(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat, says U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer’s criticism of a district court judge who ruled against her bid to stay on the June Primary ballot was inappropriate. Finkenauer is one of three Democrats competing to run against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley in November. “That judge did his job,” Sand says. “He worked all weekend to get that ruling issued on a Sunday night in order to give whoever was going to be the losing party a chance to appeal.”

Finkenauer called the judge a Republican who made a partisan decision that made a mockery of our democracy. A few days later, the Iowa Supreme Court overruled the decision that had invalidated three signatures on Finkenauer’s nominating petitions and Finkenauer’s name WILL be on the June Primary ballot. Sand, who is an attorney, says the district court judge Finkenauer criticized is well-respected.

“I’m really proud of Iowa’s court system,” Sand says. “We have one of the country’s crown jewels in a non-partisan judicial nominating system…that sorts out the people who want to go in there and be political, and so what we end up with is a body of judges who do a good job of applying the facts to the law.” Sand discussed the matter during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs Friday night on Iowa P-B-S.

Sand indicated he called Finkenauer to say he found her criticism of Judge Scott Beattie to be inappropriate. “I told her what I thought and, to her credit, she said: ‘Thank you for this. We’re going to step back some of this and tone some of this down,'” Sand says. “Politics is tough. I think sometimes having people that you have a decent relationship who you can call and give a perspective to can be useful and, to her credit, when we had that conversation, she decided that she didn’t want to do that anymore.”

A spokesman for Finkenauer’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment on Sand’s statements.

(Radio Iowa) – It took extra effort to trigger the emergency sirens that warned residents in three northern Iowa towns when a storm system rolled through that produced a tornado that hit nearby Kanawha, earlier this month. Testing in March revealed the sirens in Britt, Crystal Lake and Garner couldn’t be started remotely — and replacement parts hadn’t arrived. Garner Fire Chief Jim Thiele says it meant in the midst of gusty winds and incoming hail and rain and lightning, fire fighters had to get to the boxes on three poles in Garner to turn on the sirens.

“We just assigned fire fighters to do that, groups of two,” he says, “because it took a step ladder to get to them.” The warning sirens — and the ferocity of the storm — prompted about 20 people to take shelter in the Garner City Hall. John Swenson, the chief of the fire department in Britt, faced the same issue with storm sirens that had to be manually triggered.

“We had two different groups of people that went two different ways and opened up the compartments and pushed the buttons,” Swenson says. Swenson’s team didn’t use a ladder, though. The fire chief backed his truck up to the siren pole — so it could be used as the platform to get to the trigger box.

The new remote starters for the sirens in Britt, Garner and Crystal Lake arrived after the storm and have been installed for the next time there’s reason to sound the alarm that a storm is approaching. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that hit Kanawha on April 12th was on the ground for a mile.

(Sidney, Iowa) – The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office is reporting the possible scam that may affect Great Western Bank accounts. On April 28, 2022, the sheriff’s office received a call that someone was using a fake Great Western Bank Account Notice, that has a “Click Here” link that leads you to a screen to gather your information.

If you receive any messages call your local branch directly if you have any concerns that your account has been compromised.

(Creston, Iowa) – A single-vehicle, rollover accident occurred in Union County, Wednesday morning. The Sheriff’s Office reports 20-year-old Jazmine Kimberly Louise Stoe, of Creston, was driving a 2007 Ford Escape SUV eastbound on 140th Street at around 9:10-a.m. She admitted to authorities that she was driving too fast. The SUV went out of control as it was rounding a curve, and struck a guardrail for the bridge that crosses the Green Valley Lake Spillway.

The SUV rolled over and dropped 20-feet into the bottom of the spillway. Stoe complained of ankle pain and was transported by private vehicle to the hospital in Creston. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $10,000, and the Union County Secondary Roads Dept. Guardrail sustained $2,000 damage. The Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Creston Fire Dept., Union County Emergency Management, Iowa DNR, and two wrecker services.

(Creston, Iowa) – The driver of a 2009 Dodge RAM pickup was transported to the hospital in Creston, following a single-vehicle accident Tuesday afternoon. The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 19-year-old Leviticus Charles Exline, of Afton, was traveling on REA Road at around 1:30-p.m. Tuesday, when he pickup he was driving failed to negotiate a curve in the road. The vehicle went straight off the road and airborne, before crashing into an embankment. The pickup traveling about 225-feet before coming to rest in a field.

Exline suffered from an injury to his nose. He was not wearing a seat belt. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $7,000.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest at around 1-a.m. today (Thursday), of 69-year-old Timothy Lee Pomerenke, from Randolph (IA). He was arrested at 195th/Hanna Ave. for OWI/3rd offense. Pomerenke was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $5,000 bond. And, on Tuesday, at around 2:20-p.m., 26-year-old Jayme Ilene Rowe (No address) was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree, and charges that include: Burglary in the 3rd Degree; Burglary in the 1st Degree, and Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree. Bond was set at $12,000.

