DAVENPORT, IOWA – A northwest Iowa man was sentenced Thursday to 46 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a drug user on two occasions. Colton Eugene Cope, age 25, of Laurens, was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term as well as pay $200 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

According to court documents, Cope was federally charged with drug user in possession of a firearm after officers stopped a vehicle he was driving related to a shots fired call in Davenport. Cope was found in possession of numerous firearms, ammunition, and methamphetamine. Cope admitted to using methamphetamine and possessing the firearms and ammunition. Cope further admitted to allowing Davion Gary, a felon, to possess one of his firearms. Officers located shell casings at an apartment complex in Davenport. The shell casings at the scene were consistent with being fired from one of Cope’s guns.

When Cope was arrested, he was again found in possession of firearms, ammunition, and drug paraphernalia – which led to Cope being federally charged in the Northern District of Iowa for unlawful possession of a firearm as a drug user.

Acting United States Attorneys Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa and Sean R. Berry of the Northern District of Iowa made the announcement. These cases were investigated by the Davenport Police Department, Fort Dodge Police Department, and the Webster County Sheriff’s Office. This case is part of the Project Safe Neighborhood, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa State Patrol says too many Iowa drivers are not stopping for school buses picking up and dropping off kids. A collection of videos from the Iowa State patrol shows the problem. Cameras inside school buses record driver after driver running the stop signs that pop out on stopped school buses. Busy school bus drivers often read the license plate out loud, so it’s recorded on camera. That helps the state patrol catch the violators. In 2018, central Iowa troopers recorded just one violation. that grew to 18 violations in 2019. And then citations exploded to 106 in 2020.

The state patrol says all drivers must stop for the school bus stop sign. School districts and parents can even call for a patrol car to follow a bus on a problematic route to better enforce the law. The fines for passing a stopped school bus start at $345. Violators can also lose their driver’s licenses, unless they take driver’s training courses.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Starting Monday, the Powerball lottery will be adding a third drawing each week. Powerball administrators hope the new Monday drawing will lead to larger prizes and increased sales.Powerball is also adding a new feature called Double Play. It costs $1 extra and gives players a second chance to match their Powerball number in a second drawing with a top cash prize of $10 million. Double Play tickets are eligible to win both prizes.

A traffic stop this (Sunday) morning, in Red Oak, resulted in the arrest of a man from Red Oak. Authorities say 33-year-old Lucas James Bogart was taken into custody at around 2:40-a.m. in the 600 block of N. 6th Street, for OWI/1st offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

LINN COUNTY, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Law Enforcement Bureau, reports they continue to seek the public’s assistance with any tips or information related to a tubing incident on Cedar River at Mohawk Park on August 15, 2021.

The incident happened around 2:00pm, when a personal watercraft operated by Richard Burns, 38, of Cedar Rapids, was towing an inflatable tube with a passenger, Isaac Blazek, 41, of Cedar Rapids, when the tube hit a pontoon parked on shore. Blazek suffered serious injuries but continues to be in stable condition at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

The investigation into this incident continues. Anyone with any information related to this incident is urged to call DNR Conservation Officer Travis Graves at (319) 350-2863.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – Authorities in Iowa, Saturday, said that on Friday, August 20, officers with the Iowa Department of Corrections’ 4th Judicial District’s High-Risk Unit were searching for Kelsey Hanna and Brandon Hines pursuant to parole warrants.

Shortly after 1:00 p.m., officers with the High-Risk Unit observed Hines and Hanna leaving a house and entering a black Ford SUV near 27th Street and Avenue G in Council Bluffs. The officers attempted to stop Hines and Hanna from leaving the area.

As the officers with the High-Risk Unit approached the black SUV, the driver (Hines) put the car in reverse and backed into a secondary officer’s vehicle. Hines then put the black SUV in drive and drove towards and struck one of the officers. One officer fired his service weapon striking Hines.

Hines fled, but was apprehended a short time later by the Nebraska State Patrol in Omaha. Hines was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) where he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Hanna was arrested without incident.

This is an active and on-going criminal investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Per 4th Judicial District policy, the officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave.

August 20, 2021 at 11;45am Sheriff’s received a report of a 2 vehicle accident on Hwy 34 at the west side of the Nishnabotna river bridge construction site at the signal light. A 2020 Ford panel van driven by Jimmie Henry Kalkas of Red Oak was stopped at the red light when a 2008 Mack box truck driven by Jerry William Wagaman of Emerson, Ia failed to stop before hitting the rear of the Ford van. Damage to the Mack truck was listed at $6000 and $6500 damage to the Ford van. There were no injuries and the sheriff is investigating the accident.

On August 20, 2021, Montgomery County Sheriff’s made 3 arrests:

Tiffany Lea Palmer, 48, of Red Oak was arrested on a Red Oak police warrant for Harassment 3rd Degree
Bond was set at $300

Floyd Raymond Henry II, 49, of Red Oak was arrested on a Red Oak police warrant for Driving While Revoked
Bond was set at $1000

Adam James Tesmer, 45, of Red Oak was arrested on a charge of Driving While Barred
Bond was set at $1000

Governor Kim Reynolds says she’ll go to court if the Biden Administration tries to overturn the law she signed that has banned mask mandates in Iowa schools. Biden has asked the U.S. Education Secretary to determine if the mask bans in six states, including Iowa, violate federal law.

