MUSCATINE, Iowa-- The Democratic Presidential field remains packed with caucuses nearly six months away. Candidates like Julian Castro are trying to make an impression.

The former mayor of San Antonio, Texas was in Muscatine Monday, July 15. He first toured areas of downtown affected by flooding then held a meet and greet at Black Pearl Coffee.

Many of the people inside the packed coffee shop say they want to hear from as many presidential hopefuls as possible.

"I kind of made it my goal to meet every one of the top candidates, and look them in the eye, and ask them a question, and see how things go," Cindy Bryant says. "I think it is very important that everybody find out everything they can and make an informed decision."

She says it could be hard to narrow down the candidates.

"We have a really good group of candidates," she says. "They're intelligent. They have plans. It's a little difficult. The policies aren't that different."

For some like Guadalupe Saucedo, Castra has caught their attention.

"He's the only Latino candidate," she says. "I'm interested in listening to what he has to present."

Saucedo says Castro's performance during the first Democratic debate impressed her and his ideas about early education resonate with her.

"I would like to know information about each of the candidates," she says. "It isn't something that I'm just going to say, 'This is what I want.' I'm truly listening."

Some voters like Peg Heither are learning about a whole new party. She says the Republicans don't reflect her ideals anymore with President Donald Trump in the White House.

"I'm a voter without a party," she says. "So I'm looking at the Democratic Party. I'm looking at the candidates. Hopefully, I'll find one that I'll vote for."

Caucuses are February 3, 2020. The presidential visits continue all week. Castro will join Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris at the Des Moines Register and AARP Presidential Candidate Forum Tuesday, July 16 in Davenport. That event is invite-only.

Montana Governor Steve Bullock will be in Muscatine Wednesday, July 17 at Elly's Coffee & Tea.

(CNN) — The violence that erupted in Charlottesville almost two years ago sent shock waves far beyond the picturesque university town in Virginia.

One woman died, dozens were injured, and a nation was traumatized by the specter of rising alt-right violence.

The Charlottesville story is far from over, but one chapter closed Friday when James A. Fields Jr. was sentenced to life in prison for hate crimes. The 22-year-old was behind the wheel of the car that plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing Heather Heyer.

This is how we got here.

The statues

In February 2017, the Charlottesville City Council voted to rename two parks named for Confederate generals and to remove a bronze statue of one of those generals, Robert E. Lee, from an eponymous downtown park.

Other Southern cities had removed dozens of Confederate monuments from public property after a self-described white supremacist massacred nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

The Charlottesville move met with resistance, as some residents sued, and a judge blocked the statue’s removal for six months while the matter was litigated.

The City Council voted again in April, this time agreeing to sell the statue and let the buyer remove it, CNN affiliate WVIR reported.

The first response by white nationalists

In mid-May 2017, Richard Spencer led a demonstration that served a prelude to the deadly violence that occurred in August.

Spencer, a prominent white nationalist and a graduate of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, led torch-wielding demonstrators in a march on the city. They were met by counterprotesters. Three people were arrested, and one police officer was hurt.

In July, about 50 Ku Klux Klan members, some in Klan robes, arrived in the city, where they were outnumbered 20-to-1 by counterprotesters.

Torches on campus

Jason Kessler, a vocal white nationalist, organized a “Unite the Right” rally for the weekend of August 11-12, 2017, that was aimed at “standing up for our history.”

On Friday night, August 11, a group marched across the University of Virginia campus carrying torches and chanting white nationalist slogans. Scuffles with counterprotesters broke out near a campus statue of President Thomas Jefferson. Police ran off the white nationalists and counterprotesters.

Saturday violence

On Saturday, August 12, the two groups again fought in the streets. The governor declared a state of emergency. More law enforcement officers poured into the city.

Around 1:30 p.m. ET, a silver Dodge Charger plowed into a crowd of people who opposed the white nationalists. The often-played video was dramatic, showing protesters flying through the air upon impact.

Police arrested the driver and identified him as James Alex Fields Jr., then 20, of Maumee, Ohio. Later that day, two Virginia State Police troopers died after their helicopter crashed while on patrol near the clashes.

