CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A former police officer and disbarred lawyer, who an Iowa Supreme Court justice called “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” after reviewing his history of drugs, forgery and misappropriating client funds, was charged last week in federal court for making counterfeit money. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports Brian Loren Stowe, 43, of Waverly, was indicted in U.S. District Court Aug. 11 for manufacturing and dealing in counterfeit currency.
MOLINE, IL (IRN) – John Deere and the United Auto Workers have started negotiations on a new master labor agreement that covers about 10,000 manufacturing workers at 12 facilities, including plants in five Iowa cities. The Des Moines Register reports the current six-year master agreement expires at midnight Sept. 30. The negotiations begin as Deere struggles with falling profits.
DES MOINES (IRN) – A 23-month-old baby fell from a third-story apartment window Monday in Des Moines and survived. The Des Moines Register reports the family was watching television when the baby popped-out the screen window and fell. Sod and woodchips line the ground underneath the windows of the complex and cushioned the fall. The child was well enough that it could crawl along the ground afterward.
LECLAIR, IA (IRN) – A man from the eastern Iowa town of LeClaire is pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection with setting up secret cameras in a gym’s tanning booth. In exchange, prosecutors will drop more serious felony charges. Trent Hamer caught at least three people undressing on tape in the tanning booths at the Planet Fitness gym in Moline last year.
WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A central Iowa realty company said one of its employees was threatened Sunday, which prompted the company to cancel all open houses that day. Keller Williams Realty staff told KCCI-TV that a caller threatened to harm one of its employees at an open house as part of a gang initiation. Agents have become more cautious since 27-year-old real estate agent Ashley Okland was shot and killed in 2011 at an open house.
IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A Florida man faces numerous charges after stealing money from an Iowa City couple he was providing investment services for. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports 52-year-old Jeffrey Stewart, of Neptune Beach, Florida faces two counts of first-degree theft, one count of forgery and one count of securities fraud. Stewart could spend up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
KEOKUK, IA (IRN) – An estimated 500 gallons of industrial wastewater discharged Monday morning at the Roquette America plant in Keokuk. The Iowa DNR says the discharge occurred when an expansion joint on a pump failed, discharging the wastewater into the Mississippi River. The wastewater may have contained ethanol and related compounds.
DES MOINES (IRN) – The 2015 Iowa State Fair has broken its all-time attendance record. According to officials, an estimated 1,117,000 people visited the fair despite a few days that featured rain. The total this year breaks the record previously set in 2008. The busiest day? The first Saturday of the fair.