From the return of Major League Baseball to Dubuque County and major future plans at Field of Dreams to tensions in the county attorney’s office, there has been no shortage of major tri-state news in 2022.
Here, The Telegraph Herald presents the top 10 stories with the biggest local impacts in 2022, as voted on by TH’s editorial staff.
1. Another MLB game and major planned developments in Field of Dreams For the second time in as many years, Field of Dreams garnered national attention when it hosted a Major League Baseball game.
The Chicago Cubs lead the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2, in a stadium just west of the movie’s location on August 11. More than 3.1 million people watched the match broadcast on Fox Sports.
In April, officials at Go the Distance Baseball, which owns the Field of Dreams movie site, revealed plans to invest $80 million there. Construction began in September on “Project Heaven,” which is set to include nine new ballparks, team dormitories, a field house and jogging tracks on a 70-acre sports-recreation complex north of the cinema site, as well as a 104-room boutique hotel. . RV park and outdoor amphitheater.
Also in the works is a $50 million, 3,000-seat, permanent stadium around an MLB field adjacent to the film’s location.
2. Dubuque loses commercial air service and secures a new carrier – American Airlines, the only commercial carrier at Dubuque Regional Airport, announced in June that it would end service to Dubuque and three other cities due to a shortage of pilots.
The airline’s twice-daily flights between Dubuque and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport ended Sept. 7.
City and economic development officials have vowed to prioritize restoring commercial air service to the city. In early October, city council members and Dubuque County supervisors agreed to contribute up to $500,000 to provide a minimum revenue guarantee for an ultra-low-cost airline.
In November, it was announced that Avelo Airlines would offer direct flights between Dubuque and Orlando International Airport on Wednesdays and Saturdays beginning January 11th.
3. Tensions escalated in the Dubuque County District Attorney’s Office Tensions have been running high in the Dubuque County District Attorney’s office throughout 2022.
In February, Richard Kirkendall, then an assistant district attorney, announced that he would run to unseat district attorney CJ May III in the upcoming election, stating that the office lacked leadership and direction under May.
The following month, Kirkendall was placed on administrative leave while an investigation into a harassment claim against him from victim witness coordinator Ali Newsom was later found to be unfounded. In May, Newsom resigned and later filed a $750,000 claim against the county for harassment.
After the investigation, Kirkendall was asked to sign a “confidential last chance agreement” and told that if he did not sign, it would be considered a resignation. Kirkendall did not sign the letter, and Iowa Workforce Development later considered Kirkendall’s hiring class a shooting.
Days before the June primary, the Dubuque County District Attorney’s Union and the Dubuque County Lodge of Fraternal Police announced a vote of no confidence in May, which was defeated in the primary by Democrat Sam Wooden. In the November general election, Republican Attorney General Scott Nelson edged out both Wooden and Kirkendall, who ran as an independent candidate, to become the next district attorney.
The day after the election, Kirkendall filed a petition in the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County listing both County and May as defendants, claiming that he retaliated against him for speaking out about May and running against him. Lawyers representing the county and May have denied all allegations of retaliation.
4. Triple homicide in the rock community of Maquoketa Caves – Three members of a Cedar Falls, Iowa, family were killed at Maquoketa Caves State Park on July 22.
Tyler and Sarah Schmidt, both 42, and their 6-year-old daughter, Lola Schmidt, were killed in their tent at the camp, while the couple’s 9-year-old son survived the attack. Autopsy results released in August indicated gunshot, stabbing and strangulation deaths.
Authorities said the suspected killer was Anthony Sherwin, 23, of La Vista, Neb. He died of a gunshot wound in a wooded area of the park.
5. Dubuque County is experiencing a “red wave” in the fall elections – Dubuque County, which has remained a stronghold of the Democratic Party, will be represented by a majority of Republicans this year. Republicans ranked first in voting in Dubuque County in six of eight statewide and three county races.
The county’s board of supervisors will include two Republicans for the first time, with Sageville Mayor Wayne Kenniker taking a seat held by Democratic Superintendent Jay Wickham. Republicans Scott Nelson and Mike Claassen also flipped the county attorney and county treasurer offices, respectively.
6. Dubuque closes elementary school, plans to consolidate middle schools — In April, members of the Dubuque Community School Board voted to close Fulton Elementary at the end of the school year, as district staff cited declining enrollment at the school amid concerns about less than desirable increases in state aid and a declining unspent balance in the district. The majority of Fulton’s students transferred to Audubon, Eisenhower, or Prescott elementary schools.
