Gazette Daily News Briefing, February 28
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for Tuesday, February 28.
The last day of February will be pretty pleasant weather wise. According to the National Weather Service, it will be partly sunny, with a high near 47 degrees. On Tuesday night there will be a 50 percent chance of rain before midnight, with a low of around 35 degrees.
Two months after a mother of three was stabbed to death — and after social justice advocates repeatedly called for charges — a Cedar Rapids man was arrested Monday and faces charges of voluntary manslaughter and disorderly conduct in her death.
Shane Teslik, 37, was taken into custody in a different county in Iowa in connection with the Jan. 2 killing of Devonna Walker, 29. He will be transferred to Linn County in the coming days, a news release from the Linn County Attorney’s Office states.
A coalition of activist groups has been protesting regularly since the stabbing. On Feb. 16, the group put out a news release that named Teslik as Walker’s killer.
If convicted, Teslik could face up to 10 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter charge.
An 18-year-old admitted Monday to stabbing his parents with a knife and then picking up an ax to kill his mother when he realized she hadn’t died from the stab injuries Oct. 14, 2021.
Ethan Alexander Orton, who was set to go to trial Tuesday, made a surprising last minute plea to both first-degree murder charges. The hearing Monday had been previously set because the medical examiner was going to testify via Zoom and not in person and Orton had to give his consent on the record.
But when 6th Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill started the hearing he said he understood Orton was pleading to the charges.
Thornhill, during the hearing, told Orton more than once that jurors were set to come in for jury selection Tuesday, if he wanted to have a jury trial, but Orton said he understood and continued with the guilty plea.
One of the proposals to restrict eminent domain powers of utilities --- including proposed carbon dioxide capture pipelines — failed Monday in its first legislative hurdle in the Iowa Senate, facing opposition both from pipelines developers and landowners.
The bill was unanimously voted down by a three-member Senate subcommittee. In voting down the bill, Sen. Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, cast doubt on the likelihood of any bill restricting eminent domain powers for pipelines making it out of the Iowa Legislature this session, despite some movement on this front in the Iowa House..
“I don’t believe there’s a legislative answer to this,” he said in the subcommittee hearing on the bill.
Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator CO2 Ventures and Wolf have all requested a permit to build carbon capture pipelines in the state that would sequester carbon dioxide from ethanol plants underground in other states, taking advantage of federal tax credits and low-carbon fuel markets. Summit and Navigator have indicated an intent to use eminent domain if granted by the utilities board.
