Iowa Radio News

OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – An afternoon accident sent one person to the hospital in Ottumwa yesterday. KTVO-TV reports a truck t-boned a car. The driver of the car had run a stop sign and was injured in the crash. Residents say the intersection needs fixed due to on street parking causing poor visibility. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Health officials are puzzled by an outbreak of the mumps among Dubuque County students that has now climbed to 30 cases, which is more than one-third of all cases statewide. KCCI-TV reports according to Dubuque County Health Department executive director Patrice Lambert, the source of the outbreak has not yet been determined. Lambert says this is the worst outbreak in 10 years in the county. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Days before he allegedly ambushed and killed two Des Moines Metro police officers, Scott Michael Greene sent a note to one of their departments praising officers for their service. KCCI-TV reports Greene emailed the department and wrote he loved them for keeping the community safe. He apologized for prior run-ins, and said that his “dark days” were over because he was getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Lake Mills man is in custody after two Mason City residents were found dead overnight Wednesday. KIMT-TV reports police responded to a report of a shooting, and found two dead inside a home. A suspect, 30-year-old Peter Veal was arrested after a brief foot chase. Veal has a troubled past that dates back to when he was a juvenile, and he’s the brother of Ruthann Veal, who was convicted of murder in 1993. She was 14 at the time, and was charged as an adult. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One man is in custody after allegedly firing several shots in a Des Moines neighborhood Thursday night. WHO-TV reports the man fired shots both inside and outside of the home, but no one was injured. The suspect didn’t obey officers’ orders to lie on the ground, and they were forced to taser him before placing him in handcuffs. TIPTON, IA (IRN) – The Cedar County Sheriff’s Office is going green with a new solar array. KGAN-TV reports Sheriff Warren Wethington has been pushing for the project for more than a year. It’s the only dispatch peace officer center running entirely on solar in the nation.

KANSAS CITY, MO (IRN) – The state of Missouri will pay $9 million to the family of an Iowa man who drowned while he was in custody of a state trooper. KCCI-TV reports the settlement ends a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Brandon Ellingson after he died in May 2014 on the Lake of the Ozarks. Ellingson was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. While in a boat with a trooper, he fell into the water while wearing handcuffs and an improperly secured life vest and drowned. ONAWA, IA (IRN) – An Ankeny man was arrested Wednesday after police in western Iowa received a report of an attempted child abduction. WHO-TV reports Onawa Police arrested 56-year-old Jeff Lee Altmayer on charges of enticing a minor, impersonating a public official, and unlawful possession of a prescription drug. Altmayer allegedly approached a minor and tried to lure them into his car. ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – Altoona police arrested a witness to a crash after he started beating a driver involved in the wreck. KCCI-TV reports the driver tried to flee the scene and 56-year-old Steven Webb started beating him. Webb’s daughter was in the other car. Other witnesses say Webb was enraged, and could hear bones breaking as he beat the man. The man is in critical condition in a medically-induced coma. GRANDVIEW, IA (IRN) – Firefighters in the southeastern Iowa town of Grandview rescued a worker from more than 200 feet up inside a 620-foot industrial chimney at a MidAmerican Energy plant Tuesday. The Muscatine Journal reports in order to reach the trapped employee, the rescue team made its way up interior ladders and skywalks and used a system of ropes to lower the employee down in extreme heat and low visibility inside the chimney. He’s OK. BAIKONUR COSMODROME, KAZAKHSTAN (IRN) – Today Iowa native Peggy Whitson will rocket into space on her third mission to the International Space Station. The Des Moines Register reports 56-year-old Whitson was the space station’s first female commander in 2007 and will become the first woman to ever command it twice. She’s spent 377 days in space. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A Davenport man has a new Donald Trump tattoo on his lower back, according to WQAD-TV. Bernie Sanders supporter Zach Cobert lost a bet with a buddy, and honored his commitment to get the tattoo if Trump was elected. Zach says “it’s the stupidest thing I’ve done.” His girlfriend agrees. “I’m not happy with it…now I have to look at it forever.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A 39-year-old mother of three used meth before taking her kids to Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurant in Council Bluffs. The Daily Nonpareil reports Christine Hall is now facing child neglect and endangerment charges after she tested positive for drug use, and meth was found in her 3-year-old’s hair. Hall’s kids are ages 1, 3 and 16. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A Davenport man who allegedly beat his six-months pregnant girlfriend so badly it caused her to miscarry has been arrested by police. WQAD-TV reports 23-year-old Mark Roberts faces charges of domestic abuse and nonconsensual termination of a pregnancy, among other charges. AMES, IA (IRN) – An Ames family lost a wife, mother and grandmother as well as their home of 40 years in one morning. Firefighters rescued 72-year-old Joanna Alexander and rushed her to the hospital Tuesday, but it was too late. Two cats also died in the fire. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Dozens of seniors who live in a Des Moines assisted living facility just found out they have one month to find a new place to live. KCCI-TV reports staff at Walden Point Assisted Living told residents that they are dropping assisted living to become regular senior housing. Pastor Jim Craig says “It’s already traumatic for having to live here in the first place — now they lose that home on short notice.” UNION COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A 24-year-old Afton man suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his thigh while checking traps in rural Union County Sunday morning. Zachery Springer had shot a raccoon that was caught in a trap with his .22 caliber pistol and when he was holstering the pistol, the gun fired, shooting him in the upper thigh. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – More than a dozen people complained to the Dubuque school board about a book used in class and asked officials to consider a policy for material some consider obscene. The Telegraph Herald reports people objected Monday to the book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” They say it has “graphic sex scenes,” and depicts alcohol and drug abuse.

