WATERLOO, Iowa (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier) — An Iowa woman has been sentence to probation in the overdose death of a toddler who swallowed medication while riding in her car. The Waterloo Falls Courier reported that a Polk County District Court judge sentenced 39-year-old Amanda Roena Leonard–Hellum, of Waterloo, on Thursday for felony neglect of a dependent person.

Authorities said Leonard-Hellum declined to seek medical attention for the 2-year-old, whom she was trying to adopt, as she was driving from Waterloo to visit her boyfriend in Des Moines in June 2019. Police were called to the boyfriend’s apartment the following morning, and the child was found dead. She was charged with child endangerment causing death, but the charge was reduced as part of a plea agreement.

(Radio Iowa) — After a short and somber debate, a Senate committee has advanced a priority from what Governor Kim Reynolds has called her “Second Chance” agenda — a proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore a released felon’s voting rights. Senator Amy Sinclair, a Republican from Allerton, says she believes in second chances, but she urged her colleagues to vote against the proposal.

“While forgiveness is admirable, can the debt to our society ever truly be repaid by a prison sentence when a life has been taken, or a child’s innocence be stolen, when sexual brutality is allowed?” Sinclair’s passionate speech began with a reference to her “personal experiences” as a crime victim.

“Consider the victims who can never be fully repaid,” Sinclair said, “the families of those who people whose lives were snuffed out by violent felons.” Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, began speaking a few moments later and started with condolences to Sinclair, followed by an argument for giving paroled felons the right to vote.

“What we’re trying to do is not create outliers where they’re not connected back to the community,” Bisignano said. Bisignano says the proposal will be of benefit to a group of felons sent to prison for drug and property crimes.  “We need to do this for a lot of innocent young people who just screwed up from 18 to 25,” he said. Bisignano and the other Democrats on the committee supported the governor’s plan. Four Republicans, including Sinclair, opposed it.

The proposed constitutional amendment is now eligible for debate in the full senate next week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI-TV) — Health officials are reporting eight more deaths from the coronavirus in Iowa and 345 new positive cases. The Iowa Department of Public Health said the news cases bring the statewide total to 21,438 as of Saturday morning. There have now been 597 deaths.

KCCI reports that 299 patients currently are hospitalized, with 102 listed in intensive care and 62 on ventilators. There were 23 patients admitted in the last 24 hours. Hospitalization data continues to show flat or downward trends since an apparent peak around May.

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI-TV) — A 21-year-old man has been arrested in a shooting death last week in Des Moines. KCCI-TV reports that Dayquawne Gates was booked Friday night into the Polk County Jail, where he is being held without bond. He’s charged with first-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Robert Freeman. Officers found Freeman laying in a front yard last week. He later died at a hospital. Detectives said they have video and firearm-related evidence linking Gates to the killing.

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

(Radio Iowa) — A Dubuque man will spend more than 11 years in prison on child pornography charges. Thirty-seven-year-old Mark Curtis Junior pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, and once count of transportation of child pornography. Court information disclosed that Curtis had searched the internet for images and videos of child pornography.

He downloaded some 25-thousand images that depicted children ranging in age from infants to pre-teens. He was sentenced to 139 months in federal prison.

(Radio Iowa) — Plenty of Iowans are hooked on fishing during the pandemic as a record of nearly 200-thousand fishing licenses have been sold statewide this spring, which is up 30- to 40-percent from a year ago. Joe Larscheid, Fisheries Chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says this is a free fishing weekend, today (Friday) through Sunday.

“Any Iowa resident can fish for free,” Larscheid says. “There’s bluegills and crappies close to shore. The fishing’s excellent. It’s a great chance if you haven’t got your license yet to get out with friends and family and enjoy Iowa’s natural resources.” The popularity of some outdoor activities is booming with so many people working from home due to COVID-19 concerns.

Larscheid says to use common sense and keep a good six feet of distance between yourselves and others while fishing. “We have a lot of lakes in Iowa, a lot of ponds and rivers, there’s lots of places to spread out,” Larscheid says. “If there’s a bunch of people along one part of a shore, just find a part of the shore where you can practice social distancing and just get out and have fun. We’ve got plenty of room for everybody.”

Sales of fishing licenses in Iowa have been the best this spring since 2002, the year they became available electronically. “We have record license sales in March, April and May,” Larscheid says. “A lot of people are out there fishing. It’s like opening day every day. People are staying home, they’re staying closer to home. Being outside, it’s easier to practice social distancing and have fun with your family and friends.” Iowa fishing licenses are available in several types, including yearly, seven-day, or even just 24-hour licenses.

Find a list of stocked lakes and ponds that are easily accessible in parks and along trails on the DNR’s interactive Iowa Community Fisheries Atlas at iowadnr.gov.

Officials with Pottawattamie County Public Health (PCPH), Friday, announced there are 21 new (positive) cases of COVID-19 to report. One is from Oakland and the other twenty are from Council Bluffs. They also regret to announce a 10th COVID-19 related death. The latest case is a 61-to 80-year old man from Council Bluffs. A total of 195 persons have recovered from the virus. Five are hospitalized and 145 are self-isolating. Based on PCPH contact tracing investigations, a total of 96 Pott. County COVID-19 cases are the result of community spread.

Six of the case positives are epi-linked, while the others were tested between May 31st and June 4th. According to Friday’s Iowa Coronavirus dashboard (coronavirus.iowa.gov), 3,964 Pottawattamie County residents have been tested for COVID-19, with 317 showing positive results. Including epi-linked cases, PCPH reports a total of 363 COVID-19 cases.

An inmate at the Pott. County Jail has tested positive for the virus. PCPH has conducted the case investigation and the contact investigation. The individual is currently in isolation. PCPH says it is working closely with jail staff and Pott. County Risk Management to ensure the virus mitigation procedures in-place contain the spread of COVID-19 within facility.

The Rotary Club of Atlantic has joined with other Rotary Clubs in the Southern half of Iowa to supply nearly 400,000 meals to families and individuals impacted by COVID 19. Officials say the Club donated $500.00 in cash through Rotary District 6000 to the Food Bank of Iowa and its sister Food Banks, which can provide four meals for every dollar contributed.

The food supplies are then distributed on an equitable formula to local food pantries in communities throughout the southern half of the state.

In addition to the donation to the Food Bank of Iowa, the Atlantic Rotary Club also donated $1,000.00 in cash to the Atlantic Food Pantry. Local Club President Brian Harris said that “Service Above Self” has long been the motto of Rotarians throughout the world, and our club saw the need to help.

A ninth case of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been confirmed in Montgomery County. Officials said Friday the new case is an elderly adult (over 80) and currently in isolation. The total number of positive cases, as of Friday, was nine, with six persons having recovered from the virus. The number of persons tested to date in Montgomery County, is 386.

Sadly, officials say an additional death associated with COVID-19 was also reported, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19, to two.

Serology testing shows 56 have been tested, one person tested positive for COVID-19, 55 have tested negative.