two more horny teachers
Two Calhoun school employees indicted for alleged inappropriate relations with students
Railey Greeson and Brooklyn Shuler were indicted on Thursday for having sex with students.
CALHOUN, Ga. — Two former Calhoun City School District employees have been indicted for allegedly having inappropriate relations with students.
According to court documents, Railey Greeson was indicted Thursday on two counts of sexual contact by employee or agent in the first degree for having sex with two different male students between October 2021 and January 2022. Brooklyn Shuler was indicted on one count of the same charge for having sex with a different male student between October 2021 and January 2022.
The indictment says that Greeson and Shuler "reasonably should have known" the minors were students. It did not include the ages of the students or what schools the women worked at in the district.
Dead & Company Calling it Quits
Another integration dead and gone. No dates set yet, but I'm looking at a final Alpine Valley show for my last hoorah and shakedown with copious amounts of acid. Who's coming with me??
7 in 10 voters & 45% of Democrats recently polled said Biden’s physical and mental ability is a reason to vote against him
- By Franisdaman
- Off Topic
- 28 Replies
Story from the Associated Press:
Trump had a slight lead over Biden in two polls of voters conducted after last week’s debate.
One poll, conducted by SSRS for CNN, found that three-quarters of voters — including more than half of Democratic voters — said the party has a better chance of winning the presidency in November with a candidate other than Biden.
About 7 in 10 voters, and 45% of Democrats, said Biden’s physical and mental ability is a reason to vote against him, according to the CNN/SSRS poll.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll : about 6 in 10 voters, including about one-quarter of Democrats, said reelecting Biden would be a risky choice for the country rather than a safe one. That poll found that Democrats were split on whether Biden should remain the nominee.
apnews.com
Trump had a slight lead over Biden in two polls of voters conducted after last week’s debate.
One poll, conducted by SSRS for CNN, found that three-quarters of voters — including more than half of Democratic voters — said the party has a better chance of winning the presidency in November with a candidate other than Biden.
About 7 in 10 voters, and 45% of Democrats, said Biden’s physical and mental ability is a reason to vote against him, according to the CNN/SSRS poll.
According to a New York Times/Siena College poll : about 6 in 10 voters, including about one-quarter of Democrats, said reelecting Biden would be a risky choice for the country rather than a safe one. That poll found that Democrats were split on whether Biden should remain the nominee.
Biden vows to keep running as signs point to rapidly eroding support for him on Capitol Hill
President Joe Biden is vowing to keep running for reelection as he rejects pressure from within his Democratic Party to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness.
apnews.com
Interesting piece on how America isn't alone in struggling with too-old leaders not willing to go away
Hubris of Biblical Proportions
“Pride goes before ruin; arrogance, before failure.”By Erica Brown
“Kings scarcely recognize themselves as mortals, scarcely understand that which pertains to man,” John Milton wrote, “except on the day they are made king or on the day they die.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin is 71; he’s been in that office for the last 12 years, and will leave a historical wreckage as his legacy. He’s not going anywhere of his own volition. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite vociferous protests, is hanging on by a thread to an office he has occupied for 15 nonconsecutive years. He is 74. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, is 88, and has been in that position for 19 years.
And here in the United States, President Joe Biden is 81 and running for reelection, despite a questionable performance in Thursday’s presidential debate. The Democratic Party, it seems, would rather save face than save the country. The Republicans haven’t put forward a new candidate, so we are subject once again to former President Donald Trump’s populist tirades and legal battles. He’s only 78.
Too many leaders stay in office long beyond their sell-by date. When they do, they risk turning their initial enthusiasm and energy for the work into a stubborn refusal to let the next leader bring fresh perspectives and a new vision. In their dogged attachment to the role, they can become too lackluster, too authoritarian, too glib, or too narcissistic. They care more about holding on than about what is best for their constituents.