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Isaiah Mothershed was sentenced to 50 years in prison Tuesday for shooting a Sioux City police officer and committing a string of armed robberies. The Sioux City Journal reports 19-year-old Mothershed shot Officer Ryan Moritz in the leg on Feb. 7 while waiting to be transported to jail after his arrest, and of firing a shot at a homeowner after she interrupted a break-in. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Four people were injured when a pickup truck rolled over in eastern Iowa and several juveniles were thrown from the vehicle. The Quad-City Times reports the crash happened in rural Scott County Monday. Two passengers were riding in the bed of the truck when the driver lost control and it rolled onto its roof. SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – A woman on probation for her role in a staged Sioux City bank robbery is now behind bars for probation violations–quitting her job and smoking marijuana. The Sioux City Journal reports 19-year-old Heaven Zevenbergen, of Holstein, was ordered to spend 30 days in jail. Zevenbergen and her friend, 19-year-old Angelica Perez, were sentenced to five years in prison, but had their sentences suspended. Perez entered the bank in disguise and passed Zevenbergen, who was a bank teller, a note demanding cash. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Iowa City police are investigating an armed robbery last night, according to KCRG-TV. A man jumped out of a tan minivan and confronted a woman in a parking lot. The man pointed a handgun at the woman and told her to give him her money. When she said she didn’t have any, he fled in the minivan. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating a potential hate crime after racist words were written on the door of a black woman’s home, according to KCCI-TV. The phrase “white power” had been written on her door. The case is similar to vandalism at Drake last week. One Drake student’s dorm room door was covered with racist posters. Four Drake students were suspended in the incident. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa lawmaker is urging anyone who’s unhappy with the president-elect to “suck it up.” WHO-TV reports Representative Bobby Kaufmann is proposing what he calls the “suck it up, buttercup” bill. He says protests on Interstate 80 last week sparked the idea. The bill would clarify state laws about highway protests. He also wants to fine schools that use tax dollars to support what he calls “cry rooms” for students upset about the outcome of the election. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Excitement is building once again at the thought of a casino in downtown Cedar Rapids. KGAN-TV reports Wild Rose is preparing an application for a gambling license for a smaller “boutique” casino, which would minimize the impact on the nearby Riverside casino. Wild Rose was granted the last gambling license in Iowa for its new casino in Jefferson.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Authorities have identified the 19-year-old Waterloo woman who died this weekend after being shot in the head. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Talesa Wright died Saturday. Police say she was in a car with two other people Friday night when she was shot. No one else was hurt. Police are still working to identify the shooter. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Terry Branstad has called for a single statewide minimum wage, rather than a hodgepodge of wages that vary by county, and a new Republican majority in the Legislature could give him a clear path to enact uniform pay rates. KGAN-TV reports that worries some supporters of higher minimum wages who fear the state could couple an insignificant wage increase with a ban on local jurisdictions approving their own higher wages, as four counties have already done. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – An 11-year-old boy hit trying to cross a street in Council Bluffs last week has died, according to KETV. Police say Blake Smith ran in front of a van after running past cars stopped in a turning lane. There’s no word on whether the driver will be charged. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man pulled from an overnight house fire in Des Moines has died. KCCI-TV reports an elderly man was found inside the burning home. He was taken away by ambulance, and was pronounced dead at a hospital. The identity of the man has not been released. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The West Des Moines police chief who had been the subject of a sex discrimination lawsuit involving three women has resigned. KCCI-TV reports it’s unclear if the resignation of Chief Shaun LaDue was related to the litigation. Alice Wisner, one of the women suing, says “He was a chief that did not value the work that I did. He made me question my worth…my intelligence. With his resignation, that’s a big step toward seeing justice served.” IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A new sustainable community will begin construction soon in Iowa City, according to KCRG-TV. Prairie Hill Cohousing Community will consist of 36 homes and a common house for shared meals and activities. Accommodations will range from studio apartments to two-story duplexes up to four bedrooms. Half of the eight acres will be used for gardens and orchards to grow produce to use in the community kitchen.