Author: Iowa Radio News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected a proposed 72-hour waiting period for abortions in the state, according to KCCI-TV. The ruling reverses a lower court decision, calling the law unconstitutional. The ruling was 5-2. The two dissenting justices were Thomas Waterman & Edward Mansfield. Mansfield wrote the dissent and is reportedly on President Donald Trump’s shortlist to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kennedy.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids man accused of stealing trade secrets will plead guilty next week. KWWL-TV reports 55-year-old Josh Isler has been indicted on charges of theft of trade secrets and making false statements to the FBI. While Isler was working for DuPont’s ethanol fuel enzyme division in August 2013, he downloaded hundreds of electronic DuPont files after accepting a job with an unnamed DuPont competitor. He lied to FBI agents when he told them he had not downloaded the files.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Severe thunderstorms with winds of up to 80 mph on Thursday afternoon downed trees and power lines, among other devastation, across central Iowa. Multiple semi-tractor trailers were knocked over or collided on Interstates 80 and 35. In Winterset, the gusts and torrential rain destroyed a fireworks tent and its merchandise. In Indianola, several trees were snapped at the trunk, landing on top of cars and houses. The National Weather Service indicates Greenfield appears to be the epicenter of the storms’ force. A heat advisory or an excessive heat warning is in effect for all of Iowa today.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A parent is accusing the Cedar Rapids School District of destroying evidence. KCRG-TV reports the parent alleges video was destroyed that showed a school bus driver assaulting a special needs student. The district claims the camera was broken.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Marion woman was taken to a hospital with possible life-threatening injuries after being assaulted Thursday. KGAN-TV reports the 24-year-old victim was found unresponsive. Police arrested 27-year-old Cody Brown and charged him with domestic assault with serious injury.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Liang Chow, who coached Iowan Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas to Olympic gold medals, has been named coach of the Chinese women’s national team, according to the Des Moines Register. He came to the University of Iowa in 1991 on scholarship to study English, then became an assistant men’s gymnastics coach. He started Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines 20 years ago. Chow grew up in Beijing.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One of the people charged in Des Moines’ first murder of 2018 is back behind bars after a new arrest. WHO-TV reports forty-six-year-old William Burton was booked into the Polk County Jail on a charge of first degree robbery Wednesday. He had been free on pre-trial release. Burton and his girlfriend, 36-year-old Crystal Purdy, are both charged with first degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Cory Channon. Police say Burton shot Channon after going to his apartment to retrieve a gun he says Channon stole from him.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement yesterday. KCCI-TV reports two Iowans are on President Trump’s short list of 25 people who could potentially replace Kennedy. The list includes Iowa Supreme Court Justice Edward Mansfield and Judge Steven Colloton, who sits on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sen. Chuck Grassley is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which will play a key role in appointing Kennedy’s replacement.

NORTH LIBERTY, IA (IRN) – Two Cedar Rapids teenagers are facing felony weapons charges after flashing a gun during road rage incidents in North Liberty on Wednesday. KCRG-TV reports the teens allegedly pointed a gun at another driver in a threatening manner while traveling on I-380. After threatening a second driver, police apprehended the teens.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A 26-year-old Council Bluffs man suffered a serious injury to his hand while holding a firework last night, according to KETV. Investigators say the man was in a car at the time he was injured.

DEXTER, IA (IRN) – A semi-trailer carrying chocolate from Hershey, Pennsylvania, caught fire Wednesday on Interstate 80 near Dexter yesterday. The Iowa State Patrol reports the truck had brake problems and caught fire. There were no injuries, but the trailer and all of its chocolate were destroyed.

WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – A woman who was hospitalized Tuesday after being trapped in her car underwater has died, according to KCCI-TV. Waukee police said a car driven by Shessla Whitlow, 38, veered off the road and into a nearby detention pond. Witnesses, the Waukee Fire Chief and a Waukee Police Sergeant worked together to pull her from the submerged vehicle.
CPR was performed at the scene, and Whitlow was transported to the hospital; however, she did not survive. Officials suspect she may have suffered a medical incident.

