DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge’s ruling could mean more Iowa students with learning disabilities will qualify for special education programs. The Des Moines Register reports an administrative law judge ruled last year that Iowa education agencies violated the Disabilities Education Act by denying an Urbandale student’s access to special education classes. The student was denied services because she was performing well in her classes.
The Iowa Department of Education challenged the administrative judge’s ruling, but a federal judge affirmed the decision. Attorney Curt Sytsma, who represented the student, says students throughout Iowa could benefit from the ruling. Iowa Department of Education spokeswoman Staci Hupp says most students evaluated for special education already receive services so the ruling’s impact could be minimal.
The state will pay $317,769 in legal fees to the student’s lawyers.

An employee of a contractor working to clean water wells in Harlan, Tuesday, received an electrical shock when a boom on his service vehicle struck an energized 69-volt Northern Iowa Power Cooperative power line. According to officials with Harlan Municipal Utilities, the worker employed by The Cahoy Group was raising the boom on his truck, when the incident occurred a little after 4-p.m., Tuesday. The crewman was transported to Myrtue Medical Center by a fellow employee. He remained in the facility Tuesday night, for observation. His name was not released.

The Cahoy Group was hired to clean HMU water wells in an area known as the south well field in order to increase operational efficiency.

(Radio Iowa) — Traffic on U.S. Highway 69 north of Jewell in southern Hamilton County has been rerouted due to a sinkhole that developed overnight. Hamilton County Sheriff Doug Timmons says six vehicles were damaged before traffic was diverted. “There’s a sinkhole that’s probably about 20 feet across and probably 8-10 feet deep that cars were hitting,” Timmons says. “Luckily, nobody was injured.” The sinkhole is in the northbound lane, but a detour is being set up so traffic completely avoids that area. The route takes drivers on county roads and Interstate 35 to bypass that section of U.S. Highway 69.

“Approximately two, maybe three days in order to get this fixed,” Timmons says, adding the cause was “probably a tile that’s washed out with all the rain that we’ve had.” September was an incredibly wet month. The state climatologist reports rainfall averaged about four-and-a-half inches above normal statewide.

photo by Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office

(Radio Iowa) — A middle school student in southeast Iowa is accused of threatening a classmate with a gun. Ottumwa Police say an Evans Middle School student was on a Snapchat face-time conversation when the second student showed a handgun and threatened to shoot the first student. Police say they found the threat to be “credible” and arrested the student on Tuesday. The student is facing a misdemeanor charge of harassment and was taken to a juvenile detention center.

Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau report 39-year old Brandy Voss, of Oskaloosa, was charged with Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information (a Class D Felony), and Theft in the 1st Degree (a Class C Felony). The charges are the result of an investigation by the Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau that began in June of 2018.  Authorities allege Voss submitted a fraudulent insurance claim to her insurance company seeking reimbursement through her insurance policy.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-242-5304.

Officials with the Iowa Judicial Branch report that on Wednesday, October 10th, justices of the Iowa Supreme Court will meet with students from five Red Oak area schools to discuss the Iowa judicial system and the role of the courts in Iowa. Their schedule is as follows:

8:00 am: Chief Justice Mark Cady will visit Red Oak High School
9:30 am: Justice Edward Mansfield will visit Clark Community High School, Osceola
9:37 am: Justice Thomas Waterman will visit Creston High School
9:47 am: Justice David Wiggins will visit Atlantic High School
1:00 pm: Justice Susan Christensen will visit Harlan High School

In addition to the school visits, the supreme court will hold a special session in Red Oak on October 9, at 7:00 p.m. in the Wilson Performing Arts Center, 300 Commerce Drive. During the special session, the court will hear oral arguments in one case. The oral arguments are open to the public. A public reception with the justices in the auditorium lobby will follow the oral arguments.

The Iowa Supreme Court will hear attorneys argue in one case:

State of Iowa v. Lee Samuel Christensen, case no. 17-0085, from Emmet County District Court, on further review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.

The Iowa Supreme Court hears this case on further review of an Iowa Court of Appeals decision reversing a district court second-degree murder conviction of defendant. The defendant appealed his conviction for second-degree murder, arguing the district court erred in overruling his motion for a new trial based on juror misconduct, jury bias, and prosecutorial misconduct. The Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the district court on the grounds of juror misconduct and remanded for a new trial.  Upon the State’s application, the Iowa Supreme Court granted further review of the court of appeals decision.

A public reception with the supreme court justices will follow the oral arguments in the auditorium lobby. The Montgomery County Bar Association is sponsoring the reception.

Attorneys’ briefs for the case and the decision of the court of appeals are posted on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at: http://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-oral-argument-schedule/case/17-0085 .