Iowa Radio News

WILLIAMSPORT, PA (IRN) – The Johnston All-Stars, representing Iowa and the Midwest, upset perennial power Chula Vista, California in the opening round of the Little League World Series, 5-1. Iowa plays Kentucky in the winner’s bracket Sunday night. OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – One person died in an Ottumwa house fire Thursday, according to the Ottumwa Courier. The house was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived. The dead man has been identified as Richard Hartley. It’s unclear whether he was living in the home and whether anyone else was inside when the fire began. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids police have arrested a man they say intentionally set an apartment building on fire. KGAN-TV reports 38-year-old Scott Hatchel set a fire just after midnight on Tuesday morning. Flames were limited to an outside canopy and were quickly put out. Hatchel was seen on surveillance footage starting the fire. He’s charged with first-degree arson. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Senior residents at a Des Moines apartment complex are stuck on the upper floors because the building’s elevator has been broken since Aug. 3, and some can’t use the stairs. KCCI-TV reports the Jacobs Place Apartments manager says the elevator could take months until it’s fixed, causing frustration among many elderly residents in the 82 apartments. Residents who can use the stairs are helping others by getting groceries and doing other errands. WAUKON, IA (IRN) – A Waukon woman is painting and selling realistic portraits of farm animals, according to KCRG-TV. When Valerie Miller creates a piece, she meets each animal before painting them. Miller photographs the animal, then takes that back to the studio, where she paints each one. Miller has shipped her paintings to 48 states and several countries.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A man awaiting trial in a Council Bluffs murder has been accused of helping another inmate try to kill himself. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Ben Lein was charged Thursday with assisting suicide. Lein handed a towel to the other inmate, who is on suicide watch. The inmate tore the towel into strips and tried to hang himself. A jailer saw the incident and removed the towel before the inmate could die. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Cedar Rapids motorcyclist was taken to the hospital with serious injuries after he was rear-ended by a driver. KWWL-TV reports 47-year-old Todd Mullenax was driving a 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle when 21-year-old Anthony Carter Jr., drove into the back of him on Highway 151. Carter was driving a 2004 Acura, and witnesses say Mullenax had slowed to make a turn. Mullenax was not wearing a helmet. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police are investigating a shooting in Des Moines, according to KCCI-TV. It happened Thursday at the Oakview Terrace apartments. Witnesses heard a succession of gunshots and saw a victim transported to the hospital in an ambulance. 40-year-old Mark Thompson was found with a non-life threatening head wound. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Davenport Police are investigating a stabbing at a park along the Mississippi River yesterday, according to WQAD-TV. The victim was taken to the hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries. No arrest has been made. SPENCER, IA (IRN) – Authorities have charged a former Spencer pastor with five counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor. The Sioux City Journal reports Kevin Grimes is accused of engaging in sexual conduct with three clients while providing mental health services to them. Grimes resigned in May as pastor at DaySpring Assembly of God Church. HARLAN, IA (IRN) – A startup company thinks it can turn salmon into a cash crop near Harlan. KETV reports Jackson Kimle and his company, Inland Sea, want to use a system that’s used in Europe to grow the fish. The system uses tanks that move the water to keep the fish swimming like they would in a river. If all goes according to plan, the Harlan facility could produce more than 5 million pounds of salmon every year. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A disabled man from Dubuque has forgiven a thief who stole one of his fundraising jars. Jake Hesselman, who was born without arms and legs, has been raising funds to buy a special car that will allow him to drive. Friends and family have already raised $90,000 of the $100,000 needed. When notified that 27-year-old Richard Bell had been arrested for stealing a donation jar containing $300, Hesselman says with all the generosity he’s seen, there’s no reason to be mad.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The identity of the victim of the 9th homicide this year in Des Moines has been released. KCCI-TV reports 25-year-old Des Moines resident Phillip Gomez died Sunday. 25-year-old Alex Cosmo Marcelino has been charged with first-degree murder. HAMPTON, IA (IRN) – A judge has rejected a motion for a mistrial sought by an Iowa man accused of sex abuse and planning to poison the person he’s accused of abusing. KWWL-TV reports the attorney for Mark Retterath said Wednesday in a Hampton courtroom that one witness mentioned another alleged victim of Retterath, violating a court order. The judge said the mention was so vague it would be difficult to know what the comment meant. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The man convicted in the Drake Diner murders in 1992 has been resentenced. Joseph White Jr. was 17 when he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the two murders. White was resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on Wednesday, and a request for probation was denied. One of the victim’s sisters says she hopes he “rots in hell.” OXFORD, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man is facing multiple charges after breaking into a home and assaulting two women. 