Playing politics charges leveled by both parties in Iowa House prison funding debate thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Formal charges filed against inmates accused in Anamosa prison slayings
A pair of inmates at Anamosa State Penitentiary were formally charged Thursday in the March 23 slayings of a correctional officer and nurse in the prison infirmary.
Meanwhile, the union representing prison workers released a letter it sent to Iowa legislative leaders, pushing for action to protect employees safety, including increasing staffing and empowering them to negotiate on workplace safety.
Michael Dutcher, 28, and Thomas Woodard, 39, each face two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the violence during what authorities say was a botched escape attempt.
They also are charged with attempted murder in connection with an assault on an inmate who authorities said tried to help the other victims, and with second-degree kidnapping. Authorities have said the two briefly held a second nurse against her will before releasing her.
Iowa Senate OKs broadband expansion, adopts new crime for livestock sampling thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Iowa lawmakers are battling over the size of a budget increase for the Iowa Department of Corrections in the wake of a deadly attack at the Anamosa State Penitentiary two weeks ago.
House Republican lawmakers unveiled a proposed $21 million increase for the department Tuesday, calling it the largest in a decade. But union officials and House and Senate Democrats say it doesn t do enough to address understaffing, which they maintain contributed to the killings of an Anamosa correctional officer and a nurse on March 23.
The deaths of nurse Lorena Schulte, 50, and correctional officer Robert McFarland, 46, have injected arguments over law enforcement funding and public workers collective bargaining rights into the Legislature s annual budget discussion in the final weeks of the legislative session.
Iowa Senate passes broadband grant bill, sending it to Gov Kim Reynolds msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.