Category: State News

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police launched a suspicious death investigation today after discovering a body on the sidewalk of a metro neighborhood. KCCI-TV reports the body of a deceased male was found around 6:30 a.m.

PUTNAM COUNTY, MO (IRN) – A southeast Iowa woman received injuries from multiple dog bites serious enough for her to be airlifted to the hospital. KTVO-TV reports dispatchers received a 911 call regarding a woman who was having problems breathing after being bitten by a dog. When emergency personal arrived, they found that a 59-year-old woman from Exline, Iowa, had been trying to separate two male dogs that had been fighting. According to the dogs’ owners, the dogs were family owned animals and had not displayed aggressive behavior before.

MEXICO (IRN) – A young man brought to Iowa illegally from Mexico by his parents when he was three has been killed weeks after being sent to Mexico by ICE agents. The Des Moines Register reports DREAMER Manuel Antonio Cano Pacheco was scheduled to have graduated from East High School in Des Moines last month. Arrested on misdemeanor charges, Pacheco was escorted across the border. His throat was slit.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Suicide rates are on the rise in every state except Nevada, according to a report released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says there has been a 36 percent increase in suicides from 1999 to 2016 in Iowa. The two groups with the highest suicide rates are teenage girls and farmers.

HARDIN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Rick Dunn from Eldora won the Republican primary for Hardin County Attorney on Tuesday but his name won’t appear on the general election ballot, according to WHO-TV. Dunn passed away a month ago after a battle with cancer, and it was too late to take his name off the ballot. Dunn served as Hardin County Attorney for 16 years. County Auditor Jessica Lara says, “he was Mr. Eldora for many of us because he was involved in so many things in the community.”

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The Iowa City Airport is celebrating a century of service this weekend, according to KWWL-TV. The celebration will start today and it features an historic Ford Tri-Motor plane. Built in 1928, the plane is small in comparison to today’s commercial planes, but back then it was ahead of its time and a luxury. Henry Ford had the plane commissioned with three engines as a safety innovation.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa State Patrol closed a portion of I-35 today after a semi trailer carrying pigs rolled over. KCCI-TV reports I-35 was closed at the eastbound I-80 ramp for several hours as crews cleaned up the area.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s secretary of state clarified Wednesday that Democrats, not Republicans, had record turnout in Tuesday’s primary election following an errant tweet stating there was overall record turnout. The correction comes after Secretary of State Paul Pate announced that Iowa “shattered another voting record.” This past primary election had the third-highest turnout in Iowa history, behind 2002 and 2010.

CLINTON, IA (IRN) – Authorities charged a 12-year-old Clinton boy after police said he burglarized a boat on a trailer parked in a yard, then killed a cat, and threatened to hurt the boat owner with a knife. WQAD-TV reports the boy faces multiple charges.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A woman is in the hospital after being shot in the leg in Cedar Rapids, according to KWWL-TV. It was the second shooting Cedar Rapids Police responded to on Wednesday, after a man was shot earlier in the day.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A dog in Iowa City has “adopted” a kitten as one of its own. KCRG-TV reports the owners of Stitch the dachshund say she often has false pregnancies. But this time their new kitten, Kitty, took to Stitch’s milk when there wasn’t a litter. The two have been inseparable since the family first took the weeks old kitten home.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – If you voted Tuesday, you were a part of history. Secretary of State Paul Pate tweeted that we shattered another voting record. With all precincts reporting, 279,124 people voted. The previous record for a June primary was 233,090. That was set back in 2014. While it’s a record turnout, the Secretary of State’s Office reports that it equals only about 13 percent of registered voters.

IOWA (IRN) – Democratic candidate for Governor Fred Hubbell won the nomination and will challenge Republican Governor Kim Reynolds in the fall. Cindy Axne captured the Third District Democratic Congressional race and will take on incumbent Republican David Young. J.D. Scholten will face Congressman Steve King and Abby Finkenauer will challenge Congressman Rod Blum in Iowa’s First Congressional District. If elected in the fall, at 28 years of age, Finkenauer will become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.