Trump’s ‘fine people’ remark

Hours after the attack, President Donald Trump went onto Twitter and admonished “hatred, bigotry, and violence, on many sides.” Many people felt he should have singled out the white nationalists who staged the rally.

Two days later, Trump held a news conference and further inflamed critics, saying “both sides are to blame.”

“What about the ‘alt-left’ that came charging at, as you say, the ‘alt-right,’ do they have any semblance of guilt?” Trump asked. Trump also said there were some “very bad people” on both sides, but that there was some who came out to protest the removal of Robert E. Lee’s statue who were “fine people.”

Critics replayed the comments over and over. Trump defended his words as recently as April, when former Vice President Joe Biden referred to them while announcing his candidacy for the presidency.

UVA bans Spencer

American universities, not just UVA, struggled with how to allow free speech while regulating hate speech.

In October 2017, Spencer led a third march in Charlottesville. That same month, he spoke on the University of Florida campus, where he was heckled. Earlier in 2017, he spoke at Auburn University and scuffles broke out.

In October 2018, UVA acted against Spencer, banning him from campus for four years. Nine other people involved in the United the Right rally were also banned.

The march toward justice

In December 2018, Fields was found guilty in state court of first-degree murder and nine other charges. He will be sentenced July 15.

Fields pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crimes last March, a plea that allowed him to avoid capital punishment. On Friday, he was sentenced to life without a chance of parole.

The statues are still there

A Virginia judge ruled in April 2019 that the statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson in Charlottesville are war monuments that the city cannot remove without permission from the state.

GROVE CITY, Ohio – An Ohio woman accused of abusing young children in her care was sentenced to just over four weeks in jail after making a plea deal.

Kimberly Hignite (Courtesy: Franklin County Jail)

Kimberly Hignite, 52, was indicted on multiple counts of gross sexual imposition and endangering children. As part of a plea agreement, six of the counts were dropped and she pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of endangering children, according to Franklin County Common Pleas records.

Judge William Woods sentenced her to 30 days in jail Monday.

Hignite ran an unregistered daycare at her house in Grove City. Last year, investigators searched the house and found 23 children between the ages of 7 months and 5 years, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Parents said their children were confined to carseats, deprived of food and water, and forced to take sleeping medication. Two children reported Hignite sexually abused them.

The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office told the Dispatch the families who cooperated with the investigation were involved in the plea deal.

Bianca Devins (Family Handout)

UTICA, N.Y. – A recent high school graduate — who cultivated an online following, particularly among gamers, by posting selfies — was killed over the weekend.

The suspect then shared graphic photos of her dead body online, the Utica Police Department said.

Bianca Devins grew her following across several apps where she shared photos and details about her life.

The calls

Around 7:20 a.m. Sunday, police responded to several 911 calls in Utica, New York, about a suicidal man who claimed to have killed a woman, the department said.

When officers arrived, the man began to stab his neck with a knife, police said.

The suspect then laid down on a tarp on the ground. Police said the officer saw brown hair protruding from underneath the tarp, and the suspect confirmed it belonged to the woman he said he harmed.

Police identified the victim as Devins. She had extensive injuries to her neck, they said.

The pair met two months ago

Police said the pair met on Instagram about two months ago and their relationship grew into a close one.

The couple was driving back from a concert in New York City sometime after 10 p.m. Saturday. Police said an argument between the two precipitated her death.

“it is believed that he took and distributed photographs of the killing on the Discord platform,” police said. Discord is a text and video chat app for gamers.

Members of Discord who viewed the images and posts contacted the Utica Police Department.

“We are shocked and deeply saddened by this terrible situation. We are working closely with law enforcement to provide any assistance we can. In the meantime, our hearts go out to Bianca’s family and loved ones,” a Discord spokesperson told CNN.

The suspect, identified by police as 21-year-old Brandon Clark, underwent emergency surgery and is expected to live, police said.

Charges will come once officials interview him, they said. CNN has not been able to determine if Clark has retained a lawyer.

Devins planned to attend college in the fall

Devins’ family issued a statement through police thanking friends and family for their prayers.

