Author: Iowa Radio News

GLIDDEN, IA (IRN) – A 6-year-old boy died after being pulled from a community pool in central Iowa. KWWL-TV reports first responders were sent to the Glidden Aquatic Center in Glidden on Saturday evening. Medics took over CPR and other emergency measures from pool personnel, and he was taken to a hospital in Carroll. He was pronounced dead there. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office identified him as Kadyn Sporrer, of Carroll

CLIVE, IA (IRN) – A man left a vehicle and jumped from the University Avenue Bridge over I-80/35 in Clive onto the roadway below yesterday. KCCI-TV reports a relative was driving the man when he exited the vehicle and jumped off the bridge in an apparent suicide attempt. He was hospitalized, and his condition is unknown.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s court system has blocked public access to online records detailing Gov. Kim Reynolds’ 2000 arrest for drunk driving, saying they inadvertently exposed her sensitive personal information. KGAN-TV reports the records contained the governor’s Social Security number, driver’s license number and other sensitive information that should not have been made public. After an inquiry from The Associated Press last week, the court system removed public access to the files.

IOWA (IRN) – President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will both be in Iowa today. Biden will hold a rally over the lunch hour at the Bridgeview Center in Ottumwa. It’s just Biden’s second visit to Iowa since announcing his campaign for president. President Trump will begin his day in Council Bluffs, where he will tour an ethanol plant. He will then head to West Des Moines, where he will take part in a Republican Party fundraiser this evening.

IOWA (IRN) – The number of licensed vendors in Iowa has dropped since the state legalized fireworks. KCRG-TV reports vendors blame new restrictive ordinances some cities have imposed to cut down on their use. In 2018, there were 791 firework vendor licenses issued by the Iowa State Fire Marshal. So far this year, that number is down to 518, a 35% decrease.

TIPTON, IA (IRN) – A 61-year-old Illinois man has been given 25 years in prison for shooting at vehicles along Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. KGAN-TV reports Charles Johnston, of Belvidere, Illinois, was sentenced Friday. Johnston fired several shots on Jan. 11, 2018, at a rest area and at a semitrailer at a gas station and then at an Iowa state trooper. Johnston had become obsessed over a family supposedly killed in a collision with a semi and that he wanted to retaliate against a truck driver or truck drivers. Johnston had been a teaching psychology at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.

SUMNER, IA (IRN) – One person died after their pickup truck crossed the centerline, entered a ditch, went airborne, and rolled into a light pole in a Dollar General parking lot in the Bremer County town of Sumner. Another person was injured.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A smoke detector may have helped save a woman from a fire in her apartment in Des Moines. WHO-TV reports when crews arrived, they saw smoke coming out of one unit and a woman waving for help on the balcony. Crews were able to get her off the balcony and put the fire out. She suffered minor smoke inhalation but refused treatment. There’s no word on what started the blaze.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Nineteen Democratic presidential hopefuls descended into Iowa Sunday for the largest gathering of candidates so far in the 2020 race. The 2019 Iowa Democrats Hall of Fame was held in Cedar Rapids. The candidates were each given five minutes to separate themselves from the others on the campaign trail. Former Vice President Joe Biden was not in attendance, as he was attending his granddaughter’s graduation. Biden is the frontrunner in the polls.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Twenty-five thousand people attended Pride Fest in Des Moines Sunday. Organizers say this is the biggest turnout in the history of the event.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating a second attempted ATM theft in a week. KCCI-TV reports Sgt. Paul Parizek said the crime is moronic, because thieves are highly unlikely to get away with any cash during the crime, due to the way the machines are built.

CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – Officials at a chicken processing plant in northeastern Iowa announced the plant will close in August, taking 500 jobs with it. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City closes on Aug. 5.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Nine Scott County churches are teaming up to honor lives lost in the community. They are remembering victims of gun violence with T-shirts. WQAD-TV reports it’s called “Memorial to the Lost.” Each T-shirt represents a victim of gun violence in Scott County since 2014.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The LGBTQ community is celebrating some historical milestones this year: 10 years of marriage equality in Iowa and 50 years since the Stonewall riots that paved the way for pride celebrations. WHO-TV reports joining in the festivities at Pridefest in the east village of Des Moines were numerous presidential candidates.

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.