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Iowa early News Headlines: Wed. Dec. 18, 2019

News

December 18th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CST

Hayden Fry, the Texan who revived Iowa football and became a Hawkeye State institution, has died. He was 90. Fry’s family announced through the University of Iowa that the coach died Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. The native of Eastland, Texas, had never been to Iowa before taking over the Hawkeyes in 1979. He coached at Iowa for 20 seasons, winning 238 games and three Big Ten championships.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The former top accountant for the state agency that oversees Iowa alcohol sales claims in a new lawsuit that it marked up the price of liquor products illegally and excessively for years. Todd Halbur, former comptroller of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, alleges in the lawsuit that he was fired last year after questioning the illegal price markups and payments made under an improper no-bid contract. Halbur’s lawyer, Stuart Higgins, says his client is a “dedicated public servant” who was improperly fired for blowing the whistle. Division spokesman Tyler Ackerson says the allegations in the lawsuit are “untrue” but declined further comment, citing the pending litigation

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The director of the Iowa Department of Human Services has sought help from state criminal investigators to look into allegations at the Glenwood Resource Center. The agency learned last month that federal officials were investigating whether the state is violating the federal rights of Glenwood residents by placing them at risk with uncontrolled human subject experiments. Federal officials also are seeking to learn if there have been practices causing needless injury. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Assistant Director Mitch Mortvedt says Tuesday his agency was called in to help and is evaluating information in the ongoing investigation.. Glenwood is home to people with developmental disabilities.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a Fort Madison officer who fatally shot an armed man at a warehouse. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on Tuesday identified the officer as Cory Brown, a six-year-veteran of the police department. On the night of Dec. 10, Brown was called to a Scott’s Miracle-Gro warehouse in Fort Madison and encountered a man who was armed with a handgun. Brown shot the man, identified as 42-year-old Robert Allen Elfgen, of West Point. Elfgen died at a Fort Madison hospital. Brown is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation of the shooting.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A Nativity scene removed from a county courthouse lawn in southern Iowa won’t be returning. The scene was erected Nov. 18 outside the Appanoose County Courthouse in Centerville, but some residents complained that a religious display shouldn’t be placed on government property. It was moved away Dec. 9. Other residents soon called for its return. The county owns the building and the land underneath; the city owns the lawn. The Daily Iowegian reports that City Administrator Jason Fraser said at Monday’s council meeting that the Nativity scene location was just an agenda discussion item, so the council couldn’t vote on the issue.