Author: Iowa Radio News

TODDVILLE, IA (IRN) – A Center Point woman was arrested for OWI and texting while driving after a head-on collision in Toddville on Friday afternoon. Jennifer Buelow, 33, has been charged with Operating While Intoxicated, Use of Electronic Communication Device While Driving and other traffic charges. The person driving the other vehicle was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

MINNEAPOLIS (IRN) – Brandon Johnson made all four of his 3-point attempts in overtime and finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota in a 102-95 win over No. 4 Iowa. Iowa led by 3 with 15 seconds to play. Joe Touissant had a chance to ice it, but missed both free throws. That allowed Marcus Carr to come down and send the game into overtime with a three.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Iowa State running back Breece Hall and linebacker Mike Rose are The Associated Press Big 12 offensive and defensive players of the year after the Cyclones’ best conference season ever. Matt Campbell earned coach of the year honors. The Big 12 runner-up Cyclones will play in a New Year’s Six bowl for the first time, facing Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A cat named Lottie has been reunited with his Des Moines owners just in time for Christmas after he went missing nearly five years ago. 37-year-old Kara Hanlon figured the cat had died until she got a letter in the mail saying otherwise. The Animal Rescue League’s animal control division had picked up Lottie and identified him by scanning his microchip. She got him back Monday.

ES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,425 additional COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. There have been 71 additional COVID-19 deaths for a statewide death toll of 3,739.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A four-year-old boy received a life-threatening gunshot wound Wednesday in Cedar Rapids. The shooting appears to be unintentional.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Outgoing Iowa Rep. Steve King filed an ethics complaint Wednesday against the leader of the House of Representatives. King said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s decision to pull King off of all congressional committees last year deprived Iowa’s 4th Congressional District of equal representation. McCarthy stripped King of his committee assignments after King made comments perceived as racist.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A federal judge has granted a temporary injunction to stop the University of Iowa from dropping its women’s swimming and diving team in the 2021-2022 school year.
The program was one of a handful cut by the University in August. Several female athletes filed a federal lawsuit accusing the university of committing Title IX violations after it was cut.

IOWA (IRN) – A winter storm has hit Iowa, and the northwest part of the state was hit the hardest. Several county sheriff’s departments have stopped responding to calls because deputy vehicles are stranded. The Iowa State Patrol said Iowans in the northwest part of the state should stay off the roads until the storm passes.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Workforce Development said it expects a gap in pandemic-related unemployment benefits as it awaits the signing of Congress’ newly passed COVID-19 relief bill. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation are scheduled to end Dec. 26.

DALLAS COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A homicide investigation is underway after a man with a gunshot wound died at a rural intersection near Adel on Tuesday. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Division of Criminal Investigation are investigating the man’s death as a homicide. The identity of the man shot and killed has not been released.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The U.S. Department of Justice said it found reasonable cause that conditions at Glenwood Resource Center violated the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.
The DOJ released the findings of its investigation into Glenwood on Tuesday, which stated that experiments were conducted on residents without their consent. The report concluded that the disabled shouldn’t be used as “human guinea pigs.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids announced a minimum wage increase to $15.25 starting in January. A general two percent wage increase for eligible employees was also approved to start in January. Mercy officials say the changes were prompted by the challenging year that both the pandemic and derecho created for healthcare workers.

THE MIDWEST (IRN) – The coldest air of the season is taking aim at the upper Midwest. A strengthening low pressure system over the Dakotas is moving toward Minnesota and Iowa this morning. This developing system will lead to a triple threat in Iowa, with precipitation, wind, and a powerful Arctic Front in today’s forecast.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Democrat Rita Hart announced plans Tuesday to file a notice of contest with the U.S. House of Representatives in Iowa’s District 2 election against Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Hart’s campaign says the notice details 22 ballots she believes were unlawfully excluded from the certified election results. A final recount on Nov. 30 resulted in Miller-Meeks winning the election by six votes.

WEST BRANCH, IA (IRN) – Three people died after a crash on Interstate 80 just after 4:30 a.m. Monday near West Branch. 20-year-old Eric Nunez, of Plano, Illinois, was driving the wrong way, heading eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-80 when he collided head-on with a vehicle driven by 70-year-old Robert Larson, of West Liberty. Larson’s passenger, 68-year-old Teresa Larson, of West Liberty, also died at the scene.

USA (IRN) – A number of Republican lawmakers who downplayed concerns about the coronavirus pandemic or ignored public health advice are now facing a wave of backlash for being among the first to receive a vaccine. This includes Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst. Her early vaccination drew swift condemnation, with many pointing to comments she had made in September suggesting that healthcare workers were inflating Covid-19 death numbers for profit.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Events in downtown Des Moines draw thousands of people to local hotels, shops and restaurants, but COVID-19 cancelations cost the metro economy millions of dollars in 2020. Estimates are the hundreds of cancelations cost the metro over $300 million in revenue.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The University of Iowa Hawkeye football program has suspended all in-person activities due to an increase in COVID-19 cases among the team and staff. While their first priority is the health and safety of their players and staff, their goal is to play and compete against Missouri in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Dec. 30.

IOWA (IRN) – Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Randy Feenstra said he is not yet ready to acknowledge Joe Biden as the nation’s president-elect, preferring to wait until Congress meets in early January to receive the results of the election. Electors made Biden’s win official last week as they awarded 306 electoral votes to Biden and 232 to President Donald Trump. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man charged with shooting and injuring a teen at the Iowa State Capitol Complex after a rally supporting President Donald Trump told police he was protecting himself. Michael McKinney, 25, of St. Charles, was arrested and charged with attempted murder after shooting a 15-year-old girl in a leg. McKinney said he feared for his safety.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There’s no information on whether Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has received the vaccination. He was confirmed positive for the virus in November but has recovered.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The University of Iowa Hawkeyes are headed to the Music City Bowl.
On Dec. 30. No. 15 Iowa will play Missouri in Nashville.

AMES, IA (IRN) – No. 10 Iowa State will play No. 25 Oregon on January 2 at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.