Iowa Radio News

IOWA (IRN) – Pig ear dog treats infected 23 Iowans with salmonella in the past year — more than in any other state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday updated an ongoing alert, first publicized this summer, that consumers should avoid the popular dog treats made of smoked pig. Pig ears are linked to a “multidrug-resistant salmonella” outbreak in 35 states. Humans likely get the disease from handling the treats. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Investigators believe they have solved a high-profile, decades-old murder case in Cedar Rapids. KCRG-TV reports police have closed the case in the 1989 murder of Brian Schappert. Schappert, 22, was stabbed to death during the early morning hours of September 8, 1989, while working at a Kum & Go convenience store. Police recently narrowed their investigation down to two possible suspects. Both are dead. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – An Ankeny teenager was arrested after being accused of downloading child pornography from the dark web. KCCI-TV reports Saul Munoz Banderas, 18, was arrested Friday after months of investigation. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Iowa City Police have made an arrest after a child abduction attempt. KGAN-TV reports police arrested 24-year-old Rodney Bryant of Iowa City, after they responded to a report of a 3-yr-old that had been picked up by a stranger and carried a short distance away. The child’s mother confronted the person and was able to take her child from him, uninjured. The male then left the area on foot. Bryant is charged with Kidnapping. AMES, IA (IRN) – Ames has been named the Best College Town in America by financial news website 24/7 Wall St. The website named the 30 best towns, starting with Ames at number one and ending with Madison, Wisconsin, at number 30. The rankings considered the share of residents enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate institution, the number of colleges and universities in the area, the median age of residents, the city’s unemployment rate and the number of bars per 100,000 city residents. Ames finished first, and number seven was Iowa City.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The U.S.D.A. has announced the award of $36 million to buy conservation easements on Iowa agricultural land damaged by flooding this year. The funds are available through the floodplain easement component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Under the program, eligible applicants voluntarily agree to sell a permanent conservation easement to the federal government. Compensation is based on the value of the easement rights acquired based on rate caps and market analysis. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A western Iowa man has been charged with kidnapping and abusing a 4-year-old girl. Council Bluffs police were investigating a report of a missing child when 28-year-old Michael Brandstrom brought the girl to officers, saying he had found her outside and brought her into his apartment to keep her safe. An investigation found that Brandstrom had kept the girl in his apartment for more than an hour without calling authorities and a search of his cellphone revealed nude photos of the girl. BELLEVUE, NE (IRN) – A man wanted in Michigan caused a 10-hour standoff Wednesday that shut down a road leading to the Bellevue Toll Bridge in western Iowa. KETV reports Iowa State Patrol troopers pulled over 45-year-old Eric Kramer. He got out of his vehicle and pulled out a handgun, pointing it at his head. Ten hours later, troopers moved in and ended the standoff peacefully. Kramer is now in custody and was wanted in Michigan for domestic abuse. BETTENDORF, IA (IRN) – A physical education teacher at Bettendorf High School was arrested on domestic assault charges. WQAD-TV reports on Sunday evening police responded to multiple 911 calls about a distressed and injured woman trying to get into people’s vehicles at a stoplight. The LeClaire Police Department arrested her husband, 57-year-old Jay Fitzgerald. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Staff members at Brody Middle School in Des Moines are investigating after a student jumped from the school’s roof Thursday, landing 30 feet below. KCCI-TV reports the sixth grade student gained access to the roof and jumped onto a grassy area. The student was responsive and left with a parent in an ambulance. He will be OK.

BETTENDORF, IA (IRN) – Linemen from eastern Iowa are ready to help people in the southeastern United States affected by Hurricane Dorian. KCRG-TV reports more than 80 MidAmerican Energy employees are waiting in the Raleigh area, including four from Waterloo, two from Hampton and two from Charles City. They left Tuesday from Bettendorf and don’t yet know when or where they’ll be sent, or what they’ll need to do to help out. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – Parents of a five-year-old boy with Down Syndrome become the second family to file a lawsuit this year involving Ankeny School District’s busing company, Durham School Services. WHO-TV reports the parents say their son was left to ride the school bus for three hours without access to a bathroom, food, or ability to talk to his parents before he eventually arrived at his final destination. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Traffic cameras have now been ticketing drivers who speed and run select red rights in Cedar Rapids for about two months. KCRG-TV reports over 24,000 citations were issued over a 60-day period. At this pace, the city will make about $8 million over the course of a year. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Two Davenport families are without places to stay after getting conned through a rental property scam. WQAD-TV reports the people were desperate to get a place to rent, and gave the scammer a copy of their driver’s license, a check stub, and a copy of their debit card to process the payments. They hadn’t seen the property, and when they couldn’t find it they knew they were scammed. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines attorney is unveiling her life as a part-time prostitute. KCCI-TV reports the mom, wife, attorney and prostitute, Katherine Sears, hopes that by shining a light on her lifestyle, she can help decriminalize prostitution.“I like sex,” Sears said. “Sex is fun and I can get paid for it.” She began working as a prostitute three years ago, at the age of 27. Sears travels to Nevada, where prostitution is legal, and works in a brothel. While Sears said she’s shy, she feels empowered being a sex worker.

