Crime Stoppers Ask For Public Help On Vandalism Cases
(Le Mars) — The Plymouth County Crime Stoppers is asking for the public’s assistance to help solve a series of vandalism crimes. On last Monday morning, an unknown suspect damaged several residences and a vehicle using a golf club. Damage was reported in the 100 block of 9th Street SE to a Chevy Colbalt, as someone smashed out the driver side window. Damage was also reported at 700 block of 2nd Avenue SE, where someone used a golf club to shatter two windows in a garage. Damage was also done to a residential fence about a block away. If anyone has information on these crimes or any other crimes you are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 548-4968. Crime stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction for any felony crime. Your call is confidential and you do not have to give your name. Plymouth County Crime Stoppers is sponsored by the Plymouth County
Peace Officers Association.
Sioux City Gynecologist Fined By State Medical Board
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City gynecologist has been fined $7,500 for botching a hysterectomy by mistakenly removing his 29-year-old patient’s healthy ovaries.
The Iowa Board of Medicine fined 50-year-old Doctor Kevin Hamburger on Thursday for the July 2011 surgery and has ordered Hamburger to submit a plan describing how he’ll avoid future
errors.
Hamburger is also being sued for damages by the patient, Erin Rehan. Her lawsuit says she was told by Hamburger that her ovaries would not be removed during the procedure.
Rehan is seeking more than $10,000 in damages.
Lawmakers Push Competing Tax Reduction Bills
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers are advancing competing income tax reduction plans in the Republican-majority House and Democratic-controlled Senate and a compromise deal is not yet clear.
The House on Wednesday passed a bill to offer a flat income tax option. Under their legislation, residents could pay a 4.5 percent state tax on income instead of the current progressive tax rates.
Most deductions and credits wouldn’t be available to those paying the flat tax.
A Senate committee approved legislation Monday that would provide more tax credits to low income residents.
Lawmakers say they will work to find middle ground, but it wasn’t clear what that could be. Republicans say their proposal would provide tax cuts to more people. But Democrats say the
Republican plan provides bigger breaks to top earners.
NASA Scientist To Visit With Lawmakers About Climate Change
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa native who works as a NASA scientist is scheduled to speak with Iowa lawmakers on Monday about climate change and its effect on the earth’s polar regions.
Nathan Kurtz, a Fort Madison native, will talk to legislators at noon at the Capitol.
He is a NASA researcher working on Operation IceBridge, a project to capture detailed images of polar ice and to measure changes in thickness of sea ice, glaciers, and ice sheets. The data is used to predict the response of polar ice to climate change and resulting sea-level rise.
Senator Rob Hogg, a Cedar Rapids Democrat, says Iowans need to learn about climate change and its effects on our future.
Kurtz will also speak Monday night at 7 p.m. at First Unitarian Church in Des Moines.
Estherville Soldier Dies From Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan
ESTHERVILLE, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa soldier who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan last week is being remembered for his love of flying.
The U.S. Defense Department said 27-year-old Staff Sgt. Steven Blass, of Etherville, Iowa, was one of five soldiers killed in the March 11 crash. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Blass was a helicopter crew chief who joined the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade last August. He had been in the Army since 2006 and was on his second combat deployment.
One of Blass’ childhood friends, Brandon Johnson says that Blass loved flying Black Hawk helicopters.
Blass was married and had a young son. Funeral plans were still pending Sunday.
Dow City Man Charged With Murder After Bar Shooting
DOW CITY, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa man is facing a murder charge after a fatal shooting in a small town this weekend.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department says 28-year-old Benton Wingrove was arrested after the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Adam Lary in Dow City where the two men lived.
Authorities say Wingrove and Lary argued at a bar in Dow City shortly before the shooting.
Lary left the bar first, but was shot while driving and his car crashed into a house.
Authorities say Wingrove called police around 1:45 a.m. Saturday to report the shooting. An officer arrived to find him with a handgun on the ground in front of him.
Wingrove was being held in lieu of $1 million bond.
