AUDUBON, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol says a driver distracted by texting rammed into the back of a trooper’s patrol car. The Des Moines Register reports that the patrol reported crash Friday in a Facebook post. The post shows a photo of the patrol car with heavy back-end damage. The patrol says the crash happened Aug. 8 when a young driver in Audubon hit the parked patrol car in a residential neighborhood near the trooper’s home. Investigators say driver had been texting and driving when the crash happened.

Photo from Post 4 in Denison, showing the accident scene in Audubon. (from the ISP Facebook page)

No one was in the parked patrol car at the time of the crash. The driver of the car that hit it was ticketed and will pay for damages.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Dubuque officials are working to update the city’s 27-year-old sexual harassment policy. The policy, which was last updated in the early 1990s, is being reviewed following the resignation of former Dubuque Fire Department Capt. Jim Abitz, the Telegraph Herald reported . Abitz had been accused of making inappropriate comments to an intern for the city. Dubuque City Council Member Kate Larson said she learned in May that the city hadn’t updated its sexual harassment policy since the early 1990s. Larson said “I was stunned to learn that our policy hasn’t been updated in so long. Things have changed so much in those years.”

She noted that current policy doesn’t mention electronic forms of sexual harassment, which weren’t prevalent in 1991. “It doesn’t cover digital communications at all,” Larson said. “We need to get it updated for the safety of our employees.” The sexual harassment policy and several other administrative policies are being reviewed this year, said Randy Peck, personnel manager for the city. He said officials have reviewed the policy periodically in the past and had determined that it didn’t need to be updated.

A study by the newspaper of area communities in Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois shows Dubuque stands in stark contrast to several of its neighbors. Of the 10 communities surveyed, Dubuque has the oldest policy.
Leaders in most communities said they had updated their policies within the past three years.

Police in Council Bluffs responded early Saturday morning to 1400 Ave A, in reference to a man who was bleeding from his abdomen. When Officers made contact with the subject, he informed them he had been stabbed by an unknown male. The victim said also, the assailant took his backpack. The victim – whose name was not immediately released – was transported to University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment on his non-life threatening injuries.

The incident remains under investigation. If have have information that might be helpful in solving the crime, call the Council Bluffs Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

The Red Oak Police Department reports an arrest just after midnight Saturday morning. At 12:07am Officers arrested 27-year-old John Todd Howard of Red Oak in the 1600 block of North Broadway in Red Oak for Public Intoxication. Howard was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.