“Bianca, age 17, was a talented artist, a loving sister, daughter, and cousin, and a wonderful young girl, taken from us all too soon. She is now looking down on us, as she joins her cat, Belle, in heaven.”
Devins had planned to attend Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica in the fall, her family said.

“Bianca’s smile brightened our lives. She will always be remembered as our princess.”

DES MOINES — Four Democrats running for president pledged Monday to keep Social Security solvent for senior citizens by raising the income cap so wealthier Americans pay more taxes to support...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayer-funded family planning clinics must stop referring women for abortions immediately, the Trump administration said Monday, declaring it will begin enforcing a new regulation hailed by religious conservatives and denounced by medical organizations and women’s rights groups.

The head of a national umbrella group representing the clinics said the administration is following “an ideological agenda” that could disrupt basic health care for many low-income women.

Ahead of a planned conference Tuesday with the clinics, the Health and Human Services Department formally notified them that it will begin enforcing the ban on abortion referrals, along with a requirement that clinics maintain separate finances from facilities that provide abortions. Another requirement that both kinds of facilities cannot be under the same roof would take effect next year.

The rule is widely seen as a blow against Planned Parenthood, which provides taxpayer-funded family planning and basic health care to low-income women, as well as abortions that must be paid for separately. The organization is a mainstay of the federally funded family planning program and it has threatened to quit over the issue.

Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen said in a statement that “our doors are still open” as her organization and other groups seek to overturn the regulations in federal court. “We will not stop fighting for all those across the country in need of essential care,” Wen said.

HHS said no judicial orders currently prevent it from enforcing the rule while the litigation proceeds.

Clare Coleman, president of the umbrella group National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, said “the administration’s actions show its intent is to further an ideological agenda.”

Known as Title X, the family-planning program serves about 4 million women annually through independent clinics, many operated by Planned Parenthood affiliates, which serve about 40 percent of all clients. The program provides about $260 million a year in grants to clinics.

The family planning rule is part of a series of Trump administration efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health. Other regulations tangled up in court would allow employers to opt-out of offering free birth control to women workers on the basis of religious or moral objections, and grant health care professionals wider leeway to opt-out of procedures that offend their religious or moral scruples.

Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal laws prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.

Under the administration’s rule, clinic staff would still be permitted to discuss abortion with clients, along with other options. However, that would no longer be required.

The American Medical Association is among the professional groups opposed to the administration’s policy, saying it could affect low-income women’s access to basic medical care, including birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. By law, the family planning program does not pay for abortions.

Religious conservatives see the regulation as a means to end what they call an indirect taxpayer subsidy of abortion providers.

Although abortion remains politically divisive, the U.S. abortion rate has dropped significantly, from about 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 1980 to about 15 in 2014. Better contraception, fewer unintended pregnancies, and state restrictions may have played a role, according to a recent scientific report. Polls show most Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.

The Trump administration’s policy echoes a Reagan-era regulation that barred clinics from even discussing abortion with women. It never went into effect as written, although the Supreme Court ruled it was appropriate.

The policy was rescinded under President Bill Clinton, and a new rule took effect requiring “nondirective” counseling to include a full range of options for women. The Trump administration is now rolling back the Clinton requirement.

HENRY COUNTY- A 60-year-old man is dead after he crashed into a tree.

On July 13th, around 4:45 p.m. the Henry County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a car accident.

Police say they arrived at the 2000-grid of Franklin Avenue to find that Otis Henkle Jr, 60, of Mount Pleasant veered off the roadway then hit a tree and grain bin.

Henkle was the only person in the car. While at the hospital he passed away from injuries from the accident.

Police are not filing charges.

Then-Gov. Terry Branstad discriminated against a state employee — asking for his resignation and then cutting his pay — based on the employee’s sexual orientation, a jury decided...

SEATTLE, Washington – One doctor says it's becoming the "Wild West" of medicine.

Private clinics are opening nationwide claiming stem cells will cure everything from arthritis to macular degeneration,
autism to erectile dysfunction.

The Food and Drug Administration says many of those claims are just not true.

Norman Wohlken found out the hard way.

His osteoarthritis makes walking painful.

He read an ad for a stem cell clinic and signed up.

"If you're desperate, you're in pain. But there is hope for a cure, then you're probably going to try it."

