Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office Participated In Special Thanksgiving Holiday Patrol Program
(Le Mars) — Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office participated in a statewide special traffic enforcement program during the Thanksgiving holiday. The program ran from November 15th through November 28th. Plymouth County had a total of 21 man-hours dedicated to the step-up traffic enforcement project. During those 21 hours, deputies had the following contacts:
1 OWI tested but no arrest
1 child restraint citation
3 speeding citations
13 speed warnings
4 other traffic citations
17 other traffic warnings
2 charges of possession of marijuana
2 charges of drug paraphernalia
2 warrant arrests
and one motor vehicle accident.
Iowa Senate Democrat Wants Tax Relief For Families, Child Care
(Des Moines, IA) — A key Senate Democrat says the one-billion dollars in the state’s Taxpayer Relief Fund should be used to reduce taxes for working Iowans and invest in schools, hospitals and child care. Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City says “Iowa G-O-P tax policies have hollowed out Iowa’s small communities and rural landscapes.” Bolkcom says the latest estimate indicates more than nine-billion dollars in federal pandemic relief funds have been sent to Iowa and the state wouldn’t have this surplus without that. Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley says that billion dollars should be returned to Iowa taxpayers. Bolkcom says he and other Democrats favor increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income Iowans who work and have little to no income from savings or investments.
Run-Off Elections in 4 Iowa Communities Tuesday
(Undated) — Elections are being held in four Iowa cities today (Tuesday) to decide city council and mayor’s races that were unresolved in the November 2nd election. Some municipal elections in Iowa’s larger cities require a candidate for city council or mayor to get a simple majority to win. If no candidate surpasses that 50 percent-plus-one vote threshold, a run-off election is held. There are run-off elections for mayor today in Atlantic, Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids. There’s a run-off in Edgewood for a seat on the city council. Polls are open in those communities until 8 p-m.
Cedar Rapids Teen Pleads Not Guilty to Murdering Parents
(Cedar Rapids, IA) — A teen from Cedar Rapids is pleading not guilty to the deaths of his parents last month. Seventeen-year-old Ethan Orton is accused of using a knife and ax to kill 42-year-old Casey Orton and 41-year-old Misty Slade on October 14th. Officers found Orton sitting outside the home covered in blood and he told police that he had killed his parents. He entered written not guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder on Monday. Orton remains jailed on two-million dollars bond.
Story County Man Draws 22-Year Sentence For Dealing Meth From Mexico
(Cedar Rapids, IA) — A central Iowa man will spend more than 22 years in federal prison for his role in dealing large amounts of methamphetamine from Mexico. Sixty-two-year-old Bobbey Robey of Roland admitted that he and others transported kilograms of meth into Iowa. Investigators used a wiretap to intercept thousands of calls and messages between Robey and the head of a meth trafficking organization in Mexico. A vehicle that had traveled from Texas was stopped near Des Moines in July of 2020 and officers located nearly five-thousand grams of pure meth that was intended for Robey. He was sentenced to 270 months on Monday after pleading guilty in May.
