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Three teens face charges for Iowa City Library vandalism

September 2, 2010 By

Three teenagers charged in early August with damaging tombstones at the Mount Vernon Memorial Cemetery are now facing additional charges for vandalism at the Iowa City Public Library. Iowa City Police Sergeant Denise Brotherton announced the charges Wednesday. Surveillance video of the teens spray painting an outside wall of the library on April 25th was released to the public in July. Brotherton says it was the video, not the cemetery case, that cracked the case.

“At the time, when those juveniles were charged with (the Mount Vernon) crime, we were not actively charging them in ours,” Brotherton said. “Ours came about afterwards and it was due to some crimestopper tips.” The three 16-year-old boys from Cedar Rapids are charged with second-degree criminal mischief for the damage at the cemetery, which was discovered July 8th.

The same boys are now charged with fifth-degree criminal mischief for the damage at the Iowa City Public Library. In Mount Vernon, police chief Mark Winder says the cemetery vandalism produced a large amount of damage. A bench valued at $12,000 and 56 tombstones were damaged in some way.

Winder says the teenagers connections with people in Mount Vernon led to the charges. “Someone overheard somebody talk about it and that helps,” Winder said. The teens are identified as Austin Ferch, Anthony Hodges and Kaleb Wilcox.

By Chris Earl, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Eastern Iowa woman scammed by someone she thought was her grandson

September 2, 2010 By

A caring eastern Iowa woman has been scammed by a young man she mistakenly thought was her grandson. The 79-year-old Davenport grandmother was defrauded out of $8,000 recently, after wiring money to a young man. The Quad City Times is reporting that the woman, identified only as Rose, said the young man had phoned her, claiming to be her grandson.

He told her he was in trouble and needed the money to get out of jail. After sending the money, Rose called a phone number he had left. When the young man finally answered, Rose caught him in a lie and knew she had been duped. The Consumer Protection Division of the Iowa Department of Justice received several reports this week of similar calls targeting older people.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Thicke says state has authority to inspect feed at DeCoster operations

September 2, 2010 By

Francis Thicke does an interview at the statehouse.

The Democratic candidate for state ag secretary says the Republican who is currently serving as Secretary of Agriculture has had the authority to inspect the feed that’s been cited as a likely cause of the salmonella contamination at two Iowa egg operations.

Francis Thicke of Fairfield, the Democrat running for state ag secretary, says he’s been waiting to see if Ag Secretary Bill Northey, a Republican, would “step up” and take action on the matter. “But so far it appears he’s avoiding the issue and, at best, is making excuses,” Thicke says. “To me, it’s a national embarassment to Iowa and it’s damaging to our reputation as the producer of quality food.” 

The Iowa Department of Agriculture has the authority to license and inspect commercial feed mills. Thicke says he supports the “common sense” exemption Northey’s agency has provided to individual farmers who grind feed on their own farm for their own livestock. “Every tractor with a mixer/grinder shouldn’t have to be inspected,” Thicke says. “However, to exempt a facility that grinds over 12,000 semis per year of feed –  it belies common sense.”

The feed being fed to the chickens on the two Iowa egg facilities at the heart of the recall is produced by Jack DeCoster, and Thicke says DeCoster should not be among the farm operations which are exempt from state inspection of feed. “If I were secretary of agriculture, I would see solutions, not excuses,” Thicke says. “I would step up immediately and exercise the full authority granted by the law to assure Iowans and all Americans that we can and will protect our food supply. If I found regulatory holes that endangered our food supply, I would work with the Iowa legislature to create a stronger regulatory framework, so I think that secretary of agriculture should take action right now.”

Thicke made his comments this morning during a news conference at the statehouse.   Listen: capft

Dustin Vande Hoef, Northey’s campaign spokesman, issued a written statement.  “It is very disconcerting that a candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture would advocate stepping beyond the Department’s legal authority and violating private property rights,” Vande Hoef said. “In Mr. Thicke’s statement, he expresses a desire to target private farmer feed mills based on size, and the definition of what constitutes ‘large’ would rest with him alone and have nothing to do with what the law actually says.”

According to Vande Hoef,  Iowa law allows the state ag department to license and inspect commercial feed mills that sell or distribute feed.  “As a result, it does not apply to private individuals that mix feed for their own animals,” Vande Hoef said. “The law makes no distinction based on size and gives no authority for the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture to pick-and-choose private feed mills to inspect.”

(This story was updated at 11:05 a.m.)

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Environment & Conservation, Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

It’s game night for Iowa State

September 2, 2010 By

The Iowa State Cyclones open the season at home tonight against Northern Illinois. It will kickoff Paul Rhoads second season as head coach and with a schedule that is one of the toughest in the country the Cyclones need to start out on the right foot. Rhoads says starting 1-0 adds to the credibility of what you have been doing in the 29 practices leading up to it.

