Author: Iowa Radio News

BREMER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A man who reached speeds of 127 miles per hour on a motorcycle in Bremer County is facing multiple charges. KIMT-TV reports Dylan Jacobs, 20, of Clarksville, was taken into custody Wednesday night after he was initially clocked going 106 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone.

SCOOBA, MS (IRN) – A woman from Iowa was among three people killed in a four-vehicle crash this week in eastern Mississippi. The Mississippi Highway Patrol reports 67-year-old Kathleen Estling of Altoona was one of the three. Five other people were injured. Investigators said a southbound pickup crossed the median of U.S. Highway 45 and hit three northbound vehicles.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Supreme Court has denied a request by the attorney for former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to stop a civil trial in which Branstad is accused of discrimination against a gay former state worker’s compensation commissioner.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The State of Iowa reported a 36th and 37th Safe Haven baby Friday. A baby girl was born May 24th. A baby boy was born May 27th. Both were turned over to the state under the Safe Haven law. A court hearing will be held in a month to decide legal custody for both children.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police in Des Moines are looking into another reported sighting of a mountain lion. WHO-TV reports the report came in from the city’s south side early Friday morning. Police are investigating and have not yet determined whether the sighting can be confirmed.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a massive train derailment in eastern Iowa. Twenty-eight cars filled with coal went off the tracks yesterday evening just east of Cedar Rapids.

KALONA, (IRN) – A teenager who went missing Wednesday night in rural Kalona was found deceased Thursday afternoon. KCII-radio reports 16-year-old Colton Allen’s body has been recovered. No other details have been released.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Vernon Huser has been convicted twice of First Degree Murder for hiring a hitman to kill Lance Morningstar, his wife’s lover in 2004. He’s had those convictions thrown out on appeal while maintaining his innocence. On Thursday he finally admitted his guilt and then walked out of court a free man. Louis Woolheater was convicted for First Degree Murder for the shooting. However the investigation revealed that Woolheater had been contacted by Huser, whose ex-wife had a romantic relationship with Morningstar, before the shooting. Huser was sentenced to time served and released.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police and FBI agents raided 12 locations across the metro Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into the C-Block gang. The Department of Justice says eight people were arrested.

CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – A high-speed chase that extended through two counties in eastern Iowa Thursday morning ended when the driver crashed into a fence at an RV dealership in Cedar Falls. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the driver tried to hide in a camper, but was apprehended.

USA (IRN) – Torrential rainfall across the United States in the month of May kept piling onto what has already been a significantly wetter-than-normal year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports May 2019 was not only the second-wettest May on record, it was also the second wettest of any month on record in the US only behind May 2015. That beat out more than 1,000 months on record. Iowa had its fourth-wettest May ever.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – According to the office of the governor, Gov. Reynolds experienced chest pain earlier today and out of an abundance of caution went to the emergency room to seek medical care. The governor was seen by a physician. Her blood tests, chest x-rays, and electrocardiogram test were all normal. She has been released from the hospital and is back working at the Capitol.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The former office manager of the Iowa City Area Development Group is accused of misusing approximately a half-million dollars of ICAD funds over more than a decade. According to the Iowa State Auditor’s Office, a special investigation identified nearly $470,000.00 of improper disbursements made by Sheri Jelinek.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police say heavy police and FBI presence in several neighborhoods is part of a collaborative investigation effort. FBI agents and police were at several homes for some time Thursday morning.

LINCOLN, NE (IRN) – A Montana man dubbed the AK-47 bandit and accused of holding up banks in several states over a five-year period has been sentenced in a Nebraska federal court to 35 years in prison. KIMT-TV reports Richard Gathercole is suspected of robbing the Iowa Heartland Credit Union in Mason City in 2015

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Polk County jury will decide whether former Gov. Terry Branstad was acting out of anti-gay animosity when he slashed a former state official’s pay and asked him to resign nearly a decade ago. Former Iowa’s Workers’ Compensation Commissioner, Chris Godfrey, a Democrat, first filed the case in 2012, and it has cost taxpayers over a million dollars in lawyer fees so far.