He paid $14,000 to have cells extracted, spun in a centrifuge, and reinjected.

"The results were negligible, no improvement.  In fact, worse."

Dr. Chuck Murry has worked on regenerating heart muscle with stem cells for 20 years.   He says some private clinics are taking people's money and giving them unproven treatments that could in fact be harmful.

"Let's gather some data and let's see," he said.

"Here's standard of care.  Is it better, same, or worse? It's not that hard, and that's not being done. They skipped all that hard work in the middle."

Dr. Murray leads researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine.

"It's kind of like the Wild West. It's as though people can just go and set up a shop and say we can cure anything with these cells as though they have magical powers not defined by biology or physics and they just wait for people who are desperately ill to come in."  -Dr. Chuck Murry

The FDA is cracking down, notifying clinics that stem cell procedures must be approved as clinical trials.

"I think the FDA waited too long to start and so this blew up on them," explained Dr. Murray.

"Now there's 900 or so of these clinics around the country right now."

Dr. Murry says stem cells offer great hope, but cautions folks not to risk trying them before they're thoroughly researched.

DANGERS:   All medical treatments have benefits and risks but unproven stem cell therapies can be particularly unsafe.   For instance, attendees at a 2016 FDA public workshop discussed several cases of severe adverse events including a patient who became blind due to an injection of stem cells into the eye.   Another patient received a spinal cord injection that caused the growth of a spinal tumor.   Other potential safety concerns for unproven treatments include administration site reactions, the ability of cells to move from placement sites and change into inappropriate cell types or multiply, failure of cells to work as expected, and the growth of tumors.   Even if stem cells are your own cells, there are still safety risks such as those noted above.   In addition, if cells are manipulated after removal, there is a risk of contamination of the cells.

The only stem cell treatments approved by the FDA are those for the treatment of certain cancers and disorders of the blood and immune system.

The FDA says people need to ask stem cell clinics if they are part of the few clinical trials that are FDA approved.

If this story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Jim Mertens at jim.mertens@wqad.com or Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A 3-year-old boy died after falling into a restaurant grease trap Monday morning in Rochester, New York, police said.

Rochester Police Department Investigator Francis Camp said they believe the boy fell through a plastic lid that gave way and into the grease trap embedded in the ground outside a Tim Hortons restaurant.

The grease trap was covered with a green plastic lid — much like a manhole cover — that helped it blend into the surrounding grass, he said.

“The lid was on there, it looks like the child ran across it and it popped open and he fell into the trap,” he said.

The grease trap is 2-and-a-half feet in diameter, according to police.

Camp said a witness found the child in the grease trap minutes after he was reported missing. The witness saw the boy and pulled him from the trap and started administering CPR, Camp said. The boy’s name has not been released.

Attempts were made to revive the boy but they were unsuccessful, according to Camp.

“We have a horrifying episode here that happened today,” he said. “We’re asked all the time, ‘What’s the worst thing you encounter as a police officer?’ and this is number one.”

The medical examiner’s office told CNN the cause of death will be released in coming days.

The city is currently pouring concrete around the opening in the ground where the grease trap was located and putting a metal lid on it, according to Camp.

CNN reached out to the NY Buildings Administrative Enforcement Unit to ask if this location’s grease interceptor was up to code.

Tim Hortons provided CNN with the following statement:

“What occurred today was a tragedy and on behalf of the Tim Hortons family, we offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the young boy who passed away. Tim Hortons is fully cooperating with authorities. As there is an ongoing police investigation, we have no further comment at this time.”

Camp said police will be following up with the DA’s office, OSHA and the medical examiner’s office.

A 3-year-old child died in Auburn, Alabama, after falling into a grease pit in October 2017 while on a family outing at an ice cream shop.

INYO COUNTY, Calif. – A woman who vanished four days ago while camping with her husband in a remote area in Southern California has been found alive, officials said Monday afternoon.

Sheryl Powell, 60, was located near the Montenegro Springs area of Inyo County, below where her dog she went missing with was found hours before, in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Inyo County sheriff's officials said in a news release.

