BONDURANT, Iowa — Authorities in Polk County says the death of a woman found outside of an assisted living facility in Bondurant “suspicious.” KCCI in Des Moines reports that at around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 21st Polk County deputies responded to a call for medical assistance. A woman staying at the Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing, an assisted living facility for people with dementia in Bondurant was found outside. The low temperature that morning was -9 degrees.

The woman was conscious and being treated inside the facility by the time deputies arrive, but she later died at the hospital. The official cause of death has not been released. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals told the television station that assisted living programs for people with dementia are required to have an operating alarm system on each exit door.

According to reports from the Iowa DIA, Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing was fined $1,500 in summer 2020 for not having a policy or procedure for their alarm system. The report filed back then shows somebody on staff noticed a resident was missing. The man was returned by police and he showed the nurse how he exited the door and climbed over a secure fence. The facility was later found to be compliant in a 2021 report.

Monday afternoon, the DIA was at the facility in Bondurant conducting an investigation. Officials say Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing is cooperating with the investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The long debate over automated traffic enforcement cameras has resumed at the state capitol. A bill that’s cleared a Senate subcommittee would prohibit Iowa cities from using out-of-state companies to install and maintain the cameras or to issue the tickets for speeding and running red lights. Pete McRoberts, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, suggests requiring only Iowa companies be involved ensures they’re accountable to Iowans.

“Companies that sell products to cities for the purposes of issuing demand letters to citizens, well, those should be within reach of the Open Records Act or at least legal discovery,” McRoberts says. Mike St. Clair is a lobbyist for Sensys Gatso, a company based in the Netherlands with a U.S. subsidiary that manages the traffic camera systems in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and other Iowa ciites. He says the bill is anti-free market.

“The cities should be able to choose whichever vendor best suits the needs and provides the best service and frankly it comes down…who has to the best technology.” St. Clair says. “…That’s part of why we’re representing and working with as many cities as we are in Iowa.” Independence Police Chief Dave Niedert says his community has never had a problem with Sensys Gatso and the bill takes away local control.

“The State of Iowa and many municipalities use out of state contractors and firms for many reasons,” he says. Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman also opposed the bill. “The company can be located anywhere in the world and as long as they work in partnership with a city and a law enforcement agency to provide safe roadways. that’s the issue that everyone should be concerned with,” Jerman says.

Another bill that’s under consideration in the Senate would require police departments to hold at least two public hearings to explain the data collected from traffic enforcement cameras and what alternatives have been tried in the areas where cameras are ticketing speeders.

(Radio Iowa) – The superintendent of a small, southern Iowa school district based in Humeston has died of Covid, two days after the death of his father. The Des Moines Register was first to report that the Mormon Trail School District had announced on Facebook that Superinendent Kerry Phillips “lost his battle with Covid” on Sunday. According to an online obituary, Phillips was a native of Ottumwa and died at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. He was 61.

Phillips had worked as an educator at Indian Hills Community College, Simpson College, Buena Vista University, and in the Cardinal and Harmony School Districts. Phillips had been Mormon Trail’s superintendent since the start of the 2017 academic year. His 85-year-old father died Friday at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics according to an online obituary that does not list a cause of death.

Gene Phillips owned and operated Phillips Sanitation in Ottumwa for nearly 50 years before retiring in 1998. The obituary for Kerry Phillips indicates he has been owner/operator of the family business.

(Radio Iowa) – The Internal Revenue Service opened the tax filing season today (Monday). I-R-S Commissioner, Chuck Rettig spoke with reporters and says there are three things you can do to speed up the process. “File electronically, file accurately, and request a direct deposit of refunds,” he says. Rettig says it has been tough during the pandemic to process all of the tax returns and the challenges continue. He says that’s why it is important to get everyone to file the most accurate return they can.