“I think it’s incredible that he’s coming after me when we led the country in getting our kids back to school and doing it safety and responsibly,” Reynolds says. Reynolds ordered schools closed at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, but she ordered schools to offer in-person classes last fall. In February, Reynolds signed a law requiring all schools to have classes in person. In May, Reynolds signed a law forbidding schools from requiring students and staff to wear face coverings.

“It went through the legislature,” Reynolds says. “We have elected officials representing Iowans all across this state that voted on that bill and I signed into law and so we’re doing what we need to do.” Reynolds says the ban on mask mandates in schools promotes the social and emotional wellbeing of children

“Come walk the fairgrounds with me for just a day and I want you to see the number of moms and dads and teachers and children (who) literally have tears in their eyes — Tears! — when they come up to me and say: ‘Thank you. Thank you for getting my kids back in school. Thank you for not masking them up,'” Reynold says. Reynolds says N-95 masks have been shown to prevent the spread of Covid, but she is expressing doubts that cloth or paper masks are effective.

“Where’s the data the CDC is using to justify the mask mandate?” Reynolds asks. The Centers for Disease Control is recommending that everyone in schools wear face coverings as the Delta variant of Covid is far more contagious and most students have not been vaccinated. Reynolds says Biden needs to stop dictating to states and the governor says she’s not concerned about losing federal funds if there is a dispute with the Biden Administration over this policy.

“Nine billion dollars in total has come into the state to deal with Covid and we’re over a year into this. You know, I mean that’s unconscionable…We’ve got to pay that back at some point, so not only my grandchildren but probably their children,” Reynolds says. The governor says Biden should focus on other things, like the airlift out of Afghanistan and closing down the southern border. Zach Wahls of Coralville, the Iowa Senate’s Democratic leader, says the governor should be focused on the unabated spread of Covid.

“Republican mistakes are why parents across Iowa are now facing extremely difficult decisions about sending their kids back to unsafe schools,” Wahls says. Wahls says banning mask mandates in schools is putting school staff, children and their parents at extreme risk.

“Forcing unvaccinated children back to school isn’t a plan,” Wahls says. “Continuing to ignore Covid isn’t a plan. Hoping that the Delta variant just goes away isn’t a plan.” Democratic leaders in the legislature are calling Reynolds to accept 95 million dollars in federal funding she rejected in the spring that could be used to conduct regular Covid testing in Iowa schools. Erin Dahl of Waukee is the mother of two young children who organized a sit-in on the Iowa Capitol lawn last week. Her husband is a public school teacher with a serious heart condition.

“It’s very scary to me to have him in a classroom with so many children at once with no masks on,” she says. Dahl is hoping Iowa’s ban on school mask mandates can be declared a violation of the civil rights of people with disabilities.

Low water levels brought on by the ongoing drought are starting cause problems for some boaters on the Iowa Great Lakes. Captain Greg Harson is a supervisor in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau.

“When the water goes down, boat ramps are not made for the length of (boat) trailers that we are currently having these days,” Harson says, “and when people put their boats on the trailer, they power their boat on and that prop wash will blow out a hole behind the cement of the boat ramp.” Harson says boaters need to be aware their trailers can fall into that hole. If that happens, Harson has some advice for avoiding major damage.

“(If the) trailer’s loaded and you try to pull that boat trailer back out, that axle has a better than fair chance of coming off the trailer or wrecking your tires or rims or any of those combinations,” he says, “so I would get the weight off of your trailer and either have somebody lift up the trailer and pull the trailer out or at least get it back up on the ramp in some way before you put the boat back onto that trailer.” Similar problems are being reported at other lakes and rivers around the state where water levels are below normal levels. Officials say there’s been a statewide increase in boat registrations during the pandemic.

Forecasters say heavy showers are likely this (Friday) afternoon and evening for western and central Iowa, but it would take many more rains to make a dent in the long-running — and worsening — drought. State climatologist Justin Glisan says the new drought maps released late this week show drought conditions widening and getting more severe, especially across Iowa’s northern half.
“We’ve had drought expand across the state, especially the D-3 category, which is extreme drought,” Glisan says. “Looking at the previous maps, this is the largest extent that we’ve seen across northern Iowa since the early part of April in 2013.” The new climate outlook was issued for the region on Thursday and Glisan says it holds no obvious signs for what’s to come in the long-term.
“We have an equal chance of above, below or near-average temperature and precipitation behavior in the month of September,” Glisan says. “Then looking at meteorological fall — September, October, November — we do see elevated chances of warmer temperatures but again no clear signal for the precipitation side.” Fall will arrive in about a month, September 22nd, and Glisan says it’s a toss-up as to what the season ahead may hold.
“We do have a pretty good chance of moving back into a La Nina phase of the El Nino southern oscillation which impacts the jetstream over the United States,” Glisan says. “If we look at analog years in which La Nina has returned to the state, we don’t get a clear signal on precipitation behavior.” The map shows at least parts of 22 Iowa counties are now in extreme drought, which covers more than ten percent of the state, up from around seven-percent last week. Fifty-five percent of the state is now in some level of drought, while almost 79-percent of Iowa ranges from abnormally dry to extreme drought. Only a few counties in southwest Iowa and most of the southern two tiers of counties are untouched by the dry weather.