IN THE NEWS

Lawyers representing the UConn women’s rowing team sent a letter to UConn president Thomas Katsouleas on Monday stating that if the university did not reinstate the women’s rowing program, a class action lawsuit would be filed against the university and the lawyers would seek a preliminary injunction immediately to preserve the status of the team, which is set to be cut after this season.

IOWA CITY, Ia. — Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said Tuesday his decision to reinstate his women’s swimming and diving team is permanent, even though he hesitated to use that word when making the announcement Monday.

“It’s permanent like every other Olympic sport we have,” Barta told reporters in his first public comments since a university news release went out Monday afternoon. “They are fully reinstated as full members of the athletic department. And then I have zero plans to cut any sports, including women’s swimming, beyond this point.”

For  her first three years as a collegiate swimmer, Sage Ohlensehlen knew  enough about Title IX to sense there might be something wrong at her  beloved University of Iowa.

Ohlensehlen  knew that Title IX, the landmark gender equity law, meant women at Iowa  were supposed to have as many athletic opportunities as men. But... 

A federal judge announced Tuesday she will grant an injunction blocking the University of Iowa from dropping women's swimming, or any other women's sports, for the 2021-2022 school year. 

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The conflict involves Maxwell’s work on a city assessor conference board for both elected posts.

Attorney James Larew, for petitioners, said the work of the conference  board is a substantive conflict, big enough Maxwell avoided  participating on the Davenport city assessor conference board for two  years until this year.

 A Scott County panel determined a vacancy exists on the Board of Supervisors.

The  panel voted Wednesday 2-1 on party lines that Supervisor John Maxwell  vacated his seat after being re-elected to the North Scott School Board  in 2019.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa students who want to establish intercollegiate women's wrestling and rugby programs were added as plaintiffs Thursday to a lawsuit seeking more sports opportunities for female Hawkeyes.

IOWA CITY - Female athletes pushing - via Title IX complaint - for the University of Iowa to reinstate the cut women's swimming and diving program have extended their demands, asking now that a court also force the Hawkeyes to add more women's sports teams, like wrestling and rugby.

Members of Iowa's women's swimming and diving team filed a complaint on Friday arguing that the school is not providing equal athletic opportunities for its female students, as required by Title IX.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)-Members of the University of Iowa women's swimming and diving team filed a legal complaint against the school Friday.

The lawyer behind the legal crusade against automated traffic cameras in Iowa has a history of uphill battles.

MUSCATINE, Iowa — Jim Larew is a third-generation Iowa City resident, but he has also had longstanding ties to the Muscatine County area.  

US News and World Report

WINDSOR HEIGHTS, IOWA (AP) — Drivers who received tickets from traffic cameras at a notorious speed trap in suburban Des Moines filed a lawsuit Friday alleging that their rights have been violated.

The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Thousands of people whose state income tax refunds were withheld to pay Cedar Rapids traffic camera tickets would get refunds under a proposed $3 million lawsuit settlement.

The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS — Thousands of people who had their state income taxes withheld last year to pay old automated traffic camera tickets would get refunds while tens of thousands more unpaid tickets would be waived under a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit.

Des Moines Register

A few weeks ago, the former head of Redflex Traffic Systems, a company that several Iowa cities use to enforce their traffic laws, pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in Ohio. 

MUSCATINE — With final approval given to the Grain Processing Corporation class-action settlement, those who plan to file a claim to receive benefits have until March 19 to mail in forms, but should file sooner rather than later.

Attorney Jim Larew argued in a petition filed last week that the Department of Administrative Services doesn't have the legal authority to collect unpaid speeding and red light infractions issued by traffic cameras.

MUSCATINE — Members of the class action lawsuit involving Grain Processing Corp will soon be able to start the claims process.

MUSCATINE — After years of legal action over pollution problems in the area of the plant, a proposed agreement has been reached in the Grain Processing Corp class action lawsuit.

After hearing from hundreds of affected students and their families, the University of Iowa is reinstating some legacy scholarships to students after announcing last week that they would not be renewed.

 The Iowa Supreme Court gave new life to two legal challenges of speeding tickets issued by the automated traffic cameras on Interstate 380

Des Moines must repay more than $90,000 in fines collected from automatic speed-enforcement cameras because the city violated offenders’ rights, a Polk County judge ruled Tuesday

A lawsuit brought against a Muscatine corn processing plant will be allowed to move forward as a class-action, potentially setting up the company to owe damages to approximately 4,000 residents affected by emissions from the plant. 

