GRINNELL, IA (IRN) – A jury has awarded $4.5 million to a former employee who sued an Iowa hospital for age bias and retaliation. The Des Moines Register reports that the jury’s decision Monday came after a 10-day trial of Grinnell Regional Medical Center and two administrators. The lawsuit brought by Gregory Hawkins said the hospital fired him in June 2015 from his post as lab director while in remission from breast cancer and hired a younger replacement. The hospital plans an appeal.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids city council members cast a unanimous vote Tuesday night on the Pedestrian Safety Ordinance. It imposes new restrictions on panhandlers and anyone trying to collect money or hand out leaflets at city intersections or interstate off ramps. Council members say it’s a safety issue. Advocates for the poor and mentally ill say the law may be well-intentioned, but it makes life even more hopeless for the vulnerable. They say it criminalizes homelessness and poverty.
CLARINDA, IA (IRN) – An imprisoned southeast Iowa man is in trouble again, this time for assaulting a corrections employee. KTVO-TV reports 28-year-old Kelby Klicker of Wapello County assaulted a staff member at the Clarinda Correctional Facility on July 19. Klicker has a long criminal record and a history of assaulting law enforcement officers. He’s in prison because of a home invasion in Blakesburg where he threatened residents. The corrections employee is OK.
WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – An Iowa family is speaking out after their baby was diagnosed with lyme disease. KWWL-TV reports the mother of the two-month-old noticed a tick on her son, and removed it. Two days later the baby had a red ring on his shoulder, and soon had a fever of 103 degrees. He was rushed to the hospital and diagnosed with lyme disease. The boy is out of the hospital now, but the family is speaking up to remind parents to check their kids and pets for ticks.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A popular ice cream shop in Des Moines is trying to figure out why it was the target of vandalism, according to WHO-TV. An employee says “we’re serving ice cream cones. It doesn’t make sense.” Surveillance footage posted to the shop’s Facebook page shows a group of young people overturning flower pots and other decorations. After the video was posted, customers were able to identify the vandals.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Kansas City woman got a surprise at the Paul McCartney concert in in Des Moines Friday. The Des Moines Register reports 26-year-old Salyna Webber noticed her boyfriend, 29-year-old Jeff Hubble get down on one knee and fumble for something in his pocket when McCartney began singing the song, “Something.” Webber says when he handed her the ring and proposed, she said, “yes, yes, yes!”