Saturday, September 14, 2019

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A minor has been hit by a vehicle on Des Moines’ south side. KCCI-TV reports a 12-year-old boy had been hit by a vehicle yesterday and is in critical condition.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An officer-involved shooting injured one person Friday afternoon in an area south of Terrace Hill in Des Moines, near a homeless camp. WHO-TV reports officers were responding to a complaint and 26-year-old Bryan Norris was not cooperative with police and jumped in the Raccoon River. Norris exited the river and armed himself with a shovel. Norris initially ignored an officer’s command to drop the shovel. As he advanced further, police said Norris dropped the shovel, only to pick up a machete. He then ran toward officers, ignoring their commands to drop the knife, and that’s when an officer shot him once.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A tornado that touched down near Ossian Thursday has been given a preliminary rating of EF-0 by the National Weather Service with winds estimated at 80mph.

AMES (IRN) – Today will mark the 67th meeting between the Hawkeyes and Cyclones. Iowa leads 44-22 all-time in the series. The Hawkeyes are going for their fifth straight win in the series. Gametime is 3:05 p.m.

Friday, September 13, 2019

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An explosion destroyed a house in Des Moines and damaged several others this morning. KCCI-TV reports the blast occurred around 3:15 a.m. a few blocks from Birdland Park. One person reported minor injuries several houses down from the explosion. Residents were visibly shaken. Natural gas is suspected of being the source of the explosion.

CLIVE, IA (IRN) – Authorities have charged a Clive daycare provider who acknowledged shaking a 6-month-old girl. KGAN-TV reports 55-year-old Tina Welch is charged with child endangerment causing serious injury. First responders went to Welch’s in-home daycare business to help the child, who was having breathing problems. A medical examination showed the girl had suffered brain bleeding and a spinal fracture. Welch told investigators that she’d shaken the infant.

OSSIAN, IA (IRN) – Damage has been reported after severe weather moved through northeastern Iowa and southwestern Wisconsin Thursday evening. The National Weather Service said a tornado touched down south of Ossian in Winneshiek County just before 5 p.m. Flash flooding and landslides closed roads. No injuries were reported.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Officers responded to the scene of what they thought was a homicide and active shooter situation early Thursday in Des Moines, according to WHO-TV. Instead, it was a scammer calling in. The call came in around two in the morning. A man told police he’s a sixteen year-old boy who had just shot his mom in the head, had his little brother tied up in a closet and wanted to shoot him, too. It was a legitimate number, but when police pinged it and went to the home, they found a family sleeping, and everyone was safe.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A corrections officer at the Scott County Jail saved a choking inmate’s life. WQAD-TV reports after hearing an unidentifiable noise, Tamara Riojas, a Scott County sheriff’s deputy, thought a fight was breaking out. She soon realized an inmate had dropped their tray and was choking on a piece of food. Riojas was awarded the department’s Lifesaver’s Award Thursday for successfully performing the Heimlich maneuver on the choking inmate.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – During a deadly officer-involved shooting in Burlington Wednesday, bullets flew everywhere, including into a home where a nine-year-old girl was asleep. WQAD-TV reports a stray bullet flew into the girls home, just inches from where she was sleeping. Another bullet hit a neighboring house. The Seventh Day Adventist Church nearby was hit multiple times. Police tried to stop the driver of a pickup after responding to a call of gunfire. But that attempted traffic stop turned into a chase, and then a shootout.

MUSCATINE COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A Muscatine man is dead, and two others are injured after a crash involving a semi in Muscatine County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a semi driven by Jordan Sexton, 25, of Muscatine, crashed into a county maintenance vehicle that was halfway on the road. The crash caused one of the semi’s fuel tanks to rupture and catch fire as it went into a ditch. In the crash, the semi’s trailer unhitched and struck a worker placing signs for road maintenance.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND (IRN) – About 40 Iowa National Guard members last year were bused about 23 miles from an airplane refueling stop in Scotland to room overnight at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort. It’s one of at least four separate military stays at the resort that are being investigated by the House Oversight Committee to determine whether Trump improperly gained from U.S. military lodging at his properties.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa appeals court has rejected a Des Moines attorney’s challenge to Gov. Kim Reynold’s use of a businessman’s private airplane. KGAN-TV reports Reynolds and her family took the flight to the Liberty Bowl in Tennessee in December 2017. The jet was owned by Reynolds’s campaign contributor David North, CEO of a company that has a contract with the state. The court dismissed the complaint, ruling the flights were allowable under Iowa’s gift law.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – A property tax error has caused an $894,000 hole in the Bondurant-Farrar School District’s budget. The Facebook data centers in Altoona are supposed to be tax-exempt, but the Polk County assessor’s office said it was not aware of the exemption.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – A man has been killed in southeastern Iowa after fleeing from and shooting at law enforcement officers. Police say Burlington police officers and a Des Moines County deputy responded to a call of shots fired at 12:50 a.m. Officers found the suspect’s truck minutes later and initiated a traffic stop. The driver got out, displayed a gun toward the officers and fled on foot. Officers gave chase, and that both the suspect and law enforcement fired multiple rounds. The officers and the deputy were not injured.

IOWA (IRN) – Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered U.S. and state flags to fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset today to honor those who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Scores of firefighters, police and others have died in the years since from exposure to the toxic wreckage from the attacks. It was the deadliest terrorist act ever on American soil.

FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – Fort Dodge residents grieved Tuesday after a high school senior died from a gunshot wound. KCCI-TV reports the 17-year-old boy’s family says the gunshot wound came from an accidental shooting.

WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – The Waukee Community School District has opened its ninth elementary school due to consistent high enrollment. WHO-TV reports Radiant Elementary can hold up to 800 students. The name is pulled from history. In the early 20th century, there were many coal mines in Waukee, and the school is named after the Radiant Energy Company.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A new group in Dubuque aims to teach skateboarding skills to girls while also empowering them to become more confident. KCRG-TV reports Izzy Mejia created SheSkates after picking up skateboarding just seven months ago. She fell in love with the sport and how it made her feel more confident, both at the skate park and in other areas of her life.