Iowa
Iowa Supreme Court Justice David May facing November retention vote amid abortion ruling
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – One of Iowa’s Supreme Court justices who voted to uphold Iowa’s strict abortion law will be on your November ballot. The law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected, which doctors say is usually around six weeks of pregnancy. In late June, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that the law could take effect.
Iowa Supreme Court Justices, unlike federal, are not a lifetime appointment. They go up for retention votes every eight years.
Typically, there’s not much drama involved. This time, one of the justices voted to allow Iowa’s strict abortion law to take effect. That could become a factor in whether he stays on the bench.
Rekha Basu, a retired columnist for the Des Moines Register says she’s voting to remove Justice David May. “It’s horrifying for a group of women members, male dominated members, of the Iowa Supreme Court to decide what rights a woman or a girl has over her own body,” Basu said.
Basu says the court ruled against the will of the people. “The majority of Iowans, more than 60%, believe in a woman’s right to choose abortion so it goes against the will of the people of Iowa,” she said.
But Alan Ostergren, a conservative attorney, says Iowans should keep May on the bench. “This is a justice who did his job and decided this case fairly and objectively based on what he in good faith thought the law required,” Ostergren said.
While most of the attention in this election will be on national races, Ostergren says people should pay attention to this one. “We need to have the court able to make hard decisions. Decisions that not everybody will necessarily agree with because they’re making decisions based on the law, not based on public polling,” he said.
Basu takes a different view.
“If they say there should be no politics with the court system, why is there a retention election in the first place? That’s provided for under Iowa law. If you think someone is qualified to be a Supreme Court justice based on what their rulings have been, then you vote yes. If they’re not qualified, then you vote no. What makes that political?,” she said.
If voters end up deciding to remove May, a state commission will submit names of potential justices to Governor Reynolds. Then, Reynolds will make the final decision of who takes the seat.
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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Media-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.
Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.
Iowa
Decatur County duo arrested after alleged robbery in Iowa Wednesday, police say
WEST DES MOINES, Ia. (WCTV) – Two people from Decatur County were arrested in Iowa Wednesday, and face charges related to an alleged robbery, according to a press release from the West Des Moines Police Department.
Daniel Mathes of Bainbridge is charged with robbery in the second degree and theft in the first degree. Lisa Haire of Climax is charged with aiding and abetting robbery in the second degree and aiding and abetting theft in the first degree.
Late Wednesday afternoon, police responded to a call of a robbery at a bank, according to authorities. No one was injured, and police determined Mathes and Haire suspects related to the incident, police say.
They were later pulled over by Iowa State Patrol on I-80, and arrested without incident, according to authorities.
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Iowa
Iowa State vs. Utah score prediction by expert football model
A notable late-season Big 12 matchup kicks off this weekend as No. 22 Iowa State goes on the road against Utah. Let’s check in with the latest prediction for the game from an expert analytical football model that projects scores and picks winners.
Iowa State sits in a two-way tie for third-place in the Big 12 standings after a two-game losing skid that came to an end last weekend, but the Cyclones need help getting to the league title game.
Utah was the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 Championship Game, but slid to just 1-6 in conference play and is on a six-game losing streak, not having won since late September, against Oklahoma State, the other worst team in the league this season.
What do the analytical models suggest for when the Cyclones and Utes square off in this Big 12 matchup?
For that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to get a preview of how Iowa State and Utah compare in this Week 13 college football game.
As expected, the models are siding with the Cyclones against the Utes, but by a close margin.
SP+ predicts that Iowa State will defeat Utah by a projected score of 24 to 20 and to win the game by an expected margin of 4.1 points in the process.
The model gives the Cyclones a solid 60 percent chance of outright victory against the Utes.
SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”
How good is it this season? So far, the SP+ model is 315-293-8 against the spread with a 51.8 win percentage after going 23-30 (43.4%) last weekend.
Iowa State is a 7.5 point favorite against Utah, according to the updated lines posted to FanDuel Sportsbook for the game.
FanDuel lists the total at 41.5 points for the game (Over -110, Under -110).
And it set the moneyline odds for Iowa State at -280 and for Utah at +225 to win outright.
If you’re using this prediction to bet on the game, you should take …
If you do, you’ll be in the company of a minority of bettors, most of whom expect the Cyclones to dominate the Utes, according to the latest spread consensus picks for the game.
Iowa State is getting 62 percent of bets to win the game and cover the spread in the process.
The other 38 percent of wagers project Utah will either win outright in an upset or keep the game under 8 points in a loss.
Most other analytical football models also favor the Cyclones against the Utes this weekend.
That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.
Iowa State is the favorite in the game, coming out ahead in the majority 63.2 percent of the computer’s most recent simulations of the matchup.
That leaves Utah as the presumptive winner in the other 36.8 percent of sims for the game.
How does that translate to an expected margin of victory in the matchup?
Iowa State is projected to be 4.8 points better than Utah on the same field in both teams’ current composition, according to the model’s latest forecast.
Iowa State is fourth among Big 12 teams with a 9.5 percent chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff, according to the FPI’s metrics.
That model forecasts the Cyclones will win 9.3 games this season.
Colorado (34.3%) leads the Big 12 in the playoff race, according to the index projections, followed by BYU (31.1%) and Arizona State (13.5%).
Utah has two games left to become bowl eligible, but the index doesn’t foresee that happening.
FPI projects the Utes will win 4.7 games and have an 11.9 percent chance to make a bowl game.
When: Sat., Nov. 23
Where: Salt Lake City, Utah
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT | 5:30 p.m. MT
TV: Fox network
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, please call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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Iowa
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