WASHINGTON – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley’s office reports an Audubon County native, Grace Christensen,just completed a four week internship in Washington, D.C with the Senior Senator. Christensen is a junior at Iowa State University, majoring in Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine. She’s the daughter of Jason and Tracie Christensen, of Audubon.

Grassley said in a news release, “Interning in Washington D.C. is one of the best ways to get a grasp on the inner workings of Capitol Hill and government. Interns play an important role in my office and fulfill meaningful tasks for staff and myself.  An internship is a unique opportunity for college age students to be right in the middle of the political world and gather essential office experience.”

Senator Grassley and Grace Christensen. (Photo submitted)

Christensen served as a Legislative intern aiding Grassley’s Legislative staff.  Her duties included performing research to aid in answering constituent questions, working on special projects for Legislative Assistants, such as keeping track of legislation as it moves through the House and Senate, preparing binders for bills, as well as filing and organizing paperwork. Christensen says  she thoroughly enjoyed her brief time in our nation’s capitol with Senator Grassley’s office. She says it pushed her out of her comfort zone. Grace said also, “I was able to network with so many admirable people. I acquired knowledge about the legislative process within Congress, and gained a new level of respect for those in this profession.”

College students interested in participating in the internship program for Grassley in Washington, D.C., or any of his state offices, should visit Grassley’s website here.

Sheriff’s officials in Ringgold County report, just before 1-am Saturday, July 3rd, 43-year-old Matthew Reihman, of Coralville, was attempting to back his delivery box truck into the alley between the Princess Theater and Southwest Builder’s Supply, in Mt. Ayr, with a planned final destination being the loading dock of Napa Auto Parts.

While attempting to back to the loading dock the front of his vehicle struck the metal building owned by Southwest Builder’s Supply. A dollar amount of the damage was not indicated in the report. No injuries were reported.

Photo courtesy the Ringgold County S/O.

(Radio Iowa) – Under a new state law, kids who mow lawns, walk dogs or launch other temporary businesses don’t have to pay any business-related fees to cities or counties. Representative Jon Jacobsen of Council Bluffs calls it the Youth Entrepreneurship Act.

Under the new law, cities and counties cannot require permits, licenses or any fees for businesses run by Iowans under the age of 18 – as long as the business operates for no more than 89 days every year. The Iowa Senate gave the proposal unanimous support. Senator Roby Smith of Davenport was the only senator who spoke during senate consideration of the policy.

The proposal got the support of 79 House members, but a dozen voted against it. Representative Mary Wolfe of Clinton says the law is unnecessary because cities and counties aren’t imposing fees or requiring kids to get licenses or permits for their temporary businesses.

LAST year the legislature passed a law that forbids local city or county policies that require kids who run food stands to get permits or licenses. In 2011, Coralville police shut down three child-operated lemonade stands as thousands of bicyclists on RAGBRAI came through town because the kids didn’t have city permits to operate.

(Radio Iowa) – The State Labor Commissioner has ordered the Adventureland ride that was the site of a fatal accident this weekend closed until an investigation is completed. Earlier today (Tuesday), state officials released five years’ worth of satisfactory inspection reports of the ride.

The Raging River ride was inspected last Friday. The inspector found “no code violations at this time” according to a notation at the bottom of the inspection report. Nineteen different items on the ride are listed as satisfactory, including the chains and belts that run the ride as well as procedures for training the ride’s operators and responding to emergencies. Inspection reports from previous years were also released, showing the ride has passed safety checks dating back to 2017.

An 11-year-old boy died and his older brother is in critical condition after one of the rafts on the Raging River overturned Saturday. Altoona officials have not released where the children are from, but the Associated Press reports recent court documents list a Cedar Rapids address. The boys’ parents were also injured on the ride.

Guy Cook, an attorney representing Adventureland’s owners, says the Raging River ride was voluntarily shut down immediately after the accident. Cook says safety is the bedrock of the park’s operations and there has never before been a GUEST fatality associated with the ride. An Adventureland employee died in 2016 after being knocked into the ride’s canal and repeatedly battered by a raft.

POLK CITY, Iowa – The Iowa DNR Law Enforcement Bureau continues to investigate a boat crash that left five people injured after it crashed into a pillar of the Mile Long Bridge at Saylorville Lake on Monday, July 5th.

