Gazette Daily News Briefing, April 17
This is John McGlothlen with The Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Monday, April 17th.
According to the National Weather Service, it will be cloudy through mid morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 48. Breezy, with a northwest wind around 25 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. And tonight, mostly clear, with a low around 30.
An Iowa City man was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison for attempting to kill his former girlfriend, her boyfriend and three children in 2021 by pouring lighter fluid under her apartment door and igniting a fire, trapping them inside. Ishmael S. Carter, 32, was found guilty in January of first-degree arson and five counts of attempted murder. Jurors deliberated more than four hours following the three-day trial. Carter will have to serve 50 percent of the arson conviction and 70 percent of the attempted murder conviction before being eligible for parole.
Iowa nursing homes and care centers are routinely fined as little as $325 for regulatory violations related to the physical and verbal abuse of residents. While many other types of nursing home violations trigger federal fines that can lead to penalties of up to $10,000, resident abuse violations often are subject to a state fine of $500. In some cases, the facilities haven’t appealed the $500 penalties, so they were automatically reduced to $325. Since Jan. 1, at least eight Iowa nursing homes have been cited for violations related to resident abuse.
A single-vehicle motorcycle crash in Buchanan County killed a man who was driving and injured a female passenger Saturday evening, according to an Iowa State Patrol crash report. At 5:52 p.m., 50-year-old Bradley L. Johnson of Hazleton was driving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle eastbound on Highway C57, just west of Hazleton. The report stated Johnson lost control at the intersection of Highway C57 (also known as 118th Street at that location) and Indiana Avenue, where the motorcycle entered the south shoulder and the driver and a passenger were ejected to the south ditch. The passenger — 46-year-old Sara J. Johnson — was airlifted to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment of her injuries. Bradley Johnson did not survive the crash.
North Liberty is in the early stages of discussing whether to allow utility task vehicles — or UTVs — to operate on city streets. The North Liberty City Council at its meeting this week didn’t take a formal vote but did give city staff the green light to begin drafting an ordinance and offer a recommendation to the council. A state law passed last year allows registered all-terrain vehicles and UTVs to be operated in all 99 counties as along as the rider follows the various rules outlined in the law. The legislation allows cities to regulate operation of these vehicles within their city limits. Last year, Marion voted to allow UTVs on city streets.
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🎹 Podcast music: “Journey” by Emily McGlothlen
