DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Two people have been imprisoned for their roles in Davenport credit union robberies. The Quad-City Times reports that 60-year-old Kevin Denney, of Davenport, and 32-year-old Cynthia Niebuhr-Hartley, of Muscatine, were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Davenport. The judge gave both 28 months in prison and ordered Denney to pay more than $24,500 in restitution and Niebuhr-Hartley to pay nearly $6,000. Denney’s son, David Denney, also has pleaded guilty to robbery and conspiracy. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.

Court documents say various combinations of the three were involved in robbing an Ascentra Credit Union office in August 2016 and a Vibrant Credit Union office in November 2016 and again on March 30 last year.

A traffic stop at around 6:10-p.m. Monday, in Creston, resulted in the arrest of 21-year old Ryan Parmenter, of Creston. Parmenter was taken into custody for Driving While Suspended. He was later released from the Union County Jail on a $300 bond.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The City Council in Sioux City has approved at least $12 million in assistance for a $56 million project to convert two historic downtown buildings into luxury apartments and a nearly 150-room hotel. Developer Lew Weinberg and St. Louis-based developer Restoration St. Louis plan to turn the former Warrior Hotel and Davidson buildings into a Marriott brand hotel.

The council voted 4-0 Monday for a financial package that includes a partially forgivable $5 million loan, a portion of the city’s share of hotel-motel taxes generated by the facility, property tax incentives, and reduced rates for city ramp parking. Weinberg says he thinks the work will begin this summer.

A traffic stop last Saturday at the intersection of 290th and Quail Avenue, in Taylor County, resulted in the arrest of a man wanted on a nationwide warrant. 35-year old Jacob Lee Rybolt, was arrested on a  warrant out of New Mexico for Embezzlement (over $2500). Rybolt was being held at the Taylor County Jail pending extradition.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has announced that wreckage of a sunken military ship on which five brothers died in World War II has been discovered in the South Pacific. A spokeswoman for Allen confirms wreckage from the USS Juneau was found Saturday off the coast of the Solomon Islands. The ship was hit by Japanese torpedoes in 1942, killing hundreds of men, including the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa.

Allen has an expedition team that has reported finding wreckage of other ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, also sunk during World War II. The expedition team says in a statement it first identified the USS Juneau on Saturday using sonar technology and used a remotely operated underwater vehicle to verify the wreckage on Sunday.

Republicans in the Iowa House have voted to take the first step toward giving Iowans the opportunity to add a gun rights amendment to the state’s constitution. The same proposal would have to clear the legislature in 2019 or 2020 before Iowa voters could decide whether to add the gun rights language to the state’s constitution. If adopted, it requiring courts to strictly scrutinize any gun laws. Representative Skyler Wheeler, a Republican from Orange City, dismissed what he called “lawyer talk” criticizing that part of the proposal. “Whether you like it or not, we do have a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms,” Wheeler said. “…And I like having a way to ensure that I keep that freedom against those who wish to strip that from me.”

Representative Liz Bennett, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, called the proposal “extreme.” “Making it harder to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them instead of working for gun safety,” Nelson said. “When we’re talking about life and liberty, why aren’t we talking about the life and liberty of kids who have died in the classroom?” Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, said the proposal would open up a “Pandora’s box” of litigation. “And would, in my opinion, result in the finding that a lot of our current gun safety laws are, in fact, unconstitutional,” Wolfe said.

Representative Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley, says the proposal will put a halt to “government over-reach” when it comes to gun regulations. “If you just want to think I’m some crazy, gun-loving kook, fine. Have at that, but think about this: Voting ‘no’ on this here tonight is denying Iowans an opportunity to have their voice heard in what they want to have in their state constitution,” Windschitl said.

After three hours of debate, the House passed the proposal on a 54 to 42 vote. All 54 “yes” votes came from Republicans. Two Republicans — Representatives Dave Heaton of Mount Vernon and Andy McKean of Anamosa — joined all the Democrats in the House in voting no.

(Radio Iowa)