Six Iowa Deaths Blamed On Flu
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials have reported four more influenza- related deaths, bringing the state total to six since October.
Iowa Public Health Department spokeswoman Polly Carver-Kimm said Friday the department recorded three flu-related deaths for the same period last year.
The department says three of the four were at least 81 and one was age 61 to 80. Also, three of the four had underlying conditions or contributing factors.
Two of the six who’ve died since October lived in northwest Iowa and two lived in the southeast part of the state. One lived in eastern Iowa and one in northeast Iowa.
Health officials say that essentially everyone over 6 months of age should receive the flu vaccine. Flu symptoms may include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches.
Mother Says Authorities Are Wrong About Children Living In Bad Conditions
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A Dubuque woman accused of letting her seven children live amid what police say was garbage, rotted food and feces on their home’s floor says officers lied about the conditions.
Court records say 34-year-old Tiesha Martin and 33-year-old Jermaine Watson were charged Tuesday with child endangerment. The records say Watson’s pleaded not guilty.
Police say Watson fathered the youngest of the seven and that Martin is the mother of them all.
The records say police and a social worker checking on the children at Martin’s residence found the squalid conditions and say the children were sharing just one bedroom and bed.
Martin told station KCRG Thursday that all the kids weren’t in just the one room. Martin also says that what appeared to be feces to the officers actually was syrup.
—
Omaha Teen Sentenced To Prison For Killing Man
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – An Omaha teen has been sentenced to up to 12 years in prison for his role in the gun-play death of another man last year.
Omaha television station WOWT reports that 18-year-old Montana Garbez was sentenced Friday to six to 12 years for manslaughter for the April death of 20-year-old Scott Evans, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Garbez pleaded guilty to the charge in September. In exchange, a felony weapons count was dropped.
Police found Evans dead inside a home in north Omaha home after being called to the house for a report of a shooting.
Prosecutors say Garbez and another man appeared to have been using a gun in a game similar to Russian roulette, and Evans was shot in the head. Prosecutors say Garbez fired the deadly shot.
—
Broken Water Pipes Causes Up To A Million Dollar Damage At Larchwood Casino
LARCHWOOD, Iowa (AP) – Water from frozen water pipes that burst has damaged a casino resort in northwest Iowa.
Subzero temperatures outside froze the fire system pipes at the Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Larchwood. The water loosed last Saturday damaged 18 of the hotel’s 97 rooms, a meeting room and the men’s portion of the spa.
General Manager Sharon Haselhoff told the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission on Thursday the repair costs could run between $500,000 and $1 million.
Haselhoff isn’t sure when the repairs will be finished but says everything at the resort casino is back in operation, including the fire suppression system and the spa.
The casino opened in 2011.
Bachelor Star To Appear In Court For Trial For Fatal Accident
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star is fighting to avoid prison after driving his pickup into the back of a tractor and killing a neighbor.
Chris Soules became known as “Prince Farming” during his 2015 appearance on “The Bachelor” and also appeared on “The Bachelorette” and “Dancing With The Stars.”
He lost a legal battle Friday in the felony case against him when a judge dismissed his constitutional challenge to an Iowa law requiring the surviving driver in a fatal accident to remain at the scene until police arrive. It goes beyond the statutes of many states.
Soules’ attorneys say that violates constitutional rights against self- incrimination. They haven’t indicated if he’ll appeal. He faces trial Jan. 18.
Former Deputy Charged With Child Sex Charges
DECORAH, Iowa (AP) – A fired east-central Kansas sheriff’s deputy who worked in a school has been arrested in Iowa on suspicion of child sex charges.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that the former Linn County Sheriff’s Deputy was arrested Thursday in Decorah, Iowa. He was booked into the jail in Winneshiek County, Iowa, on suspicion of aggravated indecent liberties with a minor and sexual exploitation of a child.
The release says the Linn County sheriff requested assistance from the KBI in October after receiving information from the Pleasanton School District superintendent and removing the deputy from his role as a school resource officer. The deputy then was placed on administrative leave in November and terminated Wednesday.
The KBI say Kansas authorities are working to have the deputy extradited.
