OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – Damage from last night’s storms from across the state is still being assessed. KTVO-TV reports that storms tore through southeast Iowa, with considerable damage to trees in Bloomfield and other communities. Estimated 70 mph winds in Ottumwa tore the roof and front off of a home.

PALO, IA (IRN) – A Hiawatha woman died after being struck by lightning early Saturday evening at Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area near Palo in Linn County. Rebecca McCarty, 42, was camping with friends and family when she was struck by lightning while walking between camping spots.

MADRID, IA (IRN) – A Nevada woman was injured Saturday after an approximately 40-foot fall from a cliff at Ledges State Park in Boone County. Shannon Novak, 19, was taken by ambulance to Iowa Methodist in Des Moines after suffering injuries to her back and ankle. Novack lost her footing and fell from a sandstone outcropping over the Des Moines River.

DES MOINES (IRN) – A West Des Moines teenager was airlifted to Iowa Methodist in Des Moines after suffering a head injury while tubing on Lake Panorama Saturday afternoon. Angela Cary, 15, was on a three-person tube being towed by a boat when the tube hit a wave throwing all three into the water. Also on the tube were Angela’s sister, Kayla, 19, and Rachael Anfinson, 16, of Urbandale.  Anfinson also suffered a head injury, and it is believed that the girls bumped heads when the tube was flipped over after hitting the wave.

AMES, IA (IRN) – One person is dead following an early morning shooting in Ames. WHO-TV reports that police responded to a report of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found a male victim with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses reported hearing an argument and several gunshots. The name of the victim is being withheld.

LACONA, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a possible homicide near Lacona in rural Marion County. No names have been released in the incident, pending family notification.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded direct financial assistance and tax benefits to six companies for job creation and expansion projects on Friday. According to the agency, the awards will assist in the creation of 304 jobs, retention of 137 jobs and will result in almost $52 million in new capital investment for the state. Cities and towns benefiting include Le Mars, Pella, Spencer, Cedar Rapids, Urbandale, and Coralville.

AMES, IA (IRN) – One person is dead after two construction workers fell from scaffolding while working on a new six-story apartment complex in Campustown in Ames Friday afternoon. The Ames Tribune reports that the two workers fell approximately three stories. The cause of the accident is unknown, and the workers’ names have not yet been released.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Des Moines’ housing market continued to heat up in May, with homes selling at the fastest pace in nearly nine years, according to a report from the Des Moines Area Association of Realtors. According to the Des Moines Register, home prices also surged in May. The median sale price during the month was $179,000, up 8.5 percent from $165,000 in the same month last year. Homes sales and prices grew statewide as well.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Four elderly sex offenders who live at the state mental hospital at Clarinda will soon be transferred to another state facility before the Clarinda hospital closes, according to the Des Moines Register. Thought was given to transferring the men to a private facility, but state officials decided to place them in the state mental hospital in Independence rather than in a regular nursing home.

DAVENPORT, IA – A Iowa man has been sentenced to 180 months in prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and being found an armed career criminal. Jonathon Adam Lamb, age 36, formerly of Bettendorf, was sentenced Friday in the Southern District Court of Iowa. Lamb was found in possession of a stolen Colt .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol a year ago, and had prior convictions for unarmed robbery and burglary.

DES MOINES, (IRN) – Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 3.8 percent in May, significantly down from the May 2014 rate of 4.4 percent, according to Iowa Workforce Development.  Meanwhile, the U.S. unemployment rate rose slightly to 5.5 percent in May from 5.4 percent in April.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled today that Planned Parenthood of the Heartland may continue to use its controversial telemedicine-abortion system. The Des Moines Register reports that more than 7,200 Iowa women have used it since 2008. The system, the first of its kind in the nation, allows Planned Parenthood doctors in Des Moines or Iowa City to interact via video with patients in outlying clinics, and then dispense the pills to the women.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Waterloo police on Thursday night arrested an adult and three teens on drugs and weapons charges following a traffic stop. The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports officers detected an odor of marijuana and during a search recovered marijuana, a digital scale and packaging material. One of passengers, Dennis W. Washington, 24, of Waterloo, was in possession of a stun gun and a loaded .22-caliber handgun, which was reported stolen earlier in the year.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man stabbed his girlfriend to death and then, while suffering from stab wounds of his own, demanded alcohol from neighbors, fell off a nearby retaining wall, and repeatedly asked responding police officers to shoot him. The Dubuque Tribune Herald reports that Eddie Hicks, 26, is charged with one count of first-degree murder. Police said he stabbed Kahdyesha J. Lemon, 21, to death Wednesday night at their home. Lemon had more than 20 stab wounds to her head, neck, chest and back.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Police continue to investigate the death of a toddler who was found unconscious at an in-home day care Wednesday afternoon. The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports that the 18-month-old boy, Brody Harrelson, of Waterloo, was discovered unresponsive in a car seat inside the home. The cause of death is unknown.

