IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A trial date of November 17 has been set for an Iowa City man accused of having sex with incapacitated women. KCCI-TV reports Nathan Schloss, 24, faces 18 counts of sexual abuse and 22 counts of invasion of privacy. He’s pleaded not guilty. Police found the videos after Schloss turned in a hard drive to show police a video of his former roommate, Leo Nopoulos, torturing a cat. Nopoulos has pleaded guilty to animal torture.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Or is it? KCRG-TV reports that Alexander Hartman moved to Marion just a few weeks ago, and was shocked to find a stack of 11 speeding tickets from the Cedar Rapids Police in his mailbox one day totaling almost $900. After hearing Hartman’s explanation that he was ignorant of the city traffic cameras, all but one of the tickets was dismissed.
CASCADE, IA (IRN) – Two semitrailer drivers were arguing over their CBs about one cutting the other off in traffic about the time that one’s load shifted Wednesday night, spilling hazardous materials on a roadway near Cascade. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports emergency crews were on scene for about seven hours cleaning up the spill.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Hay prices are falling in Iowa. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports hay prices averaged $115 per ton in May, $41 per ton less than May 2014. Alfalfa hay prices fell $51 per ton from one year ago, to $129.
DES MOINES (IRN) – Governor Terry Branstad has vetoed $55.7 million in additional funding to K-12 schools that had been approved by the Legislature for the 2015-16 school year, according to the Des Moines Register. The one-time cash infusion into schools was part of a compromise reached by Democratic and Republican legislators in a lengthy and bitter fight over school funding.
DES MOINES (IRN) – A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged with sexual abuse after a teenage girl said he inappropriately touched her on an airplane Wednesday. KCCI-TV reports Ranjit Khati, 35, of Pittsburgh, was charged with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse after the plane landed in Des Moines.
DES MOINES (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation says drugged driving is a growing problem in Iowa. Increasingly, impaired drivers are under the influence of illegal and sometimes even legal drugs that pose serious threats to motorists, just like drunk driving. In 2014, there were 47 drug-related traffic fatalities in Iowa.
DES MOINES (IRN) – The Des Moines Fire Department has seen an increase in the number of people jumping into the Des Moines River needing rescue. KCCI-TV reports there have been eight jumpers in the past 30 days.