Urbandale Couple Charged With Abusing Senior Citizen
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa authorities have charged an Urbandale couple with kidnapping and neglect in the case of a disabled woman in their care who suffered severe chemical burns.
Fifty-one-year-old Katrina Joy Eubanks and 55-year-old Garry Eubanks are being held in a Florida jail awaiting extradition to Iowa.
Police say Katrina Eubanks, a hired caregiver, bathed the 19-year-old woman in bleach and Epsom salt on May 28 in her home.
Police say the Eubanks did not seek treatment for her burns for days and that police only learned of it after Garry Eubanks told someone about plans to take the woman to Florida to be treated by a family member who is a nurse.
The Eubanks took Bent to a hospital near Tampa on June 1, where staff called police.
Trump’s Remarks About Wind Energy Upsets Iowans
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – President Trump’s putdown of wind energy at his Iowa rally was denounced Thursday across the state, which has been a national leader in wind generation.
Trump was talking up his support for coal during his speech in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday when he said: “I don’t want to just hope the wind blows to light up your homes and your factories.” He added “as the birds fall to the ground,” a reference to birds killed by turbines.
The remark didn’t go over well across Iowa, where the rapid growth of the state’s wind energy industry has been a bipartisan success story.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andy McGuire called it an “attack on Iowa’s economy.” Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley reiterated his vow to oppose any Trump efforts to pass anti-wind policies.
Protester Arrested At Trump Rally
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a protester has been charged with assault after a fracas outside the rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for President Donald Trump.
Police say 22-year-old Anne Seifert was arrested after Wednesday evening’s incident near the U.S. Cellular Center, where Trump later addressed supporters. A public phone listing for her couldn’t be found Friday. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for her.
Police say an officer saw Seifert throw an egg at a man and then punch and kick him. He had been filming the protesters and got into an argument with Seifert. Police say Seifert reported that she became upset because she thought the man had come across the street to provoke her and other protesters.
Iowa Supreme Court Overturns Decision On Lottery Rigging Suspect
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a lottery security expert charged with attempting to claim a $16.5 million Iowa jackpot that he rigged.
Friday’s ruling ordering a retrial for Eddie Tipton in the 2010 Hot
Lotto jackpot is a victory for his defense but might have little practical impact.
Iowa prosecutors already agreed this month to vacate the conviction under a plea agreement, which requires Tipton to plead guilty to ongoing criminal conduct for his efforts to claim rigged jackpots in several states.
Tipton signed the plea deal but has yet to plead guilty in Iowa. He faces up to 25 years.
The court ruled Friday that the statute of limitations expired on one of two counts in the first Iowa case, and the verdict on the other was flawed.
Woman Charged With Animal Neglect After Trying To Perform Surgery On Dog
AMES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a dog died after an Iowa woman used tongs and a paring knife to perform surgery on it in her living room.
Twenty-six-year-old Diane McMenamin, of Ames, is charged with animal neglect.
Ames Police Cmdr. Geoff Huff told television station KCCI
(https://bit.ly/2s02xRJ) that McMenamin reported that veterinarians had told her the dog needed surgery for an internal obstruction. She said she couldn’t afford the surgery and thought she could do it herself because she’d castrated pigs
when she lived on a farm.
A criminal complaint filed June 15 says the dog died seconds after the surgery.
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Family Trying To Restore 120 Year Old Clock
SWALEDALE, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa family has been coordinating an effort to get a landmark timepiece working again before the city’s 125th anniversary celebration.
The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the Caspers family is working to create new clock faces for the 120-year-old timepiece in Swaledale.
Ed Caspers and his family cut each number and minute mark by hand in the shop on their farm. Ed’s father, Orville, was one of the original caretakers of the timepiece.
Orville and Dale Caspers constructed the 30-foot clock tower that houses the old clock six decades ago, after their father purchased the timepiece from the city. But as the brothers aged, weekly oiling and regular maintenance of the piece became difficult. The clock stopped working several years ago.
The brothers died earlier this year.
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