I get it. It’s hard to let go of authority, to give up on the strategies not yet executed and goals not yet achieved. The privileges of power are also difficult to relinquish, from the small perks to the constant wash of sycophancy. And as a lifelong student of the Hebrew Bible, I know there’s nothing new about this.
The arc of leadership in the Hebrew Bible captures this predictable cycle: modesty, authority, prosperity, then insecurity. The pre-leadership questions are often the same: Am I worthy? Is there someone better suited to the task? Why me? We see this play out as early as the Exodus story, when Moses had the audacity to turn down God. Moses felt himself unworthy of leadership—a poor speaker, inexperienced, and unable to establish the people’s trust. He, at least, retained his humility until the end.
Much later, when Samuel told Saul he would be king, Saul literally hid behind the baggage at his inauguration. He was tall and good-looking—the right optics for politics—but ultimate responsibility was intimidating and scary. He shrank in its presence. The people grumbled about this odd choice of king: “How can this fellow save us?”
The Bible wants us to know that power changes people, that they come to enjoy the weight and clout of office and its many material and emotional benefits. Proverbs, in only one verse, captures the pleasure of power: “The king’s smile means life; his favor is like a rain cloud in spring.”
Saul had not worn the crown long when his incompetencies surfaced. He spiraled into poor judgment. He subverted God’s mandates and ignored Samuel’s warnings. The grumblers were correct; Saul could not save the people. There was a young warrior, however, who could. David was a singular talent, who defeated Goliath when others cowered. Enemies feared him. Maidens loved him. Despite this or because of it, King Saul was not prepared to step down. David’s early victories made Saul hang on even more tightly to his position.
Saul was not relieved to have a valiant successor. He was threatened and distressed. The David who played the lyre for Saul to calm his dark moods was the very person who made Saul unhinged and jealous. “All that he lacks is the kingship!” Saul complained. Saul tried to kill David many times, disregarding David’s sorely needed military talents while compromising his people’s safety and well-being. Greed in politics poisons governance.
Most telling is that although King Saul’s problems were evident, his ministers did not question Saul’s fitness for office. It was God and Samuel who took the kingship away from him, before his leadership caused more damage.
In a Talmudic passage that cites Saul, the sage Rabbi Joshua ben Peraḥya reflected on the changes wrought by leadership. When someone initially suggested that Rabbi Joshua take a leadership role, he was furious: “I would tie him up and place him in front of a lion out of anger for his suggestion.” He did not want to give up his scholarship for administration and bureaucratic influence.
But when Rabbi Joshua eventually assumed the role, his tune changed: “In response to anyone who tells me to leave the position, I will throw a kettle of boiling water at him out of anger.” His first hesitations morphed into aggressive territoriality. He was not prepared to let go of the role or its many benefits. At least Rabbi Joshua confessed his shortcomings.
Leaders powerful enough to get appointed or elected are often powerful enough to abuse the privilege. Competition spurs a cycle of insecurity. Rather than let go in the face of challenge, leaders strengthen their grip on power while losing their grip on reality. Like King Saul, they veer into defensiveness, ignore the voices of dissent, and become so distracted by a desire to stay in office that they stop doing the real work of governance. In the worst instances, they become as reckless as Saul, and perceive any resistance as disloyalty.
Leaders like this will never leave of their own accord. That is the work of those who can look beyond personality and focus instead on the position and the possibilities ahead. The selfish cost of staying taxes everybody. “How can this fellow save us?”
The greater part of valor and wisdom dictates that for the vitality of an organization, or indeed a polity, veteran leaders, at some point, need to step down gracefully and heed another verse from Proverbs: “Pride goes before ruin; arrogance, before failure.”
Iowa Supreme Court to consider Iowa State wage, gender discrimination case
- By cigaretteman
- Off Topic
- 1 Replies
More than two years after a retired Iowa State University agronomy professor sued her former employer, the Board of Regents and the state for wage and gender discrimination, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear the appeal of a lower court’s August ruling limiting her ability to recover lost wages.
