State News

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Friday, November 25, 2016

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A pedestrian in Davenport was seriously injured when hit by a drunk driver early Thanksgiving morning, according to WQAD-TV. The victim is 23-year-old Kevin Haslem of Davenport. The accident happened around 3:30 a.m. Haslam was was loading newspapers into a legally parked vehicle when the crash occurred. He sustained life-threatening injuries. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A 20-year-old man was killed in a drive-by shooting Thanksgiving night in Des Moines. WHO-TV reports it happened in a Git-n-Go parking lot. This is the 13th homicide in the city of Des Moines this year. MARION, IA (IRN) – A 15-year-old Marion High School student is facing felony sexual abuse charges after being accused of abusing an elementary school student. KGAN-TV reports Marion Police were told about the male student inappropriately touching an elementary school student at Starry Elementary in October. The 15-year-old old was arrested Tuesday after an investigation. CENTRAL CITY, IA (IRN) – Smoke and flames filled the air Thanksgiving morning after multiple explosions at a recycling plant in the eastern Iowa town of Central City. KCRG-TV reports one firefighter was hospitalized with what was described as a “life-threatening” medical issue. Nearby residents were requested to stay indoors to avoid possible contaminants in the smoke plume. BUFFALO CENTER, IA (IRN) – Two people were arrested after a reported child abduction in the northern Iowa town of Buffalo Center. KIMT-TV reports a babysitter told law enforcement that the two children, ages three and one, were taken by an unknown male and the children’s biological mother, Ashley Machain, who was armed with a knife. Mcchain and her alleged accomplice, Daniel Smith, are in jail, and the children are safe. DES MOINES, IA – Iowa has proposed no wage increases and removed health insurance provisions in a contract with the state’s largest public employees union, according to KCCI-TV. Iowa Council 61 represents 40,000 public employees including correctional officers, firefighters and mental health workers. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A robber attempted to rob the Chipotle Mexican Grill in Des Moines on Wednesday but fled with only a burrito. The Des Moines Register reports he got in line and ordered the burrito. When he got to the cash register, he said he had a gun and demanded money. The cashier ran into the back room without giving him any money. The man then grabbed the burrito and fled. There’s no word on whether the burrito was chicken or steak.


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Thursday, November 24, 2016

MONTICELLO, IA (IRN) – A man has pled guilty to robbing a bank in Monticello earlier this year, according to KCRG-TV. 45-year-old Brandon Brown admitted he took more than $4,000 from the F&M Bank by pointing a weapon at a bank employee in late July. He faces up to 25 years in prison. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The new Republican majority in the Iowa Legislature could bring new restrictions on abortion in Iowa, according to KCCI-TV. They take control in January, meaning nearly a dozen abortion-related bills could soon be on the table. Democrats will be unable to block them by vote for the first time in a decade. The legislation could reduce the window of time that a woman can seek an abortion or force a woman to wait at least 24 hours or receive counseling before the abortion. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – It’s Thanksgiving, and the Iowa State Patrol says we will likely experience record traffic over the next few days. WHO-TV reports troopers expect to see extra commuters heading to both Ames and Iowa City for football games. Trooper Nathan Ludwig says “Interstate 80 is going to be a zoo,” and “it could potentially be the busiest five-day stretch on Iowa roads in the history of the state.” NEW YORK, NY (IRN) – Some Iowa cheerleaders will be in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning, according to KWWL-TV. Varsity cheerleaders from Dubuque Senior High School have spent the week in New York City preparing to perform in the parade. They’ll be performing with Spirit of America Cheer — made up of cheerleaders from around the country.


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Wednesday, September 23, 2016

JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A high-speed chase in Johnson County ended with a crash yesterday, according to KWWL-TV. At one time, troopers were going to call off the chase, but then they learned the driver was a sex offender and there was a young female in the car. The suspect lost control on a gravel road, the car went into the ditch and hit a pole. 20-year old Jeff Rangel of Des Moines was arrested, and the passenger hospitalized. Her condition is unknown. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man died and an infant was seriously injured in a crash that involved multiple vehicles Tuesday in downtown Des Moines. The Des Moines Register reports 46-year-old Soe Reh died as a result of his injuries. He rear-ended a pickup, then struck a delivery truck, continuing into a parking lot and striking other vehicles. Reh’s infant passenger was hospitalized and is in critical condition. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – Investigators have made an arrest in an arson investigation in Ankeny, according to WHO-TV. $1 million in damage was done to the home of Thomas Knapp. During the investigation it was found that Knapp’s truck was missing. The truck and Knapp’s son, 18-year-old Paul Knapp, were located in Fort Dodge the next day. He’s accused of setting the fire, stealing the truck, and illegally using his father’s credit cards. He’s in jail. BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – A number of shootings over the past week in Burlington are related, according to WQAD-TV. One of the shootings killed a man, while a second shooting injured another. The dead man was found slumped over the steering wheel of a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the upper body. Police have several suspects in custody, and say the shootings aren’t random. GALT, IA (IRN) – An approximately two-year-old girl was found abandoned in the northern Iowa town of Galt yesterday. She was found wearing pink pajamas and no shoes. The child is in the custody of the Iowa Department of Human Services, and an investigation is underway. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police arrested four people Tuesday for seventeen robberies that took place over eight months, according to KCCI-TV. The robberies took place at Git N Go stores, Kum and GO stores, Hy-Vee stores and one bank. Two of those arrested are brother and sister. Their mother says she didn’t raise them that way, and blames their behavior on heroin addiction. She’s been trying to get them help. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids mother who forgot her wallet in line at the grocery store Monday is thanking the stranger who paid for her groceries. KCRG-TV reports the cashier had scanned half of the woman’s groceries before she realized she had forgotten her wallet. While she was calling her husband to bring her wallet so she could pay, the woman behind her paid for the nearly $200 in groceries. The woman who paid said she simply wanted to do something nice for the holidays.


