May 21, 2012

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Glenwood man charged with possession of child pornography

May 21, 2009 By

A western Iowa man has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. Thirty-nine-year-old Christopher Handley of Glenwood was accused of ordering material from Japan that depicted girls being sexually abused by adults and animals.

The mail was intercepted by federal agents in May of 2006. A search of Handley’s Glenwood home turned up more child pornography. On Wednesday Handley pleaded guilty to one count of possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and one count of mailing obscene material.

He faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to a quarter of a million dollars.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Cedar Rapids changes slogan to reflect recovery effort

May 21, 2009 By

The city of Cedar Rapids has adopted a new slogan, temporarily replacing "City of Five Seasons." For the next 30 days, the city’s slogan will be "The Fifth Season is Progress."

Mayor Kay Halloran believes it will send a message that the city is recovering from last year’s flood, but needs more help. "It is temporary, we all know that, but how long it will take to get that message across, I can’t tell you…it depends how receptive the audience is to it," Halloran said.

Drivers northbound on I-380 near downtown can see the new slogan on a billboard. Halloran says the change recognizes volunteer efforts, businesses reopening and the recent completion of a long term recovery plan.

"We have a long ways to go but we’re making very good progress and that’s what the message is for the fifth season…the season of progress," Halloran said. The message will also be used in "one year after the flood" progress reports and at various city events.

The slogan temporarily replaces a local bank’s billboard message that read, "Below this sign, a Great City is Rebuilding." 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government

Senator Harkin says media "misinterpreting" vote on Gauntanamo

May 21, 2009 By

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin was among only a half-dozen senators Wednesday who voted in favor of an effort to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The vote to keep Guantanamo open was 90-to-6. Harkin, a Democrat, says the prison serves as a rallying cry for members of the Taliban and al-Qaida.

"I just believe it’s important that we move ahead aggressively in closing up Guantanamo Bay," Harkin says. "It is essential for our national security and as long as it remains open, it is a recruiting tool for those who wish to do us harm, provides ammunition to our enemies."

The Senate vote denied a request from the Obama administration for $80-million to close the prison. Harkin says the media is widely "misinterpreting" what the vote meant. He says the lopsided vote was essentially about a wrinkle in the timing of the funding, not about Guantanamo itself.

"The money that had previously been put in the bill to close Guantanamo was in a supplemental appropriations bill that expires at the end of September of this year," Harkin says. "There was no way we were going to put that money into closing Guantanamo before that. The president has to come up with a plan, and so the money was fenced off anyway."

Harkin says he voted with the slim minority on this bill because he was afraid the results would be misunderstood. "I thought it would send the wrong message and I think it has sent the wrong message," Harkin says. "People, as I pick up the press and read the headlines it says ‘Congress gave a big rebuke to Obama’ and that is not true. The vast majority of senators here want to close Guantanamo."

He predicts the measure to shutter "Git-mo" will win wide approval when the vote comes up again later in the year. Iowa’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Chuck Grassley, voted with the majority on the bill. 

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

Former Creston police officers sentenced to 25 years for sexual assault

May 21, 2009 By

The Creston police chief and assistant chief were each sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday. Former Creston police chief James Christensen and assistant chief John Sickels were found guilty in March of second-degree sexual assault in the rape of a female bartender at the Crestmoor Golf Club in Creston.

A statement from the victim was read in court prior to their sentencing, and said she is still undergoing counseling and taking medication as a result of the assault. The victim said in the statement that before the assault the only medication she took was an occasional aspiring. She says she has not been able to work on the advice of her therapist, and is trying to go to school. The victim’s statement says the assault impacted all parts of her life.

The statement says the crime impacted her family too, as her partner has had the same sleeping problems she has had since the assault and she says the intimacy between them has suffered as well. The statement also said the victim’s son has suffered as he has had to endure comments from others about the case while he is at school. The two former policemen also gave statements before the sentencing. John Sickels was the assistant chief at the time of the assault, and continued to maintain his innocence.

"The interpretation of the rape shield laws in Iowa unfairly kept key information out of this trial. That information alone would have given the jury reasonable doubt that no crime was committed that night," Sickels says, "On the night of April 18th I had consensual sex with a drunk woman who later regretted it. I am not guilty of raping, I am only guilty of being drunk that night, of bad judgment, and worst of all, cheating on my wife."

