(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University student who’s graduating with a psychology degree this weekend is also leaving Ames with a new title, Steak Cookoff Association World Champion. Marissa Ouverson grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where barbecuing meat is something of an art form. During the pandemic, she decided to try her own skills at the grill, going on the road for six months and entering 54 competitions. “I got four first place, I had 26 or 24 Top 10s, and I finished 12th in the world in the points chase, and then I had the 2022 Worlds and I won the whole thing!” Ouverson says. “So, I was the youngest to ever win it and then I was also the first female. Knowing that I made history in multiple ways is awesome.”

When she was younger, Ouverson accompanied her father and older brother as they traveled to barbecue competitions, so she was a natural. Ouverson says her mother took time off from her flight attendant job to accompany her to steak grilling competitions across the country, all the while staying current with her I-S-U studies. “Her and I pretty much just packed up the car and we were on the road for six months,” Ouverson says. “It was because I was able to do everything online. I had her and my dad to really take me around everywhere and go with me so that I wasn’t alone the whole time. I got so close to my family. We have always been super close, but I mean, we got to do everything together.”

Marissa Ouverson (Photo from bbqnewsletter.com)

Her victory at the world competition in Texas led to sponsorships, prize money, and even her own online cooking class. “Here we are now and I haul a giant trailer around everywhere now,” she says. “What it turned into was wild. It’s mind blowing.” As she preps for graduation, Ourverson is focusing on the next stage of her life, using her degree to help people struggling with mental health. “I wanted to do psychology,” she says. “I wanted to help people and so I am focusing on suicide counseling, specifically for teens, and then I might end up actually going over to veterans.”

While the competition circuit may be on the back burner, Ouverson says she wants to continue improving her grilling craft — even though she’s already tops in the world and has a trophy and a ring to prove it.

A man from Harlan was struck by a vehicle Thursday evening in Montgomery County, and later died. The accident occurred at around 6:45-p.m. in a construction area. . The Sheriff’s Office reports Brian Kelly Parker was treated by First Responders at the scene of the incident on Highway 34 at Evergreen Avenue. After being treated, Parker was transported to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The vehicle that struck Parker was traveling east on Highway 34 and approaching the lane transition area in the construction zone. Shawn Dale Kammerer, of Red Oak, failed to obey the traffic control sign before the accident occurred. The incident remains under investigation.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Red Oak Police, Red Oak Fire & EMS, the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency, Montgomery County Dispatch, Mills County Sheriff’s Office, and the Iowa State Patrol.

A report of a suspicious person walking on Highway 71 in Montgomery County at around 6:50-a.m., Thursday, resulted the suspect taken into custody after he fled on foot into a field.  The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year-old Dylan J, Hanson, of Red Oak, was being approached for questioning by a Deputy, when he took off. Hanson was apprehended without further incident and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where he was charged with Possession of Methamphetamine with intent to deliver, and Interference with Official Acts. He was being held without bond, pending an initial appearance before a magistrate.

The Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by personnel with the Iowa State Patrol and Montgomery County Emergency Management.

(Radio Iowa) – Protestors marched throughout Sioux City Thursday to bring attention to cases of missing and murdered women in the local Native American community. As they walked, many held signs in remembrance of Terri McCauley, who was found murdered in Sioux City in 1983. Her brother, Mike McCauley, says not enough was done to solve her murder.

“We expected more and it’s not happening today. I, for one, need help,” he said. “I want to close this case, I want closure — 39 years she’s been laying on top of the hill.” Terri McCauley was 18 years old when she shot to death. Josh Taylor is McCauley’s nephew. He wants to build more trust between Native Americans and law enforcement.

“Look, they’re not an enemy,” he says. “They are here to support and although it may not be as fast as we want, but they are there to support.” Taylor says the general public doesn’t realize how many Native American women have been murdered. Homicide is the third-leading cause of death among Native American women, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Kendall Crawford)