(by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Fifteen current and former firefighters are suing the City of West Des Moines for wages they claim they are owed. The firefighters, 14 of whom still work for the city, allege that over a period of several years, the city misclassified them as exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s provisions on overtime pay due to their status as lieutenants or captains.

The FLSA provides that some employees with managerial duties are exempt from overtime pay due to their role as salaried personnel — but also says first responders generally do not meet the requirements for that particular exemption.

According to the lawsuit, the city “was put on notice” of the misclassification sometime prior to September 2023 — after which it implemented a 14-day work period for some firefighters.

WDSM FD Facebook photo

The firefighters allegedly worked more than 106 hours during those 14-day work periods and, according to the lawsuit, the city failed to compensate them for those additional hours at the legally required rate of overtime pay. The lawsuit does not specify the total number of uncompensated hours, or the total dollar cost associated with the work.

All of the plaintiffs are currently employed by the fire department except for Bingham, who was employed by the city from January 2006 through March 2024. Each of the plaintiffs are seeking compensation for unpaid overtime, plus interest and attorneys’ fees.

The City of West Des Moines has yet to file a response to the lawsuit, which was initially filed in Polk County District Court before being transferred to federal court. City Attorney Greta Truman did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

(An article by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch) – A convicted child-killer serving a life sentence in an Iowa prison is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, insisting that he be deported to Mexico for having come to the United States illegally in the 1990s. The lawsuit, filed Thursday by prison inmate Juan Ledesma, seeks a court order that will force Homeland Security agents “to come to Anamosa State Penitentiary and take custody” of Ledesma and send him back to Mexico, his country of origin.

Anamosa State Penitentiary

In August 1997, Ledesma was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Karen Jasmen Orozco, an infant who lived with her mother, Mirta Medina, and Ledesma in their western Iowa home. Court testimony indicated Ledesma was home alone with the child on Jan. 28, 1997, while Medina was out looking for a job. When Medina arrived home, she found the child vomiting and having seizures in her crib.

Ledesma, who worked a night shift at a meatpacking plant, allegedly told authorities he didn’t intend to hurt the child, but she kept waking him as he tried to sleep. Iowa’s state medical examiner at the time, Thomas Bennett, attributed the child’s subsequent death to shaken baby syndrome, although the defense’s medical expert, Dr. John Plunkett, testified at Ledesma’s criminal trial that the death could have been caused by a 3-foot fall that may have occurred several days prior to the child’s death.

Ledesma was convicted of first-degree murder, child endangerment, neglect of a dependent individual and assault causing serious and willful injury. He was later sentenced to life in prison. Court records indicate that over the past 28 years, Ledesma has filed at least five applications for post-conviction relief, most recently in 2023, and that all of the applications have been denied.

Ledesma, 52, is now suing the U.S. Department of Justice, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. The lawsuit argues that ICE and Homeland Security have a “duty” to deport him in compliance with directives from President Donald Trump to deport all “illegal aliens.”

Ledesma also argues that he has been declared a “burden to the American taxpayers by the Trump administration,” and that his ongoing health problems are only going to increase the financial burden associated with his continued incarceration. “By returning the petitioner back to his country of origin, costs to American taxpayers can be focused on lawful citizens,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that Ledesma “has the right to be deported from the United States under federal law and not be further detained without due process.”

Ledesma is representing himself in the case. The federal government has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting beginning at 6-p.m. on Monday, August 11th in the Achievement Center Conference Room, for the purpose of discussing General Obligation (G-O) Bond and Sales Tax matters. The discussion will be facilitated by Piper Sandler’s Managing Director for Public Finance, Travis Squires.

Afterward, the Board will act on approving: General Obligation Bond and Sales tax Bond Projects, and setting the date of a Public Hearing as Wednesday, Aug. 27th, for the High School Roof Replacement Project – Phase 1.  According to instantmarkets.com, the roofing replacement project Request For Proposal (RFP) includes the removal of existing roof membrane and ballast installation of new 60 mil EPDM roof membrane.

EPDM is an extremely durable synthetic rubber roofing membrane (ethylene propylene diene terpolymer) widely used in low-slope buildings in the United States and worldwide. Its two primary ingredients, ethylene and propylene, are derived from oil and natural gas. EPDM is available in black, gray, and white and is sold a broad variety of widths, ranging from 7.5 feet to fifty feet, and in three thicknesses, 45, 60, and 90 mils.  It’s known for its flexibility, weather resistance, and long lifespan. 

