(Radio Iowa) – Some Iowans serving a life sentence could get a pathway to parole under a bill co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 18 Iowa House members. Republican Representative Terry Baxter of Garner says not all adults sentenced to serve the rest of their lives in prison deserve a second chance, but some do. “When someone commits a crime under the influence of alcohol or drugs or coming from a background of abuse themselves, they’re not in their right mind,” Baxter says. “There are many people who in the process of being incarcerated go through such a change in their life, rehabilitation and transformation, they are no longer the same people…that committed that crime.”

Under current law, the only way a life sentence can be overturned is if the governor issues a pardon or commutes the sentence to time already served. The bill would create a commission to review certain cases after a person sentenced to life has been in prison for 25 years, then Commissioners could recommend that the governor approve release. Baxter, who has worked in prison ministry, says some people who commit serious crimes undergo transformation.

“I am thankful that God gave me mercy. I received a second chance,” Baxter says. “I’m no longer the man I used to be and I believe that people can and do change and I believe in the dignity of human life and that people deserve a look when they’ve gone through that change.” Lawmakers on a House subcommittee reviewing the bill plan to have more discussions about it. Life without the possibility of parole is the sentence in Iowa for first degree murder or when someone is found guilty of kidnapping or sexual assault with serious injury.

A lobbyist for county attorneys says those are serious crimes and it’s hard to imagine telling a family the person sentenced to life for murdering their relative was being released from prison.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Kate Payne)

Authorities have identified the victim of a shooting that took place early Monday morning at the Casey’s Store, in Marshalltown, and arrested a suspect in the incident.

Rocky Dean Trujillo

Twenty-year-old Rocky Trujillo, of Marshalltown, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, going armed with intent, assault with intent to inflict serious injury and trafficking in stolen weapons. Trujillo was being held in the Marshall County Jail awaiting an initial court appearance.

Police believe he shot and killed 48-year-old Michael Ray West, of Marshalltown, in the chest early Monday morning. Authorities executed a search warrant for a home on Bromley Street and arrested Trujillo late Monday.

Officers responded to the store to find West on the floor, suffering from a gunshot wound. Marshalltown police said the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is assisting in the ongoing investigation.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Board met electronically Monday evening. Parks and Rec Director Bryant Rasmussen reminded the Board and Public about the Snow Sculpture contest underway through the end of the month. Residents are invited to create a snow sculpture and submit it via Facebook Messenger. He said they had received seven submissions so far. The public will vote for their favorite sculpture. The winner gets $25 in Chamber Bucks.

The Parks Board voted to approve not to replace the playground equipment at the Nishna Park, which is down the hill from the Atlantic High School, and instead use the park for a Nature Walk/relaxation area. The playground equipment had been removed when tiling was being done last year.

Rasmussen said with approximately $1,000 in donations, the Parks Department was able to acquire multiple packages of Prairie seeds, that will cover about 1,000 square feet of different prairie sections throughout the City of Atlantic. Some locations include the Schildberg Rec Area, Sunnyside Park, and Nishna Park, to help educate the public on the many different varieties of Prairie vegetation that is available, and provide a colorful natural habit for certain wildlife.

Rasmussen is working with Nishna Valley Trails’ (NVT) Dave Chase to implement facets of the Trail Head at the Little League Park near KJAN. He said they’ve ordered a bike repair station. NVT will purchase a plaque to recognize those donors who have allowed the trailhead to be placed there. There will also be maps for Cass County trails, and vegetation around the outside of the trailhead.

Bryant told the Board, once the weather begins to warm-up, they will set-up another Treasure Hunt, where the key to finding the “Treasure,” comes in the form of a riddle that points participants toward one of the parks. A treasure box with several trinkets in it will be placed somewhere in the park as a reward. In other business, Ramussen said Parks and Rec is collaborating with the Cass County Conservation Board for a “Snow Fun Afternoon” this Friday, while school is out. Details are still be worked out. Stay tuned.

Bryant said also, because it has been so cold, they haven’t been able to get snow removed from the trails, plus, there is a wiring issue with their plow. The plan is to borrow a plow from the Wastewater Treatment Plant to get to work on getting the trails cleared. He said the final version of the Walkability Maps are being finished for proofing and printing. The hope is to roll those maps out this Spring.  And, thanks to the Dog Park donations, there will be three-to four new tables installed at the SRA Dog Park, and about the same number of benches.  Tires have been received for painting, also. Those will be sunken into the ground at the Dog Park, for exercise and dog fun.

(Radio Iowa) There was nothing sweet about the weather on Valentine’s Day as the brutal cold continued its grip on the state. State Climatologist Justin Glisan says many areas saw records. “Over 50 stations broke their daily minimum high temperature on Valentine’s day. So that is the coldest daytime high they had seen for the 14th. Anywhere ranging from zero degrees in Oskaloosa to negative 16 degrees in Rockwell City,” Glisan says.