“The parties disagree on the appropriate recovery period for wage discrimination claims,” according to the Polk County District Court’s Aug. 2 ruling that Silvia Cianzio’s claims are limited to a window of time prior to her filing a civil rights complaint.
“The court agrees with the defendants that allowing a plaintiff to recover for a relatively unlimited time frame — perhaps limited only by a person’s work life span — would produce impractical or absurd results and would reward a plaintiff for failing to report discriminatory wages practices when those practices are discovered,” District Judge Heather Lauber wrote in her order, which Cianzio appealed and the Iowa Supreme Court has retained.
Cianzio began at ISU in 1970 as a master’s student and then a doctoral student, working as a research assistant and then associate before completing her Ph.D. in 1978. She took a postdoc position for a year before being chosen from a pool of applicants to join the ISU faculty as an assistant professor in 1979.
She was promoted to associate professor in 1984 and then to full professor in 1995, all within the Department of Agronomy, according to her curriculum vitae and lawsuit, first filed on Jan. 12, 2022. Her area of expertise was soybean breeding — with her research “extensively published” and recognized “by numerous organizations.”
In her lawsuit, Cianzio reported she was one of few women professors in the department.
Fifty years after starting at ISU, Cianzio in 2020 was asked to chair the department’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee — for which she conducted a survey and reviewed salary data for the department. In doing so, Cianzio discovered male professors were paid more than female professors, according to her lawsuit.
ADVERTISING
Cianzio, according to the lawsuit, “reported her findings of gender-based pay inequity to the chair of the Agronomy Department, the dean and associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Human Resources Department.”
She said she found the department in 2019 had 22 full professors — 19 men and three women — and the women earned, on average, substantially less than the men.
“There were two women associate professors out of five, and the women are the lowest paid,” according to her lawsuit. “There are two female assistant professors out of seven. One is the lowest paid and the other is the third lowest paid.”
Cianzio was among six full professors specialized in plant breeding — and the only woman. Despite having academic and scientific achievements on par or exceeding her male counterparts, she was the lowest paid — earning $11,276 to $46,049 less a year than the male professors in her specialty, according to her lawsuit.
“In response to (Cianzio’s) complaint, defendants responded by acknowledging that women professors were paid less than male professors but stating that they did not intend to take any action to correct the inequity because they did not believe it to be significant,” according to her lawsuit.
She retired on Dec. 31, 2020, after spending a quarter of a century as a full professor and 41 years on the ISU payroll. Her base pay for the full fiscal year before her retirement, 2019, was $117,042, state records show.
With her lawsuit, Cianzio aimed to recover up to three times “the wage differential paid to comparable employees during the entire period of discrimination, along with court costs and attorney’s fees.”
“Defendants discriminated against (Cianzio) with respect to the terms and conditions of her employment by paying (her) less than males performing equal work,” according to her lawsuit. “(Cianzio’s) gender was a motivating factor in defendants’ discriminatory conduct.”
In its defense, the university, regents and state asked the court to restrict Cianzio’s ability to recover any damages to a much more limited time frame, given the statute of limitations. A judge agreed, noting the “absurd results” that would occur otherwise.
“The court, therefore, finds the applicable statute of limitations for wage discrimination claims to be two-years prior to the timely filing of a (civil rights) complaint.”
Given the high court has retained the case, proceedings at the district level have been paused pending a decision. The state has responded to the general allegations, though, beyond arguing for the statute of limitations — reporting any action it took with respect to Cianzio’s compensation were taken in “good faith and for legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons.”
www.thegazette.com
“The parties disagree on the appropriate recovery period for wage discrimination claims,” according to the Polk County District Court’s Aug. 2 ruling that Silvia Cianzio’s claims are limited to a window of time prior to her filing a civil rights complaint.