Rescuers described her as "resilient and strong but exhausted after being lost in an extremely remote area" within the national forest east of Bishop, authorities said.

She was being taken to a nearby hospital for medical clearance.

Just two and a half hours before, search crews announced they had found Powell's 4-pound Yorkie-poo about 2 1/2 miles from where she disappeared.

Powell disappeared with her dog Miley after taking out the pet while her husband moved their Jeep near their remote campsite in the Bristlecone Pine Forest area, according to the Sheriff's Office.

"This took 5 minutes or less but when he got back she and Miley were gone without a trace," the couple's daughter, Farrah Powell, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up on Saturday to help "with funding for helicopter search in the event the search becomes scaled-down, which they did say would happen."

After parking their car, Powell's husband spent about one hour looking before calling authorities from the Grandview Campground at around 2 p.m. Friday, the Sheriff's Office said.

The incident drew help from search and rescue teams from across California, including ground and aerial units equipped with a thermal imaging device, the agency said.

The family had said they suspected a "high likelihood of abduction which many rescue personnel are skeptical of," Farrah Powell said on GoFundMe.

"They keep insisting she just got lost (she didn’t bring any food or water and had no plans to hike yet, they were just setting up camp) or the dog got away (she weighs 4 lbs was on a leash and has a bad leg so she can’t run)," Farrah Powell wrote. "I hope they’re right but I think they should be pursuing the possibility of abduction as well."

It's still unclear how the woman became lost while near her campsite. Officials described Powell as an experienced hiker.

Farrah Powell said her father refused to leave the campsite after his wife disappeared and was "on the verge of breakdown."

On Monday, the sheriff's office said investigators don't suspect any link to Powell's husband.

"They have been married for 42 years," Farrah Powell said of her parents in a Facebook post. "They love each other, they love my brother and me, and they love the outdoors."

One of the couple's friends, Lorie Geery, told KTLA Joe was easing into retirement, "and I can’t imagine either one of them wanting to go through the rest of their life alone."

The family was "extremely cooperative" in the investigation, the Sheriff's Office said.

DAVENPORT — The trial of 13-year-old Luke Andrews, accused of trying to shoot a North Scott Junior High School teacher in late August, is nearing its final stages. Assistant Scott County...

NORFOLK, Va. - Amanda Edwards can laugh today thinking back on her potentially fatal health scare after spending just ten minutes in the water at a Virginia beach.

"I was just like, 'Oh my goodness... my leg is gonna fall off,'" Edwards chuckled. "That’s the only thing I could keep thinking."

She told WTKR she contracted a flesh-eating staph infection during a day of fun at Norfolk’s Ocean View Beach. She said the infection spread quickly.

“The way that it was spreading, it was going up my leg," Edwards explained.

It happened last week.

“I was like, ‘It’s really hot. Let’s go to the beach.’ So, we went outside to the beach. I was only in the water for maybe like 10 minutes,” she explained.

The next day, the fun was over.

“I did not feel good. I noticed this thing that came on my leg. I ignored it for a couple days, and it just started getting bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where I couldn’t walk anymore,” she explained.

She said doctors treated the infection and said the bacteria possibly got into her skin through an open cut.

“They had to cut me open, drain it out and stuff it with some gauze. I had to keep it covered for days," Edwards, who was at the beach with friends, said.

This was around the time there was a swimming advisory.

“Please check the news and make sure there is not an advisory out because there was not signs out there,” Edwards mentioned.

The Norfolk Health Department told us germs can get into the water in different ways, like washing off of swimmers' bodies or when people relieve themselves in the water.

Health officials urge swimmers to avoid swallowing water and taking a dip after a heavy rainfall.  Don’t swim if you are ill or have a weakened immune system and swim away from fishing piers, pipes, drains and water flowing from storm drains onto a beach.

As for Edwards, she said she’s taking a break from splashing around for the rest of the summer.

“Every time I go into the water, I’m gonna think about that bad experience.”

Edwards has to continue taking antibiotics for the next two weeks.

Once you get out of the water, health officials say you should shower with soap.

LONG GROVE, Iowa-- For the first time in 15 years, Pride of the Wapsi will not be growing strawberries; they're growing sunflowers instead.