In June (2025), Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Beth Johnsen said District Maintenance Director Russell Peck received a cost estimate for the High School whole Roof Replacement project, which was $1.3-million dollars. That amount was in-line with the Engineer’s estimate. The roof replacement is part of a larger, $40 million facilities master plan.

The current roof is close to 30-years old and has “Lived past its life expectancy,” Johnson said during the June meeting.

(Radio Iowa) – Cedar Rapids marked the five-year anniversary today (Friday) of the derecho that did tremendous damage — including ripping away some two-thirds of its tree canopy. City officials planted a Bur Oak tree in Jones Park as part of the ceremony, which City ReLeaf coordinator Carole Teator says is a sign.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz says they will continue the recovery effort.

More than 16-thousand trees have been planted on public land since the storm with the help of schools, businesses and countless volunteers. Teater says they’re ahead of schedule for their goal to plant 42-thousand-500 trees in total over ten years. The city has committed more than one million dollars to that goal.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Police in Council Bluffs are asking for the public’s help in a death investigation. Authorities say that at around 7:30-a.m. Friday (today), Council Bluffs Police and Council Bluffs Fire & Rescue responded to 1629 Avenue B, following a report of a man down.

Council Bluffs PD Shield

Officers and medics found the male party – identified as 19-year-old Dylan Hall, of Council Bluffs – to be deceased. Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators were then called to the scene to investigate.

The investigation is in its very early stages, with officials asking anyone with information that would assist detectives, to please call 712-328-7867.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says swimming is not advised at 17 public beaches, all of which have E. coli readings that exceed acceptable levels. The DNR conducts weekly tests at more than three dozen public swimming beaches between the week before Memorial Day through Labor Day.

15 DNR Monitored Beaches with an E. coli Advisory:
Backbone Beach (Dundee, Delaware County, IA)* 
Beed’s Lake Beach (Hampton, Franklin County, IA)* 
Brushy Creek Beach (Lehigh, Webster County, IA)*
Bobwhite State Park (Allerton, Wayne County, IA)* 
Crandall’s Beach (Big Spirit Lake, Spirit Lake, Dickinson County, IA)*
Emerson Bay Beach (West Okoboji Lake, Milford, Dickinson County, IA)* 
Lake Ahquabi Beach (Indianola, Warren County, IA)*
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
Lake Manawa Beach (Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, IA)* 
Lake of Three Fires Beach (Bedford, Taylor County, IA)* 
Lower Pine Lake Beach (Eldora, Hardin County, IA)*
Nine Eagles Beach (Davis City, Decatur County, IA)* 
Pleasant Creek Lake Beach (Palo, Linn County, IA)* 
Prairie Rose Beach (Harlan, Shelby County, IA)* 
Union Grove Beach (Gladbrook, Tama County, IA)*

2 DNR Monitored Beaches with a Microcystin Advisory:
Lake Darling Beach (Brighton, Washington County, IA)*
Viking Lake Beach (Stanton, Montgomery County, IA)*
_______________________________________________________________________________________

4 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Monitored Beaches with an E. coli Advisory:
North Overlook Beach (Lake Red Rock, Pella, Marion County, IA)**
Sugar Bottom Campground Beach (Coralville Lake, Coralville, Johnson County, IA)**
West Overlook Beach (Coralville Lake, Coralville, Johnson County, IA)**
Whitebreast Beach (Lake Red Rock, Pella, Marion County, IA)** 

Note: George Wyth Beach is closed due to flooding. Monitoring has been suspended at Lake Keomah due to renovation activities. McIntosh Woods Beach is closed due to park storm damage. From the Army Corps of Engineers, Oak Grove Beach was not sampled due to high water elevations.

*This data is from the Iowa DNR State Park Beach Monitoring Program
**Data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District

(Radio Iowa) – Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego says his three-day visit to Iowa is to help reinvigorate Democrats here and reshape his party’s message. “The problems that Democrats had can’t really be laid at one person,” Gallego said. “It was something I think that’s happened over the decades where we moved away from being known, respected and trusted as taking care of working class people and became this, like, nebulous idea that nobody understands who we are.” Gallego says that must change as soon as possible. Gallego talked to workers at the J-B-S meatpacking plant in Marshalltown early this (Friday) morning and he’s spending much of the rest of the day at the Iowa State Fair.

Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego )(on right) with Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart and former chair Ross Wilburn at the 2025 Iowa State Fair. (RI photo)

As Gallego was speaking with reporters, protesters carrying posters featuring Gallego’s criticism of the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2020 Caucuses arrived. “I’m a mature adult now and what I said then was dumb of me,” Gallego said. “…In 2020, a lot of us were very frustrated with the results and whatever happens in the future, it’s going to be left up to the DNC, but the Democrats do need to compete in rural America and, you know, Iowa needs to be part of that key no matter what.”

Pete Buttigieg won the 2020 Caucuses, but results were delayed for days due to a glitchy smart phone app. Gallego, who is 48, says he’s not in Iowa to lay the groundwork for a campaign of his own. “I will definitely be back to help any Democrat in 2026 and 2028 because Iowa should be in play,” Gallego said.

Gallego is a retired Marine who served in combat in Iraq. He was elected to the U-S House in 2014 and won a seat in the U-S Senate last November.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Attorney General has cleared officers who shot and killed a man during a July traffic stop in Dubuque County. Officers from the Dubuque Drug Task Force and other area agencies stopped a truck driven by James Young Sherrill as part of an investigation. Officers say Sherrill initially shut the truck off, but started it again and struggled with Dubuque County Deputy Adam Williams as Williams tried to get him out of the truck.

Williams tazed Sherrill, but he continued to resist and officers say he raised a handgun and Sergeant Williams and Dubuque Officer Chad Leitzen fired at him. Leitzen, and Monticello Police Officer Cole Millard fired at Sherrill as he continued to resist. Sherrill died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

A search of Sherrill’s truck revealed more than five pounds of methamphetamine and substances that appeared to be heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.

(Radio Iowa) – An elementary school in Spencer that was significantly damaged by flooding in June of 2024 is reopening for classes this fall. Fourth grade teacher Jan Mummert says after spending all of the previous school year in temporary quarters, it was a big moment to walk into the building.  “Even though we were devastated with the flood last year, to come back in and see everything refreshed, you know, it’s a wonderful homecoming,” Mummert says.

Kaetlyn Minkle is another returning 4th grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Spencer and she’s thrilled with her classroom. “It’s pretty much a whole new room. I’m really excited about it. It’s very modern,” Minkle says. “I mean I loved it before, too, but I really like the new colors, the new cabinets we got. It’s just brighter (with the) big new windows.”

The building’s structure was not damaged, but anything that was exposed to flood water or absorbed the water had to be removed. The wooden gymnasium floor in the school and nearly 150 doors are among the things that had to be replaced. The initial cost estimate for the project was over five MILLION dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – Several dozen classic cars and trucks are parked along the Iowa State Fair’s Grand Concourse today (Friday). Organizer Tom Kline says it’s the 40th year for the one day show during the Fair. He enjoys reminiscing with the crowd about the cars. “People like to come and show their cars off,” Kline says. “We like to drive them. You’ve got nice Fords here, Chevys, Plymouths, an original Packard down there.” Most owners were polishing their vehicles before the fair gates opened — some even polished the motors. Howard Cruchelow of Altoona wasn’t shining up his vehicle, though — and he may have the most unique entry.

“It’s a ’49 Dodge panel van,” he says. “We found it in the woods. It was buried. It took a Bobcat and about 15-20 trees to cut it down.” One of the trees was growing inside the vehicle. Last fall, Cruchelow entered it in a competition in Illinois called a Rat Rod Build Off. He and the pal who pieced the truck back together could only spend three-thousand dollars on the project and while it does have a new engine, the original paint is still on the vehicle and wooden ladders are mounted on top. They won third place in that competition — and Cruchelow has been driving the vehicle around the Des Moines metro a couple of times a week. “It’s unique. Nobody has one like it,”Cruchelow says. “It’s fun to drive. You get a lot of looks at it. It’s a good time.”

The vehicle sits just three inches off the ground. It also has the word Pest-X painted on the side, which Cruchelow says is probably the name of the business that abandoned the vehicle in the woods.