(Radio Iowa) — Iowa’s law enforcement community is asking senators to establish a new penalty for making GENERAL threats directed at public places where people gather. Individuals currently may be charged with arson for making a bomb threat — and it is a crime in Iowa to threaten to terrorize or harass an intended victim — but Kelly Meyers, a lobbyist for the Iowa County Attorneys Association, says prosecutors are seeking a direct way to charge those who make general threats.

“Putting something out there maybe on social media, if you will. ‘You’d better not go to school tomorrow or bad stuff’s going to happen,'” she says, “or putting a threat out there that there could be a school shooting.” Three senators reviewed the proposal this (Thursday) afternoon and all three endorsed the concept. Cyndi Pederson, a lobbyist for the Iowa Fraternal Order of Police, is urging lawmakers to act.  “Any time you can add potential penalties for persons threatening public active shooter events I think is a good thing,” she said.

The bill as currently drafted calls for a felony charge against those accused of threatening serious injury or death to people in “a public place, school building or any occupied structure.” The Iowa Association for Justice — the group representing trial lawyers — is registered in opposition to the bill. “If many of these school threats are a bullied kid who’s reaching out for help, do we really want to make them a felon?”  That’s Lisa Davis-Cook, a lobbyist for the group.

Bill backers say they’re open to a lesser charge. Susan Cameron Daemen is a lobbyist for the Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association. “We do believe there needs to be something so these children or juveniles, if they are juveniles, have an opportunity to get treatment or help, if that’s what they need,” she says.

The bill will next be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

(UPDATED) — The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports the Mayor of Jamaica and her husband have been arrested on drug charges. Mayor LaDonna, and Randy Kennedy, were taken into custody after a marijuana growing operation was located inside their home during the execution of a search warrant.

Randy Kennedy

Ladonna Kennedy

The couple face charges that include: manufacture with intent to deliver no more than 50 kilograms of marijuana, class D felony; two counts of failure to affix a drug stamp, class D felonies; one count of knowingly keeping a dwelling for possessing or selling a controlled substance, an aggravated misdemeanor; and possession of a controlled substance – first offense, a serious misdemeanor.

Kennedy and her husband were initially held on $18,300 bond, but they have since been released by a Dallas County Magistrate (filling in for the Guthrie County Magistrate) on their own recognizance.

Their arrests happened Wednesday, after Guthrie County Deputies went to 500 1st Ave. in Jamaica on a tip that Randy Halterman was located at the residence. Halterman was wanted out of Story County on an arrest warrant for Attempted Murder. After attempting to make contact with the occupants of the residence, probable cause was established for a search warrant.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) today (Thursday) announced she will kick off her 99 County Tour for 2019 with a town hall meeting in her hometown of Red Oak in Montgomery County.  Senator Ernst looks forward to hearing from constituents in the area about the issues most important to them. This town hall meeting is open to the public. Her schedule is as follows:

Monday, January 21, 2019

Montgomery County Town Hall Meeting: 5:00 PM, Red Oak National Guard Armory (2001 G Avenue), Red Oak.

Due to the partial government shutdown, if a vote in the Senate is scheduled, Senator Ernst will return to the Senate.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has been given $5 million for research into treatments of eye diseases that affect and blind people worldwide. The university in a news release Thursday that the gift comes from Alice and John Butler, of Dubuque. It will establish the Alice L. and John E. Butler Vision Research Fund, which will support gene- and stem cell-based treatments for degenerative retinal diseases.
The university’s stem cell transplantation program seeks to use stem cells from a patient’s own tissue, correct gene mutations, and transplant them into the patient’s retina to restore vision.

The American Legion Memorial Building was dedicated on November 11, 1929. It is located at 201 Poplar Street, Atlantic. What has happened in the following 90 years? That is the topic for a program to be presented Sunday, January 20 beginning at 2 p.m.  Steve Livengood will trace the purpose and changes for the Building. It became the National Guard Armory early in the history. When the Guard sold it to the city of Atlantic for $1.00 there were many questions about the future.

Livengood called the Armory his Military home for 14 years 1987 to 2001. He arrived as a Supply Sergeant then added training director and finally administrator. He has been the caretaker and leader for renovation since Atlantic Rock Island Society Enterprise (ARISE) purchased the Building from the City. He knows all the ins and outs of the Building.

Planners of the American Legion Memorial Building intended that the community could put it to a variety of uses. Atlantic High School used it as a gym, youth groups held activities, businesses sponsored large meetings and community dances were held. Attendees at the program are invited to tell their non-military experiences.

Programs are planned for February 17, March 17 and April 28. Topics include prisoner of war camps in Iowa, military dogs and women in war. There is no fee but donations are welcome. More information is available on a web site, www.ariseAtlantic.org.

(Radio Iowa) — The phone at the Consumer Protection Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office rang a lot more last year. A-G spokesman, Lynn Hicks, says the number of formal complaints went up 18 percent to nearly 35-hundred. He says that’s a pretty substantial increase — when you consider that complaints only went up five percent the previous year. “This is probably the biggest amount we’ve seen in awhile.” The leader among complaints continues to be those involving cars and trucks. “And that’s everything from auto repairs to financing, warranty plans, used car practices, all kinds of things,” according to Hicks.

Imposter phone calls or emails are something that Hicks says has been generating more complaints. “Which are the ones where people will call or through social media or email pretend to be somebody and they’re trying fish for either information or try to get you to give up money,” Hicks says. “So, those have seen big increases over the last couple of years. And then the other big categories are home improvement. We still get a lot of complaints about home improvement, home remodeling contractors, that sort of thing.” The three-thousand-495 complaints are just the ones that move forward into a formal process. “Sometimes we can work it out over the phone or tell them what’s possible,” Hicks explains. “But these are ones where we encourage them to actually fill out forms. They’ve made complaints, an investigator has looked into it and we go from there — whether it’s informally resolving something between say a consumer — or going all the way to legal action.”

Hicks says the law involving contractors has some gray areas when it comes to paying in advance for work. He says the Attorney General’s Office is proposing a change that would strengthen it. “The contractor would have to file with the state a surety bond of 75-thousand dollars. And so, if a consumer believes that they have been damaged under that contract — whether it is a fraud or breech of contract — the can recover costs from that bond,” Hicks says.

If you have a complaint you can contact the Consumer Protection Division through the Attorney General’s website, by email or by phone. The website is:
www.IowaAttorneyGeneral.gov. You can email at: consumer@ag.iowa.gov, or call 515-281-5926. Outside the Des Moines area, call toll-free: 888-777-4590.