Woodbury County Supervisor Announces He Will Run For Congress
(Sioux City) — Woodbury County Supervisor and former state legislator, Jeremy Taylor is the latest republican to announce he intends to challenge Steve King. Taylor made the announcement this morning that he plans to run for the U-S 4th District Representative seat. So far, three other republicans, including State Senator Randy Feenstra of Hull have said they
will run for the office now occupied by Steve King.
County Attorney Arrested For OWI To Have Trial In April
OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) – A former southern Iowa county attorney accused of driving while intoxicated is scheduled to begin trial April 8.
Clarke County court records say 42-year-old Michelle Rivera pleaded not guilty Wednesday to the charge and a related crime. She’d been arrested last month in Osceola.
Rivera lost her re-election bid in November after she was arrested in October on suspicion of being drunk on the job in a Clarke County courtroom.
A sheriff’s deputy said in a criminal complaint that he noticed Rivera “slurring her words and stumbling on her feet” in the Osceola courtroom. He arrested her after she refused to take a breath test. She was charged with public intoxication.
Rivera eventually pleaded guilty and was fined $65.
Iowa City Officials Decide To Change Park Benches To Make Them More “Homeless Friendly”
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials in eastern Iowa have decided to spend more than $10,000 on new public benches that don’t have center armrests after an extended debate about whether benches installed earlier were hostile to homeless people.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the Iowa City Council has decided to replace 14 benches in a downtown pedestrian mall with seating that doesn’t include center armrests.
Nichole Novak is an organizer with Iowa City Catholic Worker House, a shelter that led the effort to change the benches. She says the idea is to make “a public space that is welcoming to all.”
Cady Gerlach is the director of strategic operations and resource
management of Shelter House. She says the money for the benches could’ve been better spent in other ways to help the homeless.
Body Found In Closed Council Bluffs Business
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Police in western Iowa are investigating after a body was found inside a shuttered business.
The Council Bluffs Police Department says officers were called to the old No Frills supermarket, which closed in 2016, Thursday morning after contract workers on the site to remove shelving and coolers found the body.
Police say the body “appears to have been there an extended period of time.”
Police say the Pottawattamie Medical Examiner’s Office is investigating along with police. An autopsy has been ordered.
The victim has not yet been identified.
