DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge will let a jury decide a lawsuit against Grinnell College that challenges the way the Iowa school handles sexual misconduct complaints. The lawsuit was filed in March 2017 by a male student identified only as John Doe, who was expelled in 2016 after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger concluded in a ruling filed Tuesday that he has adequately shown that gender bias could have been a motivating factor in his dismissal and he may not have received a fair and impartial review of his appeal.

The student had sex with a female student. She said she willingly participated in the sex and didn’t initially pursue a complaint but the college launched an investigation and later sought her participation.

Doe, who lives in the state of Washington, is seeking emotional and psychological damages, damage to reputation, past and future economic losses, loss of educational and athletic opportunities and loss of future career prospects.

He also wants a court order preventing Grinnell from violating federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination when it considers future sexual misconduct complaints. A trial is set for Sept. 18.

Grinnell College spokeswoman Debra Lukehart says the judge’s decision only means there will be a trial and there was no finding the college violated the law. She says the college looks forward to sharing its “robust processes that uphold the rights of all of our students at trial.”

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — Iowa prison officials say inmates assaulted three staff members on duty at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. The Iowa Corrections Department says in a news release that the assault occurred Thursday morning. Officials say a preliminary investigation shows two inmates assaulted another inmate with several sharpened objects.

Correctional officers responded, and three suffered minor injuries in the course of subduing the attacking inmates. Officials say it did not appear that the officers were cut by the attackers. Two of the officers were taken to a local hospital. The third was seen by institution medical personnel and returned to work.

The inmate attack also was taken to a hospital. Officials say his wounds appear not to be life-threatening. Visits to the prison have been suspended until further notice.

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha, Nebraska, says it has awarded a nearly $2.8 million contract to repair a Missouri River levee in southwestern Iowa.

The contract is build up the elevation of levee that was breached near Percival and Hamburg during historic flooding in March. The breach near Percival was closed last month and work to close the one at Hamburg is expected to be closed within days.
The contract to raise the levees from 2 to 4.5 feet goes to Weston Solutions Inc. of Chester, Pennsylvania.

The Corps says more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers, as well as other tributaries, have experienced significant flood damage this year.

(Update 7/12) — Law enforcement and emergency responders had a busy Thursday evening in Cass County. Rescue and law enforcement responded at around 7:04-p.m. to a report of an apparent accidental shooting in Lyman, where a male subject was shot in the neck during the misfire of a .9-mm handgun. He was transported to CCMH by Griswold Rescue. The incident remains under investigation.

A few minutes later, authorities attempted a traffic stop in Atlantic on a motorcycle that reportedly ran a stop sign. When the cycle took off a pursuit ensued. Authorities were not able to locate the motorcycle after losing sight of it.

And, at around 7:18-p.m., a fight between two inmates broke out in the Cass County Jail. Medivac Ambulance was called to assist in the treatment of one person who was injured. The person was transported to CCMH.

No other details are currently available.

Upate: Fulk made his initial appearance on Thursday and was advised of charges/maximum penalties. A plea of not guilty was accepted. A trial date was set for September 9^th. Fulk was released on conditions of pretrial release. A plea entry deadline was set for August 23^rd.

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Documents filed in the U-S District Court for the Southern District of Iowa say an Atlantic businessman is set to make his initial appearance and be arraigned 10-a.m. Thursday in Council Bluffs, on three counts of Wire Fraud and 15 counts of Odometer Fraud.

According to court documents, beginning on an unknown date, but as early as October 2015, and continuing to about September 2016, Larry Scott Fulk, of Atlantic, and others, devised a scheme to defraud as to material matters and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, and by intentional concealment of material facts.

The documents indicate that as part of the scheme, Larry Scott Fulk would purchase vehicles on behalf of 2nd Street Repair. He would then remove the odometer clusters from these vehicles and replace them with lower mileage odometer clusters. Afterward, Fulk would post and advertise the vehicles with false odometer clusters for sale on Craigslist on behalf of 2nd Street Repair, at an inflated price.

Craigslist servers are located in San Francisco, California, and Ashburn, Virginia. It was also alleged that Fulk would sell the vehicles with the false odometer clusters to individuals in Iowa, in exchange for money.