Halfway through the month, we are averaging double digits below the normal February average temperature of 24 degrees. “We’re currently sitting at six degrees,” according to Glisan, “so 18 degrees below the monthly average. The caveat being there is that we will rebound ass we add more days to the month, and as we do warm-up.” Glisan says a disturbance in the polar vortex is allowing the cold air to flow into Iowa and many other states. Record snowfall in many areas is also contributing to the low temperatures.

“Snowpack acts to reflect the light up, that solar radiation up, that is coming in from the sun — and that does tamp down these daytime high temperatures. When you don’t get those temperatures up during the day, you are only on the downhill slope at night when the sun goes down. So yes it does impact the temperature that we do see,” Glisan says. He says you can see the impact in trees.

He says if you look at large trees you will see a tree ring from where the tree is absorbing solar radiation short wave in and emitting long-range radiation, or heat out. “And you will start to see those rings expand as you get into, hopefully sunny days and warmer days, ” he says. Glisan sees the impact in other ways as well. “Some of the remote sensing tools, the satellites that we are using looking at clouds — we are actually picking up the snowpack at the surface since it is so cold,” he explains. “You can get snowpack down into negative temperatures as well.” Glisan says we saw the same phenomenon back in January of 2019.

“That was over a four to five day period where we had temperatures actually colder than what we are seeing now — but just over two or three days in the negative 20s and the negative 30s. We had wind chill values up in northern Iowa in the negative 50s to the negative 60s. That’s extremely cold air,” Glisan says. The forecast is calling for things to slowly warm up through this week and moving toward the 20s for highs by the weekend.

(Radio Iowa) – A new computer system would periodically check if Iowans are eligible for food stamp benefits if a bill that’s cleared a senate subcommittee becomes law. Republican Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig proposes that the Iowa Department of Human Services buy the system or pay a private company to verify eligibility for food stamps by July 1st of 2022.

Janee Harvey of the Iowa Department of Human Services says Equifax has offered the agency a FREE, one-year trial of its system.

In addition, Harvey says the bill would spend state money on a system the federal government will be providing all states, at no charge, in late 2022. Senator Schultz says he expects to draft changes in the bill before it’s considered by the Senate Commerce Committee.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa health officials have reversed a decision to withhold COVID-19 vaccines from some counties that were reported as not having used up to 80% of their allocation last week. The Iowa Department of Public Health informed five counties on Friday that it would withhold this week’s allotment of vaccine. The decision drew criticism from several county health administrators, who said either that the state was mistaken or that bad weather had temporarily slowed their progress.

The Des Moines Register reports that as of Monday, three of the counties — Buchanan, Washington and Chickasaw — reported that state officials had informed them they would be getting their allotment of vaccines this week.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports an arrest on Monday afternoon. At 1:23 p.m. Deputies arrested 22-year-old Tyson Joseph Uhlmann for operating a motor vehicle while revoked. He was later booked into the Montgomery County Jail and held on bond.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some energy companies have begun implementing rolling power outages in response to overwhelming demand for power during record-setting low temperatures and wind chills. The Southwest Power Pool, a group of utilities across 14 states, called for rolling outages because the supply of reserve energy had been exhausted. Some utilities said they were starting blackouts, while others urged customers to reduce power usage.

Southwest Power Pool service area

Officials with the Midland Power Cooperative issued a statement, Monday, saying “Due to unprecedented electric load, regional transmission operator Southwest Power Pool may ask power providers to shed electric load. If this happens, members may experience intermittent power outages lasting 45 minutes.

Electric co-op members are encouraged to conserve energy to help reduce the demand during this time. Please turn down your heat, refrain from or delay use of large appliances, and turn off any unused lights. Let’s all do our part to avoid power outages during the extreme weather.”

A man who received child pornography was sentenced on Thursday, February 11, 2021, to more than 8 years in federal prison. The U-S Attorney’s Office for the northern District of Iowa, reports 38-year old Brandon Embrey, from Coon Rapids, received the prison term after a September 20, 2020, guilty plea to receiving child pornography

At the plea hearing, Embrey admitted that from September 2018 through April 2019, he received and possessed over 600 images of child pornography.  Embrey utilized the Internet, Google Drive and Google Photos to receive and possess visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including depictions involving prepubescent minors or minors whom had not attained 12 years of age.  Over 600 images of child pornography were found in Embrey’s online accounts.  Embrey also admitted to being a user of methamphetamine.

Embrey was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Embrey was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Embrey is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mikala Steenholdt and was investigated by the Iowa ICAC Task Force, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Coon Rapids Police Department.