(Radio Iowa) — Woodbury County supervisor Jeremy Taylor is resigning after his residency was canceled last week when the county auditor ruled Taylor now lives in a new home outside the county district he was elected to serve.  He says he plans to continue to be a candidate for the 4th District Congressional seat. Taylor did not attend the supervisor meeting Tuesday. Taylor a Republican, says he doesn’t agree with the decision on his residency.

“We did all that we could to balance the needs of the county supervisors district and the residency requirement where I was elected to serve with a home that was suited to our large family of eight,” Taylor says. “I want to make clear that I sought legal counsel early on in the decision process — and was given some assurance that I had met the legal requirements” He had announced he was going to fight the decision in court — but says he does not to subject his family to a long legal battle.

d)”And while I believe that there may be a better verdict for us on appeal — I have also come to know that that is going to cost us tens of thousands of dollars. And I think that my family has gone through enough in this,” according to Taylor. Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill and County Attorney Patrick Jennings will meet Monday to determine a time frame for a special election to replace Taylor.

In an update to our earlier report, Council Bluffs Police Friday afternoon identified a suspect who had fled from Police during a traffic stop Thursday night. Authorities say 57-year-old Jerry Dean Phipps, of Council Bluffs was charged with OWI 1st Offense, Eluding, Disobedience to Police Officer, Reckless Driving, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

(Original story w/name now added):

A traffic stop at around 9-p.m. Thursday in Council Bluffs resulted in a brief pursuit and the driver being taken into custody. Authorities say after an officer stopped a vehicle for a simple traffic violation, the officer suspected the driver – later identified as 57-year old Jerry Dean Phipps – to be intoxicated, and called for a back-up officer. Before the second officer could arrive, Phipps fled in the vehicle westbound on 2nd Avenue and hit “stop-sticks” that were deployed at 28th Street. The vehicle continued to elude officers, heading southbound on 28th St and eastbound on 9th Ave.

In the 1300 block of 9th Ave officers performed a P.I.T. maneuver on the vehicle, causing it to slide off the road into a business parking lot. When Phipps refused to exit the vehicle, a less than lethal bean-bag shotgun was deployed, and the vehicle window was shot out. A Police K-9 was on scene but Phipps became cooperative and exited the vehicle on his own power. He was taken into custody without further incident.

(Radio Iowa) — Officials in the Iowa Department of Public Safety want to analyze blood samples from drivers who die in SINGLE-VEHICLE accidents, to determine if drug or alcohol-use contributed to the crash. Chandlor Collins, a policy advisor in the agency, says Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan are already collecting this data.

“As more states continue to either legalize medical marijuana or recreational marijuana, just having the data regardless of where you fall on those issues is just going to allow for better decisions to be made,” Collins says. About 70 fatal wrecks in Iowa last year involved a single driver. Collins says blood samples in those instances are rarely, if ever, collected to determine if the driver was impaired because there’s no liability issue since no one else was injured or killed in the accident.

“Data out there is saying there’s more drug-impaired driving than I think a lot of us as lay citizens think that is currently is occurring,” Collins says. A senate subcommittee is working on a bill that would require county medical examiners to draw blood from drivers killed in a single-vehicle wreck. Senators say there are issues, like proper training, to address.

(Radio Iowa) — A spokesman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the backlog of applications from felons seeking restoration of their voting rights has been cleared. Reynolds announced earlier this month that she was working with her staff as well as staff in two state agencies to review dozens of applications. This past Tuesday, Reynolds had reviewed 300 and had another 100 to go.

“We are going to make it. We are going to get it done.” And this (Friday) afternoon, the governor’s spokesman announced all the pending applications had been reviewed. It means about 400 more Iowans now have the ability to participate in Monday night’s Caucuses. Iowa is now the only state that requires paroled felons to apply to the governor for restoration of their voting rights.

A year ago, Reynolds asked legislators to set the wheels in motion so Iowa’s constitution can be changed so voting rights are automatically restored. It’s part of what she calls her “second chance” agenda. Reynolds sometimes calls the people who’ve applied to have their voting rights restored and she’s talked publicly about those conversations.

“The stories continue to just be really inspiring,” Reynolds says. This past Tuesday, Reynolds told reporters she a young woman whose voting rights were restored this month sent her a thank you note after the two spoke by phone.  “It’s always kind of the same theme,” Reynolds said of the notes she gets from paroled felons who tell the governor they’re working hard to turn their lives around.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County today (Friday), arrested 26-year old Tyler Jacob Broadway, of Clarinda, on numerous Page County warrants. The warrants were for: Stalking; Domestic Abuse Assault by impeding the flow of air / blood; Theft 4th Degree; False Imprisonment, and three counts of Violation of No contact / protective orders.

Tyler Broadway

Broadway was being held in the Page County Jail without bond, pending future court proceedings.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Thursday, arrested a Council Bluffs man on three Page County warrants. 31-year old Nathan Andrew Wilcoxson was taken into custody at the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, on warrants of Violation of Probation.

Wilcoxson was transported to the Page County Jail where he was being held on $45,000 bond, pending further court proceedings.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A top Iowa law enforcement official has resigned after an unexplained 3 1/2-month paid leave that coincided with a state human resources investigation. A state lawyer says assistant Division of Criminal Investigation director Terry Cowman resigned and left the state’s employment on Monday after a 25-year career in public safety. Cowman and a subordinate were removed from duty in October, shortly after an annual training conference for police officers that they helped host. State officials have refused to explain why.

Department of Public Safety lawyer Catherine Lucas says Cowman resigned voluntarily and not because he otherwise would have been fired.