where individuals were receiving not only Family Investment Program monies but also foster care payments at the same time for an additional one-to-five months which shouldn’t happen and we also found some dollars in the subsidized adoption and the Family Investment Program," Vaudt says. "Total dollar amounts that we’re talking about $17,000 related to foster care extra payments and a little over $5300 related to subsidized adoption."

That means of the roughly $5 billion in federal money that flowed through state agencies in the last budgeting year, Vaudt and his staff identified a little over $23,000 in questionable spending. Vaudt did, however, recommend some additional internal controls in a handful of state agencies to better track how money is spent.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,
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