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Death in Iowa City called suspicious

October 9, 2009 By

A suspicious death is under investigation in Iowa City. A woman called 9-1-1 Thursday afternoon after discovering a man’s body in the hallway of an apartment complex. She said there was a handgun beside the body, along with a screwdriver, a wallet and a “No Smoking” sign.

Police say they’ve ruled out suicide and are now treating the case as a homicide. An autopsy is planned. The victim’s name has not been released. Iowa City CrimeStoppers is offering a reward of up to $1000 for information that leads to an arrest.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Child rescued from burning apartment in Cedar Rapids

October 9, 2009 By

Cedar Rapids firefighters rescued a young girl from a burning apartment Thursday. Firefighters were called to a two-story burning apartment building by neighbors who reported a child was trapped inside. Firefighters met a 47-year-old Lesia Funchess at the scene who confirmed she had gotten out of the second-floor apartment with a three-year-old — but another one-year old grandchild was still inside.

Two police officers on the scene had tried to reach the child, but were turned back by the heat and smoke. Firefighters wearing oxygen tanks were able to crawl through he flames and smoke and rescue the child. The child was taken to the hospital with what are described as “life threatening” injuries.

A police officer was taken to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation. Firefighters say the fire started in a bedroom mattress and Funchess tried unsuccessfully to put it out with a fire extinguisher before fleeing the building.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Department of Corrections looks at budget cuts

October 9, 2009 By

The leaders of state agencies are looking for ways to cut 10% of their budget. Governor Culver ordered the across-the-board cut Thursday to trim roughly $600 million in state government spending between now and June 30th. Iowa Department of Corrections spokesperson Fred Scaletta says the order will force DOC Director John Baldwin to find nearly $40 million in savings.

“We have talked with the wardens and district directors and asked them to submit their ideas and plans for how they may cut that,” Scaletta said. “Because it’s across-the-board, every piece of our agency that has an itemized budget will be responsible for reducing 10%. So, that includes all of our judicial districts, community corrections and the institutions.”

Funding for Iowa’s nine prisons and eight community corrections agencies represents about 6% of the state’s budget. Scaletta says the DOC, like many state agencies, took steps earlier this year to cut back on spending. Those steps include a hiring freeze, cutting back on travel and investigating possible savings on prescription drugs. However, Scaletta says the size of the budget cut will certainly force Director Baldwin to consider layoffs.

“Anywhere between 75 to 80% of the institution’s budgets are salaries and in community based corrections it’s even a little bit higher than that, so…we’re going to struggle here a little bit,” Scaletta said. Governor Culver said Thursday that he will try to backfill money for certain areas of public safety. The Governor ordered the budget reduction after a three-member panel of financial experts reduced their estimate of state tax collections for the year by $415 million.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government

Storm on the way, snow in the forecast

October 9, 2009 By

The growing season for 2009 is over in Iowa, or at least it’s about to be. A massive weather system is headed for the Hawkeye State that’s bringing extremely cold temperatures and the likelihood of snow. Karl Jungbluth (YUNG-blahth), a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says much of Iowa will see at least flurries this weekend, while some areas will see snow accumulation.

“North-central Iowa really has the best shot as it comes across from northern Nebraska, across northern Iowa, and it’ll produce maybe up to an inch of snow on grassy areas,” Jungbluth says. “We’re not expecting any problems on roadways or anything like that.” Parts of Nebraska are expecting up to five-inches of snowfall from this storm system, but Jungbluth says the flakes will be tapering off by the time the front reaches Iowa. He says the snow that’s expected here will -not- be setting any records.

“No, definitely not,” Jungbluth says. “We’ve had snowfalls into the end of September even…It’s maybe a little bit early but really not too unusual.” He says the real news from this storm is the extreme cold, since much of Iowa was basking in the 60s and 70s earlier in the week, so this will be a harsh turn-around.

He says, “Saturday night into Sunday morning, we’re looking for a hard freeze across the state with temperatures in the 20s, so that will put an end to the growing season across Iowa and many locations in the upper Midwest, even down to Kansas City.” He says fall weather isn’t necessarily gone for the year, but this big chill is expected to keep temperatures in Iowa below normal well into next week.

Filed Under: Weather

Two dead, three injured in Benton County accident

October 9, 2009 By

The Iowa State Patrol is investigating a Benton County accident that left two people dead and three injured. The accident happened about 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the intersection of two county roads south of Garrison.

A car failed to stop at a stop sign and was struck by an S.U.V. The collision killed the driver and a passenger in the car, and injured the driver and two passengers in the S.U.V. Names of the dead have not yet been released. The driver of the S.U.V. was identified as 40-year-old Jennifer Engler of Garrison. The names of the passengers in her vehicle were not released.

Contributed by Roger King, KOEL, Oelwein

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Council Bluffs councilman wants recount in primary vote

October 9, 2009 By

An embattled Council Bluffs city councilman isn’t giving up in his re-election bid. Darren Bates failed to earn enough votes in this week’s primary election to advance to the general election next month. Now, Bates wants a recount. He filed a formal request for a hand count claiming the company that provides the electronic balloting system has been plagued by irregularities in other elections.

Bates finished fifth out of seven candidates for two open seats. Earlier this year, Bates was acquitted on charges stemming from an undercover prostitution sting at a Council Bluffs motel. This was his first election attempt since that incident.

Contributed by Karla James

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Republicans candidates to appear at forum Sunday

October 9, 2009 By

At least five Republican gubernatorial candidates will appear Sunday at a forum in central Iowa. One of former Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s associates filed paperwork on Wednesday to create a campaign committee should Branstad enter the race, and Branstad will not participate in Sunday evening’s forum at Living History Farms. Arthur Smith, communications director for Polk County Republicans, says creation of the Branstad exploratory committee isn’t a sure signal Branstad will run.

“I’m certainly not on the bandwagon of saying that it means that (Branstad’s) definitely going to run,” Smith says. According to Smith, the five candidates who will be there Sunday have a “valuable” chance to articulate their visions for the state. “It’s a good opportunity for us to hear what they have to say about that, to provide some thoughtful discussion around that for the folks that are there, the majority of which are grassroots activists,” Smith says.

While each candidate will be given a few minutes to speak to the entire audience, Smith says the candidates will then wade into the crowd to speak one-on-one with people. “It’s a casual atmosphere. It’s casual dress,” Smith says. “We’re going to be there from 5:30 until probably 8:30 or 9 and, you know, have hopefully a lot of time for folks to have more intimate kind of conversations with the candidates.”

The candidates who have confirmed they’ll be at the event are Jerry Behn, a state senator from Boone; Christian Fong, a business executive from Cedar Rapids; Bob Vander Plaats, a business consultant from Sioux City, Chris Rants, a state legislator from Sioux City; and Rod Roberts, a state legislator from Carroll. A sixth candidate, Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton, has travel plans this weekend and has told organizers he may not make it back in time for the event.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,
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