Local Firefighter Participates In Stair Climb For Cancer Awareness
(Le Mars) — A local firefighter recently participated in a skyscraper stair climb in an effort to create awareness and funding for leukemia and lymphonia cancer. Devin Schipper is a firefighter with both the Sioux City Fire Department and with the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Department. Schipper traveled to Seattle, Washington, with his firefighting gear for the annual
Firefighter Stair Climb at the Columbia Center.
Schipper says the program is an annual event, attracting firefighters from around the world, and designed to raise money for cancer victims.
Schipper says his friend and fellow firefighter, as well as a cancer
survivor, told Schipper of the event and invited him to participate in the stair climb.
While in Seattle, the Sioux City and Le Mars firefighter was able to meet a young boy three years of age suffering from leukemia. Schipper says it was nice to be able to place a face with the cause.
Following the stair climb, Schipper and other firefighters had the
opportunity to meet young Henry.
Devin Schipper says the three year old has firefighters as his heroes, and says he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up. As for Schipper, he admits that young Henry, and others suffering from cancer, are his heroes.
Referring back to the stair climb competition, Schipper says the event attracts more than 2000 firefighters from around the world.
Schipper is fifth generation firefighter. He says he hopes to return to Seattle to again compete in the Firefighter Stair Climb.
Clovis Says There Was No Collusion With Russia On Trump Campaign
(Sioux City) — Special counsel Robert Mueller (muller) did not find evidence that President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired or coordinated” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. That from Attorney General William Barr on Sunday. The report brought a claim of vindication from Trump.
Former Trump campaign aide Sam Clovis of Hinton says he and administration officials have been saying there was no collusion with Russia since Mueller’s investigation began:
Clovis had been called to testify before a grand jury over a year ago regarding possible campaign ties between the Trump campaign and Russia:
The report reached no conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice but said key elements were not there.
Clovis says Democrats are seizing on that part of the four page summary of the report:
Democrats pointed out that Mueller found evidence for and against obstruction and demand to see his full report.
ACLU To Appeal Ruling Relating To Officer Involved Shootings
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa says it will appeal a ruling that could limit the public’s access to information about officer-involved shootings and other investigations.
The ACLU announced Monday that it is appealing a ruling by the Iowa Public Information Board, which gave its blessing to police departments who withhold videos, 911 calls and other records from the public.
The board ruled in February that all records gathered and analyzed as part of a criminal investigation can be considered part of a “peace officers’ investigative report” and therefore exempt from open records requests.
According to the transparency board, police and prosecutors can
withhold body camera videos and other records even after an investigation has concluded. The board says authorities are only required to release the basic facts and circumstances of an incident.
The ruling found that the Burlington Police Department and Iowa
Division of Criminal Investigation acted lawfully when denying access to records detailing an officer’s accidental shooting of a mother in 2015.
15 Year Old Girl Accidentally Shoots Herself At Gun Club
MONTROSE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 15-year-old girl accidentally shot herself to death at a gun club in southeast Iowa.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office says deputies and medics were called around 10:40 a.m. Sunday to the Tri-State Gun Club, which sits about 2 miles (3 kilometers) northwest of Montrose. They found Haley McManus suffering from a single gunshot wound. The sheriff’s office says Haley died later at a hospital. Sheriff Stacy Weber says she lived in Fort Madison.
The sheriff’s office says the incident is being treated as an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound. No crime or negligence is suspected.
Investigators are awaiting autopsy reports.
Dubuque Man Given 50 Years Sentence For Killing Man
MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) – A Dubuque man has been given 50 years in prison for killing a 59-year-old man at the victim’s home in Bellevue.
Jackson County District Court records say 24-year-old Drew Mangler was sentenced Friday. He’d been convicted last month of second-degree murder. Prosecutors say he stabbed to death James Remakel during a break-in.
Officers found Remakel’s body after being called to a house in Bellevue on Dec. 25, 2016. An autopsy showed Remakel had been stabbed at least 32 times in his upper body, neck and head. He was believed to be dead for several days before police found him.
Court documents say Mangler was developed as a suspect following witness accounts to police. Investigators say they found a shoe with Remakel’s blood on it during a search of Mangler’s house.
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Trial Set To Begin For Indiana Man Accused Of Shooting Fort Dodge Man
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Cedar Rapids for an Indiana man accused of a homicide in central Iowa’s Fort Dodge.
Webster County District Court records say 26-year-old Phillip Williams, of Lafayette, Indiana, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Williams and 27-year-old Mackenzie Knigge killed 26-year-old Jessica Gomez in August 2017. Knigge’s trial is scheduled to begin June 10.
His trial first was moved to Mason City because of pretrial publicity in Fort Dodge. Then it was moved to Cedar Rapids after Williams objected to the lack of black people in the Mason City jury pool, saying that just one person out of 130 potential jurors was self-identified as black. His attorney told the judge that Williams “has a legitimate interest in the representation of African-Americans on the jury panel.” He is African-American.
