An Ottumwa man who once threatened to kill then-President Barack Obama is scheduled to be sentenced in January for threatening a federal judge. Federal court records say Matthew James Howard has pleaded guilty to threatening the judge and to mailing a threatening communication. His sentencing is set for Jan. 10 in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. Howard, who is serving prison time for robbery and burglary, received an additional three years in September 2013 for writing letters threatening to kill Obama and a judge earlier that year. Howard was indicted in April for threatening U.S. Judge Linda Reade in a letter sent from prison in Anamosa in November.
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September 5th: On this day
On this day in 1970, Janis Joplin started recording sessions recording a version of the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster song “Me and Bobby McGee”. Joplin, (who was a lover and a friend of Kristofferson’s from the beginning of her career to her death), topped the US singles chart with the song in 1971 after her death, making the song the second posthumous #1 single in US chart history after the 1968 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding.
Woman accused of murdering husband with eyedrops
A South Carolina man died after his wife allegedly poisoned his drinks with eye drops. Lana Sue Clayton is charged with murder and unlawful malicious tampering of food after autopsy tests revealed her husband, Stephen, died from poisonous levels of tetrahydrozoline — an ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops. Clayton, 52, admitted to police she snuck eye drops into her husbands’ water between July 19 and July 21. Tetrahydrozoline poisoning can induce comas, stop breathing, blur vision and cause seizures, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Children who swallow even 1 to 2 milliliters can suffer “serious adverse events.” It’s added to eye drops and nasal sprays to reduce redness. Stephen Clayton died on July 21 at their home in Clover from the poisoning. A motive for the poisoning wasn’t clear.
High-speed chase in Keokuk County
An escaped felon led police on a high-speed chase Friday night. The incident began when Richland police pulled over a car in Richland. The license plates came back registered to another vehicle. The driver, Robert Wilson of Ottumwa, fled wet on the highway. The chase moved to gravel roads where Wilson lost control. He then ran. Multiple departments, including Sigourney Police, Keokuk County Sheriff’s Dept., Jefferson County and Wapello County and the Iowa State Patrol joined in the search for Wilson. He was eventually caught hitch hiking near Pekin schools. Wilson faces charges in Keokuk County for eluding, driving while suspended and being a felon in possession of firearms. He was arrested on felony warrants for escape from custody.
Another weekend shooting in Ottumwa
Ottumwa Police are investigating a shooting that took place Friday night. One person arrived at the Ottumwa Regional Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Malik Lewis, 19, of Ottumwa went to the ER at 12:27PM Friday. He was brought to the hospital by a private vehicle. He was treated and transferred to another unspecified hospital for further treatment. He is currently in stable condition. Police are asking for any information regarding the shooting.
Oskaloosa volleyball at Dallas Center-Grimes tonight
The Oskaloosa vs Dallas Center-Grimes volleyball game tonight at Dallas Center-Grimes will air on KMZN 99.5FM/740AM Radio tonight with coverage starting at 6:45pm
September 4th: On this day
On this day in 1991, Dottie West, country music singer and songwriter died in hospital on the operating table aged 58. West had been involved in a car crash a few days earlier when she was on her way to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Along with Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, West is considered one of the genre’s most influential and groundbreaking female artists. Her career started in the early 1960s, with her Top 10 hit, “Here Comes My Baby Back Again,” which won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965.
7 dead, dozens injured after Greyhound bus and truck collide in New Mexico
A horrific collision between a Greyhound bus and a semi-truck on an interstate in New Mexico killed at least seven passengers and sent dozens of others to area hospitals, authorities reported Thursday. Preliminary information indicated the semi was headed east when it blew a tire, sending the rig across the median and into oncoming traffic where it smashed into the bus, New Mexico State Police said. Television footage of the crash site on Interstate 40 near the Arizona border showed the front of the bus had crumpled after impact. The truck was on its side with debris scattered over the highway and a nearby median. The driver of the semi-truck sustained non-life-threatening injuries, state police said. Passing motorists described a chaotic scene with passengers on the ground and people screaming.
