One of two men convicted in the Sept. 1981 murders in Council Bluffs of Stanley Fisher and his mother Kate, has had his appeal to for postconviction-relief (PCR) to the Iowa Supreme Court, denied. According to their ruling released today (Friday), an appeal of a Council Bluffs District Court decision was filed by John Lee Hrbek, who was convicted on two counts of Murder in the first degree. Hrbek had sought a review of interlocutory order prohibiting him from filing any additional pro-se supplemental documents in postconviction relief. The court noted he has been litigating a still pending application for postconviction relief, in an attempt to vacate his murder convictions.

The basis of his appeal was an Iowa Legislature-passed and governor signed, July 1, 2019, Omnibus Crime Bill. That bill – which was signed while Hrbek’s PCR case was pending – prohibits postconviction relief applicants represented by counsel, to filing “any pro se document, including an application, brief, reply brief, or motion, in any Iowa court.” Pro-se refers to law that allows a defendant or plaintiff to argue on their behalf in a legal proceeding.

His appeal involved the applicability and constitutionality of the new law, as applied to pending postconviction relief appeals. A month after the law was passed, the district court entered an order prohibiting Hrbek from filing any additional pro-se documents in his case, and ordered him instead to forward any such documents to his legal counsel. The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s decision in the matter and remanded the case back to the lower court. In its verdict, the High Court said there cannot be different sets of rules for cases based on when laws were passed.

Our report at 8:06-a.m., from Ric Hanson.

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A traffic stop at around 3:30-a.m. Friday in Red Oak, resulted in several citations for a 14-year-old. Red Oak Police say the teen was pulled over in the 1900 block of N. 4th Street. Following an investigation, the unidentified teen was cited for: Curfew Violation; Minor in Possession of Tobacco Products, and Operating a vehicle without the owners consent. The juvenile was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center in Council Bluffs. Authorities said also, a 10-year-old in the vehicle was cited for Curfew Violation, and released to their parent.

Our 7:06-a.m. report from News Director Ric Hanson.

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The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident Wednesday night. The crash was discovered Thursday morning. Authorities say the driver of a 2014 Dodge Ram Truck had left the scene. When he was interviewed Thursday, 28-year old Schyler Andrew Knudsen, of Coon Rapids, told authorities he swerved to miss a deer while entering a right-hand curve on Justice Road. His pickup struck a curve warning sign and entered the northwest ditch before hitting a tree.

Damage to the pickup was estimated to be $12,000. The Guthrie County Secondary Roads Dept. sign sustained an estimated $250 damage. Knudsen was cited for Failure to Maintain Control.

Police in Creston, late Thursday night, arrested a man for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree, and Simple Domestic Assault. Authorities say 31-year old Christopher Roland Bird, of Creston, was arrested just before 11-p.m., on North Division. He was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond until seen by Magistrate.

And the Union County Sheriff’s Office says two people were injured during a single-vehicle accident that happened at around 6:30-a.m., Thursday. According to the report, 19-year-old Rose Marie Pumel, of Lincoln, NE., was driving a 2004 Dodge Durango, when she fell asleep at the wheel. The SUV went into a ditch and drove over a culvert before crashing into the other side, causing heavy front end damage. The vehicle also crashed into a barbed wire fence before rolling backwards and coming to rest in the ditch.

Pumel and her passenger, 43-year-old Jerome Keith McCallum, of Kellerton, were injured in the crash, and transported to the Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston. The Durango sustained $2,500 damage, while the fence, owned by Daniel Ide, of Afton, sustained about $500 damage.

Firefighters from Casey, Adair, Stuart, Menlo, Greenfield and Guthrie Center responded to a fully engulfed structure fire in Casey, Thursday. Stuart Fire was requested to supply additional water, at around 12:30-p.m.  On their social media page, Stuart Fire officials reported crews worked quickly to extinguish the flames and protect adjacent exposures. The fire caused damage to two nearby homes, and destroyed the involved structure. Two pets were lost in the blaze. No injuries were reported.

