Home News Monday Afternoon News, August 27th

Monday Afternoon News, August 27th

Civil Rights Groups Want State To Ban Racial Profiling

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Civil rights organizations in Iowa are appealing to the Iowa Legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds to ban racial profiling after two young black men filed a lawsuit against Des Moines police for a traffic stop they say was unconstitutional.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People says 30 states have laws prohibiting racial profiling, but Iowa doesn’t.
The group and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa say they plan to push next year a bill introduced this year in the Iowa Senate that would prohibit racial profiling. They’ve asked Gov. Kim Reynolds to create a racial profiling study committee, something a spokeswoman for Reynolds says is under
consideration.
The police video of the July traffic stop of 23-year-old Montray Little and 21- year-old Jared Clinton has been viewed millions of times online. It shows Little being handcuffed and his car searched for no apparent reason.

 

 

Sioux City Meat and Food Distributor To Close

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A longtime Sioux City food distribution facility will be closing next week, affecting the jobs of 30 people.
Braunger Foods is shutting down the facility Sept. 7. The company is a wholesale distributor of meat and other food products to restaurants and has operated in Sioux City for nearly 130 years. Rosemont, Illinois-based US Foods bought Braunger Foods last summer.
US Foods spokeswoman Sara Matheu says 14 employees will be leaving the company or applying for new roles at the company’s Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility, while 16 others will be added to the Sioux Falls staff.

 

 

Nomination For Attorney General Election Falls Short Of Needed Requirement Of Names

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An elections worker with the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office says a petition seeking to add a conservative candidate for attorney general to the November ballot appears to have fallen short of the 1,500 signatures needed.
Elections assistant Wes Hicok says the group turned in pages of
signatures ahead of the 5 p.m. Saturday deadline, with a formal review of the paperwork taking place Monday.
The effort aimed to put attorney Patrick Anderson, of Des Moines, on the ballot as a non-party candidate. The group needed 1,500 signatures coming from at least 10 Iowa counties to get Anderson on the ballot. It only began the effort Wednesday.
George Anderson, an organizer of the effort and Patrick Anderson’s son, had said the arrest of a Mexican man in the killing of missing college student Mollie Tibbetts prompted the whirlwind effort, because the group wanted an attorney general who would be tough on illegal immigration.

 

 

Father Charged For 2-Year Old’s Accidental Shooting

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) – The father of 2-year-old who’d shot himself with his dad’s gun at a suburban Des Moines hotel has been charged.
Polk County District Court records say 29-year-old Jonathan Hauser, of Council Bluffs, is charged with felony child endangerment causing injury. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. He’s due in court on Sept. 4.
The shooting occurred Aug. 19 at the Sterling Inn in Clive. Officers say the little boy picked up and fired the .45-caliber handgun his father had left on a bed. The bullet passed through the boy’s chest and neck.
Police Chief Michael Venema says the boy left the hospital Aug. 20.
Venema also said Monday that the boy’s mother was in the hotel room but won’t be charged.

 

 

Iowa DNR Discourages Connecting Lake With Cedar River

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – An effort to connect a popular lake in Waterloo to the Cedar River appears to be sunk by Iowa officials who contend the move would hurt recreation opportunities and require costly maintenance.
The Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier reports that the state Department of Natural Resources is opposing the proposed channel that would allow watercrafts to move freely between the river and Brinker Lake in George Wyth State Park.
Nate Hoogeveen is the director of river programs for the DNR. He says the department has a number of concerns about the connection, including its impact on the lake levels and channel maintenance.
Waterloo Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson says the city isn’t actively pursuing the connection due to the DNR’s concerns.