Eric Huff was heading to the Grand Canyon with his girlfriend when they came across the crash. Huff said the semi’s trailer was upside down and “shredded to pieces,” and the front of the Greyhound bus was smashed, with many of the seats pressed together. Part of the side of the bus was torn off, he said. “It was an awe-inspiring terrible scene,” he said Truck driver Santos Soto III shot video showing the front of the Greyhound sheared off and the semi split open, with its contents strewn across the highway. First responders work the scene of a collision between a Greyhound passenger bus and a semi-truck on Interstate 40 near the town of Thoreau, N.M., near the Arizona border on Aug. 30, 2018. Multiple people were killed and others were seriously injured. Officers and rescue workers were on scene but did not provide details about how many people were killed or injured, or what caused the crash. He saw people sobbing on the side of the road as bystanders tried to comfort them. “I was really traumatized myself, because I’ve been driving about two years and I had never seen anything like that before,” Soto said. “I’m a pretty strong person and I broke down and cried for at least 30 minutes,” he added.
Greyhound said the bus, which originated in St. Louis on Wednesday, had stopped in Albuquerque and was en route to Phoenix with 47 passengers. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities and will also complete an investigation of our own,” Greyhound spokeswoman Crystal Booker said in a statement. The crash occurred near the town of Thoreau. It forced the closure of the westbound lanes of the interstate and traffic was backing up as travelers were diverted. “It was chaos,” said Officer Ray Wilson, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, in a media briefing. “The officers did a great job of sifting through the wreckage and the rubble to get survivors out of the bus…”
More than 33 patients have been transported to local area hospitals with injuries, some are said to be in critical condition, ABC News reported, quoting authorities. Christopher Jones said he got to the accident site just after the crash. “I saw the tractor trailer flipped upside down the driver of the tractor trailer was on the shoulder just sitting there. So I grabbed my medical kit and grabbed a bunch of my gloves and got out there and just started helping people and it was a pretty rough site,” Jones told ABC News. Jones, who said he used to be a volunteer firefighter and EMT, described the scene as “one of the hardest” he’s ever had to see.
Funeral for Mollie Tibbetts held on Sunday
Mollie Tibbetts’ funeral was held Sunday in Brooklyn and her father spoke at the funeral. Rob Tibbetts told mourners that he has been enbraced by the local Hispanic community and they have been sensitive and kind during the weeks he spent in the central Iowa community of Brooklyn to help search for his daughter. Mollie’s murder has prompted criticism of the U.S. immigration system because the man charged in her death is a Mexican farmer. Cristhian Rivera, 24-years-old, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death. He is suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Within hours of his arrest, Trump, Governor Reynolds and the state’s two U.S. senators said her death demonstrated the need to change immigration laws. Rob Tibbetts asked mourners to remember his daughter by “celebrating something wonderful”, rather than focusing on how she died. He urged the mourners to remember his daughter’s passion for life and her desire to help others.
Uber driver in Florida fatally shoots man in classic ‘stand your ground case’
An Uber driver in Florida shot and killed a man who chased him and threatened him with a pistol in what authorities are calling a “classic stand your ground case.” Early Tuesday morning, the Uber driver picked up a woman from a bar in Dundee, Fla., according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities say Jason Boek, 34, saw the Uber pickup and mistook the woman in the Uber as his on-again, off-again girlfriend, and texted her claiming he was going to beat up the Uber driver, identified as 38-year-old Robert Westlake. A dashcam video from Westlake’s vehicle shows a Ford pickup truck veer in front of the car, attempting to slow it down. Both cars stop, and the driver of the truck, later identified as Boek, jumps out threatening the Uber driver. “You know i got a pistol, you want me to shoot you,” said Boek. As Boek approached Westlake, holding an object in his hand, Westlake shot Boek once in the chest. The Sheriff’s Office later confirmed Boek had a cell phone in his hand.
Westlake then called 911 and attempted CPR on Boek. Authorities said Westlake is a concealed weapon permit holder and a licensed armed security guard who also just finished the police academy.
“This is a justifiable homicide all day long,” said Sheriff Grady Judd of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, during a press conference. “You have the right to protect yourself. This is a classic stand your ground case. This was the intent of the law.” Florida’s “stand your ground” law says people have no “duty to retreat” if they believe they must use deadly force to prevent death or serious injury.
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