CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Back in Iowa as a full-fledged presidential candidate, Democrat Elizabeth Warren took aim at President Donald Trump on Sunday, saying he “may not even be a free person” by next year’s election. The Massachusetts senator’s comments came a day after Trump renewed his criticism of her past claims of Native American heritage. In a tweet, Trump called Warren “Pocahontas” and said he would see her “on the campaign TRAIL.”

The White House didn’t explain what the president was referring to in his tweet, though some Democrats accused him of making light of the Trail of Tears — the forced removal of Cherokee and several other Native American tribes from their lands in the 1830s. Warren’s campaign wouldn’t say what the senator believes Trump was referencing.

Warren has largely avoided talking about Trump since she began testing the waters for a campaign more than a month ago. During her first of three events Sunday in eastern Iowa, Warren said the president shouldn’t be allowed to dictate the direction of the campaign with divisive attacks. “Every day there is a racist tweet, a hateful tweet — something really dark and ugly,” she said. “What are we as candidates, as activists, as the press, going to do about it? We’re going to chase after those every day?”

She continued: “Here’s what bothers me. By the time we get to 2020, Donald Trump may not even be president. In fact, he may not even be a free person.” Warren didn’t explain her comment, though she appeared to be referring to the multiple investigations that have shadowed Trump’s presidency. Asked later if she supported impeaching Trump, Warren was noncommittal, saying only that special counsel Robert Mueller needs to be allowed to finish his investigation and make his report public.

“If we go down that path, we’re going to need to help pull this country together and have as many people as possible understand it was a legitimate process based on facts,” she said.
Trump has not been charged with any crimes, but several of his former advisers have been pleaded guilty to a variety of charges.

Warren formally launched her White House bid Saturday in Massachusetts, grounding her campaign in the populist calls to combat economic inequality that have long made her a favorite of liberals. In Cedar Rapids, she said sweeping changes are needed to rebalance an economy that she now favors the wealthy at the expense of middle- and lower-income Americans.

Warren has struggled to shake the controversy surrounding her past claims to Native American heritage. She’s apologized for claiming Native American identity on multiple occasions early in her career. Trump has frequently taken digs at the senator by calling her Pocahontas, a reference to the native woman who lived in present-day Virginia in the 1600s and agreed to marry an English colonist to help ensure peace and protect her people.

Warren has said the story of Pocahontas long has “been taken away by powerful people who twisted it to serve their own purposes.” Voters in Cedar Rapids did not ask Warren about the controversy during a question-and-answer session, focusing instead on her stances on issues including tariffs and student loan debt.

Police in Red Oak, this (Sunday) morning, arrested 42-year old Yousef Ali Khan, of Red Oak. He was taken into custody at around 2:35-a.m. in the 600 block of N. 5th Street, for Public Intoxication. Khan was being held at the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center in a $300 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:35 a.m. CST

ELDORA, Iowa (AP) — Video taken on the cellphone of a woman accused of abusing her boyfriend’s young son shows the boy screaming in agony that he needed to use the bathroom before he eventually wets himself. The Courier reports that prosecutors showed the cellphone video of the 8-year-old boy Friday during the kidnapping trial of 40-year-old Traci Tyler. Tyler and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Alex Shadlow, are each charged with kidnapping in the abuse case.

ASBURY, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of water-soaked library books in eastern Iowa are in a deep-freeze while officials figure out how to save the publications. The Telegraph-Herald reports the books were damaged Feb. 1 when a pipe burst in the Dubuque County Library’s branch in Asbury. When books get wet, they must be frozen within hours to prevent the growth of mold. The books were first moved to a refrigerated semi-trailer provided by Hy-Vee and then carried to another trailer provided by Hirschbach Motor Lines.

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Two men have been arrested after being accused of leading police in northern Iowa on a chase reaching speeds of more than 100 mph in near-blizzard conditions. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports the chase happened Thursday night after a Cerro Gordo County sheriff’s deputy tried to stop a car reported as stolen. Officials say the car fled through the town of Clear Lake as high winds whipped up fallen snow and caused blizzard-like conditions, leading to its crash.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Monticello man has been sentenced to prison for robbing an eastern Iowa bank on his birthday. Federal prosecutors say 46-year-old Joseph Kripner was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to five years in federal prison. Authorities say he robbed the Security State Bank in Springville on his birthday, June 1, getting away with nearly $4,000 after showing his handgun to a teller. Kripner’s distinctive tattoos helped authorities zero in on him.

