House Speaker Not Ready to Propose Bill Banning Iowa Vaccine Mandates
(Des Moines, IA) — The top Republican in the Iowa House says lawmakers will wait to see whether legal challenges derail federal COVID vaccine mandates before deciding whether to advance a bill banning state vaccine mandates. Speaker Pat Grassley says a law passed in October has already given unvaccinated workers facing dismal the right to claim a religious or medical exemption and receive unemployment benefits. Some Republican legislators want to ban Covid-19 vaccine requirements in the workplace altogether, but Grassley says courts have already blocked two of the federal vaccine mandates and Governor Reynolds is calling on the Supreme Court to rule on a third lawsuit. The U-S Supreme Court confirms it has received several appeals of the federal requirement that large employers ensure workers are vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested weekly. Last Friday, a federal appeals court revived the mandate, which applies to businesses with at least 100 employees.
Man Convicted of 2019 Des Moines Triple Murder in Retrial
(Des Moines, IA) — The man accused of a killing a woman and her two children in Des Moines duplex in 2019 is facing a life prison sentence. A Polk County jury found Marvin Esquivel Lopez guilty of the first-degree murders of Rossibeth Flores Rodriguez, 11-year-old Grecia Daniela Alvarado Flores and five-year-old Ever Jose Mejia Flores during a retrial. The judge declared a mistrial in the triple-murder case in April after the jury couldn’t reach a verdict in the fatal shootings of the two children. Esquivel-Lopez claimed in court that the mother killed her kids and he shot her in self-defense. He and the victims lived in the same duplex. The sentencing hearing for Esquivel-Lopez hasn’t been scheduled.
Board Concludes Iowa City Police Did Not Use Excessive Force Against Protesters
(Iowa City, IA) — The Community Police Review Board concludes Iowa City police did not use excessive force in dealing with protests last year. A crowd of about 500 marching toward the interstate was pepper sprayed and tear gassed. The review panel made its conclusion after reviewing an independent report that studied the protests in June of 2020. Iowa City Police had joined Iowa State Patrol officers in handling the protest. The review board determined excessive force was not used, but it did raise questions about specific police conduct around the use of tear gas and flashbangs during the protest.
Study Finds Iowa Among Deadliest State For Kids Near Trains
(Undated) — Iowa is improving slightly but still has one of the nation’s worst rates of children being hit by trains, according to a study by a non-profit group that works to protect kids from preventable injuries. Nadji Kirby with Safe Kids Worldwide says their surveys find many parents don’t make it a priority to educate their children about the dangers that surround railroad tracks. In the past year, Iowa has moved from having the third- to the eighth-highest percentage of railroad-related accidents involving kids. In 2020, there were zero reports of railroad-related injuries or deaths of children in Iowa, but between 2010 and 2019, there were 54 such reports, 12 of which were fatal. Kirby says accidents at railroad crossings often happen when a driver isn’t paying attention, when drivers or walkers choose to bypass safety barriers, or when they race to cross the track before the train passes.