Former police chief James Christensen was accused of trying to quiet the woman and not stopping Sickels during the assault. He also made a statement. "Nothing can be changed and there is not lateral movement, but I apologize as God is my witness, for taking everybody into this," Christensen said. The two men have 30 days to appeal their sentence. They will stay in jail during the appeal.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Madison County Sheriff investigating death of 25 cows

May 21, 2009 By

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is trying to determine what happened to some two dozen animals found dead on a farm south of Van Meter Tuesday.

Chief Deputy Jason Barnes says officers investigated a farm just east of Highway 169 and south of Interstate 80. According to Barnes, authorities found 25 dead cows of the approximately 200 head of cattle.

Deputies are continuing investigation into the cause of death. Barnes reports that a veterinarian is assisting to determine the welfare of the rest of the cattle. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Peregrine falcon taken off endangered species list

May 21, 2009 By

The peregrine falcon is being removed from Iowa’s "endangered species" list after a unanimous vote of the state Natural Resources Commission. Iowa’s fastest-flying bird is still considered a "species of concern," but its removal from the endangered list is a big step forward.

Pat Scharbaum, a wildlife technician with the DNR’s wildlife diversity program, says he’s thrilled by the move. "It’s taken a long, slow struggle, but by golly, they’re back," Schlarbaum says. "

We can’t proceed as a culture by leaving out certain key components and these are the indicator species. To have (the falcons) with us once again is a tremendous attribute and a great thing that our culture has provided but now we’ve gotta’ maintain it. We don’t want to lose them again."

Such "indicator" species begin to vanish when pollution, over-hunting and other environmental factors encroach, an indicator of serious problems. A chemical called DDT was widely used as a pesticide years ago and it ended up killing a lot more than just bugs. Schlarbaum says the peregrine falcons were nearly wiped out by the poison.

Schlarbaum says peregrine falcons were the "standard bearer" of the endangered species list. The federal list was created in 1972 when DDT was banned nationwide and the Endangered Species Act was implemented. While peregrine falcons were removed from the federal list in 1998, Schlarbaum says they remained on Iowa’s endangered species list for so much longer because their numbers simply hadn’t picked up here — until recently.

Now that the falcons are a "species of special concern" in Iowa, he guesses that’s a list from which they won’t ever be removed.

"These are migratory bird and there’s the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 that protects all migratory birds," Scharbaum says. "The ‘special concern’ just warrants the monitoring, the banding that we’re doing, just keeping a pretty close tab on their population dynamic."

There are 13 known nesting pairs of peregrine falcons in Iowa, in such diverse locations as the Interstate 80 bridge near the Quad Cities, on a smokestack at the Alliant Energy power plant in Wapello County and atop the U.S. Bank building in downtown Cedar Rapids. To see some falcons in their nest on the American Republic Insurance building in Des Moines, check out the Falconcam here.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Attorney General getting back to normal after cancer surgery

May 21, 2009 By

Attorney General Tom Miller talks at Wednesday news conference. Iowa’s long-time attorney general is back in the office full-time after recovering from surgery to treat prostate cancer.

Tom Miller says his life is returning to normal following the March 11th procedure.

"I’ve been doing well," Miller said. "I really appreciate the medical care I received. I had a good surgery and the follow up tests were all good."

The 64-year-old Miller is in his seventh term as Iowa’s attorney general.

On Wednesday, he presided over his first news conference since the surgery and discussed details of a consumer fraud lawsuit filed by his office against a professional fundraising company. Miller was working from home shortly after the surgery, then started spending afternoons in the office before returning full-time in recent weeks.

Miller says a routine "PSA" blood test detected the prostate cancer in its early stages. "(Men) should really watch their PSA count," Miller said. "Men and women should get colonoscopies. I had one of those in January as well and that one turned out fine, but both of them are really important for people to do on a regular basis because prevention work is incredibly important in the cancer arena."

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in American men, other than skin cancers. It’s generally recommended that men have PSA blood tests and digital exams every year beginning at age 50. "Mine was elevated for a few years, but was okay," Miller said. "Then, it made another jump up and wasn’t okay. We’d been watching it for a few years and that’s incredibly important for prostate cancer. If you catch it early, it makes all the difference in the world."

Miller was first elected attorney general in 1978. After an unsuccessful run at the governor’s office in 1990, Miller was re-elected as attorney general in 1998, 2002 and 2006. 

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