EMMETSBURG, IA (IRN) – A northern Iowa man is dead and a woman was injured after a vehicle struck them while they were riding bicycles near Emmetsburg Tuesday. Troopers said an 83-year-old man was southbound on the highway, as were the two bicycles, traveling side by side. The driver says he was adjusting his mirror and failed to see the bicycles, striking both of them. A 4-year old riding with the woman is OK.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – An Iowa State Patrolman was struck while sitting in his patrol car Wednesday while legally parked on the inside shoulder of I-29 south of Council Bluffs. There were minor injuries to the State Trooper and the driver of the other vehicle.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A new study says 37% of all Iowa households struggle to afford the basics for survival. The United Way report says that 450,000 Iowans cannot afford necessities like food, shelter and medical care. The report says one factor causing Iowans to struggle is that wages in the state stay stagnant as the costs of living skyrocket.

FAYETTE COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A 19-year-old is facing charges after an incident that allegedly happened on June 4. KCRG-TV reports Wilmer Elias Soy of Postville picked up two 13-year-old girls, took them to a remote area in the Fayette County and allegedly sexually assaulted them. Soy has been charged with Kidnapping in the first degree, a class “A” felony. First-degree kidnapping is when the person kidnapped, as a consequence of the kidnapping, suffers sexual abuse. If convicted Soy could face life in prison without the chance of parole.

POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Given recent heavy rains with more on the way, precautions are in place at Saylorville Lake to keep the river from rising too quickly downstream in Des Moines.
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers said Monday that they plan to test the crest gates on Friday. The gates were installed after the flood of 1993. When inflated, the gates allow for an extra 6 feet of water to be retained. The lake currently measures 28 feet higher than normal.

NEWTON, IA (IRN) – Authorities in Jasper County have launched an investigation into the death of a Des Moines man who was found dead in a vehicle in Newton. The Des Moines Register reports Jeremy McDowell, 38, was found dead Friday. McDowell’s manner of death is pending autopsy results.

CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – Charles City police were able to locate two juveniles who ran away from the Bremwood Residential Treatment Center in Waverly. KIMT-TV reports the two minors stole bikes and rode them into Floyd County, and then stole a vehicle from a rural residence. That vehicle was located in Charles City and the two juvenile males were caught and returned to representatives of the Bremwood Center.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Parents in Cedar Rapids will soon be able to track when their child gets on and off a school bus. KCRG-TV reports the app will also let parents know if a bus is running late, or if there is a crash or major delay. The app will be free for all families, and will cost the district approximately $70,000 a year.

MT. PLEASANT, IA (IRN) – A verdict has been given in the cold case murder trial of 22-year-old Elizabeth Syperda. KCII-radio reports 53-year-old Michael Lee Syperda has been found guilty of murder in the first degree in the death of his estranged wife. Elizabeth’s July 2000 disappearance in Mt. Pleasant was classified as a homicide after the investigation into her disappearance was reopened in March 2017.

OSCEOLA, IA (IRN) – An Osceola couple facing child endangerment charges kept two adopted children locked in a room subdivided by wood and kept plastic buckets for the children to use as a toilet. KCCI-TV reports the children were also malnourished. An investigation that began in January resulted in the arrests of 42-year-old Kenneth Fry and 40-year-old Kelly Fry. The couple have seven children, and the two of them who were abused had been adopted from Ghana, one age 8 and one age 9.

DRAKESVILLE, IA (IRN) – A hit and run crash has killed a nine-year-old and seriously injured his sibling in southeast Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports a vehicle hit the two at about 10 last night in Davis County near Drakesville. Troopers say they were walking against traffic when a vehicle came up from behind, hit them and then drove off.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police arrested one man early Sunday morning after they heard gunshots near Klub Elite in the East Village of Des Moines. WHO-TV reports police found a woman with a gunshot wound to her arm. A man was seen running from a vehicle that was leaving at a high rate of speed, which then hit a parked car. Police caught Leonardo Castellanos and found a handgun and evidence of narcotics distribution in his possession.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A documentary film made in eastern Iowa by eight Cedar Rapids teenagers won a top prize at a Toronto film festival. KCRG-TV reports “Somewhere Only We Know” explains the life of a Shueyville couple who choose to live simply, and without modern conveniences on an 83-acre property called “Wildwood Farm.” The purpose of the film was to answer the question, “What is worth more than money?” The students say they learned there is more to life than material things, like caring about others.