It's a new day at this Iowa farm, and it's a sunny one.

After months of tending the fields. this place is ready for their first of its kind crop debut.

"We think it's an opportunity for families to see something they normally don't see in Iowa. We see fields of gold tassels but not gold flowers," says Pride of the Wapsi co-owner Pat Dierickx.

On the farm, feast your eyes on two acres filled with 40,000 sun-seeking beauties. There are six different kinds, all with different shapes, sizes, and colors.

Starting opening day people can come to the farm, take in the views, and take some fresh flowers home.

"Pick a sunflower, have a glass of wine, spend the afternoon with us," says Dierickx.

Dierickx says planting these was a change that makes sense for the farm and the customers.

"When we first started at Pride of the Wapsi, we did strawberries, sweet corn and a fall festival of pumpkins," says Dierickx.

For the past 15 years, picking strawberries was a staple here at the farm. But growing them wasn't always easy.

"It is a very labor extensive and expensive project to do," says Dierickx.

And Dierickx says the way visitors spend time on the farm is different.

"Families would come out and pick 100, 150, 200 pounds of strawberries. That culture is changed," says Dierickx.

He says when people come to the farm, they want an experience. They'll come in with their families, enjoy the flowers, snap a picture and post it to social media.

With a new venture on the horizon, the future here is as bright as the newly grown petals.

Sunflower Days opens July 20-21 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and then again the following weekend.

Visitors can also come out during weekdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

And photographers can call and reserve private plots of flowers to shoot photo sessions in the evenings.

BETTENDORF, Iowa -- At Iowa Masonic Health Facilities Monday morning you would find a silver truck pulling into the parking lot.  Inside that truck sits the racing bike of a 1950’s motorcycle racing legend.

“It’s called the “Big Based Scallop” and only 50 of them were ever made,” says Bob Sheffington, one of the men who hauled it in.

The bike belongs to 97-year-old Bill Tuman who resides at the Masonic nursing home and deals with Dementia.

“I can’t remember anything,” comments Tuman.

His short-term memory is shrinking, but he can always recall his racing glory days when he rode his Indian motorcycle along with the “Indian Wrecking Crew”.

That was back in the ’50s, and Truman hasn’t seen his own bike in almost 20 years, but that all changed Monday morning.

“I think he’s going to be extremely impressed because as long as he’s concerned this bike is still in Australia,” says Sheffington, a long-time friend of Tuman’s.

As Tuman makes his way outside to the Masonic parking lot, one piece of racing history reunites with another, Tuman remains speechless, but decides to take a leap of faith and attempts to sit on his bike like back in the day.

Tuman earned the biggest win of his career and took first place at the Springfield Miler in 1953, becoming the new national champion.

“I think it’s going to take some time to sink in,” says Sheffington. “Just like it would be for any great event for any of us.”

And no matter how much time passes, or where it goes next, number 51 will always be Bill Tuman’s bike.

“His name is the serial number,” Sheffington comments about Tuman's name etched into the engine. “It’s the only bike in the world that I know of.”

The bike will be shipped back to Australia later this week where it will be stored forever.

DAVENPORT, Iowa - Both the prosecution and the defense have rested their case in the trial of the 13-year-old boy who brought a gun to North Scott Junior High School last year.

Luke Andrews is charged with attempted murder, assault while displaying a dangerous weapon and carrying weapons on school grounds.

On Monday, prosecutors called their final witnesses to the stand.

Two of the witnesses were already heard from last week and all four of the witnesses that testified on Monday were Eldridge Police officers who played a role in the investigation of the incident in question.

Andrews is said to have brought a loaded pistol to class.

Witnesses say he pulled the gun out, pointed it at a student teacher, then at his teacher.

They say he pulled the trigger.

Some witnesses have testified that they heard a clicking sound when the trigger was pulled.

However, during cross-examination on Monday, a police officer who testified about the weapon Andrews used told the court that there would be no clicking sound if the safety was on.

Instead, the officer said that an audible click would be heard if the magazine is in the gun but no round is chambered. He said the safety would need to be disengaged to hear that clicking sound.

The defense is trying to argue that Andrews never pulled the trigger. They argue that Andrews brought the gun to school to gain attention.

