TAG SEARCH RESULTS FOR: ""

Indians volleyball still leads LHC

Oskaloosa’s volleyball team remains on top of the Little Hawkeye Conference after a three sets to one victory at Pella Tuesday night (10/1).  The Indians won the first two sets 25-19 and 25-14.  Pella took the third set 25-23, before Oskaloosa finished the match by winning the fourth set 25-23.  We don’t have any individual statistics from the game.  Oskaloosa improves to 5-0 in the Little Hawkeye Conference and 12-7 overall.  The Indians are off until next Tuesday (10/8), when they host Indianola.

Miller-Meeks to run for US House

A State Senator from Ottumwa is making another run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks ran for Congress in 2008, 2010 and 2014, losing all three races to Democratic incumbent Dave Loebsack of Iowa City. Loebsack is retiring and will not seek reelection next year. Miller-Meeks says she began thinking about another Congressional try a few months ago.

“It’s an arduous, grueling process and there are people who I think would make excellent representatives, but at this time in their lives, it’s not the right time for them to do it,” Miller-Meeks says, “so with a lot of encouragement and urging and the blessing of my husband, I have decided to move forward and seek the nomination.”

Miller-Meeks is an eye doctor who works at a private practice in Burlington.

Two arrested on drug charges

A traffic stop south of Eddyville Tuesday morning (10/1) led to two arrests on drug charges.  Around 5:45am Tuesday, officers from the Southeast Iowa Inter-Agency Drug Task Force, Wapello County Sheriff’s Office and Ottumwa Police conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on Highway 63.  Officers executed a search warrant on the vehicle and the driver, 23-year-old Diego Gutierrez of Ottumwa.  During the search, officers found over two pounds of meth, as well as cash and scales.  Gutierrez was arrested and charged with possessing meth with the intent to deliver, and failure to have a drug tax stamp.  A passenger, 31-year-old Jessica Hill of Ottumwa was arrested for prohibited acts, possessing meth and drug paraphernalia.  Gutierrez is being held in the Wapello County Jail without bond; Hill has been released on bond.

Ex-Dallas officer who killed neighbor found guilty of murder

By JAKE BLEIBERG

DALLAS (AP) — A white former Dallas police officer could be facing decades in prison after being convicted of murder Tuesday in the fatal shooting of her black, unarmed neighbor who she said she believed was an intruder in her home.

The same jury that found Amber Guyger guilty in the September 2018 death of her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean, will consider her fate after hearing additional testimony starting Tuesday afternoon. In Texas, the sentence for murder is from five to 99 years in prison.

The jury took a matter of hours to convict Guyger, 31, after a six-day trial.

Cheers erupted in the courthouse as the verdict was announced, and someone yelled “Thank you, Jesus!” In the hallway outside the courtroom, a crowd celebrated and chanted “black lives matter.” When the prosecutors walked into the hall, they broke into cheers.

After the verdict was read, Guyger sat alone, weeping, at the defense table.

Family members are expected to testify about how they were affected by the killing of Jean, an accountant from the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia. Guyger’s defense attorneys can argue that she deserves a light sentence because she acted out of sudden fear and confusion. The judge is expected to provide guidance on sentencing law. It is unclear how long the punishment phase of the trial will last.

The basic facts of the unusual shooting were not in dispute throughout the trial. After a long shift at work and still in uniform, Guyger walked up to Jean’s apartment — which was on the fourth floor, directly above hers on the third — and found the door unlocked. Thinking the apartment was her own, she drew her service weapon and entered.

Jean had been eating a bowl of ice cream when Guyger entered his home and shot him.

The shooting drew widespread attention because of the strange circumstances and because it was one in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers.

“A 26-year-old college-educated black man, certified public accountant, working for one of the big three accounting firms in the world … it shouldn’t take all of that for unarmed black and brown people in America to get justice,” Benjamin Crump, one of the lawyers for Jean’s family, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Crump said the verdict honors other people of color who were killed by police officers who were not convicted of a crime.

Attorney Lee Merritt, who also represents the family, underlined Crump’s words.

The jury that convicted Guyger was largely made up of women and people of color.

The verdict also defused tensions that began simmering Monday when jurors were told they could consider whether Guyger had a right to use deadly force under a Texas law known as the castle doctrine — even though she wasn’t in her own home.

The law is similar to “stand your ground” measures across the U.S. that state a person has no duty to retreat from an intruder. Prosecutor Jason Fine told jurors that while the law would have empowered Jean to shoot someone barging into his apartment, it doesn’t apply “the other way around.”

