Iowa Radio News

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is signing on to bipartisan legislation expressing concern over President Trump’s sudden withdrawal of troops from Syria. Senate Resolution 738 was introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina Wednesday night. The non-binding resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that the U.S. should continue limited military activities in Syria and ending those activities would embolden ISIS, Syrian President Bahsar Al-Assad, Iran and Russia while putting our Kurdish allies in jeopardy. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Nearly four decades after Michelle Marie Martinko was killed and left in her family’s car in a Cedar Rapids mall parking lot, police arrested and charged a Manchester man with first-degree murder. The Des Register reports DNA evidence led police to arrest Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, on Wednesday. In 1979 the Kennedy High School senior had driven to the mall after a school choir banquet to shop for a new winter coat. Evidence showed she had fought her killer, but had been stabbed at least eight times. PELLA, IA (IRN) – One person has been killed in a collision between a car and a semi on Highway 163 in Pella. KRLS-radio reports 65-year-old Esther Hockett from Bowman, North Dakota apparently drove onto the wrong entry ramp and collided with a semi truck hauling cattle at full speed. First responders and local farmers searched for cattle for several hours. The driver of the semi was uninjured. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A 21-year-old man was shot after a dispute at a Davenport Dollar General store. WQAD-TV reports police found the suspect, a 17-year-old male, at West High School. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A woman is recovering after a stabbing at a homeless camp in Des Moines Wednesday morning. WHO-TV reports the woman was stabbed in the leg with a large folding knife after an argument with her boyfriend near the camp. No arrest has been made. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Students at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School fed over one thousand people for free Wednesday night. KWWL-TV reports it’s the seventh straight year the student council has held the holiday dinner. Student Jack Mossbarger says, “the holiday dinner is an attempt to…bring everyone together and help underprivileged families that can’t have a holiday meal of their own…”

OSKALOOSA, IA (IRN) – A judge has ordered a new trial for a woman found guilty more than four years ago of killing her daughter in Oskaloosa. Court records say Judge Daniel Wilson set aside the first-degree murder conviction of 25-year-old Alicia Ritenour, agreeing with her arguments that her trial attorney had been ineffective. Authorities went to Ritenour’s Oskaloosa apartment in January 2014 following a 911 call. Officers found 17-month-old Ava Ritenour dead. An autopsy showed she died of head trauma. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A habitual violent attacker could be a free man on Wednesday, according to WHO-TV. In 2012, 38-year-old Scott Parks was sentenced to 15 years prison for assaulting and brutally beating a Des Moines woman. The victim says, “he took me hostage in my home. He beat me for four and a half hours using his hands, knees and feet; he hit me with a rod iron cross.” Other women he had been previously convicted of assaulting are also asking he not be released early. BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – A jury didn’t convict a 58-year-old Burlington man of vehicular homicide in the incident that killed his wife, but he has been found guilty of OWI. The Des Moines Register reports Bradley Wischmeier acknowledged driving “crazily” around a corn field until the vehicle overheated and caught fire. He was found lying about 20 yards from the blazing vehicle and his wife Lisa was dead nearby. It’s his third OWI. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A shooting in Cedar Rapids early this morning hospitalized at least two people, according to KCRG-TV. Police are investigating. WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – Former Waukee Schools’ Chief Operating Officer Eric Rose now faces a fourth charge in connection with his alleged financial misconduct in office. KCCI-TV reports the newest charge is solicitation of a restricted donor. Prosecutors say Rose solicited donations from companies that did business with the Waukee School District for his son’s hockey team. Rose pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An early Monday morning house fire in Des Moines was set intentionally. KCCI-TV reports 34-year-old Kyle Robert Lincoln is charged with arson and second-degree theft. Lincoln allegedly set fire to a home owned by his father, then left the scene in a vehicle owned by a family member. He’s in jail. CLARKE COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A 23-year-old man who admitted to sexually abusing a 13-year-old child walked out of jail a free man Monday because a county attorney failed to show up for his plea hearing. KCCI-TV reports the ruling comes after Clarke County Attorney Michelle Rivera missed the man’s plea hearing while being arrested for public intoxication. WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Homelessness in Iowa is down in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Their annual report found that more than 2,700 Iowans experienced homelessness for at least one night throughout the year. That’s a slight drop since last year. Meanwhile, homelessness among veterans rose 14.6 percent. IOWA (IRN) – Two rural Iowa school districts will require middle school students to take a firearms safety course this spring. The Des Moines Register reports students from Clarksville and North Butler will learn how to safely handle a gun during a physical education course focusing on hunter safety. Superintendent for both districts Joel Foster says he hopes the course will also prepare students to react in the event of an active shooter situation. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Iowa congressman Rod Blum likely violated a number of ethics rules in his private business dealings, including his ownership in a company that used false claims and House resources to promote itself, according to the Office of Congressional Ethics. Committee leaders say they won’t take any further action against Blum, who is leaving Congress after losing his bid for a third term to Democrat Abby Finkenauer in the Nov. 6 election.

WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – The Waukee school board has accepted the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Eric Rose after a closed-door meeting this morning. Rose turned himself in to the Dallas County jail Sunday and was booked on three charges, two counts of solicitation to commit a felony and one count of felonious misconduct. This comes after a state auditor’s report uncovered $130,000 of misspent tax payer money, including $80,000 on retreats and $20,000 on office furniture. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids woman has died after a fire. KCRG-TV reports emergency crews rescued Sharon Garnett, 43, from a fire Friday, and she died Saturday. Firefighters made entry into the apartment and quickly extinguished the kitchen fire. They found Garnett suffering from smoke inhalation, and say a medical condition made it difficult for her to flee the fire. The cause was unattended cooking. IOWA (IRN) – Two-thirds of Iowa’s Republican voters say they would definitely vote to re-elect President Trump if the general election were held today, according to a new CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. Trump earned an 81% approval rating for his policies. IOWA (IRN) – On the Democratic side, former Vice President Joe Biden leads among likely 2020 Democratic caucus goers, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke joining him as the only possible candidates in the field with double-digit support. The poll finds 32% of likely caucus goers saying they back Biden as their first choice, 19% Sanders, 11% O’Rourke, 8% Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 5% California Sen. Kamala Harris, with the rest of the 20-person field testing below 5% support. DAYTONA, Fl (IRN) – An Iowa football team is national champion. Trent Solsma threw a 16-yard scoring strike to Connor Niles with less than 90 seconds to play to help Sioux City’s Morningside College beat Benedictine 35-28 Saturday for its first NAIA championship. Before wearing Morningside maroon, they were stars at Bishop Heelan, leading the Crusaders to a state championship.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Rescue personnel pulled the body of a man from the Des Moines River near Grand Avenue in downtown Des Moines Saturday after witnesses said he went into the water but didn’t resurface. KCCI-TV reports witnesses saw the man wading in the water about 30 feet from the west bank before going under. CORALVILLE, IA (IRN) – An Iowa inmate has died in custody of unknown causes. The Iowa Department of Corrections says inmate Paul Kissel was pronounced dead Friday at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center. He was 52. His death is not considered suspicious. Kissel had been serving a 25-year sentence for attempted murder out of Pottawattamie County. His incarceration began in 2009. WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – The Waukee School District’s COO Eric Rose turned himself into police on Saturday after being charged with three felonies, according to KCCI-TV. The charges come following a report from the state auditor accusing the district of $130,000 in questionable spending. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders top the list of potential presidential candidates preferred by Iowa’s likely Democratic caucus goers, reflecting their belief that it will take political experience to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020. Thirty-two percent of respondents say Biden is their first choice for president. Sanders follows with 19 percent. The results are part of a new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll.