SALEM, IA (IRN) – A woman from southeast Iowa singing “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac turned three judges’ chairs on NBC’s The Voice this week. Cali Wilson a native of Salem, now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She choice Blake Shelton as her coach for show and will compete again in the singing competition after the blind auditions conclude. The 2009 Mt. Pleasant High School alumna says her inspiration is her mother, Carla.
FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – A murder and robbery occurred at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge yesterday. A confrontation occurred outside of the church, and Allen Henderson, 64, senior pastor, was killed. Joshua Pendleton, 36, of Fort Dodge, has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Henderson was a long time chaplain of Webster County public safety agencies and first responders.
SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Micronesians recruited to move to Iowa and work at a pork processing plant have reported abuse by the company, including human trafficking, labor and verbal abuse. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday in a news conference that the state will withhold incentives for the company, Seaboard Triumph Foods in Sioux City, while the allegations about its treatment of the Pacific islanders are investigated.
IOWA (IRN) – Iowa’s richest man has gotten a lot richer, according to the latest edition of Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. The annual Forbes 400 list has seed giant Harry Stine’s net worth at $5 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion since the 2018 list. The new figure places Stine, the only Iowan on the list, at number 131, up from 179 last year.
IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager credited with starting the international climate strike movement, is coming to Iowa this week. Thunberg tweeted on Wednesday that she will be in Iowa City on Friday to take part in a climate strike. Thunberg staged her first climate strike in August 2018, sitting alone outside the Swedish parliament to protest inaction on addressing climate change. Last month millions of students walked out of class around the globe and here in Iowa, following in her footsteps.