Thursday, August 22, 2024
Vol. 159, Issue 34 www.decorahleader.com
Decorah, Iowa 52101 email: editor@decorahleader.com
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Local college student accused of mid-July rape pleads not guilty BY SETH BOYES NEWS EDITOR A local college student has pleaded not guilty to accusations he sexually assaulted a juvenile female last month. Nandoya Ramadhan Othman, age 20, has been charged with third-degree sexual abuse by force. Decorah Police officers initially responded to a disturbance the evening of July 18 in the parking lot of the Decorah Walmart, after which a 17-yearold from Waukon told police Othman had raped her earlier that afternoon. The parking lot disturbance was reported to police as the possible beginning of a fight, but officers said “the individuals involved in the disturbance stated they were not fighting but just slap-boxing.” Both officers saw Othman and others bore scrape marks on their legs and bodies — the group said they had scraped themselves against rocks earlier that day while jumping in the Upper Iowa River near Will Baker Park, about 3 miles west of the local Walmart. Officers also noticed blood on the 17-year-old girl’s pants and a red abrasion on her neck — blood was observed on
Nandoya Ramadhan Othman Othman’s pants as well, according to court documents. Police saw an open container of alcohol inside a nearby vehicle, and they cited Othman as well as others for possession of alcohol under the legal age. A pair of juvenile females in the group — one of them being the 17-year-old victim — were then transported to the Law Enforcement Center in Decorah to await the arrival of their parents, according to court documents. Officers asked the girls how they had arrived in Decorah, and the two said they and another female had travelled there with Othman and went swimming near Will Baker Park
around 7 p.m. that day. A criminal complaint filed against Othman said the 17-year-old girl went to retrieve a pair of shoes from a white Chevrolet Impala, and Othman allegedly “followed her to the car, pushed her into the back seat and got on top of her.” The alleged assault continued until another juvenile female arrived at the vehicle and pushed Othman off the victim, according to the complaint. A warrant was issued for Othman’s arrest on July 19. Police executed a search warrant that same day, seizing a fitted sheet found in the backseat of the Impala — which court documents indicated was located at a rural address in Waukon — as well as clothing from Othman’s dormitory at Luther College. Othman was booked into the Winneshiek County Jail at 9:25 p.m. the same day. A protective order has since been put in place. Othman pleaded not guilty to the sexual abuse charge in a July 30 filing. The 20-year-old’s defense attorney has invoked Othman’s right to a trial within 90 days, according to court filings, and a jury trial is currently scheduled to take place Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Trial set for Waukon man accused of murdering wife BY DENISE LANA STAFF WRITER A Waukon man accused of murdering his estranged wife earlier this year is scheduled to go to trial in late January of 2025. Attorneys for 40-year-old Brandon Kasemeier met Monday with Allamakee County attorneys and presiding Judge Alan Heavens to discuss trial dates. After briefly comparing schedules, all parties agreed Kasemeier’s trial should start Jan. 29, 2025, with jury selection expected to start at 9 a.m. that day. A pretrial conference was also scheduled for 10 a.m. Jan. 13 — two weeks before the trial — to discuss any last minute issues or questions. It was not decided if Kasemeier would be required to appear virtually or in person for the pretrial conference. Kasemeier has been held at the Allamakee County Jail on a $1 million bond since February after being charged with first-degree murder.
Nichole Steffens and 14-year-old son, Kort, read through dozens of thank you notes from families across northeast Iowa. Nichole, along with her husband, family and friends, started the nonprofit organization Kicking It Forward in 2019 after Kort was injured in an UTV accident and nearly lost his right hand. For the past five years, the organization has raised and donated thousands of dollars and assisted more than 100 families in financial crisis due to medical emergencies. (Photo by Denise Lana)
Festina family paying it forward through annual kickball tourney BY DENISE LANA STAFF WRITER When 7-year-old Kort Steffens nearly lost his right hand in a utility terrain vehicle incident in 2018, his parents never fathomed the traumatic event would springboard the birth of an organization focused on financially assisting families enduring medical emergencies. This year’s Kickin’ It Forward event will get started at 1 p.m., Saturday, with a kickball tournament at the Festina ball diamond. There will also be a bounce house and ice cream and numerous items for raffle and silent auction in the Festina Community Center. A pulled pork dinner will be available for a free-will donation from 5-7 p.m. in the community center.
An unexpected injury It was early July 2018, when Kort’s mother Nichole Steffens was busying herself at their Festina home, cleaning the family’s camper in preparation for July 4 events. Kort’s father Matt Steffens took Kort and his three siblings to join other neighborhood children as they all rode their UTVs. “There was some water crossing the road, and all the kids were taking turns going through the water, and it would splash up,” said Matt. According to Matt, when it came time for the UTV Kort was riding in to drive through the water, the vehicle was traveling around 5 mph. “After going through the water, the vehicle was turning around, and some anomaly happened — it hit a rock, or something — just a weird accident,” Matt said. The UTV tipped, landing in such a precarious way that Kort’s hand was trapped under the vehicle. A neighbor told Nichole something had happened.
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Accused of murdering his estranged wife, Jami Kasemeier, January 21, 2024, Brandon Kasemeier appeared in an Allamakee County courtroom June 10 to plead guilty to second degree murder. Just after this picture was taken, Kasemeier withdrew his plea. Those in attendance were shocked by his unexpected renege. (Photo by Denise Lana)
The murder and extradition According to court documents, Kasemeier’s wife Jami was estranged from her husband in January 2024. She had moved out of the home she shared with Kasemeier and was living in an apartment above a laundromat in Waukon. Family members became worried when a phone call from the 39-year-old woman was cut short by Kasemeier, and their worry heightened when she didn’t show up for work the next day. Law
Kasemeier
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Kickin’ It Forward continued on page 10
Kickin’ It Forward’s inaugural kickball tournament was held the last week of August 2018 and was originally called Kicking It For Kort in honor of Kort Steffens, pictured here wearing a shirt bearing that same name. Steffen sports a cast protecting his healing hand that was very nearly lost in a UTV accident less than two months prior to this picture. (Photo submitted)
Regional housing trust fund seeks long-term commitment from supervisors BY ZACH JENSEN STAFF WRITER The Northeast Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund ran out of money in June, Rachelle Howe of the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission told the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors Monday morning. That funding shortage
has caused the agency to turn away 60 repair or buying projects since then, which has in turn prompted the commission to seek a long-term funding commitment from each of the five counties it serves. “We are doing things one house at a time,” Howe told the supervisors. “In the last three years, in our five-county region,
we have (added) $2.5 million worth of housing. That’s pretty impressive. In all of our towns, we can’t do big apartment complexes or big houses, because we don’t have the infrastructure.” Howe explained that in recent years, the state of Iowa was “patting itself on the back” for unrolling a new housing
program for rural Iowa, which it defined as towns of 60,000 residents or less. “There’s a perception that ‘rural’ is not us — towns of 8,000, 4,000 or 1,000,” Howe said. “So, we need to keep our voices strong, and Northeast Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund keeps moving that forward for rural America.”
Chris Troendle, Regional Housing Planner for the housing trust fund, accompanied Howe and told the supervisors he was requesting a three-year commitment from the county, with an annual investment of $12,500. That amount would fund one project each year. Troendle said the trust fund also has a program to address
homes which have been deemed a nuisance. “This not only is fixing up homes, which are in need of repair,” he said. “Some of them are not bad homes. Winneshiek County, specifically, I’ve not
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