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Iowa early News Headlines: Friday, Sept. 13, 2019

News

September 13th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

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

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Public defenders are seeking to stop representing an Iowa man charged with murder after revelations that their boss moonlights for a police department involved in the case. Lawyers with the special defense unit of the State Public Defender’s office said in a filing Wednesday that they now believe their representation of Jeffrey Stendrup is a conflict of interest. They have asked a judge for permission to withdraw from the case

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — Two men arrested on suspicion of breaking into an Iowa courthouse say they were hired to test the building’s alarm system. The Des Moines Register reports that the men were found in the Dallas County Courthouse early Wednesday after an alarm was tripped. The men told deputies they worked for the cybersecurity firm Coalfire and had been hired to test the courthouse alarm system, but court officials say they sought only to test the security of electronic records.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Police in southeastern Iowa have identified a man killed in a shootout with law enforcement officers. The Division of Criminal Investigation says 20-year-old Caleb Daniel Peterson, of Burlington, was the suspect killed in the exchange just before 1 a.m. Wednesday. No officers were injured. An autopsy has been ordered.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Drake men’s basketball player has been charged with an off-campus shooting that he says was accidental. Des Moines police say Tremell Murphy was charged Thursday with discharging a firearm inside city limits and making false reports to law enforcement. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. A university spokesman says Murphy has been removed from basketball activities. Murphy was a starting forward for the Bulldogs as a junior last year.

Fowler, Wong open with HRs, Cardinals beat Rockies 10-3

Sports

September 12th, 2019 by admin

DENVER (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals had the upper hand from the start on a day the ball was flying out of Coors Field.

Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong opened the game with successive home runs and the Cardinals connected five times in all, beating the Colorado Rockies 10-3 on Thursday.

Marcell Ozuna, Rangel Ravelo and Harrison Bader also homered for St. Louis, which holds a four-game lead over Chicago and Milwaukee atop the NL Central.

“A day game here, the ball always flies, but you’ve still got to put the barrel on it,” said Fowler, who spent the first six years of his career with Colorado. “It was good to get us started like that.”

Limited to a total of two runs in losing the first two games of the series at Coors Field, the Cardinals quickly bounced back.

Fowler drove the first pitch of the game from Tim Melville into the second deck and Wong followed with a drive that soared over the center field wall.

“I knew he wasn’t going to throw me many fastballs,” Fowler said. “I looked at some video and he was throwing a lot of sliders, so I just hit the first one (fastball).”

Nolan Arenado homered and doubled to drive in a pair of runs for Colorado. Josh Fuentes hit his first big league home run.

Miles Mikolas (9-13) went five innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked one.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Return home for a key series against NL Central Division rival Milwaukee with RHP Adam Wainwright (11-9, 4.16 ERA) slated to pitch Friday night’s opener. Wainwright’s 16 career wins against the Brewers are the most among active pitchers.

Rockies: RHP Jeff Hoffman (1-6, 7.06 ERA) is making his sixth start this season at home, where he has gone 1-3 with a 7.33 ERA as Colorado opens a series against San Diego. He’s bidding for his first win since May 29 against Arizona.

Two companies to sell short-term, high-deductible insurance plans in Iowa

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — State regulators have approved two short-term health insurance plans for sale in Iowa. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen says these are 364-day plans — and they are an option for healthy Iowans who cannot afford the premiums for individual policies being sold in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

“It’s a policy that will fit a niche in the market for people that have been priced out under the ACA plans,” Ommen says. The approved plans are sold by Golden Rule Insurance Company and United States Fire Insurance Company. “These two companies were the first two companies to submit those plans for our approval and we’ve reviewed them,” Ommen says, “and they do comply with Iowa law.”

In-hospital services will be covered, including surgeries and emergency room visits, as well as out-of-hospital care like going to the doctor — even if its via a video “tele-medicine” link. Customers will be able to renew policies for three years. The plans do have higher deductibles, however. “But for people that were priced out of the (Affordable Care Act) that have incomes over 400 percent of the federal poverty level, this coverage is affordable in terms of premium, where some of those ACA plans have simply skyrocketed out of reach for a lot of middle class Iowans,” Ommen says.

A family of four with an annual income of more than 99-thousand dollars do not qualify for the federal subsidies to buy health insurance. These short-term plans will be attractive to younger, healthy Iowans, but Ommen says Iowans with pre-existing conditions will not be able to buy these policies.

Ommen says until congress makes significant changes, the health insurance market will not function properly as younger, healthy adults will continue to balk at buying a health insurance policy at a price that’s equal to one offered to a 60 year old.

LOIS IRENE DARRINGTON, 91, of Griswold (Memorial Svc. at a later date)

Obituaries

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

LOIS IRENE DARRINGTON, 91, of Griswold, died Wed., Sept. 11th, at home. A public memorial service for LOIS DARRINGTON will be held at a later date. Rieken Duhn Funeral Home in Griswold is assisting the family with arrangements.

A private graveside service, for immediate family, will be held at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Council Bluffs.

LOIS DARRINGTON is survived by:

Her husband – Marvin Darrington.

Her sons – Don (Susan) Darrington, and Bruce (Barbara) Darrington.

4 grandchildren; 3 great grandchildren; her brother-in-law Byron (Jan) Darrington; and sisters-in-law, Vera Beamer and Esther Darrington.

Atlantic looks to bounce back at Clarinda

Sports

September 12th, 2019 by admin

The Atlantic Trojans (1-1) football team goes on the road for the second straight week, this time to face the Clarinda Cardinals (2-0). The Trojans will be looking to bounce back after giving up 35 unanswered points last week in a 35-13 loss at Creston. It was a mix of good and bad for the Trojans last week and Head Coach Mike McDermott said they need to eliminate mistakes and be more consistent to have success.

The Trojans face a Clarinda team that is off to strong start under new Head Coach Collin Bevins. The Cardinals shut out Red Oak 40-0 in week 2 and have gotten strong play from quarterback Michael Shull. He has thrown for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns, and also rushed for 52 yards and 5 more scores. Coach McDermott said they will need to be ready to face another confident quarterback like they faced last week against Eli Loudon.

The Cardinals have also gotten a nice season from running back Conner Brown who has rushed for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns so far this season. Atlantic will counter with strength at the running back spot as well. Senior Tyler Moen has rushed for 428 yards and 5 touchdowns already this season. Coach Mullenix said the Trojans missed some opportunities on offense last week and they need to make sure they execute when they get strong chances.

The Trojans and Cardinals are set for a 7:00pm kickoff on Friday night and we’ll have full coverage on KJAN. Chris Parks and Mike Smith will have the call from Clarinda starting with the Dvorak Tire and Service Pregame Show at 6:30pm. Catch our weekly pick ’em show “Who’s Gonna Win?” at 6:00pm. You can hear a full interview with Coach McDermott on “Trojan Preview” at 4:45pm. Catch all the action on AM 1220, FM 101.1, online on kjan.com and you can watch the game on KJANTV.

Cassell files nomination papers to run for Anita City Council

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns reports Pat Cassell has filed nomination papers to run for Anita City Council. There are now three people running for two seats on the Anita City Council: Cassell, Mark Harris and Kevin Littleton.

The City/School elections are Nov. 5th. The last day to file nomination papers is Sept. 19th.

Drake basketball player charged after off-campus shooting

News, Sports

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Drake men’s basketball player has been charged with an off-campus shooting that he says was accidental. Des Moines police say Tremell Murphy was charged Thursday with discharging a firearm inside city limits and making false reports to law enforcement.

A university spokesman says Murphy has been removed from basketball activities. Murphy was a starting forward for the Bulldogs as a junior last year.

Police say the shooting occurred the night of Aug. 31 during a party at a home near campus. Officers found a 19-year-old man bleeding from his head and noticed a bullet hole in a nearby wall, leading them to believe the shot had come from Murphy’s adjacent room. Police say Murphy first insisted the man had fallen but later acknowledged he’d accidentally fired the .22-caliber bullet.

Police ID man killed in shootout with Iowa officers

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Police in southeastern Iowa have identified a man killed in a shootout with law enforcement officers. The Division of Criminal Investigation says 20-year-old Caleb Daniel Peterson, of Burlington, was the suspect killed in the exchange. An autopsy has been ordered.

Police say Burlington police officers and a Des Moines County deputy responded to a call of shots fired at 12:50 a.m. Wednesday, spotted Peterson’s truck minutes later and initiated a traffic stop. Investigators say initial reports indicate Peterson got out pointing a gun at officers and fled on foot.

The agency says both Peterson and officers fired multiple rounds during the subsequent chase. The officers weren’t injured, but Peterson was mortally wounded and pronounced dead at a hospital.

2 charged say they were hired to break into Iowa courthouse

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — Two men arrested on suspicion of breaking into a central Iowa courthouse say they were hired to test the building’s alarm system. The Des Moines Register reports 29-year-old Justin Wynn of Naples, Florida, and 43-year-old Gary Demercurio of Seattle were found in the Dallas County Courthouse early Wednesday after an alarm was tripped. Both face burglary charges and are being held on $50,000 bond apiece.

The men told deputies they worked for the cybersecurity firm Coalfire and had been hired to test the courthouse alarm system. The state court administration acknowledged hiring the firm but only to test the security of electronic access to court records, not for “forced entry into a building.”

Citing conflict, public defenders want off Iowa murder trial

News

September 12th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Public defenders are seeking to stop representing an Iowa man charged with murder after revelations that their boss moonlights for a police department involved in the case. Lawyers with the special defense unit of the State Public Defender’s office said in a filing Wednesday that they now believe their representation of Jeffrey Stendrup is a conflict of interest. They have asked a judge for permission to withdraw.

Their supervisor, special defense unit director Mike Adams, works on the side as a reserve police officer with the Colfax Police Department. Its officers are prosecution witnesses against Stendrup, who is charged in the 2018 beating death of a man at a Colfax home.

The public defenders had disclosed the potential conflict at a hearing last month but indicated they planned to continue representing Stendrup. They said in Wednesday’s filing that they have learned additional information since then that changes their analysis. If approved, their withdrawal would likely delay Stendrup’s Oct. 23 trial date.