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Tuesday, September 22, 2016

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – One person is dead and at least one other injured following several late morning shootings in Burlington. KBUR-radio reports one shooting happened just before 10 a.m., another at 10:30 a.m., and a third at 11 a.m. One man was killed while driving his car, and another man was hospitalized with a gunshot wound. Schools were placed on a precautionary lockdown. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Waterloo Police were called to a home yesterday after someone reported a woman being beaten. KWWL-TV reports officers forced their way into the home where they found a woman with bruises and a bite mark to her forehead. 34-year-old Patrick Ian Berry was arrested and charged with assault domestic abuse. ELDON, IA (IRN) – A southeast Iowa woman has been sentenced for stealing money from the Cardinal Community School District parent-teacher organization. KTVO-TV reports 33-year-old Ashley Jean Ingle of Eldon pled guilty last week to one count of second-degree theft. She was sentenced to five years probation and received a deferred judgment. Ingle stole around $10,200 from the PTO. The missing money came from fundraisers to designed to support the group. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A couple and their pets were rescued from a house fire in Des Moines Tuesday, according to KCCI-TV. A passerby noticed flames coming from the roof, and called 911. When firefighters arrived, they rescued the elderly couple, who didn’t know the roof of their home was on fire. A dog and three cats were also rescued. JASPER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Two people are in the Jasper County Jail after a chase Sunday on Interstate 80 where speeds exceeded 150 mph. WHO-TV reports 34-year-old Samuel Roberts of Oklahoma faces multiple charges, while 45-year-old Bridget Anderson, of Texas, is charged with allowing an unauthorized person to drive. It all started when Roberts refused to pull over for an Iowa State Trooper Sunday morning. Stop sticks ended the chase near Newton. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Three opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline began a hunger strike in a last-ditch effort to stop the controversial oil pipeline, which is nearing completion in Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports the group began fasting Monday outside the Iowa Utilities Board in Des Moines. OELWEIN, IA (IRN) – A U.S. Marine from Oelwein who died fighting a World War II battle on the Pacific Ocean island of Betio was buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington on Monday. KCRG-TV reports Pfc. Wilbur Mattern, who was 23 when he died, had been unaccounted for since a Nov. 21, 1943, battle on the small island of Betio. The grave site of Mattern and 35 other Marines was found in June 2015. Family members say they believed his body had floated out to sea and would never be found.


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Monday, September 21, 2016

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – Authorities say a Council Bluffs woman placed one of her 10-month-old son’s hands in a mug of coffee to prove to him that the coffee was hot. KCCI-TV reports 36-year-old Rebecca Brahier is charged with willful injury and child endangerment. The child was seriously burned. The mother is in jail. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man was stabbed several times early Monday morning. KWWL-TV reports police responded to a domestic disturbance, and when they arrived, they found a man was restraining his wife by holding her arms. 42-year-old Vanessa Tillman-Johnson had a knife in one hand and a bottle in the other. The husband was stabbed several times. She’s in jail. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – A residential fire destroyed a half-million-dollar home in Ankeny Saturday, according to KCCI-TV. No one was injured. Neighbors say they believe someone may have set the fire. Police are looking at surveillance video. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Authorities are re-examining a 15-year-old shooting in Waterloo because a man wounded in the incident has died from complications related to his gunshot wounds. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports police reclassified the unsolved case as a homicide instead of an assault. Shawn Michael North was paralyzed since 2001, and his death relates to the paralysis. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids woman wants to make sure no kids go hungry after school districts in Eastern Iowa tightened their school lunch policies. KCRG-TV reports Linn-Marr has begun a no money, no lunch policy for high school students and elementary students get a peanut butter sandwich. Cassie Gatewood started a GoFundMe account called “Tray it Forward.” She says, “Our children should never go hungry…” SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – A Sioux City woman helped launch a new U.S. Coast Guard ship named for her uncle, who was killed in 1945. The Sioux City Journal reports Donna Fuller was present Saturday at the commissioning of the Rollin Fritch, a 154-foot fast response cutter, at Cape May, New Jersey. Rollin Fritch was a gunner on the USS Callaway off the Philippine coast when it was attacked by Japanese kamikaze pilots. Fritch kept firing at airplanes when a kamikaze crashed into his position, killing him at age 24. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star.