OMAHA, NE (IRN) – A new report shows farmland values continue a gradual decline in Iowa and the Midwest. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Omaha-based Farmers National, a real estate company, says the average sale price of an acre of high quality Iowa farmland fell to $11,000 this month from $12,250 in June 2014. Farm profit margins are depressed due to lower corn and bean prices and steady input costs.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The American Heart Association announced a $3.7 million dollar grant to the Carver Biomedical Research Center at the University of Iowa for researchers to investigate methods to predict, prevent and treat preeclampsia in pregnancy.  Preeclampsia is a hypertension disorder in pregnant women, complicating 5-7% of all pregnancies, killing 100,000 women and 500,000 babies every year.

 

JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – An autopsy is scheduled for a body pulled from the Iowa River Wednesday evening. According KCII radio, two campers fishing north of the Hills Access reported seeing a pair of pants and boots in a brush pile. Authorities searched the river by boat and recovered the body of a white male who has not been identified.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says more than 1,500 workers will likely lose their jobs as a result of the bird flu outbreak. KCCI-TV reports that Branstad is asking President Obama to declare a major disaster for four of the hardest hit counties. Branstad says 438 people have sought unemployment benefits from Buena Vista, Sioux, Webster and Wright counties.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Des Moines police say one person was killed in a one-vehicle crash early Thursday morning and it appears speed likely played a role. WHO-TV reports that 29-year-old Tyler Joseph Sloan Luna of Des Moines died in the accident near Drake University. The vehicle struck the curb at a high rate of speed and went airborne about 10 feet before it hit a tree. Luna was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Dubuque police are investigating a stabbing death after a disturbance at a home late Wednesday night. KCRG-TV reports police found a man and a woman with stab wounds. First responders transported them to the hospital, where one died. No one has been charged in the incident.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The former bookkeeper of an Iowa farming cooperative has admitted she embezzled roughly $1.4 million over six years.  KCCI-TV reports Kathy Joan Cullen, who worked 27 years for the 21st Century Cooperative in Cass County, pleaded guilty Wednesday to filing a false tax return.

OSAGE, IA (IRN) -| An Osage man facing multiple sexual abuse charges has now been charged with plotting the murder of the victim set to testify against him. The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports that Mark Retterath, 50, is being held in the Mitchell County Jail. Retterath allegedly planned to use the toxin ricin to poison the victim, who also lives in Osage.

WELLMAN, IA (IRN) – A woman was struck by a car in Wellman right before dawn Wednesday. KCII radio reports that a motorist called the Washington County dispatch center saying he had struck a woman with his car and she was not responding but was breathing. The woman was transported to the University of Iowa Hospital. Names of those involved have not been released.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A high collar kept a Waterloo woman from suffering a slice to the neck following an assault Saturday night. The Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reports that Geraldine Hall, 53, attempted to cut Lisa Macomber’s neck with a kitchen knife during an altercation at Hall’s home. But Macomber was wearing a tall shirt collar that protected her neck. Macomber and others in the home took the knife from Hall and detained her until police arrived.

NORTH LIBERTY, IA (IRN) – Three Iowa cities have been named as among the most playful cities in the country. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that KaBOOM! – a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that all kids get a childhood filled with the balanced and active play needed to thrive – is honoring cities, towns and counties across the country for making their communities more playable. The Iowa cities on the list? North Liberty, Ankeny, and Davenport.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A first-of-its-kind grocery store could soon be coming to Des Moines. KCCI-TV reports the group Eat Greater Des Moines is planning to add an automated grocery store where area residents and anyone driving by could quickly get fresh, healthy foods. The store would be completely automated with a touch screen order system and robotic vending of products.