Iowa News

VOTER FRAUD-IOWA        Iowa lawmaker questions federal spending on probe        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa lawmaker is questioning Secretary of State Matt Schultz’s use of federal money to investigate allege voter fraud in Iowa.        Sen. Tom Courtney, a Burlington Democrat, says he has requested state and federal audits of Schultz’s use of funds from the Help America Vote Act to hire an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent.        Courtney says the money is supposed to be used to help educate voters.        Schultz, a Republican, issued a statement Tuesday accusing Courtney of trying to block criminal investigations into voter fraud and election misconduct.        Three people were charged last month with voter fraud in Pottawattamie County as a result of the DCI probe. A Polk County judge also stopped Schultz’s efforts to change some aspects of the state’s voter laws that were challenged in court.

EARLY VOTING-IOWA        Candidates trek to Iowa as early voting continues        MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s toss-up status in the presidential race makes it a frequent stop for candidates, but since early voting began last week, the state has been even more popular.        Ballots are in the hands of more than 247,000 Iowans who requested them by mail. About 43,800 have been returned, including more than 27,500 from Democrats and 8,800 from Republicans.        Seeking another chance to persuade voters who are casting ballots, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan planned three events Tuesday in eastern Iowa. Vice President Joe Biden heads to Council Bluffs on Thursday.        Muscatine insurance agency owner Michael Gaeta thinks a small number of voters want to hear directly from candidates before voting. That’s why the 58-year-old Gaeta listened to Ryan in Muscatine.        Ryan also was holding events in Clinton and Burlington.

RYAN        Ryan: Elect Romney, stop burying the middle class        BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan says the way to help the middle class recover from the past four years is to elect Mitt Romney president in November.        Ryan was responding to a comment Tuesday by Vice President Joe Biden.        Biden said during a campaign stop in North Carolina that the middle class “has been buried the last four years.” And he asked how Republicans could justify raising their taxes as a result.        At his own campaign appearance in Iowa, Ryan said he and Romney agree that Obama has been bad for the middle class.        Said Ryan: “We agree. That means we need to stop digging by electing Mitt Romney the next president of the United States.”

FORT DODGE SHOOTING        Trial set in Fort Dodge Shooting        (Information in the following story is from: The Messenger, http://www.messengernews.net)        FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Trial is set for next year for a Fort Dodge man charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a man who died months later under his family’s care in Florida.        The Messenger says Derrick McElroy’s trial is scheduled for May 14, 2013, in Webster County District Court.        McElroy was charged in July in the death of 19-year-old Brandyn Preston. He was shot in the neck during a backyard party in Fort Dodge in May 2011. He died as a result of the gunshot wound in January in Tampa.        FIRED PRINCIPAL-REINSTATEMENT        Durant restores embattled principal to all duties        (Information in the following story is from: Muscatine Journal, http://www.muscatinejournal.com)

DURANT, Iowa (AP) – The Durant School Board has reinstated its embattled principal to all duties she had before she was fired.        The Muscatine Journal says the board voted Monday to restore Monica Rouse as the sole principal of Durant High School.        Board members didn’t comment after the closed session.  An attorney for the board read a statement, which said it acted in the “best interest” of students, faculty and staff.  The statement didn’t say when Rouse will be reinstated.        The board fired Rouse in 2010, citing several allegations of wrongdoing. In April, the Iowa Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision that said Rouse was improperly fired and should get her job back.        Last week, a judge threated the board with jail time if it didn’t comply with the order.

LAKE DELHI        DNR tells Lake Delhi leaders to firm up plans        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is hanging on to funds to rebuild Lake Delhi until leaders firm up plans for public access and water quality.        The 9-mile lake on the Maquoketa (muh-KOH’-kuh-tuh) River in northeast Iowa was drained in 2010 when a dam collapsed during flooding.        The state is pitching in $5 million to restore the lake. But the DNR has rejected plans to improve public access, reduce pollution and improve water quality by upgrading district septic systems.        Steve Leonard of the Combined Lake Delhi and Water Quality District says they’re glad to have the agency’s feedback and will work on the requirements.

CITY HALL BANS        Cedar Rapids council urged to bar unruly people        (Information in the following story is from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/)        CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – The Police Department has recommended that the Cedar Rapids City Council pass an ordinance that would let the city bar from its meetings people who’ve created previous disturbances at City Hall or other city buildings.        The Gazette says acting Police Chief Bernie Walther proposed the idea to the council’s public safety committee on Monday.        The proposal comes just two weeks after City Hall critic Robert Bates yelled at Mayor Ron Corbett and others after a special council meeting.        Walther says current law already lets police arrest someone who disrupts a public meeting. Police are proposing an ordinance that would empower city officials, after a hearing, to bar someone from city property.        Walther says some cities in Michigan, Massachusetts and other states have adopted similar ordinances.

TEENAGE RUNNER DIES        Teenage runner dies after hit by car near Tama        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A teenage cross country runner from Toledo has died after he was hit by a car while running near Tama.        Officials say 13-year-old Ian McFate was injured Monday afternoon. He was running on a trail that crosses a county road near Tama when he was hit.  McFate was taken to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines.        Hospital spokesman Gregg Lagan says McFate died Tuesday afternoon.        The accident remains under investigation.

Admin Log In