Guyger was arrested three days after the killing. She was later fired and charged with murder . Tension has been high during the trial in Dallas, where five police officers were killed in an attack three years ago.

Guyger tearfully apologized for killing Jean and told the jurors she feared for her life upon finding the door to what she thought was her apartment unlocked. Guyger said Jean approached her when she entered the unit with her gun out. Prosecutors suggested he was just rising from a couch toward the back of the room when the officer shot him.

In a frantic 911 call played repeatedly during the trial, Guyger said “I thought it was my apartment” nearly 20 times. Her lawyers argued that the identical physical appearance of the apartment complex from floor to floor frequently led to tenants going to the wrong apartments.

But prosecutors questioned how Guyger could have missed numerous signs that she was in the wrong place, asked why she didn’t call for backup and suggested she was distracted by sexually explicit phone messages with her police partner.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed this this report.

___

For the latest on the case: https://apnews.com/5300e18b9f934c6f90b02ddbc2e0c53e/

Indians volleyball beats EBF

The Oskaloosa High volleyball team won its third in a row Monday night (9/30), beating EBF three sets to none at Eddyville….25-11, 25-14 and 25-16.  Faith DeRonde had 13 kills for the Indians, while Riz Alesna served five aces.  Brooke Shafer led EBF with seven kills.  Oskaloosa improves to 11-7 on the year; EBF is 7-13.  Both teams are in action again Tuesday night (10/1)–with Oskaloosa at Pella and EBF at Davis County.

Flash Flood Watch Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning

A Flash Flood Watch goes into effect Tuesday afternoon (10/1) through Wednesday morning (10/2) for Mahaska, Keokuk, Poweshiek, Jasper and Marion Counties in the No Coast Network listening area.  The National Weather Service says we can expect one to two inches of widespread rain across the area, with areas of two to four inches…and by Wednesday morning, we could see some places with four inches of rain or more.  The Flash Flood Watch means low water crossings could become flooded and water may pond on roads and in fields.  This Flash Flood Watch starts at 1pm Tuesday and runs through 7am Wednesday.  Keep tuned to the No Coast Network for the latest weather updates.

Four arrested in Hedrick drug bust

Four people from Hedrick have been arrested on drug charges.  Keokuk County Sheriff’s Deputies along with the Southeast Iowa Inter-Agency Drug Task Force executed a search warrant September 25 at an apartment in the 100 block of North Main in Hedrick.  Law enforcement seized packaged THC products, marijuana, scales, packaging materials, rifles, a shotgun and a handgun with the serial number filed off.  21-year-old Scott Strom and 20-year-old Cheyenne Deutschle, who live at the apartment, have been charged with conspiracy to deliver less than 50 kilos of marijuana and failure to have a drug tax stamp.  While 18-year-old Derrik Strom and 20-year-old Jacob Keith, both of Hedrick, were both charged with possessing a controlled substance.  All four have been released on bond.

Musk unveils SpaceX rocket designed to get to Mars and back

BOCA CHICA VILLAGE, Texas (AP) — Elon Musk has unveiled a SpaceX spacecraft designed to carry a crew and cargo to the moon, Mars or anywhere else in the solar system and land back on Earth perpendicularly.

In a livestreamed speech from SpaceX’s launch facility near the southern tip of Texas, Musk said Saturday that the space venture’s Starship is expected to take off for the first time in about one or two months and reach 65,000 feet (19,800 meters) before landing back on Earth.

He says it’s essential for the viability of space travel to be able to reuse spacecraft and that it’s important to take steps to extend consciousness beyond our planet.

A crowd watched as Musk spoke from a stage in front of the large spacecraft, which has a reflective, metal exterior.

Musk says Saturday marked the 11th anniversary of a SpaceX rocket reaching orbit for the first time.

Indians football win Homecoming game

Tyler Miller scored four touchdowns as Oskaloosa defeated Grinnell 35-16 Friday night (9/27) at Oskaloosa’s Homecoming.  Miller rushed for 84 yards and also completed five passes for 35 yards as the senior running back started the game at quarterback.  Reed Brown, who played the second half at quarterback, scored on a 74 yard run in the fourth quarter.  Junior linebacker Leland Evans also tied a school record with three fumble recoveries in a single game.  Korry Morrow also did it in 2002.  The Indians are now 3-2 overall and 1-0 in district play.  The Indians play at Newton this coming Friday night (10/4); we’ll have the game on KBOE-FM.

NEWSLETTER

Stay updated, sign up for our newsletter.