IOWA (IRN) – Des Moines businesswoman Deidre DeJear has won the Democratic nomination for Iowa secretary of state and will face Republican Paul Pate in November. DeJear was the only African American woman seeking statewide office in Iowa this year. She becomes the first African American to win a major political party nomination for a statewide office in Iowa.

IOWA (IRN) – The Republican race for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture will be decided at the state convention as no candidate in the five person race surpassed the 35% threshold required to win the election outright. Acting Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig led the race with 34.74% of the vote.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – In unrelated “survivor” news, the band Lynyrd Skynyrd will bring their ‘Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour’ to Cedar Rapids. KWWL-TV reports the concert will be held October 13th at the U.S. Cellular Center.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Mason City man who used a belt to spank a 4-year-old child is facing a felony charge. KCCI-TV reports 33-year-old Charles Pennington is charged with felony child endangerment resulting in injury. Officials were notified about severe bruising on the boy’s buttocks, lower back and upper legs. Other children in the household told investigators the child was beaten with the belt for “getting in trouble.”

EASTERN IOWA (IRN) – The Linn and Johnson County Auditors are receiving reports of text messages directing voters to the wrong polling place. KCRG-TV reports the auditor’s office tells prospective voters to check on their polling places at the Secretary of State’s website.

ANKENY, IA (IRN) – Two bodies were found at a home in the Autumn Ridge Estates community in Ankeny, according to KCCI-TV. Police say the bodies had been there for some time and that there is no threat to the public. Neighbors say the couple got an eviction notice, and were unable to pay their bills.

PLYMOUTH COUNTY, IA (IRN) – An investigation into a retired Iowa judge who admitted that hundreds of his decisions were ghost-written by attorneys found that more than a dozen of his cases were resolved inappropriately. KWWL-TV reports on at least 13 occasions, former Plymouth County judge Edward Jacobson improperly used proposed orders from attorneys as the final order of the court without the knowledge of other parties in the case.

IOWA (IRN) – School is out for the summer in Parkland, Florida, and the survivors of a February massacre are hitting the road to Iowa. WHO-TV reports a group of students from Stoneman Douglas High School announced they’ll spend the summer on tour talking to other teens about registering to vote. The group says there are four million kids who will turn 18 before election day, and they want them to vote to end gun violence. The location of their stop in Iowa hasn’t been announced.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – President Trump’s Lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has been telling reporters that if President Trump is guilty of any crime, he can pardon himself. When asked about the potential pardon, Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley told a CNN reporter, “if I were President of the United States and I had a lawyer that told me I could pardon myself, I think I would hire a new lawyer.”

FAIRFIELD, IA (IRN) – The Fairfield Fire Department is investigating a four-vehicle semi fire, according to KTVO-TV. On Sunday, workers at the Heartland Co-Op in Fairfield noticed one of the semi-trucks was on fire. They immediately called the Fire Department. But, while trying to put out the fire, it spread to the other trucks next to it, causing four vehicles to be completely destroyed.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man died early Sunday morning after he was shot in a domestic-related dispute. KCCI-TV reports the 40-year-old man arrived at Methodist hospital by private vehicle. He later died as a result of the gunshot wounds. No arrest has been made.

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Two people were hurt in a motorcycle accident in Burlington, according to WQAD-TV. A driver lost control of the motorcycle, and he and his female passenger were thrown from the bike. The were hospitalized with unknown injuries.

SPRINGVILLE, IA (IRN) – Authorities in Linn County are investigating an armed robbery that took place at a bank in Springville Friday morning. KGAN-TV reports a white male in his mid-thirties entered the Security State Bank, proceeded to a teller window, and displayed a handgun. The suspect then fled the scene. No one was hurt.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The United States’ unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent, according to the May jobs report. Iowa’s rate is even lower. WHO-TV reports Iowa restaurants are experiencing a worker shortage, and restaurants are starting to look at better compensation. While Iowa’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, some restaurants are starting teenagers at $10 or $12 an hour in their first jobs.