National Roundup

Iowa
Gun control group launches ad blitz in key House races
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A national gun control advocacy group said Monday it is targeting eight key races with digital ads and mailers seeking to help Democrats win back control of the Iowa House.

Everytown for Gun Safety, the group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, will spend $800,000 opposing five incumbent Republicans seeking re-election and three running for open seats.

The ads criticize the Republican candidates for their party’s work to pass weaker gun laws, such as one recently signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds that limits the ability of municipalities to ban firearms in public buildings.

“The gun lobby controls Iowa politicians, blocking laws that could save lives,” the mailers read.

Everytown had announced last month that it planned to spend $1 million to help Democrats, who need to pick up four seats to win control of the 100-member Iowa House for the first time in a decade.

The group says the bulk of that investment will go to online ads and mailers targeting races for districts that include Fort Dodge, Council Bluffs, Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Fairfield, Bettendorf, Walcott and Mount Vernon.

Some of the ads also criticize Republicans on health care, even though Everytown’s policy agenda focuses strictly on firearms issues such as enacting stronger background checks and so-called red flag laws.

Alabama
Jury won’t hear what whiskey-drinking suspect told sheriff
DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama jury won’t hear what a man charged with killing his ex-wife told a sheriff afterward, because the suspect was drinking whiskey and the sheriff supplied him with cups of ice.

A Morgan County Circuit Court judge ruled that Roger Stevens’ statement to authorities in 2015 won’t be admitted as evidence when the case goes to trial later this fall, The Decatur Daily reported.

Defense attorneys said in a court motion that prosecutors agreed the statements should be thrown out because the sheriff helped supply Stevens with alcohol.

“When you’re intoxicated and then the officers are giving you liquor, you can’t really say it’s a voluntary statement, that you didn’t get anything in return for it,” said Ron Smith, one of Stevens’ defense attorneys.

Stevens is charged with capital murder in the Nov. 14, 2015, slaying of Kay Letson Stevens, who had divorced the suspect two days before she was shot and beaten to death outside the bakery she co-owned. Authorities soon found Stevens holed up in his tractor-trailer in a parking lot.

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely and others talked their way into the cab, where they found Stevens drinking whiskey. It was Blakely who ordered officers to bring them cups and ice.

Blakely said the tactic was aimed at defusing a tense situation and bringing Stevens safely into custody.

Washington
Arrest in case of ricin letters sent to White House
WASHINGTON (AP) — A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin, which was addressed to the White House, has been arrested at the New York-Canada border and is also suspected of sending similar poisoned envelopes to law enforcement agencies in Texas, officials said Monday.

The letter had been intercepted earlier this week before it reached the White House. The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo and is expected to face federal charges, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

Her name was not immediately released, but the woman was expected to appear in federal court on Monday.

The letter addressed to the White House appeared to have originated in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have said. It was intercepted at a government facility that screens mail addressed to the White House and President Donald Trump and a preliminary investigation indicated it tested positive for ricin, according to the officials.

Envelopes containing ricin were also mailed to law enforcement agencies in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, according to another law enforcement official. The official did not say which agencies were sent the envelopes but said they are believed to have been mailed by the same person who sent one to the White House.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Quebec confirmed Monday there is a police investigation taking place on a street in St-Hubert, Quebec, related to the contaminated letter sent to the White House.

“Our Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives team (CBRNE) is leading the operation. Police and Fire teams from Longueuil are also on site. All necessary measures have been taken to ensure public safety,” Quebec RCMP said in a tweet.

There have been several prior instances in which U.S. officials have been targeted with ricin sent through the mail.

A Navy veteran was arrested in 2018 and confessed to sending envelopes to Trump and members of his administration that contained the substance from which ricin is derived. The letters were intercepted, and no one was hurt.

In 2014, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after sending letters dusted with ricin to President Barack Obama and other officials.

New York
Family court judge resigns over misconduct accusations
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A family court judge in central New York resigned Monday after being accused of unwelcome kissing and other inappropriate behavior with two staff members, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct announced.

Michael Hanuszczak, a family court judge and acting state supreme court judge in Onondaga County, agreed never to seek or accept judicial office again, the commission said.

Hanuszczak was served with a formal complaint on March 8, 2019 accusing him of inappropriate conduct with two female staffers between 2011 and 2017.

According to the complaint, he kissed each of the women without their consent on more than one occasion. He asked one of the women if she knew “how to do a three-way” when she was trying to set up a conference call and told the other that he would like to date her but it would have to be discreet, the complaint said.

Hanuszczak was first elected to the family court in 2001. He was appointed acting state supreme court justice in 2004 by then Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman.