Author: Iowa Radio News

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.

FORT MADISON, IA (IRN) – A man died after saving his 5-year-old daughter from a dog attack in southeast Iowa. KCCI-TV reports 33-year-old Robert Quick, of Dallas City, Illinois, was one of three people attacked Friday by the dog outside a home in Fort Madison. Officers had to shoot the animal because it wouldn’t release a man who was pinned on his back in the front yard. First responders soon found the wounded Quick lying in the home’s doorway. Quick asked medics to first help his daughter, who’d been bitten on the face. One official said Quick “undoubtedly saved her life by his actions.” He later died at a hospital.

WINTERSET, IA (IRN) – A driver and an Iowa state trooper were injured Friday in a three-vehicle crash near Winterset. According to the crash report, 27-year-old Dawn Clements was driving northbound on Highway 69 when her vehicle hit the back of an SUV that had just turned onto the highway. The Clements’ vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and hit an unmarked Iowa State Patrol vehicle. Clements was injured in the crash. The trooper was treated for minor injuries.

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Another floodwall has failed in Iowa, inundating a county seat in the eastern part of the state. The Des Moines Register reports a flood-prevention barrier in downtown Burlington failed Saturday afternoon. The city urged residents to avoid the floodwaters, saying sewage could begin to enter the water because the water had inundated a sanitary lift station.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – All students in the Council Bluffs school district will receive free meals beginning this fall. The entire school district now qualifies for Community Eligibility Provision, a federal program that allows students to eat free breakfast and lunch. The Daily Nonpareil reports families in elementary schools could say up to $700 a year, with families of high school students saving up to $900 a year.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Authorities have recovered the body of a boy who went missing in a Des Moines pond yesterday, according to KCCI-TV. Officials said it’s an old quarry that can get very deep – around 30 to 40 feet – suddenly toward the middle.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A 26-year-old man died after collapsing near the finish line of the EMC Dam to DSM race on Saturday. WHO-TV reports the man was competing in the 12.4-mile race and suffered a cardiac arrest. He collapsed a block from the finish line. CPR was performed along the race route before he was transported to the hospital, where he later died.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A party bus in Waterloo that was full of people was struck by bullets early Saturday morning, according to KCRG-TV. The bus was hit by shots from an unknown source around Midnight. Nobody was directly hit by the bullets, but the driver received minor cuts from broken glass caused by a shot hitting a window.

U.S.A (IRN) – The Trump administration is following through on a plan to allow year-round sales of gasoline mixed with 15% ethanol, though some say the move is undercut by a policy that gives oil refineries waivers allowing them to use reduced levels of the additive. The Environmental Protection Agency announced the change Friday, ending a summertime ban on the E15 blend imposed out of concerns for increased smog from the higher ethanol blend.