Articles by Iowa Radio News

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Wednesday, July 20, 2022

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A child was killed in a crash Tuesday on Interstate 80-35 near the Highway 69 exit to Ankeny. Three vehicles were involved, including a tractor-trailer. Traffic was backed up for a crash, and the tractor-trailer was unable to stop and hit an SUV, which slammed into another car. Inside were 42-year-old Luis Venales Graterol and 11-year-old Ian Venales. Ian Vanales was killed in the crash. JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Johnson County Public Health is reporting the first confirmed case of monkeypox in the county. Monkeypox infections occur through skin-to-skin contact, body fluids, or touching shared items that have been in contact with bodily fluids and or monkeypox rashes/sores. The virus can also spread through respiratory secretions that occur during kissing, cuddling, or sex. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A former lottery computer technician convicted in a scheme to rig computers to win jackpots for himself, friends and family, has been paroled after serving more than five years in an Iowa prison. Eddie Tipton, 59, was released Friday. MAHASKA COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office and firefighters rescued a man from the Des Moines River near Oskaloosa on Tuesday evening. The Mahaska County Sheriff says the man was floating down the river for four hours. He survived, thanks to his life jacket. The 71-year-old man went to the hospital as a precaution and is expected to be OK. HUMBOLDT, IA (IRN) – A pilot landed in a farmer’s soybean field in Humboldt County on Tuesday morning. The pilot was flying home to Colorado after attending a wedding in Wisconsin. He ran out of gas and had to make an emergency landing. Someone gave the pilot some gas and he took off again on a nearby gravel road. The pilot and passenger are OK. The pilot will pay back the farmer for the damage.


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Tuesday, July 19, 2022

JANESVILLLE, IA (IRN) – A driver’s education instructor who was the Mayor of Fairbank was killed in a crash on Monday in the Bremer County town of Janesville. A 14-year-old student driver was southbound on Highway 218 in a 2014 Chevy Impala when they left the road onto the shoulder then overcorrected and crossed into oncoming traffic. The Impala was hit on the passenger side by an oncoming Toyota Highlander. 71-year-old Gregory Harter was pronounced dead at the scene. The 14-year-old driver and a 14-year-old passenger were taken by ambulance from the scene, as was the 44-year-old driver of the Highlander. POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Polk County is seeing another spike in COVID-19 cases this summer. Omicron B.A. 5 subvariant is causing the rise. This strain is highly contagious and is quickly becoming the dominant strain in Iowa as well as the U.S. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids police were called to Mercy Medical Center Monday after a staff member reported seeing a suspicious item left by the curb near the Hall Perrine Cancer Center. The bomb squad was sent to evaluate the suspicious item. Officials determined that the item was not a threat and it was safely removed. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A group of residents in a southside Des Moines neighborhood is no longer getting their mail delivered after two dogs attacked a postal worker last month. Residents say the pause in service is unfair, inconvenient and has become a headache. About 26 homes are affected by the pause in service.


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Monday, July 18, 2022

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Average gasoline prices in Iowa have fallen 15.2 cents per gallon in the last week. The price of gas is now averaging $4.33/g today, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 2,036 stations in Iowa. Prices in Iowa are 39.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and are a $1.35/g higher than a year ago. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police responded to about 200 calls for service from 9 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday, including multiple shootings that they are now investigating. One shooting turned deadly, becoming the 10th homicide of 2022. The victim, a 32-year-old Des Moines resident, sustained an apparent gunshot injury. PALO, IA (IRN) – A suspicious death investigation is being conducted in Benton County. Jodie Bevans, 58, was found dead in her Palo home during a welfare check on Friday. Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy and the investigation continues. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – The Waterloo Fire Department responded to a call of smoke inside the Rath Packing Company on Saturday. When crews arrived, one small fire was located on the main floor. Another small fire was located on the top floor. Crews knocked down both fires with no reports of injuries. The cause of the fires is under investigation. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Starting today, everyone will have to mask up inside city buildings in Cedar Rapids. Transmission of COVID-19 is considered “high” according to the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level monitoring. The City of Cedar Rapids says it’ll follow CDC recommendations to require masks indoors, at least for city buildings. Masks will be recommended on Cedar Rapids transit.


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Saturday, July 16, 2022

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The body of the 11-year-old girl who went missing in the Raccoon River on Wednesday has been recovered. The girl had been on the water on an inflatable raft with two other children. She got off the raft, went under the water and did not resurface. TAYLOR COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The person infected by a suspected brain-eating amoeba in a southern Iowa lake has died. Missouri health officials say a resident from their state likely picked up the deadly parasite at the Lake of Three Fires State Park in Taylor County. It’s the first reported case in Iowa of the rare and deadly infection. The beach at the Lake of Three Fires remains closed as the state awaits official test results to confirm the presence of the amoeba. JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Johnson County Sheriff and emergency personnel responded to I-380 after a report of an erratic driver shortly after midnight on Friday. After a chase into Iowa City, the vehicle was stopped and two thirteen-year-olds now face numerous charges. The car had been stolen from Cedar Rapids. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man got the chance to thank the officers who saved his life after a medical emergency earlier this year. Officers Brandon Gudenkauf, Mark Lorenzen and Chief Deputy Dave Riniker were on duty at the Hempstead Graduation ceremony in May. While they were there, Terry Hirsch, who was attending the ceremony, had a medical emergency. On Thursday, the officers paid a visit to Hirsch’s home, so he could give them a proper “thank you.”


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Friday, July 15, 2022

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines Police Department says a 35-year-old man who was struck by a vehicle late Thursday night has died from his injuries. Police said the preliminary investigation indicates the man was crossing a busy street when a Volkswagen Jetta driven by a 23-year-old Des Moines woman appeared to swerve to avoid hitting the man but was not able to. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller on Tuesday called on the state legislature to support a red flag law aimed at reducing gun violence. Governor Reynolds says she will consider it. JOHNSTON, IA (IRN) – Police say they arrested the command chief of the Iowa Air National Guard in Polk County on Wednesday night after he reportedly drove under the influence, damaging property at Camp Dodge. Thomas Fennell, 57, of Sioux City, enlisted in the Iowa Air National Guard in 1988 and was named command chief in 2017. OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – The lives of over 300 people have been saved, thanks to one Ottumwa woman. On Wednesday, the late Kayte Mosher, who was only 20 when she died, was honored posthumously by the Iowa Department of Transportation, the organization that records donor status on driver’s licenses. After her death in 2012, since she was a donor, many received her organs and tissue. During the event, her story was shared, and her family received a permanent tribute plaque. GILBERT, IA (IRN) – What started as a way to pass some time for a kindergartener has grown into a world championship. Irene Jiao Fei, 9, of Gilbert, recently returned from Panama, where she won a world chess championship for players nine and under. Now a fourth grader, her parents signed her up for a chess club in kindergarten to give her an activity to be involved with.