SIOUX CENTER, IA (IRN) – Students in Sioux Center are being praised for coming forward with sexual abuse claims against a 5th grade teacher. KCCI-TV reports 36-year-old Curtis Van Dam is facing 84 counts of sexual abuse. Other media report 140 charges. Police say the incidents between Van Dam and several children took place between August 2013 and last month. Van Dam was immediately fired from his job at Sioux Center Christian School when the allegations surfaced.
IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – An Iowa City Man has been charged in a stabbing. KCRG-TV reports the victim and his wife were walking past 66-year-old Ronal Rarey in May 2017 when Rarey called the victim’s wife a name and in response, the victim walked towards Rarey. Rarey pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim twice in the abdomen. Rarey admitted to stabbing the victim.
NEWTON, IA (IRN) – Two alleged heroin dealers are off the streets after the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force found heroin, meth, cocaine and other drugs in a Newton home. Authorities said a large number of heroin overdoses in the Newton area in recent weeks led investigators to Tyler Gilbert and Crystal Mendenhall. They, along with four others, were arrested following Tuesday’s drug bust.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are looking for the gunman responsible for firing at two people, wounding one. WHO-TV reports two men were working on a vehicle, when shots were fired at them from behind a house. One of the victims has a permit to carry and returned fire. The other man was hit by a bullet, but is expected to survive. Police believe this to be an isolated situation.
BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – A man walked into a Burlington gas station with a knife and demanded money from a clerk on Wednesday, according to WQAD-TV. After receiving the money, he fled. Police are examining security video.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A new report shows Iowa companies received high marks for practices that protect LGBTQ employees. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation released its Corporate Equality Index report Thursday. It rates major companies on non-discrimination policies, employment benefits, and public commitment to equality. Among the highest ranking companies are Rockwell Collins and Transamerica in Cedar Rapids, as well as Principal Financial Group and Wellmark in Des Moines.