(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case Tuesday where an Iowa City man says he should have been allowed to use the state’s “stand your ground” law in his defense in the fatal 2017 shooting at the pedestrian mall. The law was passed just a few months before Lamar Wilson shot and killed Kallek Wilson of Iowa City. Wilson was found guilty by a jury of voluntary manslaughter and other charges. Wilson’s attorney Melinda Nye, told the justices Wilson should have been given a hearing to determine if the “stand your ground” provision applied,

“The procedure that the court ultimately relied on resulted in a fundamentally unfair trial and an unfair hearing,” Nye said. Nye says if that pre-trial hearing had found the “stand your ground” provision applied, then Wilson should have received immunity from criminal prosecution. Justice Christopher McDonald questioned Nye’s argument.

“Immunity from damages, which is what the statute says,” Justice Christopher McDonald said. “It doesn’t say immunity from criminal liability or criminal conviction.” “The immunity applies to both the criminal liability and the civil liability,” Nye replied. Other justices asked how this type of pre-trial hearing would be different from the actual trial. Nye said it would be an evidentiary hearing, and the burden of proof would be on the defendant to prove they acted in self-defense.

Assistant State Attorney General Louis Sloven argued that the statute shouldn’t be interpreted to include immunity from criminal prosecution because that phrase was purposefully left out. “That language is not in this statute at all,” Sloven said. The justices discussed the wording of the law and Justice McDonald asked this question.

“This might be poor drafting?” Justice McDonald asked. “Maybe this language isn’t doing any work.” Nye said there isn’t a procedure for cases like this outlined in the statute simply because the statute didn’t exist before, but she added that procedure would be determined through decisions like this one. The justices heard the oral arguments at Muscatine High School. Chief Justice Mark Cady said the court would most likely come to a decision “months from now.” Wilson is serving a 24-year sentence.

(Radio Iowa) — New U.S. Census Bureau data shows the percentage of Iowans who lack health insurance remains among the lowest in the country. The state is ranked seventh best for having a 4.7 percent rate of people without health insurance in 2018 – the same percentage as the previous year. That’s about 148,000 uninsured Iowans.

Nationwide, the 2018 rate increased for the first time since 2009 with 27.5 million Americans without health insurance at any point during the year – up from 25.6 million the previous year. The data shows the shift was mainly driven by a decline in Medicaid coverage.

Four people were arrested on separate charges Tuesday, in Mills County. The Sheriff’s Office reports 36-year old Michael Wayne Schnepp, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving While Barred, and Failure to provide proof of insurance. 57-year old David Lloyd Richey, of Glenwood, and 48-year old Brian John Beebe, of Carson, were arrested on warrants for Violation of Probation. And, 35-year old James Dean Borman, of Shenandoah, was arrested at the Page County Jail, on a warrant for Theft in the 4th Degree.

BONDURANT, Iowa (AP) — A small Iowa school district is scrambling to cover a nearly $900,000 loss after officials failed to account for a big property tax break given to Facebook for its massive data center east of Des Moines. The Des Moines Register reports that Facebook’s fourth data center in Altoona is exempt from taxation for 20 years as part of a development agreement Facebook signed with the city. Exemptions also were granted for the first three centers.

But the Polk County assessor’s office says it was never notified about the exemption and included the $52.4 million building in the tax base numbers provided in 2018 to the Bondurant-Farrar school district and other taxing authorities. The error was caught this year.

Now the district must pay back the erroneous windfall, which officials say amounts to about 3.5% of its budget.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A second murder trial has begun for a southeast Iowa woman accused of the 1992 killing of her former boyfriend. The Muscatine Journal reports the trial began Tuesday in Muscatine for 56-year-old Annette Cahill, who was charged in May 2018 with first-degree murder in the beating death of Corey Lee Wieneke. Wieneke’s body was found in October 1992 on his bedroom floor in rural West Liberty.

The first trial ended in a mistrial in March 2019 when the jury couldn’t reach a verdict. Cahill, of Tipton, has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege Cahill killed Wieneke because of his involvement with another woman. Decades after the killing, prosecutors charged Cahill in part because a woman came forward to investigators to say that as a 9-year-old, she overheard Cahill confess to the killing.

Due to the large number of guests and visitors expected to attend this weekend’s Coyote Johnson Car Auction at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, additional parking locations and shuttle services have been made available to accommodate as many visitors as possible. Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman asks persons planning on attending the event to please use one of the identified parking lot locations as there will be limited to no parking available in the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.

Parking Locations – Saturday 9-14-19 Only: Truck/Trailer Parking – Red Oak Fabrications, 2400 N Broadway St. Red Oak; Car Parking: The Old K-Mart Parking Lot, 2501 N Broadway St.; Red Oak Car Parking – Red Oak High School, 2011 N 8th St;. Red Oak Car Parking – Inman Primary School, 900 Inman Dr.; Red Oak Car Parking – Good Sam Grass Parking Area, 1700 N 4th St.; Red Oak Car Parking – Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, 2301 Eastern Ave. Red Oak *Upper Lot Only

Shuttle Service – Saturday 9-14-19 Only SWITA buses will be providing service to and from the fairgrounds at the following locations; Red Oak Fabrications, Old K-Mart Parking Lot and MCMH Upper Lot.

