Iowa Radio News

NEWTON, IA (IRN) – The Iowa State Patrol believes a medical issue caused a crash in Newton around 2 p.m. Friday at the Iowa Speedway. Troopers say they found the woman unresponsive after she drove into the lot and crashed into unmarked Department of Public Safety cars. She was taken to the hospital and has since been released. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics employees who say that overtime and other payments were improperly paid will receive $15 million as part of a class-action suit that was filed in 2019. The healthcare system and about 11,000 workers have argued that managers didn’t pay overtime, bonuses or accrued leave as quickly as state and federal laws require. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – A well-known Ankeny activist who protested mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic and even filed a lawsuit against the Ankeny School District over the matter has been arrested on charges she made false claims of abuse to DHS about a former business partner’s family. “Mama Bear” Kimberly Reicks, 39, was booked into the Polk County Jail. IOWA (IRN) – New record-cold temperatures could be set across Iowa tomorrow morning. Cold air is moving into the upper Midwest and gradually causing temperatures to fall below average. Des Moines had a high of 66 degrees Saturday, but a low of just 29 degrees, 14 degrees below average. Temperatures will bottom out around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning when some parts of northern Iowa could see temperatures dip below 20 degrees.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Taboo Nightclub shooting suspect plans to argue he shot and killed one person in self defense. Dimione Walker is accused of shooting and killing Michael Valentine at the club on April 10 in Cedar Rapids. Two others died and nine others were injured. Walker was captured on video surveillance shooting Valentine at point blank range six times. MANCHESTER, IA (IRN) – A Manchester man died in a farm accident Thursday. Randall Wulfenkuhle, 68, was operating a grain bagger and while checking or adjusting the machine, his clothing got caught in the drive shaft. He was dead at the scene when emergency crews arrived. NEWTON, IA (IRN) – The Iowa State Patrol is trying to figure out what caused a driver to slam into some parked cars at the Iowa Speedway in Newton on Friday. The patrol says they found a woman unresponsive after she drove into the lot and crashed into some unmarked Department of Public Safety vehicles. She was taken to the hospital. IOWA (IRN) – Experts say drinking habits have changed since the pandemic and as a result, Iowans are buying more alcohol. 97-million gallons of beer were sold last fiscal year. That’s 30.2 gallons of beer for every single person in the state.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – MercyOne has dealt with a systemwide network outage after its information technology supplier was possibly targeted in a cyber attack. A mother says the lack of computers put her three-year-old son in danger under their care. Kelley Parsi said she checked her son Jay into MercyOne in Des Moines for dehydration on October 3, the same day Mercy’s IT issues started. She believes her son received an abnormally high dose of Tylenol and codeine because of a lack of communication and an inability to pull up his records. BELLEVUE, IA (IRN) – A Bellevue man has been charged with the murder of his estranged wife. Christopher Eugene Pritchard says he was “angry about the no contact order” 55-year-old Angela Pritchard had obtained, claiming domestic abuse. He confronted her about it and admitted to shooting her with a shotgun and leaving. POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The ATF is trying to figure out who put a suspected explosive device by a rural road in Polk County. A farmer found it between Ankeny and Polk City Thursday. The Des Moines Bomb Squad had to disable the device. Explosives experts believe it was some sort of bomb, but are waiting on lab tests to confirm it. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A state panel said Thursday that Iowa’s economy continues to perform well with record tax receipts for the fiscal year that ended in June, but tax policies enacted by lawmakers will slow the revenue growth in the coming years. Iowa closed the fiscal year 2022 with revenue growth of more than $1 billion, or 11% more revenue than the previous year. INDEPENDENCE, IA (IRN) – Family, friends, and colleagues of Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith attended a statue dedication Wednesday in Independence honoring him. Smith was shot and killed in April 2021 after an hours-long standoff outside a home in Grundy Center. The man responsible was convicted and sentenced to serve a life sentence in prison without parole. Sgt. Smith lived in Independence for more than two decades and his kids went to school at Independence High School.

IOWA (IRN) – Strong winds, dry ground, and very dry air is leading to a heightened fire risk today in Iowa. Dry, cold air has moved into place and with very low humidity and strong winds fires could spread quickly. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The Iowa City man charged with killing his wife over the couple’s finances took a plea deal Wednesday. Roy Browning Junior was set to go to trial in less than a month. Authorities say he stabbed and killed his wife JoEllen in April of 2019. The couple had been married 42 years. Browning was charged with first-degree murder. On Wednesday, Browning pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police responded to a serious accident involving an SUV and a UTV Wednesday morning in Des Moines near Grandview University. The SUV hit a John Deere Gator which was crossing the street. DUBUQUE, IA (IR) – Testing of Dubuque’s water has yielded some frightening results. The tests determined the prevalence of manmade chemicals known as per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or “PFAS,” are at a higher level than the EPA allows. PFAs are long-lasting chemicals that have been used in industrial applications and consumer products like carpeting, upholstery, food packaging, non-stick cookware, and personal care products. Exposure to PFAs has been linked to health risks such as cancer. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gary Slater, the longtime CEO and Manager of the Iowa State Fair, announced his retirement on Wednesday. Slater has been in charge at the fairgrounds for the last 21 years. Slater called it “the honor of a lifetime to lead the Iowa State Fair” for more than two decades. He was hired for the job in 2001 after previously running the State Fair in his home state of Missouri.

VINTON, IA (IRN) – A teen is in stable condition after he was stabbed by another teen at Vinton-Shellsburg High School on Monday night. A 16-year-old stabbed a 15-year-old after a verbal altercation. They were attending a driver’s ed class. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – West Des Moines police say the report of a body dumped into the pond behind the West Des Moines Public Library is false. Police say the bizarre story started with a report from Mason Kiefer, who told police that he killed a homeless man and threw his body in the water. No body was found. The man that Kiefer claimed he killed has been found alive by police. Kiefer is now being held at the Polk County Jail charged with harassment. JOHNSTON, IA (IRN) – The lack of rain has left rivers and streams in parts of Iowa in a constant state of recession since Spring. The National Weather Service in Johnston keeps track of the river levels even when there is little to no water. Some rivers in the state are nothing but a series of puddles. MADISON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is sharing a video of a mountain lion spotted roaming in central Iowa. The video was taken just outside of St. Charles from a hunter’s tree stand. The mountain lion can be seen making its way through the woods near the stand.