Iowa Radio News

RIVERSIDE, IA (IRN) – Two people are dead after a fire in a Riverside home early Saturday morning. It happened just before 1:00am. 9-1-1 callers alerted first responders to the fire and that there were two people inside. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – West Des Moines police are investigating racial slurs targeting black Iowa lawmakers. On Friday, the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Progress Iowa hosted a “People’s Condition of the State” event ahead of the 2022 Iowa legislative session. The meeting was hijacked via Zoom. Hijackers said racist slurs and projected racist slurs and images onto the screen. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s labor commissioner says the state will not enforce the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 employees or more. This decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments regarding the mandate. FORT MADISON, IA (IRN) – An inmate assaulted a correctional officer at the maximum security Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison Friday evening. The officer was taken to the hospital. The inmate wasn’t injured.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – The Southeast Polk school board was forced to abruptly end its meeting Thursday evening due to a bomb threat that was made against the school board. Altoona police said the caller said he had placed bombs around the building and was going to shoot anyone who came out. SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – The state of Iowa is suing Sioux City over what it says was the city’s manipulation of wastewater testing results and dangerous pollution of the Missouri River in a scheme that saw the wastewater plant’s former supervisor sentenced to jail. POLK CITY, IA (IRN) – Roughly 26 years after it was stolen, a shotgun is back in the hands of its rightful owner in Polk City. Keith Lister now has his Remington 870 after it was found in Arkansas. Polk City Police say they received a call from the Mena, Arkansas Police Department saying they had a gun that was stolen from Polk City. The Police Department was notified after a pawn shop put the serial number of the gun through a nationwide reporting system to see if it was stolen. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The wind chill was 5 degrees below zero when Linda Houlton of Des Moines fell trying to get her mail, and for the next 19 minutes, she struggled in vain to get back on her feet and out of the cold.Though the home sits along busy Indianola Avenue, no one stopped to help until mailman Chris Meyer pulled up in a mail truck. Security video from the home shows he lifted Houlton off the ground, carried her to the house and, and then retrieved the mail she had dropped in the fall.

WEST BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Firefighters have found one person dead inside a burning mobile home near West Burlington. Crews worked to knock down the flames and found the body during a search of the home. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A former Republican representative said she is running for state auditor, accusing the Democratic incumbent of conducting “political witch hunts” that don’t help taxpayers. Mary Ann Hanusa said she would seek the GOP nomination to run against Democrat Rob Sand. Hanusa accused Sand of using the office to launch baseless investigations based on partisan politics. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines-based church is having trouble getting its tax-exempt status because of the use of a psychedelic drug in its ceremonies. The Iowaska Church of Healing was founded in 2018. What’s in question is whether or not it can use Ayahuasca in its ceremonies. Ayahuasca is a plant-based psychedelic drug that has DMT in it, which is a hallucinogenic that is banned under the Federal Controlled Substances Act. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A man caused two wrong-way crashes on a Cedar Rapids highway on Thursday morning, then stripped naked and tried to run from the scene before being taken into custody. SAN ANGELO, TX (IRN) – Donald Huisinga went from being a high school student from Auburn, Iowa to jumping out of a plane during the U.S’s attack on Normandy in 1944 during World War II. After surviving the battles at Normandy, including a six-month stint as a prisoner of war, Huisinga moved back to the States, started a family, but lived with one major regret: not finishing his diploma at Auburn High School. Now he has–at age 98.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Some Republican state lawmakers are considering an anti-vaccine mandate bill. If passed, the bill would stop businesses from asking about or keeping medical records, including the vaccination status of their employees. The bill would also make it illegal for Iowa businesses to deny goods and services, provide incentives or disincentives or make hiring or firing decisions based on vaccination status. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Three Iowa Senate Democrats are proposing a constitutional amendment to the state’s marijuana laws. They want recreational marijuana to be regulated similar to the way alcohol is in the state. They say that the state is missing out on jobs and revenue that recreational marijuana could provide. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Healthcare providers at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics are seeing twice as many positive Covid cases this week than the number they saw around Christmas time. They continue to urge people to get vaccinated, boosted and wear masks. They expect the Omicron surge to peak in late January or early February. LAS VEGAS, NV (IRN) – The future of farming is on display and will be ready to drive through the fields later this year. John Deere revealed during the CES 2022 tech trade show that their fully autonomous tractors are ready for large-scale production. Farmers just have to take the tractor to the field and hit start. The cameras and a neural network of algorithms allow the tractor to avoid obstacles and stay in its geofence. The system will also gather data about the soil as it works to improve performance. Farmers can monitor the machine from their phones.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Democrat Ras (RASS) Smith announced Tuesday he is suspending his campaign for Iowa governor. Smith currently represents Iowa House District 62 at the statehouse, which covers the northern part of Waterloo. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Thursday marks one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol. On Tuesday, an Iowa man and his son pleaded guilty to felony charges related to their roles on Jan. 6. Daryl Johnson, of St. Ansgar, and his son Daniel, of Minnesota, entered their pleas Tuesday. Each faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two entered the Capitol through a broken window and rushed law enforcement officers. BATTLE CREEK, IA (IRN) – A northwest Iowa man was killed Monday following a crash south of Battle Creek, Iowa. The driver of a car was eluding an Ida County deputy when he lost control going around a turn. The car then struck a tree and rolled several times before coming to a stop. David Downing, 47, of Oto, Iowa, was pronounced dead at the scene. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Two former Go Cedar Rapids executives are facing federal charges regarding the 2018 music event NewBo Evolve featuring concerts by Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson. The two allegedly executed a scheme to defraud a Cedar Rapids bank in connection to loans for NewBo Evolve. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa lawmakers head back to the Statehouse in less than a week and tax cuts are at the top of their agenda. Republicans, who hold legislative majorities and control the Governor’s Office, have repeatedly promised further tax cuts next year.