“The court agrees with the defendants that allowing a plaintiff to recover for a relatively unlimited time frame — perhaps limited only by a person’s work life span — would produce impractical or absurd results and would reward a plaintiff for failing to report discriminatory wages practices when those practices are discovered,” District Judge Heather Lauber wrote in her order, which Cianzio appealed and the Iowa Supreme Court has retained.
19 men and three women
Cianzio began at ISU in 1970 as a master’s student and then a doctoral student, working as a research assistant and then associate before completing her Ph.D. in 1978. She took a postdoc position for a year before being chosen from a pool of applicants to join the ISU faculty as an assistant professor in 1979.
She was promoted to associate professor in 1984 and then to full professor in 1995, all within the Department of Agronomy, according to her curriculum vitae and lawsuit, first filed on Jan. 12, 2022. Her area of expertise was soybean breeding — with her research “extensively published” and recognized “by numerous organizations.”
In her lawsuit, Cianzio reported she was one of few women professors in the department.
Fifty years after starting at ISU, Cianzio in 2020 was asked to chair the department’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee — for which she conducted a survey and reviewed salary data for the department. In doing so, Cianzio discovered male professors were paid more than female professors, according to her lawsuit.
ADVERTISING
Cianzio, according to the lawsuit, “reported her findings of gender-based pay inequity to the chair of the Agronomy Department, the dean and associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Human Resources Department.”
She said she found the department in 2019 had 22 full professors — 19 men and three women — and the women earned, on average, substantially less than the men.
“There were two women associate professors out of five, and the women are the lowest paid,” according to her lawsuit. “There are two female assistant professors out of seven. One is the lowest paid and the other is the third lowest paid.”
Cianzio was among six full professors specialized in plant breeding — and the only woman. Despite having academic and scientific achievements on par or exceeding her male counterparts, she was the lowest paid — earning $11,276 to $46,049 less a year than the male professors in her specialty, according to her lawsuit.
“In response to (Cianzio’s) complaint, defendants responded by acknowledging that women professors were paid less than male professors but stating that they did not intend to take any action to correct the inequity because they did not believe it to be significant,” according to her lawsuit.
She retired on Dec. 31, 2020, after spending a quarter of a century as a full professor and 41 years on the ISU payroll. Her base pay for the full fiscal year before her retirement, 2019, was $117,042, state records show.
‘Good faith’
With her lawsuit, Cianzio aimed to recover up to three times “the wage differential paid to comparable employees during the entire period of discrimination, along with court costs and attorney’s fees.”
“Defendants discriminated against (Cianzio) with respect to the terms and conditions of her employment by paying (her) less than males performing equal work,” according to her lawsuit. “(Cianzio’s) gender was a motivating factor in defendants’ discriminatory conduct.”
In its defense, the university, regents and state asked the court to restrict Cianzio’s ability to recover any damages to a much more limited time frame, given the statute of limitations. A judge agreed, noting the “absurd results” that would occur otherwise.
“The court, therefore, finds the applicable statute of limitations for wage discrimination claims to be two-years prior to the timely filing of a (civil rights) complaint.”
Given the high court has retained the case, proceedings at the district level have been paused pending a decision. The state has responded to the general allegations, though, beyond arguing for the statute of limitations — reporting any action it took with respect to Cianzio’s compensation were taken in “good faith and for legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons.”
Iowa Supreme Court to consider Iowa State wage, gender discrimination case
More than two years after a retired Iowa State University agronomy professor sued her former employer, the Board of Regents, and state for wage and gender discrimination, the Iowa Supreme Court has retained her appeal of a lower court’s August ruling limiting her ability to recover lost wages.
www.thegazette.com
Iowa’s deeply rooted history of harming women
- By cigaretteman
- Off Topic
- 0 Replies
Four Iowa Supreme Court justices who upheld Iowa’s six-week abortion ban are real history buffs.
Basically, the majority ruled fundamental rights must be “deeply rooted” in Iowa’s “history and tradition.” And the right to abortion access, granted by the U, S, Supreme Court in 1973, is too recent to be considered a fundamental right in Iowa.