CRESTON, IA (IRN) – A Creston family used their teen son’s obituary to send a message to bullies with a plea for kindness after he took his own life. In the obituary, the family of 16-year-old Dan Richards began by remembering their son as “the ideal son.” His obituary reads, “He was easygoing and so caring … Dan touched the lives of many. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body.” Richards attended Creston Community High School and died on May 30. But Richards’ family also sent a pointed message, writing, “to the bullies out there who succeeded in making Dan feel worthless, he wasn’t…the family has no hard feelings towards you, and you are forgiven. Your actions are between you and God now.”

IOWA (IRN) – Iowa residents who want to try their hand at fishing this weekend will not need a state license to do so. The DNR declared Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9 as Free Fishing Weekend. It means that a state-issued fishing license will not be required along Iowa’s waterways, ponds, and lakes.

LINN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A driver has died following a crash in Linn County Wednesday morning. KCRG-TV reports authorities were called around 2:55 a.m. to a location on Highway 30. When crews got to the scene, they found a vehicle upside down and partially submerged in Morgan Creek with the driver trapped inside. The driver, who was not yet been named, was heading west on Highway 30 when he lost control and rolled multiple times before going over the guardrail into the water. The driver was cut out of the car before being taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

BLOOMFIELD, IA (IRN) – A southeast Iowa man was sentenced Monday to 120 years in prison after sexually abusing a girl from infancy to the age of 6. Steven Douglas Crook Jr. of Bloomfield pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The sentence is the maximum allowed for the crimes. The Davis County man live streamed the assaults on a social media app, encouraging his followers to watch the abuse.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Animal Rescue League of Iowa spent Tuesday removing living and dead cats from multiple buildings at a central Iowa residence. According to the ARL, crews removed nearly 100 living and 200 dead cats and continue to remove cats from the property.
Air quality at the residence is so poor that rescuers must wear respirators and protective suits.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines City Council will consider banning high-capacity magazines and trigger devices that make guns even more deadly. The council unanimously backed a motion Monday to have ordinances prepared for banning the magazines and trigger activators such as bump stocks.

IOWA (IRN) – The USDA reports Iowa farmers have planted the least amount of corn by this date since 1982. While northern and central Iowa are doing alright, farmers in southern Iowa are having a hard time. South central Iowa has 56 percent of their corn planted and southeastern Iowa has 62 percent of theirs in the ground. Based on a five-year average, 99 percent of corn should be in the ground by this date. Officials blame the weather.

JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A cattle truck crashed on Interstate 380 near the 380/80 interchange early this morning in Johnson County. The ramp from I-80 westbound to I-380 northbound was closed for about six hours.

OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – An Ottumwa middle school boy was beaten at the YMCA while onlookers took video and shared it on social media. WHO-TV reports the sixth grader was beaten by a much larger and older kid. One juvenile has been charged in the assault.

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Two juveniles were arrested Sunday night after they allegedly stole a vehicle and cash from a pizza delivery driver in Sioux City. KCAU-TV reports the juvenile male made an order for a pizza from Dominos to be delivered. When the delivery driver arrived, the male displayed a handgun and demanded the driver’s money and keys. The male and a juvenile female then left in the delivery driver’s vehicle. They face multiple charges.

MARION, IA (IRN) – Anamosa’s City Clerk Tamara Coons was arraigned on OWI charges Monday following a crash in Marion. KCRG-TV reports Coons had a blood alcohol level of .22. Coons was convicted in December of OWI last year. In that case, the complaint against her notes she had a blood alcohol level of .167 and that she was “argumentative” and asked sheriff’s deputies to “just shoot her and get this over with.”

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A hundred-year-old man has fulfilled a lifelong dream to skydive. The Des Moines Register reports Ronald Mason of West Des Moines took the leap he’s been wanting to do since he was a pilot in the Navy in World War II. On Saturday he jumped from 13,000 feet above earth with a skydiver from Des Moines Skydivers in Winterset.