(Radio Iowa) – A second person charged in a New Year’s Eve shooting that claimed the life of a Sioux City girl has agreed to a plea bargain in Woodbury County District Court. Twenty-year-old Christopher Morales pleaded guilty Tuesday, to second-degree murder, and three counts of reckless use of a firearm. in the death of 18-year-old Mia Kritis. Morales was originally charged with first-degree murder, and in the plea hearing admitting to firing at the home where Kritis was attending a party.

” I discharged my weapon and I injured a couple of people,” Morales says. He said he fired the weapon nine or ten times. Morales agreed to a 50-year sentence on the second-degree murder charge and another five years on the reckless use of firearms counts to be served consecutively.

He will serve 35 years before he is eligible for parole, with sentencing set for June 30th. Another man, Anthony Bauer, also accepted a plea deal on a second-degree murder charge. Christopher’s brother Carlos Morales, is set to go to trial on August 24th.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 24-year-old Sabrina Marie Kammerer of Red Oak at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on a valid warrant for Harassment 2nd Degree. Kammerer was arrested at 106 West Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak and taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa ranks ninth overall for child well-being in an annual report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Kids Count report ranks states on economic well-being, education and health, as well as family and community. Anne Discher is executive director of Common Good Iowa, which worked on the state’s data. She says despite Iowa’s high ranking, there’s still a lot of work to be done for children and families.

“In 2019, there were 92,000 kids in Iowa that lived in households with an income below the poverty line,” Discher says. “For a family of three, that’s around $32,000 a year and that is families living with very low incomes.” Discher says Iowa’s top-ten ranking is deceptive, as more than one in ten households with children report being food insecure.

“The data is much higher for many groups of color in our community,” Discher says. “Thirty percent of black households with children, 18% of Latino households, 21% of households identifying as multiracial or of some other race, reported that they sometimes or often did not have enough food to eat.” The report recommends permanently expanding the federal child tax credit and strengthening state and local policies affecting families.

(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds says she’ll appeal an Iowa district court judge’s decision that blocks a law requiring a 24-hour waiting period for abortions in Iowa. Republican legislators and Governor Kim Reynolds approved the law in 2020, but it never took effect due to the lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The decision today is really essential for protection abortion access for Iowans.” That’s Rita Bettis Austen, legal director for the A-C-L-U of Iowa. Reynolds says the bill was designed to protect human life and she’s confident her appeal will succeed in making the policy state law. Under the policy, women seeking an abortion would make two appointments with a doctor, one to sign a form and a second for the abortion. Bettis Austen says the district court’s ruling found the requirement similar to the 72-hour waiting period the Iowa Supreme Court struck down in 2018.

“Both laws require Iowans who are seeking abortion care to have a medically unnecessary second trip to the clinic before they’re able to access their care,” Bettis Austen says. Jamie Burch Elliott, Iowa director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood North Central States, says a law requiring two separate appointments would set up obstacles that could delay an abortion for days or weeks.  “Iowans seeking abortion must find reliable transportation, sometimes drive for hours take time off work, arrange child care among other things,” she says, “and then they must also find a time that works with the provider’s scheduling.”

Burch Elliott says a two-appointment requirement could have put many women past the 20th week of pregnancy. Current state law bans abortions after 20 weeks. The district court ruling also notes the new abortion limitation was added to another bill on the final weekend of the 2020 legislative session. “Anti-abortion lawmakers in Des Moines rushed this medically-unnecessary and harmful legislation, mind you, in the dead of the night,” Burch Elliot says.

In 2018, the state Supreme Court declared a 72-hour waiting period unconstitutional. The justice who wrote the opinion died in 2019 and Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has since appointed a majority of the justices on the court. The A-C-L-U of Iowa’s legal director says she’ll argue the precedent of that 2018 ruling still stands. Reynolds, in a written statement, says she’s confident of a win when the case reached the Iowa Supreme Court.

(Update 12:25-p.m.) Atlantic Rescue and Cass EMS were dispatched to a single-vehicle unknown injury accident south of Interstate 80. According to dispatch reports, the accident happened in the bridge construction zone on Olive Street, south of Chicago Road, at around 12:14-p.m. Atlantic Rescue was later told to disregard.

A second unknown injury accident took place a few minutes later south of Anita, on Highway 148. It took place between Galveston and Glendale Road. Anita Rescue was responding to the scene.

Additional details are currently not available on either crash.

(Radio Iowa) – A major provider of vision care in the state says it’s dealing with a ransomware attack — and won’t be paying up. Wolfe Eye Clinic says it will be notifying approximately 500,000 current and former patients that their personal information may have been inappropriately accessed as a part of a cyber-related incident. The Clinic discovered a cyber attack on its systems in early February. Chief Financial Officer Luke Bland states the company responded to the attack to determine just how bad the breach was.

According to the news release, “The threat actors demanded a ransom, which was not paid.” The full impact of the attack was not really known until late May and the forensic investigation was completed earlier this month. Wolfe Eye Clinic says it has not been informed of any identity theft issues as of yet. A website and a toll free number has been set up for anyone who has questions: https://response.idx.us/wolfe  1-833-909-3906

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports the Sheriff’s Office K9 “Dart” has received a bullet and stab preventative vest, thanks to a charitable donation from the non-profit organization Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.  Dart’s vest was sponsored by Diane Schaaf of Raleigh, NC., and embroidered with the sentiment “This gift of protection by Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.”

Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., established in 2009, is a 501c(3) non-profit whose mission is to provide bullet and stab-protective vests and other assistance to dogs of law enforcement and related agencies throughout the country. Since 2009, the organization has  donated:

• More than 4,301 K9 ballistic vests
• 1,800 K9 opioid reversal NARCAN Kits
• More than $190,000 of K9 medical insurance premiums through our Healthcare for K9 Heroes program
• Over $76,500 in K9 medical first aid kits
• Three Chevy Tahoes custom fitted for a K9 Unit valued at over $50,000 each

Guthrie County K9″Dart”

All of Vested Interest in K9s programs are made possible with funds raised through contributions, grants and fundraising events. Learn more HERE.

Authorities in eastern Iowa’s Linn County, Tuesday, identified a Sheriff’s Deputy who was shot multiple times when responding to a report of a robbery at a Casey’s General Store in Coggon. Officials said Deputy William Halverson, a seven-year veteran with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, remains at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in serious, but stable condition. Deputies responded to an alarm call at the Casey’s General Store in Coggon at about 10:19 p.m. on Sunday.

In a news release, authorities said Halverson was shot multiple times by a suspect later identified as 36-year-old Stanley Donahue. KCRG reports Donahue fled in a vehicle, but another Linn County Deputy saw him and a vehicle pursuit ensued until the suspect later crashed the vehicle. Donahue reportedly fled on foot, prompting a manhunt involving several law enforcement agencies from across eastern Iowa that lasted more than 12 hours. Agencies from across eastern Iowa assisted in the search.

The manhunt ended when a KCRG-TV crew spotted a man who matched the suspect description walking along Highway 13 near Coggon at about 12:40 p.m. Monday. Donahue was taken into custody without incident. Donahue is currently in the Linn County jail.