On Wednesday, we reported a story about how four teens from the Nashua area had been charged with invasion of privacy.  This was in connection to a case in which a young woman said nude pictures of her had been taken while she used a tanning bed. She told police that the pictures were taken without her knowledge.

At the end of April, we were contacted by a concerned parent who said the victim in this case was being harassed at school and that for a time, the pictures surfaced on the internet. That’s when we first learned about the situation. That’s how it is a lot of time On April 24th we talked with Nashua Police about this case and an officer there told us that they could not comment about it at that time. He did say that there would be information released later.

We had been working on this story for more than a month now to confirm the details in this case. It was not until yesterday that police was able to confirm that four people were being investigated in this case.

That’s how it works sometimes in the news business. We may get a tip call or an e-mail, but until we get the facts lined up and confirmed, we can’t report the story.

The other thing to consider in this case was the age of the accused. Two are 18-year-olds and two are 17-year-olds. Two are adults and two are juveniles. As much as it’s our job to report the facts, we also have to be respectful about causing unecessary harm to young people facing some serious charges.

Our responsibility as journalists include reporting the facts and uncovering the truth. Folks in Nashua have been wondering what’s been going on with this case for quite some time now. It’s our job to let them know what’s happening in their community. If we ignored this case just because the suspects in this case are teens, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs.

While a lot of information about people under the age of 18 is protected here in Iowa, information about juveniles charged in delinquency cases are a matter of public records.

Pursuant to Iowa Code 232.147, juvenile court records are confidential in all cases except those alleging delinquency. This means that official juvenile court records in delinquency cases are public. These records include the complaint, the delinquency petition and court orders filed by the Clerk of the District Court.

Nate Leding
News Director
KWWL-DT
nleding@kwwl.com

I spent the majority of my childhood growing up in Minnesota – the Twin Cities area mostly. I finished up high school in far northern Wisconsinin a small town called Bayfield. I received my degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After college I worked in television in Arizona, Minnesota, Connecticut, South Carolina and now in Iowa.

I’ve been working here in eastern Iowa since August of 2008. That’s when I took the job as Executive Producer at KWWL.

I really enjoy Iowa. It reminds me of the places where I grew up. The people here are nice and filled with that Midwestcommon sense. They’re hard-working and would really do anything for a neighbor. I can understand why my great-grandfather John settled in Winneshiek County after leaving Norway in 1871.

I take this job very seriously. As journalists, we have a big responsibility. We must always remember that we are in the business of serving the public. This effort comes in all shapes and sizes. It means we do our best to uncover the truth and hold people accountable. We need to report the news with integrity and avoid any conflicts of interest that might compromise our reporting. It’s our job to let folks know what’s going on so that they can make better decisions.

I look forward to leading our newsroom. Several times each week I will post notes to this blog giving you a little insight into what the KWWL newsroom does on a daily basis.

Nate Leding

News Director

KWWL-DT

nleding@kwwl.com

We’ve got pride, how bout you?

March Madness is here and that means Panther Pride. Today the UNI Panthers play the Purdue Boilermakers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. March Madness is something I have yet to catch. It seems everyone and their grandma has filled out a bracket. We have a newsroom pool, but I declined to join. I could think of better ways to spend $5… speaking of which, the vending machine is calling my name.      

White House Madness

 Even President Barack Obama has his team picks.

So what is the appeal? Is it the thrill of watching your favorite team make it all the way, or seeing how accurate you can predict wins?

It’s called March Madness for a reason. Something overcomes fans to the point where they’re no longer capable of basic activities. 

Wilmer Panther Pride

Take reporter John Wilmer for example. Today he traded in his traditional tie and suit for a UNI windbreaker. As a Panther alum, John regularly takes pride in his team, but during March it’s no holds barred.

Krivanek Pride

Today is Ron Steele’s birthday! And in true fashion, we all took the time to try and make it special. The sales people came down and decorated his desk with toilet paper. We had a cake. And Tara and I tried to sing Happy Birthday. And of course Ron had plenty of birthday comments on Twitter and even some on our Facebook page.

While he says he wants to forget about his birthday because he doesn’t like being one of the oldest guys at KWWL, he still had a twinkle in his eye when he blew out the candles.

I thought the pictures and video were worth sharing because it’s a little glimpse into our KWWL family and what goes on behind the news.

Click here if you’d like to send Ron a birthday greeting.

Click here to see Ron blow out the candles

-jj

I wandered around the station, and surprisingly, some people didn’t want to be on camera and many didn’t have even have a resolution.

Ron didn’t have time to record his, but says he plans to get in the best shape of his life. Which seems silly since he already runs marathons.

Here’s New Year’s resolutions from two of our producers and reporter John Wilmer.

My resolution is to stop procrastinating which will in turn eliminate some of the stress out of my life.

Share your resolution by going to KWWL.com and voting in our online poll.

