Category: State News

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for bank embezzlement. Brian Madison stole $259,000 from his employer, TruBank. For five years, Madison moved cash from the teller drawer he used, into an unmonitored teller drawer. Madison modified cash count sheets to intentionally omit the unmonitored teller drawer, so those conducting routine cash counts would not have known to look for the money.

SHENANDOAH, IA (IRN) – A Shenandoah jury has convicted a Louisiana man whose pickup truck hit a bicyclist. The Des Moines Register reports that 56-year-old Danny Cardin, of Homer, Louisiana, was found guilty of causing serious injury by vehicle. The bicyclist was sleeping in a tent while participating in RAGBRAI when Cardin’s pickup went off the driveway and struck the tent.

OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – An Ottumwa man has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly ran over a woman. WHO-TV reports 40-year-old Joseph Dobbe assaulted a woman, left in his car, and came back and ran over her. Police found Dobbe at his mother’s house in Melrose; he refused to leave. Dobbe was in a stand-off with police for several hours, but then began to have medical problems. He was treated at a hospital, and then jailed.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A woman accused of attacking a Clinton couple with a pickaxe has pleaded guilty. KWQC-TV reports Cassandra Doran entered “The Gazebo Antiques & Collectibles,” grabbed a pickax for sale and began swinging at merchandise before attacking Bill Conely. Conely suffered multiple injuries, including a broken jaw in two places.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public Health announced Monday that patrons of two central Iowa restaurants may have been exposed to measles. The department said it received confirmation from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services of a person with a confirmed case of measles who exposed Iowans to the highly contagious disease at the Hardees on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines on April 18, and the Panera Bread in Ankeny on April 16.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Mass protests are occurring today as Wells Fargo holds its stockholders meeting in Des Moines, according to KCCI-TV. Wells Fargo faces a $1 billion fine for opening millions of fake customer accounts. During the shareholder meeting, Well Fargo President and CEO Tim Sloan will hear from customers and stockholders about how the company can restore consumers’ trust. Sloan says in a video apology, “there is simply no excuse for what happened, we failed you, and we betrayed your trust.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa governor claims no evidence or records in ally’s firing– The office of Gov. Kim Reynolds says it has no evidence or records showing why she fired a longtime ally immediately after learning of workplace sexual harassment allegations against him.

Responding to open records requests, Reynolds’ office said Friday it never received documentary evidence of the alleged harassment by Iowa Finance Authority director David Jamison and created no other records detailing why he was fired.

The office says a Reynolds’ aide received verbal “reports of sexual harassment” on March 23 against Jamison, who was terminated the next day without an investigation. Reynolds and Jamison have known each other 20 years, dating to when they were county treasurers.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A weekend fire killed a woman and child in Waterloo. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the fire was reported early Sunday by a newspaper carrier. Firefighters found the victims on the second floor. Three others escaped the fire.

BOONE, IA (IRN) – An officer-involved shooting left one man dead in Boone Saturday. KCCI-TV reports officers responded to a domestic situation, encountered the man, who was fatally shot by officers. It’s unclear what led up to the shooting.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A fire burned hundreds of acres in a Council Bluffs ATV park, sending billowing smoke over Council Bluffs and Omaha yesterday. KETV reports firefighters fought 20-foot high flames. Firefighters believe the fire began as an illegal small campfire started by transients.

CLARKSVILLE, IA (IRN) – An eastern Iowa native performed Sunday night for the first live vote of American Idol this season. Maddie Poppe of Clarksville is one of the top 14 artists in the competition. On Sunday’s show she performed “Homeward Bound” by Simon and Garfunkel.
Poppe will be on tonight’s show also, and will find out if she continues or goes home.

OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – Ottumwa police are investigating a death in Greater Ottumwa Park. KTVO-TV reports a kayaker discovered a man’s body floating in one of the park’s ponds Saturday. An autopsy will be performed.

ANKENY, IA (IRN) – Two buses transporting about 70 children to see “Les Miserables” at the Des Moines Civic Center crashed Saturday afternoon. KCCI-TV reports no major injuries were reported. It’s unclear what caused the crash, but officials say one bus, from the Algona Community School District, hit a pickup truck that was pulling a boat. The other bus, from the same school district, then rear-ended the first bus.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The Cedar Rapids Solid Waste and Recycling division unveiled its newest litter-fighting tool at EcoFest Saturday at NewBo City Market. KCRG-TV reports the city demonstrated a new mini litter vacuum which allows a single operator to cover more ground and collect more trash in a shorter time than several humans can.

