Category: State News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Food banks, already facing higher demand, are now facing the new challenge of higher food prices. This is due in part to the supply chain issues. Higher costs mean families are now getting smaller portions, or substitutions for staples like peanut butter. Some food banks worry they won’t have enough food to help the less fortunate celebrate the upcoming holidays.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head in Des Moines over the weekend has died. The Des Moines Police Department has not yet made an arrest in the case.

WINTHROP, IA (IRN) – A 12-year-old girl was killed when the utility vehicle she was driving overturned and pinned her near Winthrop in Buchanan County. Investigators say the girl was driving a Polaris Ranger UTV and carrying a passenger when she lost control on a county road and rolled over into a ditch. Deputies say the girl was pinned under the UTV. The passenger — also a juvenile — was not injured.

ORANGE CITY, IA (IRN) – A northwest Iowa man has been sentenced after being convicted for the murder of an Ireton man. Gregg Winterfeld, 71, of Spirit Lake was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He was found guilty in October of second-degree murder of Grant Wilson, 58. The murder charge stems from an incident in 2020, where officials said Winterfeld was at a home in rural Ireton. After spending some time at the home, Winterfeld shot Wilson.

LINN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The race for a Marion City Council seat has taken another turn Tuesday. Linn County Auditor Joel Miller confirmed that unofficial results show the race is now tied. The race will be decided by drawing a name out of a hat.

FAIRFIELD, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation continues to investigate the death of Fairfield Spanish teacher Nohema Graber. Two students are charged in her death. The DCI says they don’t believe the murder was racially motivated. The 16-year-old suspects, Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale, are both still in jail on $1 million bonds.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A shooting involving a married couple in Council Bluffs that stemmed from a domestic disturbance left a woman dead and her husband wounded. Deputies were called Sunday to a home for reports of a disturbance and arrived to find 86-year-old Harvey Rankin suffering from a gunshot wound and his 83-year-old wife, Bonnie Rankin, dead inside the home. Police don’t know what happened.

OMAHA, NE (IRN) – Five teenagers have been arrested after shots were fired from their car at police during a chase from Omaha, east into Iowa, and back into Omaha. Among the five people arrested early Monday morning were a woman who turned 19 on Monday, an 18-year-old man, two 17-year-old boys, and a 15-year-old boy.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The city of Des Moines will be able to move more homeless people indoors this winter. Central Iowa Shelter & Services held a ribbon cutting Monday on a new facility on Mulberry Street. The new addition has 24 new apartments to help move more people in out of the cold this winter. It cost 5.6 million dollars.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police said they may know how an apartment fire started early Monday morning. According to police, the fire started inside an apartment at Gray’s Lake Apartments on Fleur Drive when an occupant “attempted to light a bug on fire on a futon.” It “lit up like a tinderbox,” according to police. Smoke and ash filled all of the units in the building.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – An Iowa City man is facing multiple charges after authorities connected him to multiple firearms and shooting-related incidents in Iowa City and Coralville. Demetrick Byars, 19, admitted to being in possession of a rifle during the interview and said he believed it was stolen. Investigators found multiple firearms, two homemade explosive devices, drug packaging materials, a digital scale and a bag of THC edibles in a search of a Coralville residence.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One person was rushed to a Des Moines hospital Sunday after shots were fired near a Drake neighborhood. The victim is a 15-year-old boy from Des Moines who remains in critical condition. Members of the public gave CPR until medics arrived.

FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – An 18-year-old man who was shot in the stomach is recovering in an Iowa hospital. The shooting happened early Sunday morning in Fort Dodge.

FAIRFIELD, IA (IRN) – Fairfield High School is still mourning murdered Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, who was allegedly killed by two of her students, but the district’s superintendent said the community should not worry about another threat. In a statement Sunday night, the superintendent said rumors on social media of a violent attack at the high school when class resumes today are not credible.

RICEVILLE, IA (IRN) – The Howard County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 10th Hole Hotel in Riceville on Friday night. On the 911 call, the caller was whispering and said there were two men with chainsaws at the hotel and to send help. A deputy went to the hotel and said a man and woman appeared at a second floor window with the man screaming “help” while the woman yelled “he’s hallucinating. The deputy knocked on the door and the woman came into the hall while the man slammed the door behind her and started barricading the door. The deputy was able to take the man into custody, but the hotel room was destroyed.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A woman shot by a Des Moines police officer last month has been released from the hospital, and is now facing charges. 35-year-old Katherine Margaret Louise Mehle of Des Moines is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer with a dangerous weapon and interference with official acts with a weapon. She’s in jail.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Workers at Tyson Fresh Meats in Waterloo had to evacuate Saturday morning after a bomb threat. Company officials say police searched the plant, and gave the all clear. Operations then resumed as normal.

EVANSTON, IL (IRN) – Alex Padilla took over for the struggling Spencer Petras and led three scoring drives, Tyler Goodson ran for 141 yards and a touchdown and No. 19 Iowa beat Northwestern 17-12 on Saturday night to stop a two-game losing streak.

AMES, IA (IRN) – The running of Breece Hall and a little razzle-dazzle propelled Iowa State to a 30-7 victory over Texas at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday. Hall rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns as the Cyclones earned their third straight win over the Longhorn and became bowl eligible for the fifth consecutive season.

FAIRFIELD, IA (IRN) – An entire town is hurting and trying to understand the death of a beloved teacher. Police say 66-year-old Nohema Graber, a Spanish teacher at Fairfield High School, was attacked and killed by two students from the school she taught. The students who allegedly killed her were angry about their grades in class.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A 69-year-old Iowa City man turned himself in after a man with a gunshot wound was found in a crashed vehicle last month. Philip Olson turned himself in after hearing about the crash. Olson admitted to having fired a .22 caliber air rifle at a squirrel from inside his home adjacent to the highway, but he said he missed. The shot was fired toward the highway.

LUANA, IA (IRN) – A Luana man is dead after a farm accident in Fayette county on Thursday. Evan Pape was working on a corn wagon on a farm north of Clermont when he was pinned between the corn wagon and his service truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

BOUTON, IA (IRN) – Two Dallas County towns are saying goodbye to their fire chief. Ken Cavanaugh died of a heart attack, but not before pulling his school bus full of children off the road and saving their lives. Cavanaugh was the fire chief in Woodward and Bouton.