Developer Hopes To Turn Former School Building Into Restaurants, Bar, and Night Clubs.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A developer needs just one more city council vote before he can implement proposed plans to transform a former Des Moines junior high school into an eclectic space featuring meeting rooms, restaurants, a bar and boutique hotel.
We Can Build It owner Jeff Young says he is hoping to invest up to $8 million to revamp the old Franklin Junior High school.
The Des Moines Register reports that the city council is set to vote May 20 on Young’s request to rezone the 213,000-square-foot property from church and school use to a planned unit development.
Supporters say they would like to see life injected back into the
long-abandoned and underutilized building that’s attracted crime in the past.
Critics say they are concerned about excessive traffic, garbage and noise.
—
Car Chase Ends With One Driver Shot To Death
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say one driver was fatally shot during a three-vehicle chase in Council Bluffs.
Police say officers were not involved in Monday evening’s shooting.
Police say shots were fired from at least one vehicle into another during the high-speed chase. The wounded driver was taken to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, across the Missouri River from Council Bluffs. Police say he died there.
The names of those involved and other details haven’t been released.
83 Year Old Bicyclists Dies From Accident
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An 83-year-old cyclist has died after he was struck by a car near Iowa City on Monday morning.
The Iowa State Patrol says David Lorentz Schuldt has died from
injuries he suffered in the accident, which remains under investigation.
A report from the patrol says that Schuldt was struck by a car on Old Highway 218 just south of Iowa City.
The car was driven by a 26-year-old Kalona woman, who says she was unable to move over to the left due to traffic in the adjacent lane.
Schuldt was taken by ambulance to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics but later pronounced dead.
Trial To Begin For Man Who Made Homemade Cannon That Killed Woman
MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) – A July 17 trial starting date has been scheduled for an eastern Iowa man charged in the death of a woman hit by fragments from a homemade cannon.
Delaware County court records say 31-year-old Max Fenton has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and two fireworks charges.
The improvised cannon was made from the sawed-off barrel of a .50-caliber, black powder rifle and was supposed to serve as a noisemaker.
Authorities say the rear of the barrel “blew out” in Greeley the night of July 2, 2016, sending fragments toward where 55-year-old Lori Heims was sitting, hitting her in the head. She died later at a hospital.
The trial has been delayed since because of legal maneuvering. Judge Michael Shubatt noted previous trial delays and says in court records that he won’t delay it again for further preparations or negotiations between the parties.
Gillibrand Says If Elected As President, She Will Only Select Judges Who Favor Roe vs. Wade Abortion Position
ADEL, Iowa (AP) – Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand is promising that if elected president, she’ll only appoint Supreme Court justices who strongly support the Roe v. Wade decision, imposing a key litmus test consistent with most Democrats’ values but which White House contenders usually don’t express.
The New York senator wrote Tuesday in a Medium post that Republican-led legislatures nationwide have attempted to impose major abortion restrictions. She said she’d only nominate judges who “will commit to upholding Roe v. Wade as settled law.” The 1973 case established a woman’s constitutional right to abortion.
Gillibrand noted that presidents and presidential candidates don’t
say that for fear of undermining the judiciary.
But she said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “stole a Supreme Court seat” by refusing to consider President Barack Obama’s 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland..