(TNS) — CEDAR RAPIDS — A Polk County District Court judge affirmed Iowa Department of Transportation orders to turn off or move several speed cameras around Iowa, including in Cedar Rapids where motorists receive more than 100,000 tickets a year and the city splits millions of dollars with a private vendor.

Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Muscatine cannot issue citations from automated traffic enforcement cameras located on highways in their communities while they appeal orders to remove the devices, a Polk County judge has ruled

MUSCATINE — A lawsuit claiming several Muscatine residents have suffered damages from pollution caused by Grain Processing Corporation will move forward. The Iowa Supreme Court unanimously voted to certify the case as a class-action suit Friday. The class affects residents who lived within 1.5 miles of the GPC plant between 2007 and 2012, which is about 4,000 people. 

For more than three years, the city of Des Moines has seized state income tax refunds from people who fail to pay automated traffic enforcement camera citations.

It's a practice an Iowa attorney has asked Polk County District Court to halt.

IOWA CITY — Work on a home designed to look like the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Kinnick Stadium cannot proceed after residents in the Iowa City neighborhood where the home would be built filed an appeal Wednesday with the city’s Board of Adjustments. Residents in the Manville Heights neighborhood claim city officials made errors in approving the site plan and issuing a building permit to Frederic Reed Carlson, who proposes to build the Kinnick-style, single-family home at 101 Lusk Ave.

The Iowa Department of Revenue’s proposal to create expansive sales and use tax exemptions through administrative rule-making processes, rather than by amending Iowa Code section 423.47 through committees of the Iowa General Assembly, and majority votes of its House and Senate, involves an unprecedented potential shift of institutional, constitutional forces:

Two Polk County women are suing the city of Des Moines over its use of automated traffic cameras.

Sarah Brooks and Michelle Bullock are seeking class-action status for their lawsuit, which was recently filed against the city and Gatso USA, which runs the traffic cameras, the Des Moines Register reported Saturday.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A class-action lawsuit challenging automated traffic cameras in Cedar Rapids has been expanded to include six more plaintiffs in addition to the original two. An amendment to the lawsuit was filed on Monday in Linn County District Court. The new plaintiffs include three residents of Linn County and three out-of-state residents.

MUSCATINE, Iowa — Jim Larew, an Iowa City attorney gathering plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Grain Processing Corp., said Tuesday that plaintiffs’ attorneys “don’t try cases in the press.”. “Our hope and our belief is that we have established the right team for this particular litigation,” he said on Tuesday afternoon before having seen GPC’s filing.

A lawsuit has been filed against Grain Processing Corp., according to a news release from Erin Powers of Powers MediaWorks LLC in Texas. The lawsuit claims that hazardous chemical releases by GPC’s Muscatine facility expose nearby residents to dangerous levels of pollution, damage property and diminish area property values. The class-action lawsuit was filed today in Iowa state court, according to the release.

MUSCATINE, Iowa —There are 11 people named in a class-action lawsuit filed Monday against Grain Processing Corp.’s Muscatine facility.

Before it’s done, that suit could grow to include 17,000 people.

MUSCATINE  — The group Clean Air Muscatine will have to wait a few weeks before learning whether it can participate during regulatory proceedings between the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and Grain Processing Corp.

MUSCATINE, Iowa — Clean Air Muscatine filed a motion to intervene Tuesday in a civil enforcement action against Muscatine-based Grain Processing Corp. in Muscatine County District Court. James Larew of Larew Law Office in Iowa City filed the motion for the nonprofit environmental group that advocates for cleaner air in the Muscatine area.

MUSCATINE, Iowa — In its campaign to improve Muscatine’s air and water quality, a local group is asking the governor to limit the actions of the Muscatine man who heads the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Attorney James Larew of Clean Air Muscatine asked that Roger Lande recuse himself from all environmental matters related to Grain Processors Corp.

MUSCATINE, Iowa — The local group Clean Air Muscatine says it wants to be part of any negotiations between the state of Iowa and Grain Processing Corp. in the wake of last week’s lawsuit against the company by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.

A Muscatine citizens' group says it will seek to intervene in the state's lawsuit seeking an injunction and civil damages against Grain Processing Company (GPC) for alleged violations of state and federal pollution laws. Clean Air Muscatine (CLAM) is a non-profit corporation established for the purpose of protecting communities in Muscatine County from pollution.

MUSCATINE, Iowa — One spring day in 2010, the haze hanging over this Mississippi River town was worse than usual. It billowed from the smokestacks of a corn processing plant and blanketed the neighborhood across the street. It enshrouded homes and, seen from a certain angle, looked almost blue.