Iowa Radio News

BREMER CO., IA (IRN) – After months of searching, the body of 76-year-old Cloris Mehmen, of Plainfield, is believed to have been found in Bremer County. KIMT-TV reports Mehmen, who had Alzheimer’s, was found about a half mile from her home by a farmer harvesting corn. Search efforts involved canine tracking; ground, air, drone, water and underwater searches, to no avail. No foul play is suspected. DENISON, IA (IRN) – A 51-year-old man accidentally shot himself on his way to hunt deer with his wife. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says Daniel Gehling, of Denison, was adjusting the handgun in his waistband when it went off. The shooting happened Monday in Crawford County. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Octopus heads and creepy clowns armed with golf clubs and wooden stakes terrorized a Des Moines neighborhood Tuesday, according to KCCI-TV. The teens behind the masks caused about $800 in damage when they slashed a van’s tires and shattered a window. Neighbor Derrick Moorman heard the activity, approached, drew his weapon, and held the teens at gunpoint until police arrived. They’re in jail. ROCK ISLAND, IL (IRN) – A Quad Cities man was sentenced to 12 years in prison Wednesday for driving drunk and hitting an SUV last year. WQAD-TV reports it was Dan Sylvester’s fifth drunk driving offense. The previous four happened in Des Moines County, Iowa. His victim, Tammy Fuller, spoke at the sentencing. “You busted my body,” she said from her wheelchair. “I’m angry. You took my life.” Fuller’s ankles and legs were shattered, she lost her job, and owes over $500,000 in medical bills. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Armed robberies in Iowa City are up this year according to KWWL-TV. On early Monday morning a man robbed a Kum and Go, and less than ten minutes later robbed another. They are the seventh and eighth armed robberies of the year in the city. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Demolition began this week on a rusty old water tower on the southeast side of Cedar Rapids, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Called the Kirkwood Standpipe, the 80-foot-tall, sky blue-colored structure is coming down panel-by-panel, with blow torches cutting the steel apart. Built in 1976, the tower leaks. It’s estimated that its replacement will cost more than $4 million.

ASON CITY, IA (IRN) – Cerro Gordo County has lost another effort to block construction of a 5,000-head hog confinement near Ventura. KCCI-TV reports the state Environmental Commission voted 8-0 yesterday to deny a county appeal of an earlier decision by the Iowa Natural Resources Department. County officials say they’ll consider taking the issue to court. WEST BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – West Burlington Assistant Police Chief Jesse Logan put himself in harm’s way last week in order to stop a man who was attempting to set himself and the home around him on fire. KBUR-radio reports Logan grabbed a large torch and settling tank from 32-year-old Darren Taeger, who had splashed himself and the room with gasoline. Taeger’s then-girlfriend used a garden hose to extinguish the torch. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A 7-year-old boy in Waterloo was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a pickup truck struck him Tuesday evening. KCRG-TV reports the boy ran into the street in front of the truck. URBANDALE, IA (IRN) – Urbandale High School has issued a warning regarding an athletics T-shirt scam, according to KCCI-TV. A company in Texas called Touchdown Sports has been soliciting Urbandale businesses for money to sponsor T-shirts to be distributed during school events. The school has no relationship with Touchdown Sports. Similar scams have been reported in other cities. ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – Facebook plans to add on to its data center campus in Altoona, according to the Des Moines Register. The company will add over 100,000 square feet to its third data center building. The expansion will add what Facebook calls “cold storage,” a type of digital storage the company says it uses to hold rarely-accessed photos. BOONE, IA (IRN) – A 92-year-old Boone man has a passion for the Chicago Cubs. WHO-TV reports Bert Doran has been a Cubs fan since he was nine years old, and is one of the few who were Cubs fans during their last World Series appearance in 1945. Bert was blinded by shrapnel on Iwo Jima in World War II, and follows the Cubs on the radio. He says the Cubs winning the World Series “would mean a lot to me. I’ve waited 92 years for it.”