“We then analyzed the state’s treatment of abortion throughout its history, a right to an abortion, as the historical record shows, is not rooted at all in our state’s history and tradition, let alone “deeply rooted,” Justice Michael McDermott, wrote in the majority opinion, Joined by Justices Christopher McDonald, David May and Dana Oxley.
“The deep roots that exist show not protection for abortion rights but common law and statutory prohibitions on abortion from the very beginning through modern times. Abortion became a crime in Iowa “just six months after the effective date of the Iowa Constitution — and remained generally illegal until Roe v. Wade … decided over one hundred years later,” the majority argued.
Chief Justice Susan Christensen, in her dissent, begged to differ.
“By exclusively relying on the text of our constitution that was adopted in 1857 and our state’s history and tradition to conclude that abortion is not a fundamental right, the majority perpetuates the gendered hierarchies of old when women were second-class citizens,” Christensen wrote.
“While I agree that we should look to Iowa’s history and tradition to determine the framers’ intent and guide our analysis, the rights of Iowans did not freeze once our state constitution took effect. Today’s decision risks limiting our interpretation to conditions as they existed in the mid-19th century, eliminating rights from our constitution in the process” Christensen wrote.
So, what do our deeply rooted traditions look like? I explored our archives.
On April 1, 1880, an inquest was underway into the death of Clara Matthews, who died of blood poisoning that was the direct result of an abortion. The man who was accused of performing the abortion, Dr. Reid, hired a “noted” criminal attorney in Chicago.
On Jan. 3, 1893, the Evening Gazette wrote about the “most peculiar circumstances” in the death of 18-year-old Miss Rosa Severa. Servera worked at the Arcade hotel and fell ill at work.
Dr. Fitzgerald rushed to the hotel.
“On Christmas night I received a phone message to go to the Arcade hotel as fast as possible and attend a young girl who was thought to be dying. Upon my arrival immediately discovered that she was having a premature birth,” the doctor was quoted.
“The next morning, I asked her if she had taken anything or been given anything to produce an abortion. She firmly denied having done such a thing and alleged that a young man who is now in Iowa City was responsible for her condition,” the doctor said.
Her parents took her home. But Rosa died overnight after “a terrible hemorrhage.”
The Feb. 18, 1897, Evening Gazette carried news of the death of local schoolteacher, Miss Belle Sutliff, 28. An “antemortem” showed evidence a pregnancy had been aborted, but the physician who had been caring for Sutliff said it was a fall on the ice that caused the abortion.
In October 1907, Irene Blydenberg, died of septic peritonitis after “either a criminal or a natural abortion.” Her boyfriend was charged, but he swore their relationship was just “platonic.”
In July 1909, the state board of parole was considering a recommendation that J.W. Crofford be released from prison. Crofford was a wealthy man who owned a sanitarium in Lamoni. It was claimed the sanitarium “made a specialty of abortion cases.” Crofford was convicted in the death of Maude Stono, who died after a “criminal operation.”
So, that’s sample of our deep history. “The state’s interest in protecting the unborn can be traced to Iowa’s earliest days.” The majority wrote, pointing to an 1868 ruling.
But our history killed Clara Matthews, Rosa Severa, Belle Sutliff, Irene Blydenberg and Maude Stono. They were second-class citizens who had no right to safely terminate their pregnancies. They were at the mercy of butchers and quacks. Cowardly men dodged responsibility.
Sure, the new abortion law contains no criminal penalties. But make no mistake, Iowa women will die. Maybe it will be a botched procedure, or maybe a woman will have to wait for help until her physicians decide she’s on the brink of death and can receive legal abortion care.
This is a ruling searching for a rationale. Go back into history and you can find justification for just about anything. Naturally, the court majority picked a period before women, Black Iowans and others pushed for equality and won hard-fought victories.
