Author: Iowa Radio News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Kim Reynolds says more than 25,000 Iowans have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s about 793 vaccinations per 100,000 Iowans.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – While some senators have announced their opposition to the Electoral College’s vote for President-elect Joe Biden, Sen. Chuck Grassley will not contest the vote. On Wednesday, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said he will object to the Electoral College’s vote for Biden during the next meeting of Congress. Senator Joni Ernst has not commented.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Majority Democrats in the U.S. House will allow an Iowa Republican to take office while they review her opponent’s contest claiming the six-vote race was wrongly decided. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “yes” when asked at a news conference whether Mariannette Miller-Meeks will be sworn in with other members of the House on Sunday.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids woman is accused of trying to help her boyfriend escape from police custody outside Allen Hospital in Waterloo on Tuesday. Deputies with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office were able to hear their conversations about the plan on the jail inmate phone recording system. Tyrone Copeland was scheduled for a medical appointment at Allen Hospital and just before the time he was set to arrive, Donsque Donston arrived in the parking lot in the car intended to be an escape vehicle. Now both are in jail.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – All-America defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon of Iowa announced he’ll declare for the NFL draft and forego his senior season. Nixon was a first-team Associated Press All-American and the AP Big Ten defensive player of the year.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A driver was clocked at 114 mph on Interstate 35 on Tuesday night during the snowstorm. The Iowa State Patrol reports the driver’s excuse was he was “in a hurry to get back to college in Minnesota.”

IOWA (IRN) – A number of communities from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids received nearly a foot of snow yesterday and overnight. The Iowa State Patrol responded to 91 weather-related vehicle crashes and 372 motorist assists from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. yesterday. Seven crashes resulted in injuries.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Stores around the Des Moines metro had empty shelves as people rushed to buy snow supplies ahead of Tuesday’s storm. Business owners said ice melt, shovels and snow blowers sold out quickly this week.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – COVID-19 testing results from Test Iowa sites may face delays due to Tuesday’s winter storm.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A federal judge in Iowa who has warned against political corruption is ridiculing President Donald Trump’s pardons. Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District said, “it’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals,” and that, “apparently to get a pardon, one has to be either a Republican, a convicted child murderer or a turkey.” Pratt was referring to pardons Trump granted to his former campaign aides convicted of crimes, former Republican congressmen who committed crimes, and security contractors convicted of killing innocent civilians in Iraq. Trump also pardons turkeys — this year two from Iowa — annually before Thanksgiving.

IOWA (IRN) – The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning in effect for most of the state until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Snow expands from west to east this morning, increasing in intensity during the afternoon. Impressive snowfall rates are possible along with gusty winds and a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet and even rain showers during the afternoon in southern Iowa. Snow amounts will vary from less than 4 inches in the western part of the state to bands of heavier snow around central Iowa, producing nearly 8 inches of fresh snow. Travel is not advised starting at noon today in central Iowa.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Coronavirus-related hospitalizations and admissions ticked higher in Iowa Monday after several days of decline as the state will end the year with over 3,700 dead from the virus. State Public Health data shows the number of deaths in October was 21% higher than the average monthly deaths for October over the past four years.

IOWA (IRN) – Long-term care facilities across Iowa began distributing the first round of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to staff and residents on Monday.

WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – Waukee fire crews said two people were injured in a fire at an apartment complex Monday evening. It happened near downtown Waukee. Two people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. All seven families living at the complex have been displaced.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – One of the Tyson Foods managers fired for betting on how many workers would contract COVID-19 at an Iowa pork plant said the office pool was spontaneous fun and intended to boost morale. Don Merschbrock, a former night manager at the plant in Waterloo, Iowa, said he was speaking in an attempt to show that the seven fired supervisors are “not the evil people” that Tyson has portrayed. “We really want to clear our names…We actually worked very hard and took care of our team members well.”

ONAWA, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his grandmother in 2018. Eliot Stowe was sentenced in the beating death of 66-year-old Cheryl Stowe at her rural home in Castana in June 2018. Stowe declined to address the court before he received the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Cheryl Stowe’s body was found wrapped in a rug and duct tape at the edge of a cornfield near her home.

GENESEO, IA (IRN) – A woman was found dead in a burning house in Geneseo on Christmas. Firefighters and officers with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office found the woman on the floor, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

BLACK HAWK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Five people were sent to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries after a head-on collision on Highway 20 in Black Hawk County on Sunday morning. Authorities say the highway was covered with snow and ice.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The football season for the Hawkeyes is over. On Sunday afternoon the Mizzou Football team tweeted “COVID-19 knocks Mizzou football out of TransPerfect Music City Bowl.” The Mizzou Football team is temporarily pausing activities until Jan. 2 due to COVID-19 concerns among student-athletes, coaches and staff.

THE MIDWEST, U.S.A. (IRN) – A winter storm will move across the Plains and Upper Midwest this final week of 2020 and will make for difficult, if not treacherous, travel conditions for much of Iowa on Tuesday. Tune in to (your station ID here) for current severe weather and travel information.

POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a rollover crash that killed the driver of a pickup truck Saturday night. Witnesses say a 2015 Dodge Ram was travelling at a high speed when it ran a stop sign entered a field and rolled over.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Approximately 20 to 25 train cars derailed near Des Moines Friday after a small bridge collapsed. No one was injured.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Waterloo police say a local man inappropriately grabbed a Casino server this month. Sandi Dedic, 42, allegedly has a history of such abuse.

INDIANOLA, IA (IRN) – The gravestone of Chris Street in Indianola has been vandalized. Chris, was a basketball player at the University of Iowa in the early 1990s before he was killed in a car accident 27 years ago.