Prosecutors say the teen should be convicted of attempted murder.

Andrews did not take the stand in his own defense when given the opportunity on July 15.

The judge questioned him to make sure he understood his right to make an independent decision about testifying.

"At this point you have chosen not to testify in this case? Correct?" asked Chief District Judge Marlita Greve.

"Yes, Your Honor," replied Luke Andrews.

The judge then asked, "Has Ms. Thwing or Ms. Brandt or anybody forced you or do you feel any pressure from anybody that you should or should not testify?"

"No, Your Honor," said Andrews.

The defense did make a motion asking for a judgement of acquittal on July 15.

The motion was denied by Judge Greve

Closing arguments and jury deliberations are now set for July 16.

Andrews is being charged as a youthful offender in adult court.

If convicted, Andrews could spend the rest of his childhood in a juvenile detention center.

Then, just before his 18th birthday, a judge would review the case.

At that point, the judge could re-sentence him or discharge him.

HENRY COUNTY- An Iowa business owner was arrested after being charged with forgery and wage theft.

Police say they started an investigation back in October of 2017, the subject was Curtis Wagler, 44, and Wagler Manufacturing, Inc. of Wayland Iowa.

Police say Wagler was suspected for theft of employee wage.

Back in 2016 and 2017, over $1,500.00 was taken from employees’ paychecks and it was determined that Wagler committed forgery during the investigation.

On July 15, 2019, Curtis Wagler, 44 of Wayland, was arrested and charged with three (3) counts of forgery and one (1) count of theft 2nd degree (all charges are class D felonies).

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Candidates in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District have raised more than three-quarters of a million dollars to finance their 2020 campaigns. Democratic U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer reported raising...

DAVENPORT, Iowa  — Crews have begun draining four lakes that form part of the ecosystem at West Lake Park in north Davenport.

“Our lakes are on Iowa’s Impaired Waters list, primarily due to the sediment that comes into the lakes and the excess algae that we have,” said Roger A. Kean, executive director for Scott County’s Conservation Board. Scott County received about $4 million in funding from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to improve water quality at its lakes.

A park ranger on Monday morning accessed a fenced-in valve and let-down structure by Lake of the Hills, the largest lake at the park. A turn of the valve lifted up a gate valve deep underground, as the sound of rushing water could be heard flowing into a culvert underneath Interstate 280. The water eventually flows into Black Hawk Creek and the Mississippi River.

“So this valve goes down underneath the lake out in the middle of the lake,” Kean explained.

“We can open it as much a we want to and let the water out and let the water drain as fast as we want, but we are required to only do about a foot a day on drop. That way we know there’s no impact on the creek below us, and it doesn’t cause any problems for the people who live along Black Hawk Creek.”

Only Lake of the Hills has a valve and pipe running to the creek, so contractors set up pumps to drain the surrounding smaller lakes into Lake of the Hills.

“This pump here will pump 38,000 gallons per minute so we’re not quite sure how long it’s gonna take to drain all of them,” Kean said. He estimated it would take about a month.

Recreational activities including swimming, fishing and boating would be minimally impacted — until August 1.

“Fishing is still going on and we have what call liberalized fishing: People can catch and keep as much as they want, but that will end on August 1 as well, primarily due to the fact that the water level will get so low that it’s hard for people to get to the shoreline to be able to fish. And then our boat ramp aren’t accessible as well after the water level is down,” he said.

The lakes won’t be drained entirely, but the water level on Lake of the Hills is expected to drop 17 feet. At that point, the remaining fish population will be killed off. The lakes will be restocked with game fish at the end of the lake restoration project.

The lakes will be closed for the 2020 season and reopen in 2021. The entire lake restoration project will run about $5 million by the time it is finished, he said.

“We are gonna improve angler acess, redo the shoreline, improve our fishing piers and other small projects like that. You don’t get many opportunities when the lake is down, to do that work,” he said, adding that the lakes will be restocked with game fish at the end of the entire project in 2021.

As for the water levels, he hoped for what many had lamented this spring.

“All this rain that we got this spring, we need that in the spring of 2021 and that’s what will fill the lake back again.”

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