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – A man was shot at a home in Burlington today, according to WQAD-TV. The man had gone into a home and was confronted by another man with a handgun who shot him in the upper body. The wounded man was found approximately a half-mile away from the home shortly after the shooting. CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – A northern Iowa man has been imprisoned for breaking the bones of an infant, according to KWWL-TV. 21-year-old William Khuns, of Charles City, was sentenced Monday in Floyd County Court to 10 years. He pled guilty to child endangerment resulting in serious injury. Khuns squeezed the infant until the baby’s ribs broke and twisted one of the baby’s arms behind its back until he heard a pop. The baby suffered nine broken bones. RED OAK, IA (IRN) – A Red Oak man who told his mother he was being kidnapped has been charged with filing a false report. The Daily Nonpareil reports deputies were dispatched after a report by the mother of 21-year-old Chase Palmer. He was found at a friend’s residence. Deputies determined that Palmer had not been kidnapped but rather had lost his keys and was locked out of his home. CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – A man is facing attempted murder charges after he allegedly stabbed two people in a parking lot of a hotel in Cedar Falls Monday. KCRG-TV reports police arrested 28-year-old Adam Jacobsen on two counts of attempted murder. Officers said Jacobsen repeatedly stabbed a 62-year-old man, then repeatedly stabbed a 47-year-old woman. Both were hospitalized with serious injuries. URBANDALE, IA (IRN) – A Johnston man is in jail after he caused damage after driving through an Urbandale cemetery drunk. WHO-TV reports 22-year-old Justin Nicolet is charged with operating while intoxicated and first degree criminal mischief. Urbandale police were called to the McDivitt Cemetery early Sunday morning after tire tracks and damaged gravestones were noticed. Nicolet was found in a vehicle in a ditch nearby. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has recently alleged that there is “large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day.” KCCI-TV reports that Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate assured Iowans Monday that the elections are not rigged. Pate says “Our reputation is very good and I don’t want anyone to try and imply otherwise especially without any facts.” DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Blank Park Zoo’s endangered black rhino family has grown by one, according to the Des Moines Register. The unnamed 80-pound calf, a female, was born Oct. 11 on the zoo’s grounds. Listed as critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund, there are less than 1,000 eastern black rhinos alive today.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A man, a woman and two dogs were all found dead in a Waterloo home. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that autopsies are planned for the two unidentified people found in the home Sunday morning. Police say they’re investigating the possibility that the deaths are linked to a generator that was found inside the attached garage. TIPTON, IA (IRN) – Cedar County’s former jail administrator has been charged with theft. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says 49-year-old Daron Wilkinson misappropriated jail funds for his own use. The charge follows release of a state audit report that said the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office did not properly deposit money from inmate room and board and work release fees for 2½ years. The loss to the county is estimated at more than $35,000. FREEPORT, IA (IRN) – Two people are dead after a shooting at a trailer park in Freeport, near Decorah. KCRG-TV reports witnesses heard multiple gunshots, and that some of the shots were fired from a vehicle. Police don’t believe the general public is in danger. REASNOR, IA (IRN) – The FBI has launched an investigation into a series of fires along the Bakken oil pipeline construction in Jasper County. KCCI-TV reports officials say the fires could be due to arson. A backhoe and two bulldozers were damaged by fires Saturday night. In August, vandals set fire to pipeline equipment near Reasnor, Oskaloosa and Newton. URBANDALE, IA (IRN) – Someone smashed a rock into Donald Trump’s campaign vehicle that was parked outside the Iowa campaign headquarters in Urbandale on Friday, according to WHO-TV. The impact smashed the front windshield of the vehicle. A Waterloo mosque was vandalized Thursday when someone sprayed “Trump” on the building’s front wall. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Some eastern Iowa law enforcement agencies are considering whether to provide their officers with a drug that reverses the effects of opioids, potentially saving the lives of addicts who have overdosed. The Quad-City Times reports that police have to take into account how many overdose calls they go to each year, training for officers, as well as cost and storage of the drug.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A man convicted of kidnapping in the beating and imprisonment of a woman caused a commotion by yelling obscenities at his victim and police after the verdict was read. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports Lenz had been involved with the woman, but attacked her when she told him to leave. Police say he held her prisoner for two days, taping her to a chair, punching and kicking her and threatening her with a gun. He faces life in prison. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – An “active shooter” called in at the University of Iowa proved to be a false alarm. KCRG-TV reports police received a call from a student on campus who reported that he had received a text message from a friend about an emergency at a residence hall. The text message said there was an active shooter in the building, and told the friend to call police. It was a joke. Police are investigating. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Some absentee ballots mailed out to Johnson County voters might be sent to the wrong place once filled out. KGAN-TV reports the Johnson County Auditor’s Office says a number of ballots had return envelopes addressed to Black Hawk County. The county isn’t sure how many voters received the wrong return envelopes. They are working to resolve the issue. IOWA (IRN) – In college football the Hawkeyes beat Purdue 49-35 in West Lafayette Saturday. Purdue used a late scoring flurry to make the score respectable, but Iowa dominated the game. Texas snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Iowa State 27-6 Saturday night. And Youngstown State rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 28 seconds left, capping a 10-point fourth-quarter comeback and lifting the team to a 14-10 win over Northern Iowa.