ELDORA, Iowa (AP) — Video taken on the cellphone of a woman accused of abusing her  boyfriend’s young son shows the boy screaming in agony that he needed to use the bathroom.
The Courier reports that prosecutors showed the cellphone video of the 8-year-old boy Friday during the kidnapping trial of 40-year-old Traci Tyler. In the footage, the child is seen dressed in pajamas in a dining room as he screams and holds his groin before wetting himself minutes later.

Tyler and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Alex Shadlow, are each charged with kidnapping. They are being tried separately. The couple is accused of locking the boy in the basement for at least nine hours a day during the summer of 2017. Investigators say the boy was forced to sleep on the concrete and use a tin cup as a toilet. The couple argued that’s because they had trouble with him urinating in the house.

Testimony in Tyler’s trial is set to resume Tuesday.

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department report officers were dispatched at around 1:15-p.m. Saturday, to 1100 South Shore Drive to the Missouri River boat ramp, where a vehicle was found partially submerged in the river.

They located a 4-door vehicle in the water, stuck by the ice and snow. Council Bluffs Fire Department personnel were able to check inside and found it unoccupied. Arrow Towing successfully pulled the vehicle out of the water after about 3 hours.

The vehicle, a silver Dodge Intrepid, was determined to have been stolen out of Fremont, Nebraska. Authorities said they do not know why the vehicle was in the lake nor is there any suspect/driver information at this time.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker says having been a big city mayor distinguishes him from his rivals for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Asked during a campaign stop in Marshalltown what separates him from fellow Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, he said it’s that he’s “run something.”

Booker was mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013 before being elected to the U.S. Senate. He says the experience running a troubled urban center during a financial crisis would help him as president.

Harris, a senator from California, was attorney general of her state for eight years before her 2016 election to the Senate. Warren, a Massachusetts senator, was a law school professor and a leading advocate for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before entering the Senate.

ASBURY, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of water-soaked library books in eastern Iowa are in a deep-freeze while officials figure out how to save the publications. The Telegraph-Herald reports the books were damaged Feb. 1 when a pipe burst in the Dubuque County Library’s branch in Asbury. Officials estimate about 10 percent of the branch’s 18,000 books became soaked.

When books get wet, they must be frozen within hours to prevent the growth of mold. The books were first moved to a refrigerated semi-trailer provided by Hy-Vee, which could accommodate the books for a few days. About 50 volunteers then carried the books to another trailer provided by Hirschbach Motor Lines, a Dubuque-based transportation company.

“I am ecstatic that they stepped up to help,” Library district Director Michael Wright said. “It didn’t surprise me that much. I know we live in a terrific community where people want to help.” Wright said some of the books will be dried with fans, some might go to a specialized freeze dryer and some will be thrown away.

Crews were making repairs at the library, and Wright said it probably will remain closed through February and maybe longer. Kyle Alexander, operations manager at Hirschbach, said it took some work to make the trailer available, but he’s happy the company could help.

“Whenever you lose an asset, there are some adjustments you have to make,” he said. “But this was a high priority. It was very important for us.”

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Two men have been arrested after being accused of leading police in northern Iowa on a chase reaching speeds of more than 100 mph in near-blizzard conditions. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports the chase happened Thursday night after a Cerro Gordo County sheriff’s deputy tried to stop a car reported as stolen.

Officials say the car fled through the town of Clear Lake as high winds whipped up fallen snow and caused blizzard-like conditions. Poor road conditions caused the driver to crash west of Clear Lake.
Police say 31-year-old Jared Scott Schneckloth, of Clear Lake, was charged with felony car theft, driving under suspension, speeding 100 mph in a 45 mph zone and several other counts.

Twenty-six-year-old passenger Dylan Patrick Dimig, of Schleswig, was charged with misdemeanor interference with official acts.

A former Cass County Attorney who was appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds as Fourth District Judge for Cass and eight other area counties in January, was sworn-in Friday afternoon at the Cass County Courthouse. Iowa Supreme Court Justice Susan Christensen, from Harlan, administered the Oath of Office to Michael Hooper in a ceremony held in the Courtroom at the Courthouse.

His appointment and swearing-in marks the first-time in recent years that a District Judge will have an office at the courthouse. Judge Hooper received his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and his law degree from Creighton University Law School.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, on Feb. 1^st, appointed Vanessa Strazdas, a private practice attorney from Omaha to fill Hoopers’ vacated Cass County Attorney seat. Strazdas, a member of the Iowa Bar, is a National Merit Scholar with a degree in Computer Science from the University of NE at Omaha.  She graduated with honors from Creighton Law School, where she concentrated her studies in Litigation and Criminal Law.  

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

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