DES MOINES (IRN) – A verdict was announced today in the trial of two former aides of the 2012 Ron Paul campaign for president, according to KCCI-TV. Dmitri Kesari was found guilty of falsifying records, found not guilty of obstruction of justice, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on three other counts. Jesse Benton was found not guilty of making false statements to law enforcement.
DES MOINES (IRN) – A naked California man emerged from a Southridge Mall bathroom in Des Moines Wednesday and raised a finger to his lips, begging silence from passersby, according to the Des Moines Register. 55-year-old Michael James Ryan of Venice, California, walked naked from the men’s restroom. After returning to the restroom to dress, he tried to flee police and became belligerent while being placed under arrest.
CHEROKEE, IA (IRN) – An Iowa judge has dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the Iowa Utilities Board’s authority to give the power of eminent domain to an out-of-state developer of an oil pipeline through Iowa. KCCI-TV reports Judge Carl Petersen said in an order filed Tuesday in Cherokee that the three landowners who brought the lawsuit had to exhaust the administrative remedies required before they may sue a state agency.
SOLON, IA – Three Marion teens face multiple charges for a rash of vehicle burglaries in Solon last month. KCRG-TV reports the teens were later recorded on video using the stolen credit cards at various businesses and admitted to the burglaries during an interview.
DES MOINES (IRN) – A Pleasant Hill man has been found guilty of attempted murder, two counts of assault to inflict serious injury, and other charges. The Des Moines Register reports the verdict came Wednesday against 33-year-old Pete Polson. Polson went on a shooting rampage last November, shooting one man in the abdomen, another in the back and neck, and firing a shot at a third man, missing him.
DES MOINES (IRN) – A Des Moines mother was charged with child endangerment Wednesday after she allegedly beat her toddler in a Hy-Vee parking lot, according to KCCI-TV. Witnesses say the child would have died from injuries inflicted by Shauna Davis, 28, had someone not intervened. One witness says “She was just punching the baby so hard that the whole car was shaking…then she threw her baby onto the cement…screaming I hate you, shut up.” Davis is in jail.
IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – An intense thunderstorm that passed through Iowa City Tuesday night stressed firefighters and dispatchers as several fire response units were pressed into action at the same time. KCRG-TV reports two house fires and dozens of 911 calls required responses during the heavy rain and lightning. At one point all firefighters were pulled off ladders and away from trucks because of concerns over the proximity and intensity of the lightning.
DES MOINES (IRN) – A Des Moines woman saved her sons but lost her home to a fire. WHO-TV reports April Ruby left her six and seven year old sons sleeping Monday night while she ran two doors down to her mother’s house to pick up her 2-year-old daughter. When she got back home, minutes later, she heard the smoke alarm blaring and the house was on fire. She was able to rescue the boys, but the house and everything they own was destroyed.