OMAHA, NE (IRN) – A retired pastor for the Oskaloosa Central United Methodist Church has been sentenced to up to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Nebraska boy in 2017. KETV reports David Holmes, 82, is one of three men now serving time in Nebraska for sexually assaulting the same teen. Prosecutors said Holmes messaged the child through the app, Grindr. Holmes told investigators he introduced the teen to 64-year-old Robert Recoy. Recoy was uncooperative with investigators and police later found him dead in his home with 13 pill bottles and a glass of wine next to him. Two other men are currently serving time in connection to the case. WASHINGTON, IA (IRN) – A Washington, Iowa man was arrested at a nursing home where he worked and charged with abuse. KCII-Radio reports authorities responded to a reported assault at Pearl Valley Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. Officers arrested 26-year-old David Wayne Croft for intentional dependent adult abuse causing injury. He’s in jail. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – On Saturday, West Des Moines resident Ardy Arco received a call no one wants to hear, according to WHO-TV. Arco says, “In the afternoon I got a call from my sister, ‘hey there is a shooting in Texas. I’m OK, but I can’t find dad.” He frantically waited for hours while his sister searched through Odessa, its hospitals and the scene for any signs of their dad. Eventually, she came across his semi truck, crashed on the side of the road, bullet holes in the door and driver’s window. Their father was killed in the shootings. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines couple say they awoke Monday to find burned remains of the American flag hanging in front of their home. KCCI-TV reports the couple woke up Labor Day morning to find that their flag had been set aflame. The woman said other American flags in her neighborhood were left intact and she wonders if their home was targeted. OMAHA, NE (IRN) – An August survey of business supply managers suggests slow or no economic growth over the next several months in nine Midwest and Plains states. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss, who oversees the survey, says “weakness in the region’s farm and manufacturing sectors produced by tariffs and a global economic slowdown pulled regional growth below that of the nation.” CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A bystander pulled a 19-year-old woman from a fiery crash in Cedar Rapids yesterday, according to KWWL-TV. The woman sustained life-threatening injuries and was transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She’s a suspect in an incident where a vehicle struck several vehicles in a parking lot prior to the crash.

A New York man is being held in the Adair County Jail on over $1 million bond after Stuart Police responded to an alleged victim of a cross state kidnapping Saturday. Raccoon Valley Radio reports officers were dispatched to a 911 call from a woman at Casey’s General Store. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the caller, Amber Garrison of Smyrna, New York. Garrison informed officers that she was kidnapped from a Pennsylvania truck stop in mid-July. She said that she had been assaulted on several occasions and been forced to remain with the truck driver as he traveled through multiple states. She was transported to the Adair County Hospital for treatment of several injuries. A search warrant was conducted of the semi and after the initial investigation officers arrested James Scott Smith of Mexico, New York. He faces multiple charges. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa agency is keeping secret a list of about two dozen former criminal offenders who were improperly granted credentials to work for private security firms. KCCI-TV reports the Iowa Department of Public Safety denied an open records request Friday that sought the identities of those individuals whose security cards were recently revoked. The revocations came after the discovery that the department granted 5,800 private security employees’ credentials to work in Iowa without undergoing mandatory federal criminal background checks. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A traffic stop in Cedar Rapids Friday night resulted in the arrest of a Tennessee man. KCRG-TV reports officers stopped a vehicle driven by 27-year-old Torrance T. Brown of Chattanooga. Brown was asked several times to get out of his vehicle but refused and continued to refuse after warning they would release a K9 into the vehicle. Brown was eventually apprehended with assistance from the K9, and was arrested on federal warrants for heroin distribution and a local charge of interference with official acts. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of a dog bite and then taken to the Linn County Jail. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One juvenile was transported to a hospital after a shooting on Monday near Drake University. KCCI-TV reports he was shot in the leg, and is expected to recover. Three suspects were detained and a rifle was recovered. GRIMES, IA (IRN) – A Grimes man was hospitalized with serious burns after the boat he was working on caught fire yesterday. The fire was contained to the garage. MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A man was injured early this morning when he drove into a train in Mason City. KIMT-TV reports he was hospitalized in fair condition. The crash happened shortly before 2:00 a.m.