Iowa Senate Republicans Change Rules To Abolish 24-Hour Notice Of Meetings
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Republicans have removed rules that require some state legislative committees to give 24-hour notice about meetings.
They say the move will improve efficiency, but Democrats say it’s an abuse of power.
The Des Moines Register reports the change applies to Senate
subcommittee meetings, which are often where the public and lobbyists can formally express their opinions on legislation.
Republican Sen. Amy Sinclair says the change allows for more
flexibility because the 24-hour rule could sometimes limit the ability to advance legislation.
Democratic Sen. Herman Quirmbach says the move diminishes the public’s ability to directly give input. Democratic Sen. Pam Jochum calls it “an abuse of power.”
Several Republican-controlled Senate committees this week also removed transparency language from their meeting rules. Sinclair says the language was redundant because the Senate has separate rules regarding open meetings.
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University Of Iowa Given Funding To Conduct Eye Research
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa has been given $5 million for research into treatments of eye diseases that affect and blind people worldwide.
The university in a news release Thursday that the gift comes from Alice and John Butler, of Dubuque. It will establish the Alice L. and John E. Butler Vision Research Fund, which will support gene- and stem cell-based treatments for degenerative retinal diseases.
The university’s stem cell transplantation program seeks to use stem cells from a patient’s own tissue, correct gene mutations, and transplant them into the patient’s retina to restore vision.
Drake University Student Pleads Guilty To Making False Report
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A former Drake University student has pleaded guilty to lying about a racist note she said was shoved under her dorm room door in Des Moines.
Polk County Court records say 19-year-old Kissie Ram entered the plea last week to making a false report to a public entity. She was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $200, perform 50 hours of community service and spend a year on probation. She also was given a deferred judgment. A deferred judgment allows Ram’s convictions in the case to be removed from court
records if she fulfills her probation terms.
The records say she admitted to university officials that she’d written one of the five notes reported to university officials. University spokesman Jarad Bernstein (BURN’-steen) said Thursday that Ram’s suspected of writing two more notes as part of her hoax. He says the university is still investigating who may have written the remaining two notes, including the
first reported Nov. 7.
Des Moines Man Builds Bomb Inside Restaurant
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police say a man who built a bomb in a Des Moines restaurant told officers he did it to prove a point about safety.
Police Sgt. Paul Parizek (puh-REE’-zihk) said Wednesday that 40-year-old Ivory Washington constructed the device Tuesday at Akebono 515 to see whether anyone would stop him. Parizek says Washington told officers his motive “was frustration that people in our society don’t care about safety.”
Nam Tran owns the restaurant, and he says he saw the man plugging an unknown device into outlets Tuesday. Tran says he thought the man later identified as Washington was charging his phone. Court records say Washington bought items necessary for his bomb and then assembled them at the restaurant.
A bomb squad took the device away. Parizek says it was tested to see whether it would explode. It did.
Court records say Washington is charged with possession of an explosive device.
Judge Decides To Have Minor Named In Offense
ELDRIDGE, Iowa (AP) – A judge has reversed his decision barring news media from naming or photographing a 12-year-old boy accused of trying to shoot a teacher in an eastern Iowa school.
The Quad-City Times reports that Judge Patrick McElyea also said
Wednesday that minors who could testify at the boy’s trial may also be named or photographed. Court records say the boy’s pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and related crimes.
Police say the boy’s gun jammed when he tried to shoot the teacher at North Scott Junior High in Eldridge on Aug. 31.
Press freedom and public records complaints were raised after McElyea first barred use of the boy’s name. State law says a criminal complaint that alleges a child 10 or older has committed that would be a forcible felony if committed by an adult is a public record and shall not be confidential.
The Associated Press does not generally name juveniles charged with crimes.
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