“If there’s a problem with their return it can create an extensive delay and I-R-S notices sent in the mail than then the back and forth between the taxpayer and their representative. And we are trying to avoid that to the extent that we can,” Rettig says. He says electronic filing is a key to getting your refund quicker. “If they avoid errors when they file, we still anticipate that most people will not experience delays. They will receive their refund within 21 days when they file electronically requesting a direct deposit. And we fully expect the vast majority of folks to receive their refunds in a timely manner,” according to Rettig.

Rettig says there are still issues with calling the I-R-S for help. “Phone lines have been jammed — our phone lines we anticipate will continue to be jammed up for the foreseeable future…there’s just many, many reasons — but the demand is significantly up. Our folks are working as hard as we can, we’ve automated and made automated changes during the course of the past year to the extent that we can. But we anticipate an extremely high call volume as well going through this filing season,” Rettig says. He says going online is the best option to get information.

“To the extent people can, we are encouraging people to use the various online resources through IRS.gov, that will be the fastest way to get information,” Rettig says. The federal tax filing deadline is April 18th.

(Radio Iowa) – Advocates say waiting lists are still growing for child care slots in Iowa and it will take more money from all sorts of sources to boost the pay AND benefits for child care workers. Dawn Oliver Wiand is C-E-O of the Iowa Women’s Foundation, which has a program focused on helping communities come up with new child care options.

“This issue is really big,” Wiand says. “…It’s going to take multiple solutions in multiple ways. We need to see both federal and state dollars, but we also need to see business dollars and philanthropic dollars.” Alex Glenn is the human resources director for Generation Next, a company that has 250 employees working in five different child care centers in central Iowa. The company recently increased benefits for its workforce, but Glenn says it may not be enough to keep employees.

“Once they leave us, they don’t go another child care center. They leave the field entirely. They go to somewhere where there’s less burnout, where there’s less stress and where they have better benefits,” he says. “…Nobody goes from Wells Fargo to child care.” Glenn and Wiand made their comments this weekend on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S.

Iowa lawmakers are considering a series of proposals to boost child care options for Iowa parents, including regulatory changes for building and operating a child care center as well as tax incentives for opening a child care business.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports six people were arrested over the past week, including a man from Yutan, Nebraska, who was arrested on a warrant charging him with three counts of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree. 22-year old Ross William Manly was arrested Wednesday afternoon at the Douglas County, NE., jail. His bond at the Mills County Jail was set at $75,000.

Also arrested Wednesday afternoon, was 28-year-old Daevon Deshione Sanchez, of Omaha. Sanchez was arrested following a traffic stop on I-29, and charged with OWI/1st offense ($1,000 bond). There were two separate arrests last Thursday, in Mills County: (as previously reported) 35-year-old Tamara Elizabeth Herrera-Alberto, of Shenandoah, was arrested at the Page County Jail, on a Mills County warrant for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and a Drug Tax Stamp Violation (Bond $30,000); 32-year-old Tyler Eldon Buckner, of Emerson,was arrested on Jan. 20th, for Driving Under Suspension (Bond $300).

This past Saturday afternoon, 44-year-old Angela Marie Wagman, of Omaha, was arrested in Mills County, following a traffic stop. She was wanted on a Pottawattamie County warrant for OWI/1st offense (Bond $1,000). And, at around 12:40-a.m. Sunday, 62-year-old Kenny Joseph Sousa, of Plattsmouth, NE., was arrested on I-29 in Mills County, for OWI/1st offense (bond $1,000).

(Atlantic, Iowa) – Officials with the Cass Health Foundation reports $10,000 Cass Health Foundation scholarships are available to Cass County high school graduates who are enrolled-in or have been accepted into, a college of nursing or medicine, and, will complete a LPN, RN, BSN, or MD degree. Dave Chase, Cass Health Foundation Board Member and Scholarship Committee Member, says “The Hansens believed strongly in the importance of education and the need for well–trained healthcare professionals. We are proud to continue this scholarship in their memory.”

Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded with consideration given to applicants’ academic, citizenship, and leadership abilities. In 2021, Cass Health Foundation was able to award three
$5,000 scholarships to MaKenzie Waters, Jennifer Steffens, and Genevieve Martinez.

Applications are available at casshealth.org and are due no later than April 1, 2022. For further information, contact Dawn Marnin, Cass Health Foundation Director, at 712–243–7409 or mardd@casshealth.org.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater, today (Monday), reported three arrests from the past week. Friday night, 48-year-old Ryan Lee Cumming, of Des Moines, was arrested in Des Moines, on an Adair County warrant for Driving While Barred. He was released from custody early Sunday morning, after posting a $2,000 cash or surety bond. On Jan. 17th, 55-year-old Kristina Marie Merical, of Greenfield, was arrested at around 7:10-p.m. by Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies at the Casey’s Store, in Greenfield. Merical was taken into custody on an Adair County Felony warrant for a Controlled Substance Violation/drug trafficking 5 grams to 100 kilograms of Meth. She was released a few hours later on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

And, at around 6:11-a.m. on Jan. 16th, 24-year-old Ethan James Holman, of Bridgewater, was arrested at an apartment in Bridgewater, following a physical altercation with his girlfriend. Holman was charged with Domestic Assault with Bodily Injury/1st offense. He was released later that same day on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Fifty-five Republicans in the Iowa House are co-sponsoring a bill to immediately exempt retirement income from the Iowa income tax. The idea is part of the tax plan Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has presented to lawmakers. Representative Gary Mohr is the bill’s lead sponsor. “The governor’s plan calls for starting this in 2023. Mine makes it retroactive to January 1, 2022. Either one’s fine with me,” Mohr says. “It’s just important to me that we get this enacted.”

Mohr cites Iowa Public Employees Retirement System data showing benefits are sent to 19-thousand Iowans who’ve retired and moved to out of state. Mohr says many have moved to states like Florida, where their retirement income is not taxed. “There’s a lot of people in Iowa who move out of Iowa once they retire, particularly where I live, and frankly I’d like to stop that out-migration as quickly as possible,” Mohr says. Mohr, who is from Bettendorf, says retired people in his area often move to the Illinois side of the Quad Cities, since Illinois doesn’t tax pensions.”The thing I’ve noticed with my constituents when they change their state of residence…they not only take their investments with them, they take their expenditures with them,” Mohr says, “…but they lose some interest in Iowa.”

And Mohr says that means less support for Iowa civic and non-profit organizations as long-time Iowans shift their attention to similar groups in the state where they’ve moved. It’s unclear whether this retirement income exemption will remain a stand-alone proposal in the House or may be incorporated in a larger bill addressing some of the governor’s other tax proposals. Mohr says it’s perfectly understandable some Iowans want to spend time in a warmer climate during the winter, but he sees this proposal as one way of keeping them from establishing a permanent residence in another state.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Polk County man was sentenced Friday in U-S District Court, to serve 183 months (15-years) in prison, in connection with a drug, robbery and shooting incident. A United States District Court Judge sentenced 25-year-old Darreon Earl Wright, of Des Moines, on charges that include: conspiracy to interfere with commerce through robbery; interference and attempted interference with commerce through robbery; and possessing, brandishing, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.  Wright was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term.

According to court documents and evidence presented at the two-day federal trial held in September 2021, shortly before 9:00 p.m. on February 19, 2020, Wright and his co-conspirator lured the victim to an apartment complex in Des Moines under the false promise of selling the victim marijuana. Upon the victim’s arrival at the apartment complex, Wright’s co-conspirator led the victim to an enclosed stairwell within the apartment complex where Wright was waiting with a loaded gun to ambush and rob the victim of the $6,900 in cash he brought to purchase the marijuana. When the victim entered the enclosed stairwell, Wright’s co-conspirator grabbed the victim, and Wright shot the victim two times—once in the arm, and once in the chest. Wright fled the shooting scene with his pistol. The victim survived.

The investigation was conducted by the Des Moines Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Section. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, 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.