School board members also agreed on a goal of consolidating the district’s three middle schools into two no later than fall 2026. At a community meeting in November, the task force shared three options for expansions, renovations, and/or building an entirely new facility including The current Washington Middle School building and the district’s acquisition of the nearby 7.8-acre Dubuque Community YMCA/YWCA site.
7. Murder cases in the spotlight Dubuque has seen developments in several high-profile murder cases this year.
Police said on June 4, Tywin Jackson Jr., 20, of Dubuque, was fatally shot on Central Avenue by Kewanee D. Evans, 31, of Freeport, Illinois. Premeditated murder, first-degree robbery, and the offender’s possession of a firearm. He has pleaded not guilty.
In October, Mark T. Williamson was found dead on July 15, 2021, and the autopsy results concluded that she died of massive head injuries.
In December, Rommel D. Enoch, 23, has been charged with first degree murder in the death of Kylie J. Daster, 20, of Dubuque.
Police found Duster dead on July 28, 2021 in her bedroom closet after she had not been seen for days. A white T-shirt was stuffed into her mouth and later tested positive for Enoch’s DNA, according to court documents. After an autopsy, Duster’s manner of death was ruled homicide by asphyxiation. Enoch pleaded not guilty.
8. Dubuque Fire Department Retaliation and Harassment Investigation Dubuque firefighter Jamie Boss sued the City of Dubuque and then Fire Chief Rick Staines in September 2020 for sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. In February, a jury found that she had proven her allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination and awarded her $575,000.
In the aftermath of this decision, the Telegraph Herald examined 276 pages of testimony given by two senior city officials during the trial and 58 documents submitted to it, as well as its previous reporting on the opening and closing arguments and the lawsuit itself.
Collectively they show the fire department, over the past decade, as:
- A captain sexually harassed a female trainee and used his position to intimidate her, then was allowed to resign rather than be fired.
- Said intern was afraid to report the harassment due to fears of retaliation, while Boss reported retaliation for her role in helping the intern.
- Other reports of harassment do not appear to have been fully investigated.
- There was talk of not promoting women because they might be harassed by their superiors.
- There were concerns of discrimination regarding promotions.
- Women did not have a dedicated breastfeeding space, as required by federal law.
- Some women’s bathrooms do not have locks on their doors.
- One of the fire stations got nicknames because pornography was rife with it.
- The light switch panel depicting a male flasher, where the switch was positioned so that it resembled the genitals, was lifted for an extended period of time and placed back even after it was removed.
- A large segment of white men was concerned about women or minorities receiving special treatment, even though there were very few women in the department and no minorities.
- At least one colleague told her that she was hired only because she was a woman.
After the trial, city officials vowed to “take a hard look” at the fire department’s culture. Steines retired in March, and city council members in May approved the appointment of the community’s first female fire chief, Amy Schiller.
9. DUBUQUE SCHOOLS SELL A SOCCER COMPLEX – Dubuque Community School board members voted this fall to sell the Dubuque Soccer Complex for $1.8 million to Arizona-based Court One LLC. It is proposed to build a facility of more than 100,000 square feet on two soccer fields in the complex, and include basketball courts, volleyball courts, a soccer field, a baseball and softball field, and batting cages.
The Dubuque Soccer Alliance—which made the only other bid for the site, at $1,552,000—has leased the facility from the area since 1993.
Several community members spoke out in support of the coalition bid during a public hearing before the sale. The sale to Court One was also initially condemned by local football officials, but then, after discussions with company officials, they supported Court One’s offer.
Terms of the sale, approved in October, allow the district to continue to use the complex’s outdoor facilities for cross-country play and other school events at no charge. First Court officials also plan to allow the coalition to continue using the property for $1 per year under several conditions.
10. Manpower, inflation issues plague the three states A nationwide labor shortage that began amid the COVID-19 pandemic continued to plague region employers in 2022.
Local unemployment rates remained low throughout the year. The total number of jobs in the Dubuque metro area is at its highest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the labor force participation rate has remained below pre-pandemic levels, with preliminary U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers from October putting employment in Dubuque County at more than 1,200. Worker under Feb 2020.
The effects of inflation have also dominated headlines in 2022, from rising material costs to rising home interest rates. In November, prices increased by more than 7% compared to November 2021, according to the US Department of Labor.