Rhoads says the one game won’t make or break their year, but it is a lot better to get started with a win instead of a loss. Iowa State enters as a slight favorite but Rhoads says there are always some stunning results in the first week of the season. He says you have to be ready to play every game no matter who the school is and they are excited about the challenge.

Rhoads says it is no secret what Northern Illinois wants to do on offense, as he says they run the football very well and are physical and want to establish the run. Rhoads says Northern Illinois will provide a tough challenge. He says they are a sound football program with not weak spots.

Rhoads expects big things from senior quarterback Austen Arnaud, as he says Arnaud has improved mechanically and has a great grasp of the offense. Now he says Arnaud has to go out and be a leader and be productive before they will be satisfied with him.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Nine arrested in Marshall County drug ring

September 2, 2010 By

Authorities say they’ve broken up a meth distribution ring. Early Wednesday morning, a drug sweep in central Iowa resulted in the arrests of nine people from the Marshall County area.

Authorities say eight people from Marshalltown, Liscomb and Steamboat Rock are charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. A ninth person from Marshalltown is charged with aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm.

Law officers executed four search warrants with more than 50 officers from local, state and federal agencies collaborating in the arrest. The defendants are being held without bond pending an appearance before a federal magistrate in Des Moines.

By Lance Renaud , Marshalltown

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Traffic will be heavy for ISU game tonight

September 2, 2010 By

Iowa State University’s public safety director, Jerry Stewart, says football fans could see a triple threat tonight, and it won’t have anything to do with the football game on the field. Stewart says motorists will face traffic from three sources as they make their way to Jack Trice Stadium.

Stewart says one is the Farm Progress Show traffic in nearby Boone, the second is normal traffic from the business community as workers head home, and the third is a cross country meet that’s being held west of the campus in the fields off Mortenson Road.

Stewart says you also may find your favorite parking spot is not available due to flooding and recent rains. He says they lost about one-third of two lots they use to flooding, and the recent rain exacerbated the situation as lots G-4 and G-5 became lakes of water in the recent rains and won’t be available. Stewart says start out as early as you can and think about taking a different route to get into the game.

Stewart says people coming in from the north and northwest have fewer problems than those coming from the south and east, so staying away from I-35 northbound and Highway 30 westbound is “pretty solid advice.” Once you get to the stadium, Stewart says things will be the same as they have in the past.

Stewart says he’s not aware of any changes to rules on what is allowed in the stadiums and parking lots. He does say they are not encouraging people to bring buses and large R-V’s as those will be tough to park on the grass lots. Stewart says they will have for this game only, a shuttle bus running from the K-Mart parking lot that will begin at five p.m. and run after the game. Iowa State takes on Northern Illinois at seven p.m.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With: ,

Author to read new book in Iowa City

September 2, 2010 By

Charles and Caroline Todd

A best-selling novelist who writes mysteries with her adult son will be in Iowa City today to read from their newest collaboration. Caroline Todd is co-author of “An Impartial Witness,” about a British battlefield nurse serving in France during the First World War.

In an interview with Radio Iowa, Todd says she grew up in the South and got hooked on the art of storytelling long before there was television, i-Pods or computers. “The family would gather on the front porch in the evening when it began to cool off and talk,” Todd says. “The elders would talk about growing up or things they remembered. You get accustomed to stories about real people. You get accustomed to the idea that people share their history.”

She recalls her grandfather discussing his recollections about Civil War veterans and realized early on, she wanted to be able to share her own stories — as a writer. It took decades, but Todd eventually convinced her son, Charles, to work with her on crafting a fictional tale — what became the first of more than a dozen books they’ve written together. Todd admits, the mother-son novelist combination is unusual, but for them, it’s succeeding.

“We work together,” Todd says. “We do the research together. He may go off in one direction, I may go off in another. We go to England together to look at the land. We sit down and work out that first page or two. If that first page or two really clicks, the rest of the story just falls into place.”

While she lives in Delaware and her son lives in North Carolina, they create their stories together via email, instant messaging and the telephone. The duo’s books all take place nearly a century ago, either during or just after World War One. Todd says that global conflict was a pivotal event in the 20th century, but hardly anyone writes about it any more.

Todd says, “The more we got into it, the more we realized that the material was very rich and yet had a great deal of influence on how we see things, even though a hundred years have passed.” Todd will sign copies of her books at Prairie Lights in Iowa City at 7 P.M. Learn more at “charlestodd.com”.

Listen to Matt Kelley’s full interview here: Bess interview 8:13 MP3

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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