Category: State News

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines man has been charged with murder in connection to the death of a woman he pushed from a third-story apartment balcony. Nathen Cameron, 27, is charged with first-degree murder, willful injury causing serious injury, domestic assault with strangulation, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and a drug tax stamp violation. When officers responded to the 911 call, they began life-saving measures on the female, who was later identified as Trisha Kunze, 23 of West Des Moines.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – An Iowa man is among 12 people, including three U.S. Army soldiers, who are accused in a large-scale gun trafficking ring that prosecutors allege supplied nearly 100 guns to gang members in Chicago and led to at least two killings. Among those charged was Terrell Mitchell, 27, of Davenport.

CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – A dog was rescued and no one was injured after a house fire in Cedar Falls Friday morning. Crews saw fire and heavy black smoke coming from the home. Firefighters found no one home, rescued a dog from the house and extinguished the fire.

ELDON, IA (IRN) – The man who was the inspiration for the beloved M*A*S*H character Radar O’Reilly has died. Donald Shaffer, of Eldon, served as the company clerk at the army evac hospital that Dr. Richard Hornberger was assigned to. Hornberger wrote the best-selling book M*A*S*H, which was then adapted into a tv series and movie. Shaffer was 92-years-old.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday upheld a $120,000 jury verdict for a transgender former employee who sued the Iowa Department of Corrections for sex and gender discrimination. Jesse Vroegh, a nurse for Iowa’s prison system from 2009 to 2016, transitioned from female to male in 2014 and asked for permission to use the men’s restrooms and locker rooms. Instead he was told to use a single-stall unisex room in a different building. In 2017, after Vroegh was fired for unrelated reasons, he sued the state over the bathroom issue, and in 2019, he won his case.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A man was hit and killed by a train in Dubuque on Thursday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No foul play is suspected.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two Republican women have asked a judge to remove Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer from the June primary ballot. They claimed Thursday that a state panel wrongly rejected their challenge to her nomination papers earlier this week.

IOWA – High schools around the state have stopped tracking class rank in favor of recognizing students’ academic success in other ways. Iowa educators say there are multiple reasons to no longer track class rank. One is that colleges are less interested in class rank than before. Another is that it can add stress for students.

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – A moose that has been seen around northwest Iowa lately has died.
The moose was found dead Tuesday morning in a farm field north of Sioux City. DNR officials say the cow-moose died of natural causes linked to aspiration pneumonia. It’s the farthest south a moose has ever been seen, according to DNR records.

WASHINGTON DC (IRN) – A Des Moines man awaiting trial for the January 6th riot at the US Capitol is now asking that his trial be moved to Iowa. Doug Jensen was captured on video chasing after and intimidating a police officer inside the Capitol while wearing his “Q” shirt. Jensen wants the case moved to the Southern District of Iowa.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two boys with disabilities were left outside of a Des Moines Public School on the city’s east side with no supervision. They were told their dad was out front to pick them up and were sent out the door without supervision. One of the boys has autism, the other has cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Senate has passed a bill that would give public tax dollars to private schools for up to 10,000 children. A family of five would be eligible as long as they make less than $130,000 a year. Republican State Senator Amy Sinclair says, “Most families are just looking for a high-quality education but feel it’s not within their budget.” Minority leader Zach Wahls says this diverts money from public schools to private ones, and that, “it would be like using taxpayer dollars to pave a road that the public can’t drive on, or a private pool that our kids can’t swim in.”

BUENA VISTA COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Department of Agriculture has confirmed another positive case of avian influenza in Buena Vista County. This is the fourth confirmed case in the county.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A power lineman’s quick thinking helped a family escape their home after it caught fire in West Des Moines Wednesday. Tom Flanery, a lineman for MidAmerican, was repairing a streetlight directly across from the home at 5:00 am. He heard a crackling sound behind him, saw flames, dialed 911, and knocked on every window and door he could until the family woke up. Eventually, two adults, a 13-year-old, two dogs and a cat were all able to get out of the home without injuries.

CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Falls Police are searching for a suspect who stole an ATM from a bank early Wednesday morning. Police were dispatched to the First Security Bank shortly after 4:30 am for the theft. A witness saw a car pulling an ATM behind its pickup as it was leaving the bank.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa public schools would have to post their curriculum materials and library books online under a bill passed Tuesday by the Iowa House. Critics say it will cost schools millions of dollars to implement.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – There’s growing fear over an economic disaster in Iowa’s agriculture industry now that two more counties have reported cases of the highly contagious bird flu.
The United States Department of Agriculture said 1.5 million chickens in Guthrie County and 28,000 turkeys in Hamilton County will be destroyed. In all, 8.2 million birds have been destroyed in the past month.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A state panel dismissed challenges to the candidacies of six 2022 election hopefuls Tuesday — including a pair of high-profile Democrats and the Iowa Senate’s Republican leader. It upheld one objection to a congressional candidate who withdrew from his race.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – After one of the greatest basketball seasons of anyone to ever wear the Hawkeyes’ black-and-gold, Keegan Murray has announced he is entering the NBA Draft. The Hawkeye sophomore led the Hawkeyes in points, rebounds, shooting-percentage and blocks on his way to first-team All-American and All-Big Ten honors. He set the school single-season scoring record as well, breaking the mark set by Luca Garza one year before.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police say a man who escaped officers five different times is now behind bars. Police say Eric Hernandez was able to speed away from officers on five different occasions. Investigators have linked him to all five pursuits and went to arrest him at his house on Friday. According to police, when they showed up, he tried to run away but was soon caught and arrested.

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT, (IRN) – A young woman is dead after a pack of dogs attacked her. Meskwaki Nation police said the attack happened about a mile southeast of the Meskwaki Casino. Police say they located and euthanized all the dogs believed to be involved. The department says it’s not releasing any more information because of the sensitivity of the situation.

HIAWATHA, IA (IRN) – Hiawatha police believe they have found the body of a man who went missing back in December of 2021. A missing persons report was initiated for 41-year-old Hector L. Perez after he had not been seen since the week before. His body was found in a pond. Foul play is not suspected.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – After laying off more than 100 employees in the past week, Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker assessed the usefulness of the grocery store chain’s front office staff in a companywide video address. In the video, Edeker said, “The reality is, and I never lose sight of the fact, this office does nothing.”

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee held a meeting Monday night to discuss a draft plan that would require states to apply for five early spots in the presidential nominating calendar. That could leave Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status up for grabs.