Authorities in northeast Iowa’s Floyd County have charged a 14-year-old boy with first-degree murder in the death of a 3-year-old Charles City girl. Edgar Concepcion Jr. was taken into custody last Friday after police were called to a Charles City home on the report that a girl had fallen and was unresponsive. The girl, 3-year-old Krystel Banes, was later pronounced dead. Concepcion was charged Monday when autopsy results revealed Banes died from suffocation. A hearing is scheduled for July 29th to decide if Concepcion will be tried as an adult.
Accident, not arson, likely cause of church fire
July 13, 2009 By
Officials say they do not suspect arson was the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a 117-year-old church in Sioux City.
The fire at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was reported at about 3:15 on Friday afternoon and Joe Rodriguez, public information officer for Sioux City Fire Rescue, says fire fighters were on the scene until they were sure the fire was out.
"We were there pretty much throughout the night," Rodriguez says. "I think the fire was extinguished at…about seven o’clock that evening, but our crews stayed on for the remainder of the evening to make sure there weren’t any rekindles or hot spots throughout the building."
A damage estimate is not yet available.
"We’re waiting for some investigators representing the insurance companies to conduct on-scene investigations once the structural integrity of the building has been determined safe by the experts," Rodriguez says.
The church’s new roof was severely damaged, according to Rodriguez. The main worship area and there altar were damaged by water, too, but the stained glass windows and statutes inside the structure were saved.
Rodriguez says initial indicators lead investigators to believe the fire began by accident.
Western Iowa man killed in dump truck versus pickup crash
July 13, 2009 By
One person was killed Monday morning in a collision between a dump truck and a pickup in western Iowa’s Guthrie County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 23-year-old George Albert Clark of Yale was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, located about two-miles northeast of Yale.
Officials say Clark was traveling east on 140th Street in a Ford Ranger pickup, when he went through a yield sign at the intersection with Victory Avenue and was hit by a dump truck. The driver of the dump truck, 26-year old Anthony Buckner, also of Yale, was not injured. The accident happened at about 8:10 a.m.
Lawyer to use insanity defense for man accused of murdering football coach
July 13, 2009 By
The lawyer for the 24-year-old Parkersburg man accused of shooting his former football coach to death apparently plans to use an insanity defense when her client goes on trial for murder.
Attorney Susan Flander of Mason City filed documents that indicate she plans to argue Mark Becker was insane or suffering from "diminished responsbility" when he shot Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas last month.
Becker has been charged with first degree murder. His attorney has asked a judge to open any sealed records about Becker’s commital for mental evaluations and for substance abuse treatment. Becker’s attorney, however, says those records should not be released to the public, just to the prosecutors and to her, the defense lawyer.
New panel plots flood recovery, prevention
July 13, 2009 By
A committee created this spring by the Iowa Legislature is working under a deadline as it begins to consider policies and funding options to help reduce the damage done by severe floods.
The group is made up of representatives from a dozen state and federal agencies and it met for the first time today in Des Moines.
Bill Ehm of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is the committee’s co-chair. "The key here is to minimize the impact that those floods have on life and property," he says. "And hopefully we will come up with some recommendations that will address those issues."
The committee is to come up with a list of recommendations by November 15. Ehm says they’ll prioritize those recommendations. "Here are the three or four recommendations that we think need to be dealt with in the course of the next 12 months," he says. "And here are some other recommendations that we think need to be dealt with over a longer period of time."
The committee has divided into four working groups to study such things as flood-plain management, wetland protection and conservation measures for cropland. The panel plans to hold six public hearings across the state in October.
Zach Johnson headed to British Open
July 13, 2009 By
Iowa native Zach Johnson hopes a strong finish at the John Deere Classic provides him with momentum heading into this week’s British Open.
Johnson finished in a three-way tie for second at 17-under par, his best finish in eight tries at the John Deere Classic. "The last two rounds were obviously very good…My putter was great and I hit a lot of solid shots," Johnson said after the tournament. "More positive than negatives and that’s really all I can ask for, especially considering this is kind of my fifth major so I just never play well here and it’s nice when I can play well here and I’m (in) decent shape heading into next week."
Johnson was 12-under par on his final two rounds. "I’m never content with that…you always want to win. I just want to give myself opportunities to be in contention," Johnson says. "That’s why I play the game of golf."
The British Open begins on Thursday.
On-line registration deadline for Iowa Games
July 13, 2009 By
The first weekend of competition is complete at the Iowa Games and executive director Jim Hallihan says there is another round of registration deadlines for today.
They all involve team sports as most of the deadlines for individual sports have already passed. Today, July 13, is the deadline for registering on-line for team sports like adult baseball, six-on-six girls basketball, dodgeball and two-person best-shot golf.
July 6th was the postmark deadline for mailing in registrations for those sports.
The Iowa Games opening ceremonies are this weekend.
Learn more at www.iowagames.org .