- Jenn Jarvis

- Bryan Goettel

Hawkeye fans will be shoveling their driveways with some nice tans when they get back to the midwest.  Thousands of Iowa fans crowded the white sand beaches at Clearwater Beach on Tuesday.  The mayor of Clearwater presented Shonn Greene and Andy Brodell with a key to the city, but Hawkeye fans might not have noticed.  They were too busy heckling the mayor after he mistook Iowa City for Ames. 

-Joe

I feel somewhat smug writing a blog in 85-degree weather while everyone back in the Midwest is freezing and battling the icy roads. It was a pretty good road trip down to Tampa for the Daily Iowan crew. Be sure to check the Daily Iowan website for daily updates, pictures and the Daily Iowan TV webcast. 

There were a lot of Hawkeye fans on the road — a good sign for another strong Iowa turnout for a January bowl game. Hawkeye fans easily filled their ticket allotment of just over 12,000 tickets and some are saying it could reach as high as 20,000.  Those are encouraging numbers considering the economy and the high airfares.  Comparatively, other Big Ten fan bases such as Wisconsin were struggling just a week ago to sell one-third of their allotted tickets for the Champs Sports Bowl.  It looks like Badgers fans made the smart choice after the pounding they took from Florida State on Saturday night in Orlando. 

I was hoping to get some good Tennessee barbeque on the way down to Tampa, but after several wrong turns and just as many U-turns in Nashville, we settled on the old reliable, Applebee’s.  The chicken fingers basket with barbeque sauce was not what I had in mind for some southern-style barbeque, but a 20-plus hour drive rarely goes perfectly.  If any fellow bowl travelers have any suggestions for the trip back North, please let me in on your comments.

Kirk Ferentz and the Ol’ ball coach, Steve Spurrier, have their press conferences scheduled for Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. Be sure to check back in for updates from the coaches and other Hawkeye fans as they filter down for the Hawkeyes’ January bowl week festivities.  

- Joe

Today’s story of the death of Jasmine Mills is no different.  Police say someone attacked the 18-year-old woman and beat her to death in a Waterloo convenience store parking lot overnight.  Police tell us they don’t have any suspects and killer is still on the loose.  However, police believe Mills knew her attacker so there isn’t a threat to the general public.  On the surface, it may seem like the media already knows who, what, where when & how… but we don’t know the why?  More importantly, do we know the whole story?

During the course of our investigation into the story, we did a background check on the victim.  It is standard operating procedure for journalists to find out what public information exists about a victim and/or a suspect connected with a crime.  We never know what clues we may find that could shed some light on the case.

We did discover that someone shot at Ms. Mills car last month and she’s had some run-ins with the law, the most recent was yesterday when Waterloo police arrested her for writing bad checks.  Not just one or two, but dozens.  Of course, some people were quick to chastise KWWL for our decision to air the public information.

“Shame on you. This “child” died a very brutal death and you have to bring up that she had run ins with law enforcement. What does it matter?”, one person wrote.  Yes, this woman died a brutal death.  No one deserves to have their life taken away from them.  However, her background does matter.  Are the recent problems a coincidence or did it somehow lead to her death?  Why would someone be so mad at this woman to want to killer her?  Her background may shed light on that.

“It will not make the situation rectify itself nor will it help the heartache her family feels right now. As a matter of fact, you just added to it” the message continues.  Many people feel the media has no heart, that we’re simply vultures.  It is not true.  Every time there is a crash, fire, death, accident, etc… we know it affects someone’s family.  We try to be as sensitive as possible, but we also don’t try to censor the news.  Some facts need to be reported.

“You guys should think before you speak. Again, shame on you. Some things the public just does not have a right to know”.  My answer to this is that we ALWAYS think before we speak.  We also believe the public has the right to know everything that helps put a story into context and/or perspective.

Here is why we decided to run the information on Ms. Mills background.  Her death was a very public event.  Her killer is on the loose.  Do recent run-ins with the law hold any clues to what happened today?  We don’t know.  But we do know, that withholding information about Ms. Mills doesn’t give us a balanced picture of the whole story.  There is much more to this than the fact someone was killed.  Releasing her information may help shed some light to police, friends, neighbors or anyone who may have information on why someone would have wanted to kill her.  When people talk, there’s a better chance police can get evidence to arrest someone.

Lastly, we have not reported any of the other rumors or tips that have come into our newsroom.  However, those tips are what led us to look more deeply into her background.  Everything we reported is public record.  In the end, we hope police find Ms. Mills killer.  We promise to uncover any facts that may help police close this case and help the family get the justice and healing they need during this tough time.  If you have any tips or comments, you can email me directly at jmurray@kwwl.com.

John (JJ) Murray

News Director

KWWL-TV

Lauren’s blog is one of the best at KWWL, with all sorts of fun blog postings.  Click here to check it out.  It’s called Squires Scribbles.