Sheriff’s officials said also, 21-year-old Tylar Brammer, of Malvern, was injured during a collision that occurred at around 8:25-p.m. Wednesday, on the I-29 on-ramp northbound to Highway 34. Brammer was transported by Pacific Junction Rescue to Jenny Edmundson Hospital, in Council Bluffs. She was injured when her 2018 Jeep struck a 2006 Mercury, driven by 67-year-old Rhonda Boen, of Phoenix, AZ.

The collision happened as the Mercury was traveling northbound on the off-ramp from I-29 at the 35 mile marker at the intersection f I-29 and Highway 34. Brammer was traveling eastbound in the left lane of Highway 34, when Boen pulled out in front of her. Boen told authorities she was attempting to cross the highway to turn left to go to the gas station, and didn’t see the oncoming Jeep. She said she heard a horn honking just before her vehicle was hit.

Brammer said when Boen pulled out in front of her, she tried to avoid the collision and honked her horn.

Two men from Council Bluffs were arrested on separate warrants, Wednesday. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports 29-year-old Lucas Aaron Sales turned-himself in to the Sheriff’s Office. He was wanted on a warrant for Violation of Probation. Sales was transported to the Pott. County Jail, and posted a $5,000 cash bail. And, 28-year-old Damion James Sadler was arrested on a Pottawattamie as well as Page County warrants. Sadler was being held without bond in the Pott. County Jail.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowans in need can get a free smoke alarm installed in their house or apartment through an American Red Cross program called Sound the Alarm. The agency’s Iowa spokesman Josh Murray says home fires claim seven lives every day nationwide, but having a working smoke alarm can cut the risk of death in half. “We respond to a lot of home fires after they happen, but we also want to be on the front end of it,” Murray says. “How can we help people prepare and maybe avoid some of the dangers that come with that? So that’s what our Sound the Alarm campaign is about, to help people understand the importance of having certain things like a smoke alarm, makes sure it works, make sure it’s functional, make sure it’s in the right place in your house.”

Starting this weekend, the Red Cross will begin visiting neighborhoods in several Iowa communities as part of the campaign, installing smoke detectors and helping people to develop home fire escape plans. “We will be sending our volunteers out to canvass the area,” Murray says. “We’re going to knock on people’s doors and say, ‘Hey, would you mind us coming in and checking your smoke alarm for you? Do you have them? Do you know if they work? If you don’t, can we install a couple for you?’ We’ll make sure you’re safe and share those home fire resources.” The Red Cross recommends checking smoke alarms once a month and changing the batteries, if necessary.

Smoke alarms should be placed on every level of a home, including inside and outside of bedrooms and sleeping areas. Experts agree that people may have as little as two minutes to get out of a burning home before it’s too late. Iowans who want to help the campaign can visit SoundTheAlarm.org.  “Each smoke alarm costs us about $15, so we tell people, ‘Hey, if you want to give us just $15, you’re gonna buy someone a smoke alarm, or if you give us $45, that’s three smoke alarms, if you want to think about it in that way,” Murray says. “Every every dollar counts and every smoke alarm we put in may be one that saves a life, so they’re all important.”

Volunteers for the program will be in Iowa City on April 30th, Des Moines on May 14th and Omaha/Council Bluffs on June 11th. To make an appointment for a volunteer stop by your home, visit that same website.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – One lucky ticketholder in Arizona has won the $473-million dollar Powerball Jackpot, following Wednesday night’s drawing. The winning numbers were: 11, 36, 61, 62,68, and Powerball 4. It was not immediately revealed where in Arizona the winning ticket was sold or the identity of the individual, or if pooled, the group of individuals. The winner also has the cash option of $283.3 million. A ticket sold in Indiana matched all five white balls to win $1 million.

The Powerball jackpot last hit in Connecticut in the Feb. 14 drawing, when a single ticket got a lucky winner $185.3 million, according to Powerball officials. The drawing is held three times per week (M-W-Sa), and holds the world record for the largest jackpot of $1.586 billion which was shared by winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in 2016.

The jackpot falls back to $20 million, with a cash option of $12 million for Saturday night’s drawing.

(Hull, Iowa) – A collision in northwest Iowa, Wednesday morning, resulted in two deaths and one person injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports the accident happened at around 10:33-a.m., a little northwest of Hull. Authorities say a 2017 Dodge Caravan driven by 56-year-old Suzanne Barron, of Sioux City, was traveling west on 310th Street, at the same time a 2019 Freightliner truck driven by 46-year-old Jamie Hueschen, of Sioux City, was traveling southbound on U-S Highway 75. A 2009 Chevy Silverado driven by 31-year-old Ethan Kooima, of Hull, was eastbound on US Hwy 18, waiting to turn south onto Hwy 75.

When the van failed to stop at the intersection, it was struck on the passenger side by the Freightliner truck. Both vehicles exited the southwest corner of the intersection, where the van hit two stops signs and overturned, coming to rest on the driver’s side. The Silverado pickup was struck by flying vehicle debris from the initial collision.

Suzanne Barron and her passenger, Rene Ross, II, of Hull, died from their injuries. The driver of the semi was hurt and transported by Sioux Center Ambulance to the Sioux Center Hospital. All of the crash victims were wearing their seat belts.