Author: Iowa Radio News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Iowa has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the charity that supports sick children and their families. 40-year-old Jennifer Woodley admitted in a written guilty plea last week that she made unauthorized charges on a foundation credit card, gave herself unapproved bonus and salary increases and made false entries in foundation records. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of five years of probation, along with fines and restitution.

MONTEZUMA, IA (IRN) – Federal authorities are offering assistance in the search for an 11-year-old Montezuma boy. The FBI field office in Omaha is offering resources for use by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office in the attempt to locate Xavior Harrelson. Harrelson has been missing since Thursday, May 27.

LUTON, IA (IRN) – A man died and a woman was injured in a Memorial Day shooting in Luton in northwestern Iowa. A 20-year-old man was arrested in the case. Authorities haven’t released what led up to the shooting.

NEVADA (IRN) – Lawmakers in Nevada are working to jump to the front of the presidential nominating calendar, passing a bill this week that seeks to place the state’s contest ahead of both Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primaries. Nevada Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, says, “It’s time for Nevada to take its rightful place, not just first in the West but in the nation, as a diverse state, a state with diverse issues.”

NEW YORK, NY (IRN) – Amazon says it will no longer test jobseekers for marijuana use. The e-commerce giant, which is the second-largest private employer in the U.S. behind Walmart, is making the change as several states legalize cannabis. Amazon has six operations in Iowa, all opening in the last 14 months.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A juvenile has died after jumping out of a moving vehicle during a chase by law enforcement in Linn County Monday night. The driver and the passenger attempted to jump out of the moving vehicle on Highway 150. The driver was run over by the moving vehicle and died at the scene. The passenger was taken into custody nearby. The moving vehicle struck an occupied house. No one inside the home was injured.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One of the major meat processing companies in Iowa suffered a cyberattack over the weekend. JBS USA confirms the attack hit some of its North American and Australian IT systems Sunday. The company suspended all systems that were affected. JBS has processing plants in Marshalltown, Ottumwa and Council Bluffs.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Nearly 4.4 million trees were lost during the derecho in August. About 15% or nearly 669,000 trees were just in Cedar Rapids alone. Foresters believe it will take 30 to 60 years to make a full recovery.

STUART, IA (IRN) – MidAmerican Energy is investigating an incident where one of its workers got stuck in a blade of a wind turbine. It happened at the Arbor Hill Wind Farm, southeast of Stuart, late Sunday night. The company confirms emergency crews were able to get the worker out safely.

IOWA (IRN) – COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Iowa continue to decrease, now dipping below 100 for the first time in more than a year.

MONTEZUMA, IA (IRN) – Day three in the search for a missing Montezuma boy brought in help by the hundreds. Ten-year-old Xavior Harrelson has been missing since Thursday. Saturday, almost 100 officers looked around the boy’s home and a nearby lake. Sunday, the search broadened, and five hundred volunteers and responders showed up to help cover ground.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man working at a metro hospital was arrested after allegedly raping a patient. Tracey Hooks, 48, is being held in the Polk County Jail charged with third-degree sex abuse. Hooks was working at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines in September 2020 when he allegedly raped a female patient. He was arrested on Friday.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids man has been charged with multiple offenses including OWI, child endangerment, and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Benjamin Moore, 27, refused to stop at a traffic stop and drove away at a high speed. The deputy followed the car but ended the pursuit when he believed the driver was intoxicated and had a child with him. The deputy then saw Moore’s car in a field after it had lost control and was disabled. Moore is in jail, and the five-year-old child was returned to their mother.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man is in jail after wielding a machete and lighting an apartment on fire in Des Moines. The call came in as a domestic dispute. No one was injured.

MURRAY, IA (IRN) – A third teen from the Clarke County town of Murray is now dead after a pickup truck with four teens inside was struck by a train while trying to cross a railroad crossing. All four went to school in the Murray Community School District.

FAYETTE COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Three people were killed, including a 9-year-old, and another child was injured in a car crash in Fayette County on Friday. Officials say a 2010 Chevy Impala was traveling northbound on Highway 150 when it crossed the center line and collided head-on with a semi-truck heading southbound.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man has been found guilty of killing his wife and dismembering her body in an attempt to conceal her death. On Friday, a Polk County Jury found 32-year-old Datron Simmons guilty of second-degree murder.

POWESHIEK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Search efforts for a missing 10-year-old boy from Poweshiek County continued on Saturday by law enforcement and first responders and a public search is scheduled on Sunday. Xavior Harrelson was reported missing on Thursday, May 27.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted of first-degree murder Friday, nearly three years after Mollie Tibbetts disappeared while jogging near her Brooklyn, Iowa, home. Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, went out for a run on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, and disappeared. The search for her drew national attention and kicked off a month long manhunt, which ended when Bahena Rivera, a Mexican national who is now 26, allegedly led investigators to the rural cornfield where they found her remains.

BLACK HAWK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – One person was killed in a crash Friday evening in rural Black Hawk County. Evelyn Rogers, 71, of Denver, Iowa, pulled out in front of a van and was ejected from her vehicle after being struck by the van. She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

MURRAY, IA (IRN) – People living in the Clarke County town Murray are still coming to grips with the loss of two young lives. Thursday afternoon, a pickup truck with four teens inside was struck by a train while trying to cross a railroad crossing. A 14 and 15-year-old lost their lives. The 16-year-old driver and another 15-year-old passenger were taken by helicopter to a Des Moines hospital. All four went to school in the Murray Community School District.

CRESTON, IA (IRN) – Three people were injured in an explosion and resulting fire Friday at a Creston apartment building. Two of the three injured were flown to area hospitals. Fire officials believe the explosion was caused by a resident smoking while operating a medical oxygen tank. Firefighters helped residents escape the fire through exits and windows.