Iowa Radio News

DES MOINES – The 2025 Iowa Legislative Session appears to be nearing its end. Iowa Capitol Dispatch reports budget bills made their way through both the Iowa House and Senate, including funding for health and human services, administration and regulation, transportation, education, and economic development. It comes after lawmakers sent bills to the Governor’s desk adding work requirements to Medicaid, adding some restrictions to eminent domain, and a rural health care initiative. The session was scheduled to end on May 2nd. IOWA – Warm and dry conditions last week made for excellent planting conditions, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Producers made quick progress planting corn and soybeans. Conditions were also favorable for spraying. Topsoil moisture condition rated 5 percent very short, 22 percent short, 70 percent adequate and 3 percent surplus. Corn planted reached 76 percent — eight days ahead of last year and three days ahead of the five-year average. Sixty-four percent of the expected soybean crop has been planted. PELLA – Two people were injured near Pella on Tuesday in a three-vehicle crash involving a school bus. The Iowa State Patrol reports that an SUV was rear-ended by another car, pushing it into a Pella School District bus carrying the Dutch high school girls soccer team. Two occupants inside the SUV were injured and one was life flighted to Des Moines. No members of the high school team were harmed.

DES MOINES – State Auditor Rob Sand made a long-anticipated announcement on Monday to run for governor. Sand is the lone statewide Democratic elected official after the 2022 election and has been raising funds for several months ahead of the public campaign launch. Sand will run next November against a Republican to-be-determined in the June 2026 primary. ADAMS COUNTY – A Texas man died in a solo motorcycle crash in Adams County over the past weekend. The Iowa State Patrol reports 25-year-old Tevin Takeo Wilson was traveling on a rural road and lost control, crashing into the Mt. Zion Branch Bridge. Tevin was thrown from the motorcycle and landed on the rocks below. He was pronounced dead at the scene.UNION COUNTY – A Creston woman died in a rollover crash in Union County on Sunday. Twenty-two year old Amber Lacina was driving on Highway 25, according to the Iowa State Patrol, and lost control of her Ford Focus. The vehicle crossed over multiple lanes of traffic and rolled over several times after hitting a nearby ditch. Lacina was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at Union County Hospital.

FORT DODGE – One person was pulled from a vehicle in a river near Fort Dodge late Saturday. KCCI-TV reports the Fort Dodge Fire Department responded to the Des Moines River and found a van at least 150 yards away from a boat ramp with an individual inside. The water was up to that person’s shoulders, who was pulled out and taken to a nearby hospital. DES MOINES – Two people were injured during a Sunday morning shooting in Des Moines. WHO-13 reports the Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Kwik Star on Northeast 14th Street and found an adult male suffering from a stomach wound. Des Moines Police later identified another man had arrived at another hospital in a private vehicle, and confirmed he was connected to the shooting. IOWA – While warmer and drier than normal conditions are expected to largely dominate the state this week, a much more active and cooler weather trend could take place as soon as this Sunday. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows strong chances of cooler-than-average and wetter-than-normal weather starting May 18th. This comes as much of Iowa has been removed from drought conditions, according to the latest national report.

IOWA CITY – An Iowa City man was sentenced to 200 months in federal prison for receiving child pornography and distribution. According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, 26-year-old Evan Robert Steinberg received and distributed files on five devices containing hundreds of images and videos, including prepubescent males, as young as under 1 year old, engaging in sex acts with adults. DES MOINES – The Iowa Supreme Court will allow voting materials to be published in English only. KCCI-TV reports a decision issued Friday found the League of United Latin American Citizens lacked standing in trying to overturn a 2002 law that prevents the secretary of state from using any other language on ballots. The court said organizations much find direct harm to legal rights before filing suit in future challenges. DAVENPORT – A Coal Valley, Illinois woman was sentenced to six years in federal prison for using interstate facilities in a murder-for-hire. According to public court documents, in late 2023, Autumn Jeanine Carianna Markley attempted to facilitate a killing by wiring money through a financial services application. Markley contacted a confidential source who was located in the Southern District of Iowa and made numerous statements that she would pay for someone to murder one of her relatives. Markley went so far as to give the confidential source a target name, address, and down payment for the murder-for-hire. This case was investigated by the Scott County Sheriff’s Office.

DES MOINES – Iowa Republicans have come to an agreement for the upcoming fiscal year budget following a week-long dispute between the chambers that pushed the 2025 session into overtime. Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the state will allocate $9.425 billion for the next 12 months — $28 million less than the Iowa House GOP proposed and $8 million more than the Senate and Governor’s joint proposal. The compromise included funding for paraeducators first approved in 2024 and additional money for community colleges. MUSCATINE – Two Muscatine residents were sentenced for federal child pornography charges in court this week. Thirty-seven-year old Jessica Rochelle Peters and 29-year-old Calvin Shawn Crater each received extensive federal prison time for possession and production of explicit photos and video of minors. Carter received 27 years of time and Peters was sentenced to 45 years in prison. IOWA – A senior deputy of Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has been nominated to serve as the U.S. Attorney for Northern Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. Leif Olson was selected by President Donald Trump to sever as the senior federal prosecutor and legal officer in the district. Olson has served as chief deputy attorney general since 2023.