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Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., Jan. 29, 2020

News

January 29th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has named an eastern Iowa attorney who lives on a hobby farm to the Iowa Supreme Court, marking the first time the court has two women serving on the seven-member court. Dana Oxley, the only woman finalist on the list forwarded to the governor on Jan. 9, works at a Cedar Rapids law firm. Oxley, who is 52, is the second woman on the court joining Susan Christensen who was appointed by Reynolds in 2018. She is Reynolds’ third appointment to the court and fills a vacancy left by the unexpected death on Nov. 15 of Chief Justice Mark Cady.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The trial for the man charged with killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018 has been delayed. Cristhian Bahena Rivera had been scheduled to stand trial for first-degree murder on Feb. 4 in Sioux City. That plan became uncertain last week when Judge Joel Yates suspended the case so that the Iowa Supreme Court could decide whether to grant Rivera’s pretrial appeal of a key ruling. A court spokesman said Tuesday that the trial has been delayed and will not happen in the month of February. A new trial date will be set after the Iowa Supreme Court decides how to handle Rivera’s appeal.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has made a last-minute trip to Iowa following arguments in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in Washington. The Democratic presidential candidate turned up Tuesday at a bar in Council Bluffs, where she was met by a standing-room-only crowd of more than 100. She is among a handful of White House hopefuls making a final push in the Midwestern state before Monday’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. Her eleventh-hour push comes as she is facing new questions about her time as a top Minnesota prosecutor in the mid-2000s.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A warming center being evicted for not meeting fire codes has found a new spot to serve the homeless in Waterloo. The Waterloo Warming Center announced Tuesday it will be moving to the former Hawkeye Community College Metro Center and open for service on Friday. The overnight shelter opened Jan. 6 at Jubilee United Methodist Church Freedom Center to provide a safe haven from freezing temperatures. But organizers later were told it would have to close because inspectors found the space didn’t have a sprinkler system — a requirement for any building serving residential needs.