Author: Iowa Radio News

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – A Sioux City woman has claimed her $1 million Mega Millions lottery prize. Iowa Lottery officials say 27-year-old Angelica Chavez turned in her winning ticket Monday at lottery headquarters in Clive. Chavez says she played numbers she’d written down a few years ago. She wants to put some of the money aside for her daughter’s future and is considering buying rental properties.

SHENANDOAH, IA (IRN) – A man has been taken into custody in connection with a homicide in Shenandoah. Toby McCunn, 34, is accused of first-degree murder in the death of Joshua Jordan, 33. Shenandoah police received a 911 call Monday saying that a shooting had just taken place. Upon investigation, police found Jordan’s body.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A judge today is expected to sentence a former Linn-Mar School District nurse who took an Alford plea for having sex with a 16-year-old. KCRG-TV reports while Angela Beik doesn’t admit guilt, she does admit there is enough evidence to convict her. She admitted to to having a sexual relationship with the teen to coworkers. Beik faces an unrelated charge of assault for punching a person in a Cedar Rapids Starbucks drive-thru, following an argument on social media.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids construction worker is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries after falling from a beam at a construction site. KGAN-TV reports the man is in his mid to late 40’s.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A bill that would legalize betting on sporting events and fantasy sports in Iowa has passed the Iowa House and now heads to the governor’s desk. It passed the House 67-31 Monday evening.

LOCKRIDGE, IA (IRN) – One man has died in a fire in Lockridge in Jefferson County. KCII-Radio reports fireworks ignited a mattress inside the home. 66-year-old Michael Goosey was found inside, and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. Other people at the home were treated for smoke-related injuries.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man is facing charges after he allegedly threatened to kill everybody at a QuikTrip gas station in Des Moines. The Des Moines Register reports Gerald Evans Jr. was arrested Saturday on a threat of terrorism, intimidation with a weapon, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and eluding. Evans allegedly called 911 several times to say he was driving to the QuikTrip to kill everybody inside – including his girlfriend – and then himself. He told police he had two guns and planned to drive his car into the building.

MUSCATINE, IA (IRN) – A fire nearly destroyed a Muscatine home on Easter. KWWL-TV reports when crews got there, they could see fire in the rear of the house, which then extended to the main part of the home. One person was checked out for smoke exposure and a firefighter was hurt.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Electric car owners might be seeing an additional annual fee in Iowa next year. Last week, the House voted through a bill with bipartisan approval that would charge people with electric cars $130 on top of their yearly registration fee. Owners of gasoline filled vehicles pay gas taxes that go to pay for roadways, and with this fee electric car owners would be supporting roadways as well.

CLIVE, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Lottery says a $1 million Mega Millions ticket has been sold in northwestern Iowa. The ticket was bought at Fleet Farm Fuel in Sioux City

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A teenager who shot and killed a 15-year-old in 2015 in Cedar Rapids will have a clean record as an adult if he completes five years of probation. 17-year-old Robert Humbles Jr. was 14 when he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Aaron Richardson. The Gazette reports that a judge believes Humbles Jr. is on the road to rehabilitation after having a successful stay at the Iowa Boys Training School in Eldora.

LINN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Emergency crews took a 63-year-old woman and three young children to the hospital after the ATV she was driving hit a barn in Linn County. KCRG-TV reports the injuries appeared to be non-life threatening.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – It’s been more than two years since a vandal damaged the riverside pagoda in the Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens in downtown Des Moines, but according to KCCI-TV, no work has been done to repair it.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Volunteers at Hope Ministries in Des Moines made sure more than 1,000 people had full stomachs this holiday weekend. WHO-TV reports the meals were delivered to elderly, homebound and low-income individuals and families in Des Moines.

NORTHWOOD, IA (IRN) – A jury has found a Worth County man guilty of attempted murder. KIMT-TV reports Trapp Leroy Trotter Jr., 32 of Northwood, was arrested for stabbing and slashing a man from Manly in 2018. Authorities said Trotter chased him into a Northwood apartment and stabbed him. The victim has recovered.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Federal prosecutors are seeking the equivalent of a life sentence for a former elite Iowa youth basketball coach who sexually abused and exploited 400 boys over a decade. KGAN-TV reports prosecutors asked a judge to sentence former Iowa Barnstormers coach Greg Stephen to 180 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for May 2.

AMES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa State University graduate student has been charged with sexual abuse after raping two women he met on dating apps in the span of 24 hours. KCCI-TV reports Jona Paulus, 33, of Ames, was booked into the Story County Jail, where he remains in lieu of $50,000 cash-only bail.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Fire crews spent much of Friday evening at the scene of a restaurant heavily damaged by fire. More than a half-dozen fire trucks responded to Riley’s Cafe. The restaurant suffered extensive damage in the fire that was confined to the ceiling.

EASTERN IOWA (IRN) – Thanks to recent snowfall north of the Quad Cities, another crest is headed down the Mississippi River in the coming days that will cause more flooding. WQAD-TV reports the next crest will be arriving late next week, making its way down from Dubuque through Burlington causing another round of flooding for eastern Iowa.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Water Works will soon unveil a new pump station. KCCI-TV reports the $2.5-million project will help filter nitrates out of drinking water. Water Works has been criticized in the past for dumping nitrates into the river downstream. Starting Monday, nitrates won’t go into the river. The project was started by the late Bill Stowe who died Sunday.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A 17-year-old has pleaded not guilty in the shooting death of a woman whose body was dumped in the middle of a West Des Moines road. KCCI-TV reports Eliazar Montoya Gama, of Des Moines, allegedly picked up 18-year-old Sakira Bonner at a hotel because she wanted to buy marijuana. Bonner was then beaten, robbed and shot numerous times, and her body left in the middle of the road.

BOONE, IA (IRN) – A 17-year-old girl was hospitalized after falling from a road bridge onto busy railroad tracks in Boone County. The Des Moines Register reports that the girl fell about 30 feet Monday on to Union Pacific tracks west of Boone. First responders used GPS to reach the site after receiving a frantic 911 call from another teen.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A bill that would legalize betting on sporting events and fantasy sports in Iowa has passed the Senate and is expected to be considered as soon as Monday in the House. The bill excludes betting on some events, including minor leagues and in-state college team players.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The cross Christians venerate is typically symbolic of the one they believe Jesus Christ was killed on, but a priest says there is little symbolism at St. Mary’s Church in Iowa City. There, the parish claims to have a piece of what they call the “true cross.” KCRG-TV reports Father Steve Witt acknowledges the claim is a “bold” one but says the parish has documentation from the Vatican to prove their claims. There’s one problem though–they’ve misplaced the documentation.