(Fort Dodge, Iowa) – Officials with the Fort Dodge Police Department, Friday evening, reported on social media, that at at around 11:25-a.m., Friday, November 24th, 2023, the Webster County Telecommunications center received a call from a resident in the 800 block S 16th St. stating that they could hear someone yelling for help in the 800 block of either S 16th or S 17th St.

An officer with the Fort Dodge Police Department arrived in the area and located a woman being attacked by three dogs in the 800 block of S 16th St. The officer attempted to scare the dogs away to stop them from attacking the woman, but the dogs would not stop. The officer on scene then drew his duty weapon and shot all three dogs multiple times to stop the attack.

The Fort Dodge Fire Department was called to the scene to render aid to the female victim as a result of her serious injuries. The victim was then transported to Unity Point Trinity Regional Medical Center by ambulance. As a result of her serious injuries sustained during the attack, the woman was ultimately transported by Life Flight to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. As of the time of this release her condition is unknown.

At this time investigators are working to determine exactly what took place to include exploring all avenues as to how this incident unfolded. The female victims name will not be released at this time until we have made contact with her immediate family. All three dogs are deceased.

Investigators with the Criminal Investigations Division are continuing to follow up on this incident. Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to contact the Fort Dodge Police. Information may also be submitted anonymously via Crime Stoppers.

The Fort Dodge Police Department was assisted by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office, the Webster County Attorney’s Office, and the Fort Dodge Fire Department

(Radio Iowa) – The Waterloo Safe Neighborhoods Commission has proposed steps to help reduce gun violence in the city. Councilman Jonathan Grieder (Gry-der) headed the commission and he says the goal is to identify underlying factors.

The Commission spent that time exploring eight possible plans that include partnering with energy providers to increase the number of streetlights and establishing a violence intervention program. The commission is also looking at creating a coalition of community leaders to meet once a month to get at the underlying problems.

Seven people were killed by gunfire in Waterloo last year, up from four in 2021.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s a new online portal for Iowans to pay next year’s state income taxes. It’s called Gov Connect Iowa (GovConnectIowa)

That’s Iowa Department of Revenue director Mary Mosiman (MOZE-man). Iowans can make estimated state income tax payments up to a year in advance through the new portal.

Taxpayers with questions may also send a message through the portal to the Iowa Department of Revenue.

The new Gov Connect Iowa portal replaces what was called the “e-file and pay” system. Mosiman is urging Iowans who file a tax return as an individual and Iowans who are married and file a joint state income tax return to check out the portal.

The portal is part of a five year plan to modernize the state system for handling all taxes paid to the state. State sales taxes and corporate income taxes are now part of the updated system.

There had been over 20 stand-alone computer systems for each of the major taxes paid to the State of Iowa — and it cost 18 MILLION dollars a year to maintain those networks.

Next year, state tax distributions to local governments will shift to the centralized system, In the final year of the upgrade, license fees and other payments to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division will be included. The agency is the state wholesaler to more than two-thousand privately-owned businesses in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – Tomorrow (Saturday) will mark 60 years since the funeral for President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on November 22nd of 1963. Dick Anderson, of Webster City, was in the U-S Coast Guard at the time and was called upon to march in the funeral procession through Washington D-C. Anderson says their long march started at the U-S Capitol and went to St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

Anderson says he’ll never forget the simple, solemn beat of the drum all along the procession route.

Photo from U.S. National Archives

Anderson says it was considered a great privilege to be singled out to march in that procession, as the slain president was being laid to rest. He says they repeatedly practiced all of their moves to make sure everything went smoothly.

A guidon (GUY-don) is military term for a flag bearer. It’s estimated that one-million people lined the route of the funeral procession that morning.

(Radio Iowa) – A second Republican on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors is calling on another board member to step down. Earlier this week Jeremy Taylor’s wife, Kim, was convicted of 52 counts of voter fraud when her husband’s name was on the ballot in 2020 and the chairman of the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors called on Jeremy Taylor to resign.

Taylor lost in a Republican Primary race for a seat in the U-S House, but won a seat on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors in 2020. Fellow Supervisor Daniel Bittinger is the lead pastor at Crosspointe Church in Sioux City.

Bittinger says if Taylor doesn’t resign, he should at least take a leave of absence from the board.

According to Taylor’s biography on Woodbury County’s website, Taylor is currently an energy and environmental specialist for Sioux City Schools and an Iowa National Guard chaplain. He was first elected to the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors in 2014.

(Radio Iowa)  – The preferred design for new Interstate-80 bridges in the Quad Cities has just two lanes for both directions of traffic. Steve Robery (ROH-ber-ee) of the Illinois D-O-T says when his agency and the Iowa D-O-T started the planning process, the expectation was there would be three lanes on both sides.

However, Robery says what he calls an auxiliary lane is part of the plan — along the entire span of both bridges — and to accommodate traffic merging onto or exiting I-80.

The I-80 bridge over the Mississippi opened in 1966. (Photo courtesy of Iowa & Illinois Departments of Transportation.)

The bridge replacement project will cover six miles on I-80, as the interstate passes over the Mississippi River. Construction is projected to start in 2028 or 2029.