More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ordered a jury to return to deliberations today (Thursday) in the case of an Iowa woman accused of killing of her former boyfriend in 1992. The Muscatine Journal reports that the jury leader told the judge Wednesday that the jury was having difficulty reaching a unanimous verdict in the murder case against Annette Cahill. Prosecutors say she used a baseball bat to kill 22-year-old Corey Lee Wieneke, whose body was found in October 1992 on his bedroom floor in rural West Liberty.

Judge Patrick McElyea sent the jury members back to the jury room, and he conferred with lawyers for both sides. He had the jury members returned to the courtroom and asked them to return Thursday morning and “continue to engage in open-minded discussion and persuasion.” A witness came forward in 2017, saying Cahill had implicated herself in the death in 1992, prompting authorities to re-examine the case. Cahill is now a mother of three adult children and a grandmother.

Cahill’s first trial ended in a mistrial in March 2019 when that jury couldn’t reach a verdict.

Police in Creston report the arrest Wednesday afternoon, of 60-year old Steven Nutt. The Creston man was arrested in the 500 block of W. Taylor, for Driving While Barred. He was later released from the Union County Jail, on a $2,000 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.3MB)

Subscribe: RSS

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a loaded gun was found in a student’s backpack at an Iowa City school. Police say officers responding Wednesday morning to reports about a gun at Tate High School found the student outside. They seized his backpack and, after obtaining a search warrant, searched it and found the weapon. Police say no threats were made to staffers or students. Charges against the boy are pending.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man early this morning, on an assault charge. Authorities say 33-year old Brian Paul Anderson, of Hamburg, was taken into custody at around 4-a.m. in the 200 block of E. Grimes Street, for Simple Assault. Anderson was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds, Wednesday, issued a disaster proclamation for Fremont, Harrison, Mills, and Pottawattamie counties as a result of renewed flooding along the Missouri River. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of the flooding and activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program for qualifying residents, along with the Disaster Case Management Program, for those four counties. The proclamation also waives certain competitive bidding requirements for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) in order to conduct emergency repairs or restoration work to flood-impacted roadways.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level or a maximum annual income of $41,560 for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and temporary housing expenses. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery. The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

Disaster Case Management is a program to address serious needs to overcome a disaster-related hardship, injury or adverse condition. Disaster case managers work with clients to create a disaster recovery plan and provide guidance, advice and referral to obtain a service or resource. There are no income eligibility requirements for this program; it closes 180 days from the date of the governor’s proclamation. For information on the Disaster Case Management Program, contact your local community action association or visit www.iowacommunityaction.org.

The proclamation temporarily suspends the DOT’s competitive bidding requirements for emergency construction, repairs, or improvements of roadways or bridges in order to restore safe and adequate transportation to the disaster-impacted counties. Under this proclamation the cost of the necessary work must exceed $1 million. Iowa residents of counties impacted by the recent severe weather are asked to report damage to help local and state officials better understand the damage sustained. Damage to property, roads, utilities and other storm-related information may be reported. This information will be collected by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and shared with local emergency management agencies.

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds says it is too early to assess how much more state money may be needed for flood recovery. “We’re going to continue to work with the federal government, work the Corps, work with FEMA, work with HUD to see what the total cost is,” Reynolds says. “What’s the federal share? What’s the state’s share?”

An initial estimate of flood damage released by state officials this spring topped one-point-six BILLION. Reynolds said late last month there had not been an updated estimate. The governor does not believe it’s necessary to hold a special legislative session this fall so the Iowa House and Senate can vote to appropriate more state tax dollars for flood-related projects. The governor says those decisions can wait until the Iowa legislature reconvenes in 2020.

“It’s a fine line because if you rush in and pay too much of it, then the federal government doesn’t think that they have a role in it and they do,” Reynolds says. “, so we have to balance all aspects moving forward and taking advantage of the dollars they have available for the levees or for the buy-out.”

This spring, the Iowa legislature set aside 15 million dollars in state funds for flood-related projects that are getting federal money, but which require local matching funds, too. Earlier this week, a state board distributed that 15-million dollars to the communities of Hamburg, Hornick, Pacific Junction and Freedonia as well as Mills County.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa and Iowa State athletics departments have issued a joint statement about “rude, vulgar and, in some cases, violent behavior” directed at the Hawkeye and Cyclone marching bands during their rivalry games.

The statement indicated both the Hawkeye and Cyclone marching bands “have been the target of unacceptable behavior at football games” in Ames and Iowa City in recent years. The athletic directors said everyone should be embarrassed when students in the bands don’t feel safe when performing at an away game. The athletics directors said fans are “a significant part of the solution” by providing a “safe stage” for both bands inside the stadiums and showing respect to the musicians.

On Monday, University of Iowa athletics director Gary Barta issued a written statement about “inappropriate actions” toward band members and staff during Saturday’s Iowa-Iowa State football game in Ames, indicating an investigation was underway.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

UNDATED (AP) — The state of Iowa has released documents that appear to support the claims of two men who said they were just doing their job testing security when they were arrested on suspicion of breaking into a courthouse. The men were working for Colorado-based cybersecurity company Coalfire when they were arrested inside the Dallas County Courthouse on Sept. 10. The state has said it hired Coalfire to test only the security of electronic access to court records, not to force “entry into a building.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 200 Iowa scientists from 38 Iowa colleges and universities have signed on to a climate change statement that warns of “sobering extreme heat projections” for the Midwest that will put people, livestock and pets at risk. The statement released Wednesday says he World Meteorological Association identified July as the hottest month in more than 140 years of record-keeping.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor says an Iowa man accused of using a corn rake to kill his wife was irate over her affair and fearful he’d lose their farm if she divorced him. Testimony resumed Wednesday after opening statements for the trial of 43-year-old Todd Mullis. He’s charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of 39-year-old Amy Mullis on Nov. 10 at the farm west of Dubuque. He claimed she accidentally fell on a corn rake, but prosecutors say evidence showed she’d been stabbed in the back with it.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bernie Sanders’ Iowa political director has departed his 2020presidential campaign, leaving him without a key staffer in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. Jess Mazour was announced as Sanders’ Iowa political director in March and was let go from the team in recent weeks. A Sanders aide on Wednesday confirmed Mazour’s departure on condition of anonymity. The aide wasn’t authorized to discuss personnel matters.