Being students of history, I’m sure the court majority knows what happened. And yet, they’re still taking us back to it. We understand the history, and yet, we’re doomed to repeat it.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Basically, the majority ruled fundamental rights must be “deeply rooted” in Iowa’s “history and tradition.” And the right to abortion access, granted by the U, S, Supreme Court in 1973, is too recent to be considered a fundamental right in Iowa.
“We then analyzed the state’s treatment of abortion throughout its history, a right to an abortion, as the historical record shows, is not rooted at all in our state’s history and tradition, let alone “deeply rooted,” Justice Michael McDermott, wrote in the majority opinion, Joined by Justices Christopher McDonald, David May and Dana Oxley.
“The deep roots that exist show not protection for abortion rights but common law and statutory prohibitions on abortion from the very beginning through modern times. Abortion became a crime in Iowa “just six months after the effective date of the Iowa Constitution — and remained generally illegal until Roe v. Wade … decided over one hundred years later,” the majority argued.
Chief Justice Susan Christensen, in her dissent, begged to differ.
“By exclusively relying on the text of our constitution that was adopted in 1857 and our state’s history and tradition to conclude that abortion is not a fundamental right, the majority perpetuates the gendered hierarchies of old when women were second-class citizens,” Christensen wrote.
“While I agree that we should look to Iowa’s history and tradition to determine the framers’ intent and guide our analysis, the rights of Iowans did not freeze once our state constitution took effect. Today’s decision risks limiting our interpretation to conditions as they existed in the mid-19th century, eliminating rights from our constitution in the process” Christensen wrote.
So, what do our deeply rooted traditions look like? I explored our archives.
On April 1, 1880, an inquest was underway into the death of Clara Matthews, who died of blood poisoning that was the direct result of an abortion. The man who was accused of performing the abortion, Dr. Reid, hired a “noted” criminal attorney in Chicago.
On Jan. 3, 1893, the Evening Gazette wrote about the “most peculiar circumstances” in the death of 18-year-old Miss Rosa Severa. Servera worked at the Arcade hotel and fell ill at work.
Dr. Fitzgerald rushed to the hotel.
“On Christmas night I received a phone message to go to the Arcade hotel as fast as possible and attend a young girl who was thought to be dying. Upon my arrival immediately discovered that she was having a premature birth,” the doctor was quoted.
“The next morning, I asked her if she had taken anything or been given anything to produce an abortion. She firmly denied having done such a thing and alleged that a young man who is now in Iowa City was responsible for her condition,” the doctor said.
Her parents took her home. But Rosa died overnight after “a terrible hemorrhage.”
The Feb. 18, 1897, Evening Gazette carried news of the death of local schoolteacher, Miss Belle Sutliff, 28. An “antemortem” showed evidence a pregnancy had been aborted, but the physician who had been caring for Sutliff said it was a fall on the ice that caused the abortion.
In October 1907, Irene Blydenberg, died of septic peritonitis after “either a criminal or a natural abortion.” Her boyfriend was charged, but he swore their relationship was just “platonic.”
In July 1909, the state board of parole was considering a recommendation that J.W. Crofford be released from prison. Crofford was a wealthy man who owned a sanitarium in Lamoni. It was claimed the sanitarium “made a specialty of abortion cases.” Crofford was convicted in the death of Maude Stono, who died after a “criminal operation.”
So, that’s sample of our deep history. “The state’s interest in protecting the unborn can be traced to Iowa’s earliest days.” The majority wrote, pointing to an 1868 ruling.
But our history killed Clara Matthews, Rosa Severa, Belle Sutliff, Irene Blydenberg and Maude Stono. They were second-class citizens who had no right to safely terminate their pregnancies. They were at the mercy of butchers and quacks. Cowardly men dodged responsibility.
Sure, the new abortion law contains no criminal penalties. But make no mistake, Iowa women will die. Maybe it will be a botched procedure, or maybe a woman will have to wait for help until her physicians decide she’s on the brink of death and can receive legal abortion care.
