Man Dies After Following From Cliff
BOONE, Iowa (AP) – A man has been killed in a fall at Ledges State Park in central Iowa’s Boone County.
The Iowa Natural Resources Department says the man fell about 60 feet from an overlook off Lost Lake Trail around 11:15 a.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead on arrival at a Des Moines hospital.
The 63-year-old Ames man was one of several people participating in an annual group hike. His name hasn’t been released.
Branstad’s Charity Misses Deadline
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A charity controlled by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has missed a legal deadline for disclosing the names of donors who paid for his inaugural celebration two years ago.
Tax experts say the lack of disclosure could subject the group to IRS penalties of $100 per day retroactive to Nov. 15, when the information was due.
It also means the public doesn’t know the identities of individuals and corporations who wrote checks totaling $1 million toward Branstad’s inauguration and namesake college scholarship fund. Branstad is preparing to leave office to become the next ambassador to China in the Trump administration.
Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes says the group’s accountant is still gathering information on the contributors and plans to file an amended return disclosing them.
Nursing Home Owner Misuses Resident’s Money
DANVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A partial owner of a nursing home in southeast Iowa has been accused of misusing a resident’s money.
Court records say 46-year-old Marc Johnson, of Hamilton, Illinois, is charged with felony dependent adult abuse-exploitation. He and his attorney didn’t immediately return calls Monday from The Associated Press.
The Hawk Eye reports (https://bit.ly/2hJUOSE ) that authorities say Johnson took about $1,700 from a resident of the Danville Care Center in Danville to buy a television and other items for the facility.
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Omaha Man Pleads Guilty To Robbery
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A Nebraska man accused of threatening to stab someone with a syringe that he said held HIV-tainted blood has pleaded guilty to a reduced Iowa robbery charge.
Court records say 35-year-old Jeshua Divis, who lives in Omaha, pleaded guilty Thursday in a Council Bluffs courtroom and was sentenced to time served.
Divis had been convicted of robbery in March 2015. His conviction was overturned and he was granted a new trial after he challenged his conviction. He said some of the evidence against him should not have been allowed at trial and
that his attorneys were ineffective.
Prosecutors say Divis told a woman at the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs in November 2014 that he’d inject her with the tainted blood if she didn’t hand over her money.
