Plymouth County Dive Team Assist With Finding Body In River
DENISON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have resumed a search for a girl missing since the vehicle she was in plunged into the Boyer River in western Iowa.
The accident was reported about 3 a.m. Thursday in rural Crawford County.
Authorities say the car was carrying five people when it ran off a rural road into the river. Four who reached safety on their own or were rescued were taken to a Denison hospital. Their names and the girl’s haven’t been released. She’s believed to be teenager.
The Plymouth County Dive Team responded to the Denison area with six volunteer divers and one deputy to assist with the search. The dive team, along with Crawford County Deputies, firefighters, and other volunteers searched the river and its banks until 11:15 p.m. The dive team stopped because of heavy fog.
The searchers returned this morning.
Restaurant Owners Upset Over Food Trucks Selling Within Area
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Some restaurant owners are concerned about the high possibility of food trucks operating in Iowa City’s downtown area.
Iowa City City Council proceeded with an ordinance this week that would allow food trucks to operate downtown between 10
p.m. and 3 a.m. as part of a pilot program. Food trucks currently cannot park or operate downtown.
The city says the proposed ordinance came after many vendors and potential customers requested to park their food trucks downtown.
Some restaurant owners like Brix Cheese Shop’s Nicholas Craig are not in favor of the ordinance. Craig says he doesn’t like that food truck vendors might park in front of his business.
The program will occur for three months in the spring, and food trucks will have designated spots to park downtown.
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Iowa Supreme Court Rules Law Enforcement Cannot Seek Restitution Costs When Doing Normal Duties
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says law enforcement agencies cannot seek restitution from defendants in drunken driving cases when officers respond during the normal course of their work and not for an emergency.
The court found in opinions filed Friday in three separate drunken driving cases involving Davenport police officers that Iowa law allows recovery of expenses through restitution only when the law enforcement response meets the normal definition of an emergency. The court says “routine law enforcement
activities do not qualify.”
In the three cases, patrolling police officers stopped vehicles with drivers suspected of drunken driving and the city sought to recoup the time it took officers to stop the vehicle, investigate and arrest the driver. The amounts sought – $54.50, $317 and $158.60 – were denied.
Northwest Iowa Dairy Settles Federal Lawsuit
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa dairy has settled a federal lawsuit and promises action to prevent future manure discharges into nearby streams.
Prosecutors also said Thursday that Meadowvale Dairy, of Rock Valley, has agreed to pay a $160,000 civil penalty. The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court.
The lawsuit filed last February alleges that since 2001, Iowa has cited Meadowvale a dozen times for failures to maintain adequate storage for effluent.
The complaint says Meadowvale operates waste systems for two interconnected feeding operations for a total of about 10,000 head of cattle. It says wastewater from two of Meadowvale’s facilities entered two tributaries of the Big Sioux River in violation of the dairy’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.
Murder For Hire Trial
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa (AP) – A March trial has been scheduled for a North Liberty man accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill three people who were expected to testify against him in another murder-for-hire case.
Justin DeWitt pleaded not guilty Thursday to three counts of attempted murder. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports (https://icp-c.com/2kagGHA) that his Muscatine County trial is scheduled to begin March 6.
A court document says DeWitt met in Muscatine County Jail with an undercover state agent who DeWitt thought knew a hit man. The document said DeWitt agreed to pay $25,000 to have an Iowa Public Safety Department agent and two other people
killed before his Jan. 17 Johnson County trial in the first case. Authorities say DeWitt wanted a business associate and his family killed.
Bodies Found In Park — Murder/Suicide Incident
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a couple found dead in a murder-suicide at George Wyth (wihth) State Park in Waterloo suffered from health problems.
The autopsies confirmed that 86-year-old Neil Miller shot and killed his wife, 83- year-old Marilyn Miller, before taking his own life. Their bodies were found Saturday morning. They lived in Waterloo.
Police Capt. Dave Mohlis (MAY’-lihs) says the Millers had medical issues and that people who knew them say the couple didn’t want to go to a nursing home.
They’d been married 65 years.
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