SOUTH CAROLINA (IRN) – South Carolina’s governor is asking Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds if a flag that Citadel cadets flew before the Civil War can stay at the military college. Iowa has allowed The Citadel to keep the red flag with the white palmetto tree and crescent emblem since 2010 when a museum realized its significance. An Iowa Civil War soldier took the flag home at the end of the war.

HALIFAX, NS (IRN) – A former Coe college student who plotted to go on a Valentine’s Day shooting rampage at a Canadian mall was sentenced to life in prison Friday with no chance of parole for nearly a decade. The Des Moines Register reports Lindsay Souvannarath of Geneva, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit murder in a plan that involved opening fire at a mall in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2015.

MARSHALLTOWN, IA (IRN) – A central Iowa high school teacher who taught for 30 years faces multiple child pornography charges, according to KCCI-TV. Police found 67-year-old Glen Sedlacek had numerous computer files containing pornography of children. Sedlacek retired from the Marshalltown Community School District in 2010 after teaching music at the high school for three decades.

FLOYD COUNTY, IA (IRN) – At least one person is dead in a crash in Floyd County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Dodge Ram pickup didn’t stop at a stop sign and hit a GMC Sierra pickup. The number of people killed or their identities has not been released.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – UnityPoint Health says an attack on its email system could have compromised the health and personal information of 16,000 patients. The Des Moines Register reports patients’ information that may have been exposed includs medical record numbers, diagnosis and treatment information, lab results, insurance information, names and dates of birth and some Social Security numbers and other financial information.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids teenager is putting on a benefit concert for people living with disabilities and he’ll have some help from a celebrity. KWWL-TV reports Nick Johnson, a senior at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School, lives with Cerebral palsy. Tomorrow, he’s putting on a benefit concert with the help of Mandy Harvey who, in 2015, was a finalist on “America’s Got Talent.” Harvey is a jazz singer and is deaf. The two became friends years ago at a No Barriers Summit, which the concert will directly benefit.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – A Missouri man is in the Polk County Jail after he rammed into and shot at a van along Interstate 80 near Altoona. The Des Moines Register reports 41-year-old Matthew Golden followed a white van off the Hubbell Avenue exit and rammed his car into it. He told officers he thought the car was involved in Tuesday morning’s Amber Alert for two Eastern Iowa boys. After ramming it, he then fired two shots into the driver’s side of the van. The van’s driver was not hurt. Police found two handguns in Golden’s car.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s unemployment rate fell slightly in March to 2.8 percent, leaving the state tied for the fifth-lowest rate in the nation. Iowa Workforce Development reported today the rate was down from February’s 2.9 percent. The national unemployment rate remained 4.1 percent.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids mother said she’s feeling a step closer to justice after police announced yesterday they have the man they believe killed her daughter. KCRG-TV reports police found the body of AnnaElise Edgeton in her Cedar Rapids apartment while conducting a welfare check. 19-year-old Kyler Junkins of Marion has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. Authorities think he broke into Edgeton’s apartment and shot and killed the newlywed.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Johnston mother who left her young children home alone with a gun while she took a European vacation has avoided jail time. KCCI-TV reports Erin Macke was charged with child endangerment after she left four children, all under the age of twelve, home while she jetted off to Germany. She was given probation and ordered to seek counseling.

LINN COUNTY (IRN) – A 49-year-old Marion woman is in the hospital tonight after her SUV flipped twice during a crash off of Interstate 380. KWWL-TV reports she was wearing her seatbelt, and will likely be OK.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Flowing parachutes, crashing bowling balls and the laughter of hundreds of kids filled the air at Drake University yesterday, according to WHO-TV. It all looked like fun and games but there was a serious life lesson also being taught. Drake, Des Moines Public Schools and Special Olympics Iowa joined forces for the inaugural “DMPS Unified Sports Day.” Kids with intellectual disabilities were partnered with kids without disabilities so they could all learn to help and appreciate each other.