Iowa Radio News

CLINTON, IA (IRN) – Clinton authorities have declared a five-year-old boxer-Labrador mix a dangerous dog for attacking a toddler just hours after it was adopted from an animal shelter. WQAD-TV reports the dog bit a 15-month-old boy in the face, leaving massive facial wounds. The boy will be OK, but will need reconstructive surgery for the damage to his face. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa lawmakers voted 26-21 Thursday in support of a bill that would allow county auditors to question signatures and require voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls. Republicans say they are tackling voter fraud. Democrats say it’s an expensive solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. BOONE, IA (IRN) – Authorities are investigating two suspicious deaths after two people were found dead in a Boone home. KCCI-TV reports a woman and her son lived in the house. A neighbor says she sees the son occasionally at night, but hasn’t seen the woman in the year and a half she has lived next to them. Names and conditions of the bodies haven’t been released. MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – An inmate in the Cerro Gordo County Jail has died. KIMT-TV reports the man was found unresponsive in his detox cell. Jail staff performed life saving measures and the man was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy has been scheduled. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A bill that will make it easier for police to ticket you for distracted driving has cleared a major hurdle at the statehouse. WHO-TV reports the State Senate passed a bill banning texting, web browsing, playing games and checking social media while driving. The bill stops short of a full “hands free” law that would ban the use of any electronic device that is hand held while driving. The bill now heads to the Iowa House. WASHINGTON, IA (IRN) – Opposition to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s health care bill is costing an Iowa congressman some valuable campaign support. The Wall Street Journal reports a political action committee backed by Ryan is withdrawing staff support from Rep. David Young in response to Young’s opposition to the bill. Young says that House leaders are rushing and should be more deliberate to get the Obamacare replacement right.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Officials say they didn’t have a hard time tracking down a would-be marijuana dealer in Davenport. That’s because he received 10 pounds of the drug in the U.S. mail. The Quad City Times reports 25-year-old Charles Simpson faces multiple drug charges. Simpson’s brother mailed him the marijuana to sell locally. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man and woman wanted in Florida were arrested Wednesday after a police chase in Des Moines, according to WHO-TV. It started when a man reported being robbed of his wallet outside a Hy-Vee in West Des Moines. When an Urbandale officer tried to stop the thieves, the driver took off, and eventually crashed. The driver, Justin Marshall of Florida, and his passenger, Allison Hunter of Kentucky, are both wanted on warrants in Florida. The truck they were driving was stolen from Missouri and had license plates stolen from Iowa. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Police believe a man wanted for questioning in a 2015 homicide is back in Des Moines and possibly disguising himself as a woman. WHO-TV reports Alf Clark is being sought as a material witness in the investigation into the shooting death of one person and the wounding of another. Police say he may be disguising himself as a woman to avoid detection. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines family of 11 has been displaced by a fire, according to KCCI-TV. Angela Fullmer and her nine children were asleep when their dog woke them up because their house was on fire. Fullmer was able to get all of her children outside in their pajamas. Her husband, a long-haul trucker, was away. Fulmer says they are now living out of two rooms in a Clive hotel, and “the little ones, three and four, keep asking when we’re going home.” CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The Cedar Rapids Fire Department doused a fire, and managed to save a cat Thursday morning. KCRG-TV reports crews conducted a search and found no one inside the home. After they put out the fire, they found an unconscious cat in the basement. The cat was given oxygen and survived. MEDIAPOLIS, IA (IRN) – Firefighters in Mediapolis are making news, far from the scene of any fire. WQAD-TV reports since August the fire department has gotten bigger and bigger. Six babies were born to the same firefighting family within seven months; three girls and three boys. Some in the fire department say to expect more babies as there are several young couples in the department who haven’t had kids yet.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Three police officers and a boy’s mother coaxed the 7-year-old into jumping from a second-story window into their arms so he could escape a fire at their home in Dubuque. KCCI-TV reports the mother escaped down the front stairs Tuesday, but smoke prevented the boy from reaching the stairs. Three officers joined the mother below the window where the boy was standing. They persuaded him to push out the screen, drop his dog to one of the officers and jump into the waiting arms of his mother and the officers. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating after receiving a report that a man shot himself in the leg near the Fairgrounds this morning. WHO-TV reports the man was taken from his home by ambulance. Police say the shooting was an accident. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A Waterloo woman is facing multiple charges after she poured gasoline on a woman and threatened to kill her and burn her children. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports 29-year-old Traynetta Ford had a plastic bottle filled with gasoline and dumped it on a woman inside a convenience store. Ford then went outside and poured gas on the woman’s SUV with three children inside. Ford then lit a cigarette lighter near the driver’s door, but the woman chased her away before the gas ignited. BOONE, IA (IRN) – A former Boone youth pastor has been charged for having inappropriate contact with a 16-year-old girl in his church. The Boone News Republican reports 47-year-old Joel Waltz turned himself into Story County Jail Monday. The victim said she first met Waltz when she was 11, and that he declared his love for her when she was 16, and that she met with him regularly until she was 18. Waltz resigned as youth pastor at Grace Community Church last March after the victim first came forward. MARION, IA (IRN) – Three people were able to escape safely from a house fire early this morning in Marion, according to KGAN-TV. One cat died from smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire is unknown. ELY, IA (IRN) – Women run the city of Ely in eastern Iowa. KCRG-TV reports women make up the entire city council, as well as run a number of businesses in downtown. City Administrator Denise Hoy says having an all-female city council makes Ely unique.

FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – A former treasurer of the Webster County Democratic Central Committee is accused of stealing more than $10,000 from it. KCCI-TV reports 70-year-old Diana Petraline is charged with theft and fraudulent practices. A criminal complaint says Petraline made false entries in the committee’s financial records from 2010 through November 2015. DODGEVILLE, IA (IRN) – An man is dead after a car/tractor crash near the southeastern Iowa town of Dodgeville, according to KWWL-TV. 31-year-old Jeffrey Kirby of LeClaire stuck the rear of a tillage tool in the right lane while it was being pulled by a farm tractor. He wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A “Civil Emergency” alert message sent to many cell phone users Monday was sent by accident. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said its dispatch center in Des Moines received multiple calls regarding an emergency alert saying, ” Civil Emergency in this area until 8:45 PM. Take Shelter Now Polk-County.” The message was sent in error from a dispatch center in eastern Iowa. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa senator called for Chuck Palmer, the director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, to step down Monday after he failed to appear at an oversight hearing. KCCI-TV reports Senator Matt McCoy held the hearing Monday as part of an investigation into the starvation death of 16-year-old Natalie Finn, and no DHS officials showed up. McCoy says it’s a cover-up, and “I think Palmer is incompetent.” IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A woman missing from a mental health facility has been found alive in a Johnson County farm field, according to KCRG-TV. A farmer called 911 and reported he had found a female in one of his fields. Authorities responded and identified her as 35-year-old Vanessa Jones, a missing Chatham Oaks resident. She was hospitalized for evaluation and treatment.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Iowa State University President Steven Leath has been hired as the new president at Auburn University. The Auburn University Board of Trustees named Leath president this morning. Leath was hired as the 15th president of Iowa State in 2012. ISU officials have yet to comment on the announcement. BETTENDORF, IA (IRN) – A Bettendorf woman has died after being hit by a car. WQAD-TV reports 38-year-old Jessica Soteco was pronounced dead at the University of Iowa hospital. Police said Soteco was walking on the roadway about 9:00 p.m. when she was hit by a vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was not hurt during the accident. Bettendorf Police are investigating. MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – Four people escaped a house fire late Sunday night in Mason City, thanks to the help of another person helping pull them out of the burning building. KIMT-TV reports one of the residents heard a popping sound which alerted them to the fire, and officials say another man helped pull them out of the house. All five were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A handwritten letter calling Muslims “vile” and “filthy” was delivered to the Islamic Center of Des Moines this weekend. KCCI-TV reports the letter was addressed to the “Children of Satan” and was signed by “Americans for a Better Way.” The note says that President Trump is “going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews,” and that it “would be wise to pack your bags” and leave. The letter and surveillance camera footage will be turned over to the FBI. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Hospital Association estimates a Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act could leave up to 250,000 Iowans without health insurance. Others are concerned the change could destabilize the entire Medicaid system that serves poor and disabled people. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 24 million Americans will lose health care coverage over the next decade under the proposal. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Hy-Vee’s in Cedar Rapids and Muscatine are honoring local “superheroes”–veterans, active duty military, and first responders in an unusual way. KCRG-TV reports the grocery stores have set aside two parking spots to those who work to keep their communities and our country safe.