Iowa
Iowa man criminally charged, fired, still entitled to unemployment, judge rules
A former state corrections officer has been awarded jobless benefits after being arrested for an alleged drunken incident involving his 6-week-old child and a firearm.
According to Iowa Workforce Development records, Caleb Carl, 31, of Burlington worked for the Eighth Judicial District Department of Corrections as a residential corrections officer for less than a year, helping incarcerated offenders transition into the community, before he was fired in late October.
Police records show that in the early morning hours of Oct. 8, 2023, when Carl was at home and off duty, his wife called the Burlington police and reported he had been drinking and was not acting normally.
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The police arrived and, according to their reports, Carl was in an upstairs bedroom, holding his 6-week old son in his arms while reclining on the bed and showing signs of intoxication. He asked officers to remove his wife from the residence and after they refused, Carl allegedly became agitated and demanded the officers leave.
The officers complied but were sent back to the home within minutes to assist with an escalating situation. The officers spoke with Carl again but left after he again demanded that they do so, according to the police reports.
Within minutes, officers were dispatched a third time to the residence and were advised that Carl had a firearm and was making suicidal statements and holding the gun to his chest while in possession of the child.
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According to the police reports, officers stood outside the building and asked Carl to come downstairs, to which he allegedly replied, “I have a gun.” Carl eventually came to the stairway without a gun and was detained by officers through an involuntary hold due to mental illness. The officers reported they found a gun just inside the doorway of the bedroom.
Judge finds that conduct wasn’t during work hours, grants unemployment
According to Iowa Workforce Development records, the Department of Corrections placed Carl on leave two days after the incident, and Burlington police criminally charged Carl with child endangerment. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial is scheduled for March 6.
On Oct. 30, the Department of Corrections fired Carl for allegedly failing to conduct himself in a professional manner that maintained respect for the department, for actions that may adversely affect the public confidence in the state’s criminal justice system, and for failing to obey all laws and departmental policies.
After the department appealed the state’s decision to award Carl unemployment benefits, a hearing was held and Administrative Law Judge Carly Smith ruled Carl was fired for reasons that do not disqualify him from benefits ― noting that disqualifying misconduct consists of substantial and willful wrongdoing or repeated carelessness or negligence.
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Smith found that Carl had a “a serious mental impairment and lacked the mental capacity to deliberately disregard the employer’s interests.”
She also found that the Department of Corrections failed to prove intentional wrongdoing or show any connection between Carl’s conduct and his employment. She noted that while Carl admitted he was intoxicated, he was at home and off duty on the night in question.
Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions:kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Andrew McKeever is hard to miss at an Iowa practice. The St. Mary’s transfer and center stands 7 feet, 3 inches tall and averaged 8.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game last season.
‘Nothing like I’ve seen in practice’
Teammates have taken notice of McKeever’s size. Forward Trey Thompson said the center’s hands alone drew a reaction.
“Yeah, he’s big. That’s for sure. I saw him looking at his phone and it looked like a tiny, little iPod in his hand. I was like, ‘Geez, man,’” Thompson said.
Forward Joey Matteoni said McKeever’s presence in the paint stands apart from what he has seen in recent seasons.
“He controls the paint for sure and nothing like I’ve seen in practice the last couple of years. No offense to Cam (Manyawu), but I mean 7′3” is just different,” Matteoni said.
McKeever on why Iowa made sense
McKeever said the decision to transfer to Iowa was straightforward.
“It was a pretty obvious choice for me,” McKeever said. “Their team was so good last year, making an Elite 8 run. I was maybe a key piece that they needed with a little bit more size, even though their bigs were good, but they just didn’t have the height as some of the other teams did in the Big Ten. So I figured I could help in that way.”
From baseball to basketball
McKeever was not always a basketball player. He stood around 6 feet, 2 inches early in high school before a significant growth spurt changed his trajectory.
“I was like 6′2” during COVID and then I grew to 6′10″ when I was out of COVID. I was playing baseball at the time, and I was like, yeah, I got to go to basketball. I locked in during my sophomore season,” McKeever said.
His high school coach pushed him to make the switch permanent.
“My high school coach who I had been with growing up said, ‘You need to stop playing baseball and just focus on basketball.’ That’s kind of when it flipped the switch for me,” McKeever said.
Adjusting to his own size
Even after committing to basketball, McKeever said adapting to his own frame took time.
“Maybe a little uncoordinated and slow for my size. But I kind of worked on it a lot when I was at St. Mary’s and I got better at it,” McKeever said.
McKeever now joins Iowa’s program under head coach Ben McCollum.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – World War II veteran Laverne Severson turns 100 years old on July 14. On Thursday, family, friends and fellow veterans gathered at the Freedom Foundation in Cedar Rapids to honor and celebrate the milestone birthday.
The National World War II Museum says fewer than 1% of World War II veterans remain alive.
Laverne served as a line medic during the war and was stationed in the Philippines.
“As soon as I turned 18, it didn’t take me about a month until I was going overseas,” Laverne said.
His son, Boyd Severson, recalled stories his father shared about life at his base.
“His base over there, he told me they would get air raids every morning. The Japanese would do an air raid and they’d have to run and jump into their foxholes. And this is stuff you see in movies, and he actually lived through this,” Boyd said.
Eric Parker, assistant director of the Freedom Foundation, said veterans like Laverne deserve recognition.
“As long as we are allowed to still be graced with their presence, then we need to just soak that up and just be really thankful,” Parker said. “There needs to be a remembrance and there needs to be a legacy there that we can honor.”
Boyd said the number of surviving World War II veterans in Iowa underscores the importance of events like Thursday’s celebration.
“Slowly but surely we’re losing this generation that, from what I’ve seen, there’s 250 to 275 surviving World War II veterans remaining in Iowa, and my father’s one of them and they all should be recognized. It all should be honored,” Boyd said.
And we had to ask…what’s the secret to a century of life?
“Crackers and peanut butter in the morning for breakfast!” Laverne said.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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