Click on the image to enlarge

NO PARKING ALLOWED – TEMPORARY PARKING RESTRICTIONS STARTING THURSDAY Sept. 12th thru SUNDAY Sept. 15th: North 4th Street between Oak Street and Highway 34; Alix Ave between North 4th Street and Broadway/Highway 48; Sunset Ave between North 4th Street and North 5th Street.

Nearly 100 Muscle Cars, MOPAR, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, and more will be sold during the auction. There is a public viewing of all vehicles on Friday from 10-a.m. until 7-p.m.  Hamman says there is also a home football game scheduled so parking late Friday and Friday evening will be a challenge as well. There will be automated sign boards provided by Iowa DOT on Highway 34 east and west of Red Oak, alerting travelers of event traffic and parking locations as well.

(More information on the auction and vehicles featured can be found here: https://www.vanderbrinkauctions.com/auction/muscle-car-heaven-the-coyote-johnson-collection-auction/)

Tim Mitchell, Superintendent of the Riverside Community School District, reports in celebration of 25 years as a school district in the Fall of 2018, Riverside instituted a Hall of Fame to honor graduates, employees, teams, individuals and friends of the district for their accomplishments at and/or to the service of the district. The Class of 2018 included: Marion Coons, Clark Christensen, Wm (Rich) Livengood, Dr. Trevor Richardson, Dr. Corey Vorthmann, 1996 Riverside Wrestling Team, 2001 Riverside Football Team, John McCowen and Carmella Pigneri.

The Class of 2019 induction ceremony will be held on Thursday October 3, 2019 at 2:30 PM in The Riverside Middle/High School Gym at 18997 Highway 59 Oakland, and 2019 inductees will also be featured in the Homecoming Parade on Friday October 4, 2019 at 2:00 PM in Oakland. The final recognition will take place prior to the Homecoming Football Game on Friday October 4, 2019 at the Charles E Pigneri Athletic Complex at 6:45 PM. The Selection Committee announces the following members of the Class of 2019:

Nicole Allen Osborn-Distinguished Graduate-Riverside Class of 1994

Nicole founded Meridian Clinical Research in 1999 in Omaha, NE. Under her guidance, Meridian grew from a single dedicated research center in Omaha, NE, to a network that includes more than 20 research sites and 60 principal investigators across North America. Under Osborn’s direction, research at Meridian is frequently published and presented at major scientific and academic events worldwide.

Donell Hotze Kvaal-Distinguished Graduate-Riverside Class of 1996

Donell has distinguished herself in the Riverside community as a community leader volunteering her time for numerous community organizations. She helped her softball teams to the state tournament in her 8th grade year (Carson-Macedonia) and again her senior year (Riverside). She went on to play at Central College where she was the 2000 NFCA Division II Softball Player of the Year. She already has been inducted into the Central College Hall of Honor and the Iowa High School Softball Hall of Fame.

John W Hamilton-Friend of Riverside

John was a Civil War Veteran who served with Company A 134th Indiana Infantry. He settled near Macedonia and was a farmer and raised livestock. As a noted philanthropist, he donated the money for a new Church and Parsonage in Macedonia (Macedonia United Methodist Church) in 1929. He also donated land to the Macedonia School for the Hamilton Athletic Field and to build the Softball Field Grandstand. The historic grandstand is said to be one of two remaining in the state of Iowa. He dedicated the field to the children of Macedonia in memory of John G Hamilton, his son who died at the age of 22.

Marilyn Mickey-Distinguished Graduate-Carson-Macedonia Class of 1964, Friend of Riverside, Riverside Board Member and Riverside Employee

Marilyn has distinguished herself in many ways and has shown a tremendous commitment to the community and the school district in her lifetime. Marilyn is a member of the Riverside Optimists Club, Riverside Links, PEO, Carson Park Board, Macedonia United Methodist Church, and the Riverside Booster Club, to name just a few. She volunteers time for Quilts of Valor, Honor Flight, Dreamland Theatre, 4-H Leader, Sunday School Teacher, Metro Area Youth Foundation, and is a Promise Scholarship Mentor. She served on the Riverside School Board, was employed as the Board Secretary and has already been inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame.

1973-1974 Carson-Macedonia Football Team-Team/Group-Coaches Larry Wax and Terry Statton

This team has the distinction of being only one of 15 teams in Iowa High School Football history and the most recent to be undefeated, untied, and unscored upon, and the only team to accomplish it in the playoff era. They were 7-0 and Western Iowa Conference Co-Champions with Avoca who they did not play that year. They were 8-0 overall with a strong defense that had 33 takeaways (20 interceptions,13 fumbles and blocked 2 punts). Several opponents threatened to score, but non succeeded, stopped by turnovers, strong defensive stands, timely tackles, and missed field goal attempts. Lead by Coaches Larry Wax and Terry Statton with Duane Laughlin being named a National Football All-American by Who’s Who in National High School Football.