Author: Iowa Radio News

POLK COUNTY – One person was found dead after a vehicle crashed into a pond in Polk County. KCCI-TV reports a vehicle traveling on Hubbell Avenue was seen veering into a ditch on Sunday afternoon. Several Polk County agencies responded after the vehicle was found in a retention pond. An investigation is ongoing.

CRAWFORD COUNTY – One person died and multiple others were injured when a train struck an SUV in Crawford County. WHO-13 reports the collision occurred at 1 a.m. Sunday as a Jeep Grand Cherokee was struck at a railroad crossing near Highway 30. The vehicle had five occupants inside, with 24-year-old Sandra Factor Pano of Omaha dying in the collision.

DES MOINES – Another hot day could give way to severe weather for many in the state this evening. A heat advisory has been issued across most of Iowa, with peak heat index values topping 105 degrees. The Storm Prediction Center has highlighted most of northeast Iowa and parts of central Iowa under an enhanced risk (level 3 of 5) for severe storms.

DES MOINES – A federal jury in Des Moines convicted a former central Iowa radio host this week for 11 counts of wire fraud, following a four-day trial. According to public court documents, 65-year-old Martin James Tirrell ran a scheme to defraud multiple individuals between February 2024 and January 2025, obtaining money from individuals that he claimed would be used to buy tickets to high-demand sports and concert events and resold at a profit. Instead, Tirrell used most of the funds for gambling and personal expenses, repaying loans, and paying other investors for earlier payments. In total, investors provided Tirrell several million dollars and the victim investors sustained a combined loss exceeding $1.5 million. Tirrell was on federal supervised release for a 2019 mail fraud conviction. Tirrell was released from his 41-month prison sentence in January 2023.

ALBIA – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a release of manure from a vacated storage basin at an animal feeding operation six miles south of Albia in Monroe County. The DNR received multiple reports of the release Friday morning. The animal feeding operation had been vacant, but manure mixed with rainwater remained in the basin. The discharge has stopped, emptying most of the contents from the basin into Soap Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River. While the stream was dry at the point of entry, it now contains a mixture of water and manure.

DES MOINES – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.2 percent in June, down from a jobless rate of 3.5 percent one year ago. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent in June. The total number of unemployed Iowans decreased to 55,200 in June from 56,100 in May.

LAKOTA – A man from Lakota rescued two juveniles from a burning car following a train crash earlier this week. KCCI-TV reports Alex Horak located a car crushed from a collision with a train, with a 16-year-old and 12-year-old inside. He was able to rescue the two after the vehicle had burst into flames, just a few feet away from ethanol stored on the train.

KEOKUK COUNTY – A Mahaska County Sheriff’s Transport vehicle was involved in a three-vehicle crash in Keokuk County earlier this week. The Iowa State Patrol reports the transport was traveling on Highway 92 before it was struck by a Dodge Durango that failed to yield at the Highway 21 intersection. A tractor trailer was also struck in the incident. Five people were injured, including two children.

DAVENPORIT – Five Quad City individuals were sentenced to federal prison for charges related to their conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, specifically counterfeit pills containing fentanyl. According to public court documents, between April 2022 and March 2024, five individuals conspired together to distribute fentanyl across the Quad Cities area. In total, more than 26,000 pills containing fentanyl were attributed to the drug trafficking organization. Those include 25-year-old Kendrick Eugene Lee, Jr., 26-year-old Juwan Dupri Crawford, 24-year-old Dreyko Ryan Paul Veronie, 42-year-old Kisah Renee Rockwood, and 23-year-old Kee Syonne Arthur Edgar Rockwood-Brown.

DAVENPORT – A Montezuma man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography and 11 counts of cyber stalking. According to public court documents , 20-year-old Jack James Erselius created computer-generated child pornography of 13 different victims under the age of 18. Law enforcement seized electronic devices during a search of Erselius’ Iowa City residence, of which he used to create AI-generated images containing child sexual abuse material of real girls with their clothes removed.

BOONE COUNTY – Body camera video was released this week that shows an Iowa judge found slumped over a steering wheel after going the wrong way on Highway 30 near Boone last fall. KCCI-TV reports Former Chief Judge in Iowa’s Second Judicial District Adria Kester resigned from that position after being arrested and charged for an OWI on November 4th. Kester tried to block the video from being released in a May lawsuit, but dropped that effort recently. The public records include body cam footage and 911 call recordings of the incident.

FAYETTE COUNTY – Authorities say livestock was euthanized following a rollover crash in northeast Iowa. WHO-13 reports the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office responded to the single-trailer crash on Monday, after the driver of a loaded livestock semi lost control while navigating a turn. The animals inside had to be killed, according to police, due to their extensive injuries.

The Appanoose County Sheriff has released new information on the shooting incident injuring four people in Moulton earlier this week. Seventeen-year-old Drakona Lee Clark has been charged with Three Counts of Attempted Murder, Class “B” Felonies, and Three Counts of Willful Injury, Class “C” Felonies, as an adult. Clark was arrested at the University Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City and transported to the Appanoose County Jail where he is being held on $85,000 cash only bond. It is alleged that on Monday, Clark was involved in a physical altercation and retrieved a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun from his father’s bedroom and intentionally shot his estranged step-mother, his twenty-year-old brother, and his brother’s twenty-one-year-old girlfriend.

IOWA – The state of Iowa has recorded its lowest number of mosquitos in a decade. KCCI-TV reports an Iowa State University report indicates its 100 traps it sets across the state have only captured roughly 12,000 of the insects this season. Those numbers of mosquitos are its lowest since 2016. However, several rounds of rain in June into July may increase those by the next series of reports.

DES MOINES – The top three new foods for the 2026 Iowa State Fair have been announced. WHO-13 reports several judges reduced the field down from 11 on Tuesday. The final three in the annual contest are Porky Parm Gnocchi from DG – Destination Grille, All-American Scrambled Egg Roll from Winn & Sara’s Kitchen, and Ultimate Minneapple Pie from Minneapple Pie.