Additional details were not immediately available.

(Photos by Sean Bovinett via the Stuart F.D. Facebook page)

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission approved fines Thursday for three different gambling violations. Racing and Gaming Administrator, Brian Ohorilko says the Diamond Jo Worth casino was fined for a violation of the self-gambling ban. He says the first and last name of an individual was transposed and that account was entered improperly on the self-exclusion list. Ohorilko says that allowed the person to sign up for a players club card at the casino.

The casino was fined five-thousand dollars for that violation. Diamond Jo Worth was fined 20-thousand dollars for an underage violation after an 18-year old entered the casino with two adults. “The security officer posted did not challenge the underage individual — specifically did not request I-D. And that individual was on the gaming floor for a little over an hour and had gambled at some slot machines,” Ohorilko explains. He says the two violations were treated separately because they fall under different rules.  He says the self-exclusion violation was the first offense and those violations start at five-thousand, and the first-offense underage gambling fine starts at 20-thousand dollars.

The other violation involved a late audit by the FanDuel sports gambling company. “This particular violation had to do with the daily fantasy sports operation. The annual audits are required by statute and need to be submitted within 180 days of the end of the fiscal year,” Ohorilko says.  He says the audit was submitted 74 days late and the company was fined 20-thousand dollars. The Racing and Gaming Commission took the action at their meeting in Council Bluffs.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports two women were injured during a near head-on collision that occurred at around 3:45-p.m. Thursday, at the intersection of Highway 71 and 110th Street. Authorities say Debra Bender was driving a 2012 Chrysler 200 northbound on Highway 71 in the slow lane, while a non-contact vehicle was making a left turn onto westbound 110th Street. A 2000 GMC 1500 pickup driven by Gary Johnson, of rural Villisca, began to turn left (east). When Johnson failed to see Bender’s car in time, the right front side of his pickup struck the right front side of the Chrysler.

Debra Bender and her passenger were transported to the hospital. The passenger was subsequently transported by helicopter to the UNMC in Omaha. Authorities say Gary Johnson was not injured in the crash. No citations were issued. Both vehicles were declared a total loss. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department was assisted at the scene by personnel from the Grant, Griswold and Villisca Fire and Rescue Departments.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig is dismissing a national environmental group’s report that cited ag run-off in ranking Iowa’s Raccoon River as one of the nation’s most-endangered rivers. “That so-called report was a bit of propaganda, I think. It was obviously a Washington, D.C based advocacy organization,” Naig says. “They can go out and say what they want to, but what they talked about related to Iowa is not based in fact. We’re moving in the right direction.”

The American Rivers report described the farm chemicals and manure that drain into the Raccoon River as a grave threat to using the river as a source for drinking water. Naig says there’s recently been an acceleration of the voluntary nutrient reduction strategy state officials unveiled in 2013 to promote rather than require conservation practices on Iowa farms. “We’ve got a long ways to go and I don’t sugar coat that at all…The strategy calls for a 45% reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus loss off of the Iowa landscape,” Naig says. “That’s a big number, not easily achieved. It’s going to time and focus, but the evidence is moving in the right direction.”

About two million acres of Iowa farmland is now planted with oats, rye and other so-called cover crops that hold soils in place. Naig says it took 15 years to reconstruct 100 wetlands and another 50 are currently under development. The number of filtration systems called “bioreactors” in Iowa will double after one project in Polk County is completed later this year. Meanwhile, the C-E-O of the drinking water system for half a million central Iowans says there will be a catastrophe if the state doesn’t find a way to more quickly reduce ag pollution in the Raccoon River.

Naig says the Des Moines Water Works is providing safe drinking water now and every indication is it will be able to do so in the future. “Last year, 2020 — a year unlike any other in terms of disruption to all of our lives, we set a record in terms of conservation adoption in the state of Iowa,” Naig says. “Even in that environment, more farmers, more landowners, more focus, more resources, more partners doing more on the ground than at any other time in our state’s history.”

Naig made his comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight (Friday) at 7:30 on Iowa P-B-S.