The single-boat crash happened around 6:15pm. The owner and operator of the boat was Steven Starrett, 38, of Pleasant Hill. The four passengers on the boat that were injured were:

• Thorne Glasgow, 30, Indianola
• Clayton McKenzie, 19, Prole
• Mattie George, 23, Norwalk
• Alexander Buck, 30, Des Moines

The DNR does not currently have condition updates on those injured in the crash.

DES MOINES, Iowa – This (Tuesday) afternoon, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Crime Laboratory positively identified the body found in rural Adair County on July 1, 2021 as that of 58-year old Timothy Fechter. Since being reported missing to the Creston Police Department on June 20, law enforcement had been searching the south central part of the state for Fechter. On July 1, Adair County deputies found Fechter’s body just off of 320th Street, near the intersection of York Avenue.

Tim Fechter

Based on the circumstances of his disappearance and the discovery of his death, the Division of Criminal Investigation, along with the Creston Police Department, Union County Sheriff’s Office, and the Adair County Sheriff’s Office continued to investigate Fechter’s death as suspicious.  The exact cause and manner of death for Timothy Fechter are pending further examination by the Office of the State Medical Examiner.

There is no known threat to the public associated with this investigation. Anyone with information surrounding the death of Timothy Fechter is asked to call Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater at 641-743-2148 (corrected phone number).

(Radio Iowa) – Firefighters in the Des Moines suburb of Clive had to shut down a street for two hours after fireworks in a storage unit caught fire just after midnight. Clive Fire Chief Rick Roe says the fireworks in the 40-foot container were burning when they arrived in what he called an “extremely hazardous” situation. Roe says it appeared explosions had pushed out the sides and roof of the container owned by the Iowa Fireworks Company.

Firefighters were eventually able to put out the fire by shooting water through air holes in the container. Clive Police are trying to determine how the fire started, and the damage is estimated at 10-thousand dollars.

(Radio Iowa) – State officials have released five years’ worth of satisfactory inspection reports for the Adventureland ride that was the site of a fatal accident this weekend The Raging River ride was inspected last Friday. The inspector found “no code violations at this time” according to a notation at the bottom of the inspection report.

Nineteen different items on the ride are listed as satisfactory, including the chains and belts that run the ride as well as procedures for training the ride’s operators and responding to emergencies. Inspection reports from previous years were also released, showing the ride has passed safety checks dating back to 2017.

An 11-year-old boy died and his older brother is in critical condition after one of the rafts on the Raging River overturned Saturday. The ride had just opened for the season this Saturday after passing Friday’s inspection. Altoona officials have not released where the children are from, but the Associated Press reports recent court documents list a Cedar Rapids address. The boys’ parents were also injured on the ride.

(Radio Iowa) The summer heat is here but Iowans are being advised against swimming in seven state park lakes due to elevated e-coli levels and toxic algae blooms tied to agricultural runoff. So far, Lake Darling in southeast Iowa is the only beach in the state with both advisories in place. Diane Rosenberg, of the advocacy group Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, says the pollution is causing a major loss for families.

“I used to bring my children when they were young to the lake all the time. We would go and have a nice afternoon there,” Rosenberg says. “I would never do that if I had small children again. I just wouldn’t do that. It’s just not healthy. It’s not safe right now.” Taxpayers and private donors funded a multi-million-dollar restoration at Lake Darling State Park that was completed in 2014. Rosenberg says a lack of regulation of nearby livestock operations have degraded the lake, despite the investments to improve it.

“Why bother to raise $16 million and get a whole community of people working to create this beautiful lake to make it more available and clean it up if you’re not going to have practices that protect it?” Rosenberg says. Advisories are also posted for the lakes at the following state parks: Backbone, Lake Keomah, Pine Lake, Prairie Rose, Rock Creek and Union Grove.

(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – A Davenport man has been sentenced to a dozen years in prison afer pleading guilty to witness tampering. Thirty-five-year-old Stephen Wayne Toliver admits he hit a woman with a gun so hard she was knocked unconscious. In a plea agreement, Toliver admits he made false accusations against the victim’s family members, prompting investigations by Dubuque Police and state social workers that ultimately cleared the family of any wrong-doing.

According to a news release from the U-S Attorney’s Office, Toliver also sent a threatening letter to the woman he assaulted.