L to R: Linda Edelman, RN, Cass County Public Health; Mark Lander, Transit Director, SWIPCO; John McCurdy, Executive Director, SWIPCO; Beth Olsen, Director, Cass County Public Health.

ATLANTIC- Cass County Public Health recently delivered more than one hundred Stop the Bleed Kits to Southwest Iowa Transit Agency thanks to funding from the Southwest Iowa Preparedness Partners (SWIPP).

Bleeding from a traumatic injury can lead to death in just a few minutes, well before medical help can arrive, which is why bleeding control kits and training is vital. To date, Cass County Public Health has trained more than 700 people on the Stop the Bleed Program and distributed more than 450 bleeding control kits for use in emergencies. Cass County Public Health trained more than 70 SWITA drivers and staff in April on the Stop the Bleed curriculum, which includes recognizing and controlling life-threatening bleeding through wound packing techniques and the use of tourniquets.

“We truly appreciate the training and the donation of the Stop the Bleed Kits. SWITA operates more than 100 vehicles in 8 counties in Southwest Iowa and by placing one of these in each of our vehicles and training our drivers in their use, we are not only helping our passengers, but anyone near a SWITA bus should a need for the kits arise.  No one ever wants to come upon the scene of an accident, but this donation puts many more tools out in the community where they can be of the most use,” said John McCurdy, Executive Director of Southwest Iowa Planning Council.

The kits were made available through SWIPP, which is a 12-county coalition that meets monthly with the purpose to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents that affect the health of the population in the service area to decrease mortality and morbidity.

The Stop the Bleed campaign is a national initiative originating from the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, the White House, and other governmental and private agencies. The program is currently being championed by the American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma. The program is based on recommendations identified in the Hartford Consensus, which was a review of mass casualty and active shooter events. The program is designed to teach civilian bystanders basic hemorrhage control techniques.

Cass County Public Health offers free Stop the Bleed training for any interested groups, such as schools, churches, community groups, or businesses. Please call (712) 243-7551 for more information or to schedule your class today.

DES MOINES – Today, Gov. Reynolds announced her appointments to Iowa’s Children’s Behavioral Health System Board. The board will facilitate the coordination of Iowa’s recently created Children’s Mental Health system, ensuring children will have access to the mental health services they need.

“I was proud to create a Children’s Behavioral Health System, where the path to healing is clearly marked and parents know where to begin so their child can get help. The Children’s Mental Health Board will take a leading role in improving the system for generations to come,” said Gov. Reynolds. “I look forward to working with this remarkable group of professionals who will make life-changing decisions for Iowans who need it most.”

The following appointments are subject to Senate confirmation in the 2020 legislative session:

Children’s Behavioral Health System Board

Scott Hobart, Davenport
Shanell Wagler, Panora
Okpara Rice, Marion
Andrew Allen, Huxley
Dan Cox, Sioux City
Melanie Cleveringa, Sioux Center
Peggy Huppert, Johnston
Mary Neubauer, Clive
Jason Sandholdt, Knoxville
Nathan Noble, Clive
Carol Meade, Newhall
Darci Alt, Redfield

Earlier this year, Gov. Reynolds signed HF690, a bill that creates and funds the first of its kind comprehensive Children’s Mental Health System. The bill follows recommendations from the first Children’s Mental Health Board, Gov Reynolds created by Executive Order in 2018.

Iowa DOT ATLANTIC, Iowa – July 11, 2019 – The Iowa Department of Transportation awarded a contract Thursday to Reilly Construction Co., Inc. of Ossian to begin emergency repairs to Iowa 2 west of Horse Creek in Fremont County. The winning bid for the project was $905,626.02 This area was overtopped by flooding in March and severely damaged by a second round of flooding in May.

The emergency repairs will restore limited mobility between Interstate 29 and the Nebraska border. Once opened, traffic will travel in a head-to-head pattern in the westbound lanes. This temporary solution is expected to be completed by mid-August.

Several options are being considered for permanent repairs to Iowa 2 that will reduce the chance that Iowa 2 will be overtopped by floodwaters in the future and have the potential to reduce impacts from that overtopping if it does occur.

For the latest in flooding information and recovery resources, as well as an image gallery showing the flood damage and recovery efforts go to https://floods2019.iowa.gov/.