29-year-old Aaron Kahler broke into the home in Oxford Tuesday night and assaulted the two women. The man who owned the home then physically escorted Kahler outside. Seconds later, the homeowner heard a gunshot and his glass door shattered. He then got his own gun, and shot Kahler in the leg after he made a move towards him. Kahler was treated and is now in jail. COLLINS, IA (IRN) – A Maxwell man is behind bars for stealing piggy banks from kids in Collins. WHO-TV reports 36-year-old Nicholas Heaberlin was seen leaving a residence with the piggy banks of two children. Police figure the banks contained $300-$500. Heaberlin is in jail. TIPTON, IA (IRN) – Members of the Tipton Middle School cross-country team have some new running partners, according to KCRG-TV. They’ve paired up with dogs from the local shelter. The goals are team building, training, and exercise for the dogs. They also hope by getting the dogs some attention in the community it will increase their chances for adoption.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Police in Dubuque are looking into an attempted abduction from over the weekend, according to KCRG-TV. An 8-year-old girl was riding her bike when a man in a vehicle tried to get her to get in by telling her there was a puppy inside. The girl ran away and told her mom, who called police. The suspect is at large. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The first cases of the West Nile virus have been identified in Iowa for 2016. The Iowa Department of Public Health confirmed a female child and an adult male, both of Sioux County, were hospitalized due to the virus but are now recovering. Since West Nile first appeared in Iowa in 2002, it has been found in every county in Iowa, either in humans, horses, or birds. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two southeast Iowa men face multiple charges after they shot deer and left them to rot. 30-year-old Ryan Matthew Greiner of Morning Sun and 19-year-old Treyton Hartman of Yarmouth, were charged after search warrants on their residences were conducted. Greiner faces multiple charges related to taking 18 deer illegally, Hartman one. Greiner faces multiple drug charges as well. Both were hunting by artificial light. GARNER, IA (IRN) – A boy died after an apparently accidental shooting at a firing range near the northern Iowa town of Garner. KIMT-TV reports a grandfather took two boys to a range used by the Garner Police Department Sunday. A 10-year-old boy was shot, and later died at the hospital. AMES, IA (IRN) – Twenty vehicle fires and dozens of car burglaries in Ames were reported within a three-week period last September. KCCI-TV reports almost a year later, an arrest has been made. Roman Hart was arrested Monday and charged with three counts of second-degree arson and third-degree burglary. Friends and neighbors were surprised. One described him as a “sweet kid.” WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Waterloo police are looking for a driver that hit a moped and fled the scene, according to KCRG-TV. But authorities say the moped driver shares some of the blame for the crash. The moped didn’t have a working headlight. The driver of the moped had minor injurIes and wasn’t taken to the hospital. He did get several traffic tickets, including one for driving without a working headlight. RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (IRN) – A native of Webster City did something Tuesday night no other American woman has ever done in the Olympics. WHO-TV reports Jenny Simpson earned the bronze medal in the 1500m, becoming the first U.S. woman to ever win an Olympic medal in the event.

CHICAGO, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man wanted on charges of attempted murder in connection with the shooting of a Boone man has been arrested in Chicago. WHO-TV reports 23-year old Kevin Williams was taken into custody Sunday morning. Williams is accused of shooting 29-year-old Leonard Boyd III, and leaving him in the street with gunshot wounds. SOMERS, IA (IRN) – A judge in the northwest Iowa town of Somers has dismissed a flag desecration charge against a man who protested a crude oil pipeline crossing his property by hanging an American flag upside down at his home. KCRG-TV reports the charge against Homer Martz was under a state law a federal judge ruled unconstitutional in 2014. Martz, a 63-year-old U.S. Army veteran, is upset the state is allowing the pipeline to run near his well. PLEASANT HILL, IA (IRN) – A body was pulled from the Des Moines River Monday afternoon. WHO-TV reports a passerby called 9-1-1 after spotting the body in the water near the Vandalia Boat Ramp in Pleasant Hill. Police say it was a body of a man, but they do not know the identity of the person. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death. CORALVILLE, IA (IRN) – A man and a juvenile vandalized Central Elementary school in Coralville last week. KCRG-TV reports 25-year-old Kevin Ventura-Jimenez and a juvenile accomplice walked on the freshly painted gym floor, spilled soda on the wet paint, splashed paint on walls, and poured paint on a door. The night before they poured sugar into the gas tank of a skid loader parked at the school. When caught, one still had wet paint on the bottom of their shoes. CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – Charges are piling up against a Charles City man, according to KIMT-TV. Daniel Connerley was arrested after authorities executed search warrants and recovered items from at least seven burglaries. He faces theft, ongoing criminal conduct, and drug charges. Police say Connerley stole money from gaming machines at establishments in Colwell, Floyd and Charles City. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Indianola family became trapped in the Baton Rouge flooding, according to KCCI-TV. They were moving their son to Baton Rouge when the flooding occurred. A knock on the hotel room door signaled an evacuation order. Guests were taken to safety by a flotilla of fishing and crawfish boats. They lost their car in the flooding, but are grateful to be safe. They plan to return home this week.