Author: Iowa Radio News

FAIRFIELD, IA (IRN) – One of the teens charged in the murder of a Fairfield High School Spanish teacher wants his case to be moved to juvenile court. The argument from attorneys for 17-year-old Jeremy Goodale was that he would be denied immediate rehabilitation resources if he was not moved to juvenile court, which the state refuted. Goodale and 16-year-old Willard Miller are both charged with First Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit a Forcible Felony for allegedly killing their Spanish teacher Nohema Graber with a baseball bat. Graber’s body was found in a Fairfield park on November 3.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating a deadly hit-and-run after a teenage girl was hit by a vehicle near East High School Thursday. The girl was hit by an SUV shortly after school was dismissed for the day. She was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, and later died as a result of her injuries.

GRUNDY CENTER, IA (IRN) – A man charged with shooting and killing an Iowa State Patrol trooper in Grundy Center plans to plead self-defense. Michael Lang, 42, is scheduled to stand trial May 9 in the April 9, 2021, shooting death of patrol Sgt. Jim Smith. Lang’s attorney filed a notice Tuesday that he will plead self-defense under Iowa’s “stand your ground” law.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Dubuque schools have identified the man killed in an on-campus accident Wednesday at Roosevelt Middle School. Groundskeeper Craig Jackson was operating a roller compactor on the school’s football field. While attempting to maneuver under the field goal post, the compactor’s safety roll-bar hit the goal post, causing it to fall forward on him, resulting in his death.

CEDAR FALLS, and IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The New Orleans Saints picked University of Northern Iowa lineman Trevor Penning with the 19th overall pick in the NFL Draft. And, the Baltimore Ravens picked Iowa Hawkeyes center Tyler Linderbaum with the 25th overall pick.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police have made an arrest after a man was injured in a stabbing in the Drake Neighborhood early Thursday morning. Officers were called to a home after 3:30 a.m. on a report of a domestic issue. They found an adult male who had been stabbed in the neck during an argument. The victim was transported to a Des Moines hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect, 35-year-old Ashten Medina was taken into custody. She is being held in the Polk County Jail.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – An adult male staff member was killed in an accident on the football field at Roosevelt Middle School in Dubuque on Wednesday. There were no students on or near the field when the accident occurred. All school activities were canceled and students were dismissed from school with no one allowed near the field. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

IOWA (IRN) – Cases of COVID-19 are up over 50% in the last week in Iowa. There were 19 Iowans who died due to COVID-19 in the last week, bringing the total to 9,529 in the pandemic.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s largest employer, Hy-Vee, is making 500 employees shift from corporate to retail. In March, it made a similar move, asking more than 100 employees to do the same. What’s unclear is what happens to those corporate-level employees if they opt not to take the retail jobs.

NEWTON, IA (IRN) – The city of Newton is still repairing damage after the March 5 tornado outbreak. The high school baseball field was badly damaged in the storm and there’s still more cleanup to do before the season starts. The city and the Newton High Baseball team are working hard on the repairs, hoping to have the field ready for the June 6 opening game.

GRIMES, IA (IRN) – Middle schoolers from Johnston were in a brawl at Sky Zone Trampoline Park in Grimes on Friday night. Video shows middle school girls fighting and a large group standing around watching and cheering as the fight raged on. One girl was injured. The Polk County Sheriff’s office has been to the Sky Zone in Grimes 24 times over the past six months.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Dubuque city officials have announced only one of three public pools will be open this summer due to staffing shortages.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa will become the first U.S. state to require that gas stations have pumps selling fuel with at least 15% ethanol. The bill includes exemptions for gas stations selling less than 300,000 gallons of fuel a year, and stations with old storage tanks can get waivers.

U.S.A. (IRN) – President Joe Biden has granted three pardons and commuted the sentences of 75 people, including three Iowans. The White House is launching job training and reentry programs for people in prison or for those who have recently been released. Each of the Iowans released had been sentenced to nine or more years for nonviolent, drug-related charges.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A failed attempt to make a funny social video will be costly for some high school students. On Friday, a group of male students at Valley Southwoods tossed a student into the air at school. The goal was for the student to do a flip once he was in the air, which would be recorded and posted to social media. The student ended up hitting the ceiling and causing damage. No one was hurt. District officials have decided not to formally discipline the students. Instead, they are planning on making all 11 students equally cover the cost of the damage to the ceiling.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – An assault resulted in an injury on the University of Iowa campus, according to police. It happened outside Art Building West on Monday night.

MARSHALL COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines man is in jail, charged with leading police on a chase through three counties over the weekend. Austin Hill, 34, faces numerous charges. The chase started early Saturday morning when deputies found Hill’s car parked at a closed Melbourne gas station. Hill took off when deputies found he had outstanding warrants. The chase went through Marshall, Jasper and Polk Counties reaching speeds of more than 100 mph. Hill was finally captured in a Jasper County farm field.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Dew Tour is returning to Des Moines this summer at Lauridsen Skatepark. The pro skateboard competition and festival will be July 29 and 30. The event will have a skateboard competition with some of the best skaters in the world. This is the second year for the event in Des Moines. Last summer the Des Moines Dew Tour stop served as a qualifying event for the Tokyo Olympics. This year, some of the competitors will be athletes who competed in those Olympic games.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Where does pop singer Justin Bieber and his entourage dine while in Des Moines? The Canadian singer and his entourage spent the weekend in Des Moines at the downtown Marriott. On Saturday, Manhattan Deli got the call from Bieber’s road manager to make sandwiches for the 160-person crew. The sandwiches were made for the crew to eat after Bieber’s show on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids police are investigating a shooting death in Cedar Rapids this morning. Police responded to a call of shots fired and found Dustin Frondle, 36 of Cedar Rapids, with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was declared dead on scene.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A 9-year-old girl died in a house fire in Greeley, Iowa Saturday morning. The State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Greeley Fire Department are investigating.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A man was rescued from the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids on Saturday afternoon by firefighters. The man was clinging to a concrete wall on the side of the river, but weakening. A firefighter was lowered over the wall to try to grab the man. A rescue boat was able to pull the man and the firefighter out of the water.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One man is dead and another faces a first-degree murder charge in Des Moines’ seventh homicide of 2022. Des Moines police were called to the parking lot of the AmericInn Hotel about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Arriving officers found 53-year-old Patrick Burton of Kansas City, Missouri with a gunshot injury. He was transported to a local hospital, where he later died due to his injuries. Des Moines police have charged 24-year-old Eric Lewis Stricklin with murder.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Strong thunderstorms with gusts over 60 mph caused widespread damage in central Iowa Saturday night. A Des Moines building collapsed and a barn in Slater was destroyed. A tornado was reported two miles west of Slater. In Winterset, the Fire Station’s roof reportedly collapsed.