SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 19-year-old man convicted of stabbing two people to death last year in Sioux City will be sentenced next month. The Sioux City Journal reports Tran Walker faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole when he’s sentenced Sept. 20 in Woodbury County District Court.

A judge last week convicted Walker in a bench trial of two counts of first-degree murder for killing 17-year-old Paiten Sullivan and 18-year-old Felipe Negron Jr.
Police say Walker was in a car with the two on Jan. 28 last year when he first stabbed Sullivan, then Negron when Negron tried to intervene.

Sullivan and Walker had recently broken up before her death. Sullivan’s stepmother testified that Walker and Sullivan broke up because he didn’t want her to finish school.

ORANGE CITY, Iowa (AP) — A religious activist accused of burning four LGBTQ children’s books that he checked out of a library in Iowa has been convicted of criminal mischief and fined.

Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle says 63-year-old Paul Robert Dorr, of Ocheyedan, was found guilty of the misdemeanor Tuesday and ordered to pay $125 in fines and court costs.

Dorr posted a video to Facebook in October in which he denounced the Orange City library for having the books and threw them into a burning barrel.

Dorr had fought to have the charge dismissed, saying he was singled out for prosecution because of his anti-gay message. A judge rejected his argument in July, saying the only message being sent to him was “that he cannot burn books that do not belong to him.”

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man convicted earlier this year of kidnapping and trying to kill a woman by intentionally wrecking the car they were in has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Buchanan County Attorney’s Office says 55-year-old Ronald Dean Share was sentenced Tuesday to life for kidnapping, plus 25 years for attempted murder and another 15 years for other counts.

Prosecutors say Share kidnapped a woman who had a restraining order against him and told her he was going to kill her by crashing the car he forced her into. She called 911, and when police spotted the car and tried to stop it, Share led them on a high-speed chase. Police say he then intentionally drove into a guardrail at about 90 mph, causing serious injuries to the woman and himself.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state has settled a complaint with a Cedar Rapids woman and her son who threatened to file an excessive force lawsuit over a May 2018 incident in which officers in pursuit of a suspect entered a home and restrained several people.

The State Appeal Board on Tuesday approved a $100,000 settlement with Shashona Wright, the mother of Lamonte O’Neal, after they threatened to file a federal lawsuit claiming O’Neal was injured.

O’Neal, who was a juvenile at the time, was restrained by one of three troopers who entered a Cedar Rapids home while assisting Cedar Rapids police in pursuit of a suspect with outstanding arrest warrants.

The state denies injuries occurred. Assistant Attorney General Jeff Peterzalek says the suspect ran into a house and officers followed, encountering several individuals in a chaotic situation. Peterzalek says the state believes the amount is a fair settlement to avoid costly litigation.

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley will hold town meetings in Union County on August 14 and Page County on August 15 as a part of his annual 99 county meetings.

Grassley is in his 39th year of holding meetings in every one of Iowa’s 99 counties. Grassley has held at least one meeting in every county, every year since he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate. He takes and answers questions on any subject raised.

These town meetings are open to the public:

• Wednesday, August 14, 2019 – Union County Town Meeting, 3 p.m. – 4 p.m., Afton Community Center, 240 N. Douglas St., Afton
• Thursday, August 15, 2019 – Page County Town Meeting, 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m., Page County Courthouse, 112 E. Main St., Clarinda

The Harlan Police Department reports seven arrests. The following persons were arrested on Monday, August 5th:

• 32-year old Richard Lewis Marshall, of Persia, was arrested following a search warrant.  Marshall was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with invasion of privacy and obstructing prosecution.
• 53-year old Michael Mario Morelli, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for a possible domestic situation.  Morelli was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with domestic abuse assault, assault on a peace officer and interference with official acts.
• 30-year old Jonathan Wayne Sparks, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for an assault.  Sparks was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with assault causing serious injury.

Arrested Saturday, August 3rd was:

• 37-year old Kristina Marie Namanny, of Harlan, for violation of a no contact order.  Namanny was transported to the Shelby County Jail.
• 44-year old Jason Michael Lassen, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for a disturbance.  Lassen was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with public intoxication.