This is a ruling searching for a rationale. Go back into history and you can find justification for just about anything. Naturally, the court majority picked a period before women, Black Iowans and others pushed for equality and won hard-fought victories.
Being students of history, I’m sure the court majority knows what happened. And yet, they’re still taking us back to it. We understand the history, and yet, we’re doomed to repeat it.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Iowa’s deeply rooted history of harming women
Our history of banning abortion killed women
www.thegazette.com
Casey's "Fill to the Top" Coffee Scam
- By TC Nole OX
- Off Topic
- 48 Replies
You hit "fill to the top" and the machine cuts off well before the top. The other option is "leave a little room." I'm guessing that gives you a half full cup. No wonder Casey's stock price is up so much, they are cheating their loyal customers
Kewanee needs a Kwik Star asap
Kewanee needs a Kwik Star asap
Speaking of Treason
- By Here_4_a_Day
- Off Topic
- 0 Replies
Biden lashes out at Trump, Supreme Court as more Democrats say he should withdraw
President Biden lashed out at former President Trump and the Supreme Court even as reports say Democrats held a private call during which several lawmakers said Biden should withdraw from the race Monday.
www.foxnews.com
Hiawatha vape and tattoo shop owner sentenced to over 8 years for drugs and firearms
- By cigaretteman
- Off Topic
- 6 Replies
CEDAR RAPIDS — An owner of two Hiawatha vaping and tattoo shops, who unintentionally alerted authorities to his firearm and drug crimes by reporting a handgun had been stolen, was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in federal prison.
Daniel James Abbott, 48, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded in September to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
During a preliminary and detention hearing in March, a federal agent testified authorities recovered methamphetamine, marijuana, ammunition, firearms and $50,000 cash from Abbott’s shops, River Rats Vapes and Insidious Ink, in 2019 after he was arrested for waving a gun around.
The drug investigation started Feb. 18, 2019, when Abbott reported to Cedar Rapids police that his handgun had been stolen.
Abbott told authorities he was at Insidious Ink shoveling snow when he noticed his firearm was missing from his ankle holster.
On July 30, Abbott reported to Hiawatha police that money and a handgun were stolen from his shop. Abbott then admitted to officers that he used methamphetamine at the business around the time the money and firearm were stolen.
Cedar Rapids police were called Sept. 23, 2019, for a report that a person, later identified as Abbott, was waving a gun around, according to hearing testimony. Officers found him walking with a backpack and empty holster on his hip. Abbott told the officers he used to carry a firearm but didn’t anymore and wore the holster out of habit.
In October, officers searched Abbott’s home and found meth, drug paraphernalia and about 4,732 rounds of various ammunition.
During the March hearing, an agent also testified that the amount of meth — 200 grams — found at Abbott’s businesses indicates trafficking. Officers also found 217 grams of marijuana, along with the paraphernalia, guns and cash.
The cash was found in a safe, along with meth, Xanax pills, marijuana and marijuana edibles, the agent said.
During a search, officers also found several checkbooks with “fake checks,” firearms hidden in the attic and materials for making false identification, the agent testified. A copy of Abbott’s driver’s license bore a different name.
Abbott told authorities after this search that he started using meth “more than a couple of months” ago.
During the investigation, authorities discovered Abbott had a civil no-contact order against him in September from his wife or ex-wife, which makes possessing firearms illegal.
Abbott attempted to buy a gun last year, but his application was denied because of the possession charges pending and the no-contact order, according to testimony.
U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Abbott to 105 months in prison and fined him $20,000. He also was ordered to pay $4,736 in attorney fees and serve five years of supervised release following his prison time.
Abbott also has been charged with forgery in Linn County District Court.
Hiawatha vape and tattoo shop owner sentenced to over 8 years for drugs and firearms
CEDAR RAPIDS – An owner of two Hiawatha vaping and tattoo shops, who unintentionally alerted authorities to his firearm and …
www.thegazette.com
