State Legislature Completes Week 7 Of The General Session
(Des Moines) — The Iowa legislature has just completed week seven of the general assembly, with the first funnel deadline happening last week. Le Mars Republican House Representative, Chuck Holz offers an explanation to what is meant when lawmakers talk about the “funnel” deadline.
Representative Holz says the self-imposed deadline is needed since the legislature gets overwhelmed with bills.
Both Holz and Carlin will be holding a series of legislative town hall meetings scheduled for Saturday morning. Holz says the two northwest Iowa lawmakers will begin at Moville and finish at Remsen.
Other than the Remsen meeting which as Representative Holz mentioned will be held at the Mid-Sioux Opportunity offices, the other legislative town hall meetings will be held at each of the mentioned town’s community hall.
Reynolds Campaign Manager Quits
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The campaign manager for Gov. Kim Reynolds has left her staff months before the contested Republican primary election.
Reynolds confirmed Thursday that Phil Valenziano, one of the state’s top GOP organizers, has moved on and that she would name his replacement in coming
weeks.
Reynolds had kept Valenziano despite an incident last summer, when he was arrested for public intoxication after being seen urinating outside a West Des Moines bar.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Reynolds thanked Valenziano for helping build grassroots support for her campaign and predicted he would “continue to be a force in Republican politics.”
Valenziano says “now is the appropriate time for me to pursue other opportunities” after working for Reynolds and former Gov. Terry Branstad in different capacities for 8 years.
Former Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett is challenging Reynolds in the June primary.
Supreme Court Denies “Bachelor Television Star” Appeal
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has denied an appeal filed by an Iowa farmer-turned-reality television celebrity charged with leaving the scene
of a fatal accident.
Chris Soules asked the Iowa Supreme Court to dismiss the felony charge before it goes to trial.
He contends Iowa law doesn’t require fatal wreck surviving drivers to wait for police but state prosecutors say it does.
Soules asked a judge to dismiss the case but the judge declined last month and Soules appealed.
The high court Friday denied his request to hear the appeal.
Soules appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Dancing With The Stars” in 2015.
He struck a tractor driven by a neighbor on April 24 last year in
northern Iowa. He called 911 and waited for first responders but left before police arrived.
Authorities Use Search Warrant For AAU Official
MONTICELLO, Iowa (AP) – A prominent Iowa youth basketball coach has left his organization amid a criminal investigation into secret video recordings of nude teenagers.
The Iowa Barnstormers of the Amateur Athletic Union announced Thursday that 42-year-old Greg Stephen is no longer with the traveling organization.
Several prominent players have been on the roster.
The Division of Criminal Investigation served a search warrant Thursday at Stephen’s home. Stephen hasn’t been charged. Investigators said they were looking for evidence of child pornography and invasion of privacy.
An affidavit says a source gave police an electronic storage device obtained earlier from the home that contained “video clips of young, non-adult male individuals disrobing” in a hotel bathroom.
Stephen’s father, Roger, said his son hasn’t done anything wrong and “this isn’t the way it looks.
Gun Owner Sentenced After 4 Year Old Kills Himself With Gun
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – The owner of a gun that a 4-year-old boy used to accidentally kill himself in Iowa last year has been sentenced.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says Daniel Henriksen was sentenced Wednesday to two months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. He had pleaded guilty last year to a federal count of possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of marijuana.
Prosecutors say Henriksen had left his .45-caliber handgun in a mobile home where Jayden Choate and two other preschoolers were staying on June 17, 2016. Police say Jayden found the gun near where he and the other children were napping and accidentally shot himself in the head.
Henriksen had faced up to 10 years in prison.
Des Moines Police Charge Man With May Shooting
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police have charged a man in the shooting death of another man last year near a Des Moines elementary school.
Des Moines police said in a news release Friday that detectives arrested 19-year-old Jahmar Saheim Mustin, of West Des Moines, charging him with first-degree murder and criminal gang participation in the May death of 23-year-old Choice Elliston.
Police say Elliston was shot outside Monroe Elementary on the northwest side of the city, causing the school to be locked down briefly.
Elliston was taken to a hospital, where he died a day after the shooting.