On August 2nd, Harlan Police arrested 47-year old Jamie Dean Anderson, of Harlan, on an active Jasper County warrant.  Anderson was transported to the Shelby County Jail. And, on July 30th, 29-year old Jacob Brady Scheffler, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant.  He was transported to the Shelby County Jail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — At least six Democratic presidential candidates are scheduled to attend a forum in Iowa on Saturday organized by gun control advocates in the wake of two mass shootings that killed 31 people in Texas and Ohio. The forum, sponsored by the groups Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, will be held in Des Moines while many Democratic White House hopefuls are in Iowa to campaign. Already scheduled to attend are Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, as well as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, former Housing Secretary Julian Castro and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Everytown’s president, John Feinblatt, says, “There has never been a more urgent time for 2020 candidates to tell Americans exactly how they will address gun violence.”

The Atlantic Police Department reports four arrests dating back to July 30th. Yesterday (Monday), 25-year old Jessica Mack, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear in court. And, 31-year old Kayla Milam, of Atlantic, was arrested Monday for Theft in the 5th Degree (Shoplifting). Milam was cited and then released at the scene.

On Sunday, 46-year old Sara Korf, of Yuma, Colorado, was arrested for Public Intoxication and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, on July 30th, 38-year old David Thomas, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear on a Harassment in the 2nd Degree, charge.

With the exception of Kayla Milam, each of the other subjects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

A new, nonresident user fee will take effect August 15 at Lake Manawa and Waubonsie state parks. The daily nonresident vehicle permit is $5. Nonresidents can go to one of the five self-registration kiosks at Lake Manawa or three self-registration kiosks at Waubonsie to register and pay for the daily permit. The daily permit is valid for the entire day in which it is purchased. The daily permit is not required for nonresidents who are registered campers, cabin renters, or who have rented a day-use lodge or shelter. The daily fee is also not required for nonresidents who go to the beach and pay the beach admission at Lake Manawa.

Nonresidents may also purchase an annual vehicle permit for $40. The annual permits are available for purchase only through the park office during posted hours. DNR is working to have the annual permit available for purchase through the online park reservation system in mid-September. For more information about the nonresident user fee, please visit www.iowadnr.gov/parks or call Lake Manawa State Park at 712.366.0220 or Waubonsie State Park at 712.382.2786.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Tuesday), approved one of two matters to come before them. The Board approved a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) agreement with Schneider Geospatial, for additional, as needed services. The company was already under contract for other GIS services. The Board spent a considerable amount of time discussing proposals from Schneider and Midland GIS Services, before ultimately relying on the wishes of those in the courthouse, who use those services the most, including the County Assessor and Treasurer.

Cass County Board of Supervisors mtg 8-6-19

The Board tabled action on a request for funding, with regard to a road project at Cold Springs State Park, near Lewis. Conservation Director Micah Lee and the Conservation Board requested the 30-year old road inside the park to be asphalted with a two-inch deep overlay, as a tag-on to work planned for the Lewis Road, that Henningsen Construction will be working on. Micah Lee said the project was estimated to cost $109,000. He said after speaking with Cass County Engineer Charles Bechtold, the formal bid process was not needed, but they would get a couple of more quotes.

He said a pre-construction meeting would likely take place by the 14th and the final bid quotes should be in by the 16th. Those numbers would be available for the Board’s meeting on August 20th. Board member John Hartkopf questioned the legality of how bids are obtained, because it may not be classified as “Maintenance.” Instead, it may be “rebuilding.” He said case law shows it should go through a bid-letting process, because it could be challenged in court. Hartkopf said he’s all for using local contractors (Such as Henningsen’s), but he’s also trying to protect the interests of not only the County, but the contractors themselves.

The bottom line, he said is that the project has to be bid, if it’s not maintenance. The discussion then turned to whether or not the road is an “Ancillary” function of the State and not the County. In the end, the Board suggested Lee try and divide-up the project to include just the inside camping area, for now, but to go ahead and get the quotes as planned.If one portion of the project is taken out of the equation, that would drop the cost down to about $93,000, with the idea being to hold-off on the remaining section of road (which is not as bad as the camping area road), to be worked on at a later date.

Board Chair Steve Baier summed-up the Board’s thoughts on the project. He said the consensus is that it is a worthy project, but they want to make sure it’s done above the table and legal.