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Keep up-to-date with Fox News Radio, Radio Iowa, Brownfield & the Iowa Agribusiness Networks!
DENISON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified the body found near railroad tracks in western Iowa last month as a Pennsylvania man. But investigators are still waiting on more test results to help determine the cause of 44-year-old Jonathan Elwell’s death. Crawford County Sheriff Jim Steinkuehler says the Shillington, Penn., man’s body was found by two railroad workers near Highway 30 between Vail and Westside on June 19th. Elwell’s rented vehicle had been found in Crawford County on April 20th with his bicycle in the trunk. Officials say foul play is not suspected in Elwell’s death, but family members have said they don’t know why he was in Iowa.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State fire officials have suspended inspections of electrical installations at farms, despite a state regulation requiring the inspections, and a state lawmaker is vowing to fight the change. The Des Moines Register reports that the order to suspend the farm inspections goes into effect Sunday. Iowa State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds says the suspension is legal. He says the suspension means inspectors can focus on public buildings and homes instead of farm buildings, which have a low rate of human fire deaths. But Iowa Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, has requested an opinion from the Iowa attorney general on the order. He blames the change on Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who has been a vocal critic of the farm electrical inspection regulation.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Governor Terry Branstad requested that flags be flown at half-staff from yesterday through Monday to honor a Vietnam War airman whose plane was shot down nearly 50 years ago. Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Eilers of Tipton and his crew were missing in action after their plane was shot down over Laos in 1965. A memorial service will be held today in Tipton.
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – State auditors say a former county official in western Iowa embezzled fees paid by residents renewing their vehicle registration for years. A report released yesterday blames former Mills County Treasurer’s Office employee Tammy Gammon for taking $36,000 that should have been collected for government services. The county attorney said yesterday he’s charged Gammon with ongoing criminal conduct, first-degree theft, misconduct in office and forgery.
CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) – The county has put the “Floyd” back on the courthouse in Charles City. The word was put back Thursday on the Floyd County Courthouse. The new letters are made of brushed stainless steel and styled in the original Art Deco typeface. The courthouse was built in 1940 and had the word “Floyd” carved from limestone on a parapet above the roof. The parapet was removed in 1965.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Nine people have been named to Iowa’s new Public Information Board. The board will oversee enforcement of Iowa’s open meetings and records laws, investigate alleged violations and take claims to court if necessary. The board members’ terms begin tomorrow.
Two men, including one from Atlantic were injured during the crash of a single-engine aircraft Friday evening in Pottawattamie County.
Plane crash NW of Griswold Friday night (Ric Hanson photo's)
The crash was reported just after 8:30-p.m, southeast of 18384 490th Street, or about six-miles northwest of Griswold. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News the plane was taking-off from a private grass runway east of the residence following an aircraft fly-in type event, when the accident occurred.
The plane was owned and flown by a 75-year old man from Atlantic. Danker says the pilot, and his 59-year old male passenger, also from the Atlantic area, where taking off when the engine stalled. The plane came down in a soybean field just east of 490th Street and flopped onto its top. There were injuries, but they were not believed to be life-threatening.
Plane crash, image #2
Danker says the pilot suffered a possible broken femur, and while a report on the passenger’s condition was not immediately available, their injuries were likely not serious.
Both men were transported by Griswold Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic. Their names will likely not be released until Monday. Danker said the NTSB and FAA will be out on Monday to investigate the crash and crash site. The Sheriff said he was very happy to learn the injuries weren’t more serious. He says they’ve had aircraft accidents before in the area.
Plane crash, image#3
Typically when a small aircraft crashes, they often result in more serious injuries or death.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Strong storms produced hail, rain and strong winds and causing power outages as they rolled across Iowa Friday afternoon and evening. The National Weather Service says the storms hit central Iowa Friday afternoon with one-inch diameter hail reported in DeSoto along with 50-mph winds, just after 3-p.m., hail up to 2 1/2-inches in diameter in Newton, and winds of 72 mph near Grinnell, where a semitrailer had jackknifed on Interstate 80. Officials say winds toppled a barn near Searsboro. There are no reports of injuries.
Power outages were reported in Des Moines, where 2,200 customers of MidAmerican Energy were without power Friday afternoon. The storms moved into eastern Iowa, where Alliant Energy reported over 19,000 customers without power in Benton, Iowa and Linn counties. Officials say power lines blowing down and trees falling on lines are to blame for most of the problems.
EMERSON, Iowa (AP) — Military officials have confirmed earlier reports that an Iowan is among two U.S Army soldiers killed in an attack in Afghanistan.
Sgt. James Skalberg, Jr.
The Defense Department said Friday evening 25-year-old Sgt. James Skalberg Jr., who grew up in Emerson, died on Wednesday when his vehicle was hit by an IED, or improvised explosive device, in the Wardak province. Skalberg graduated from Nishna Valley High School in 2005 and attended Peru State College in Peru, Neb. He joined the Army in 2007. His wife, Jessica, told the Omaha World-Herald that he was a “loving, good-hearted man.” Skalberg is survived by his wife and son, Carter, of Red Oak; his parents and a sister, all of Cullman, Ala.; and other relatives. Funeral services are pending.
Officials say 24-year-old 1st Lt. Stephen Prasnicki, of Lexington, Va., also died in the attack.
Two people were arrested after authorities in Shenandoah executed a search warrant early this (Friday) morning. Shenandoah Police say 31-year old Christopher Osborne and 28-year old Tarrah Stanton were taken into custody on charges of child endangerment, after authorities searched a home at 407 Church Street. Osborne faces additional charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance with the intent to deliver, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. During the search, authorities recovered 13.5-grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and an undisclosed amount of cash. Osborne and Stanton were being held in the Page County Jail on $5,000 bond, each.
GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) – State auditors say a former county official in western Iowa for years embezzled fees paid by residents renewing their vehicle registration. A report released Friday blames former Mills County Treasurer’s Office employee Tammy Gammon for taking $36,000 that should have been collected for government services. The report says the theft dated back to 2005 and included more than 180 transactions. Auditors say Gammon would enter the vehicle registration information into a state database but later void the transactions and pocket the fees. County Attorney Eric Hansen says the case is troubling because Gammon was hired in 2003 to replace another employee convicted of embezzlement. He says he’ll charge Gammon later Friday with ongoing criminal conduct, first-degree theft, misconduct in office and forgery.
A military funeral at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery this (Friday) afternoon will honor and lay to final rest the remains of 19 veterans and two of their spouses. The cremated remains had gone unclaimed by family members for years. The nationwide “Missing in America Project” arranged to have the remains properly buried after finding them at a Des Moines funeral home. Bill Lauchlan is the group’s Iowa coordinator. “We are going to honor these veterans in a way they should have been honored when they died, with a military funeral, military honors, give them the honor and dignity that we all were promised when we joined the service,” Lauchlan says.
Those being honored today served in four wars, going back to World War one, and include eight Iowans from Ames, West Des Moines, Marshalltown, Traer, Guthrie Center, and Council Bluffs. Lauchlan says the group launched the nationwide project in 2007. “We’re doing this in every state and we’re locating thousands of veterans who have been unclaimed, forgotten, sitting on shelves. Last year they buried six Civil War veterans in Missouri, so they’re there, and we just have to find them,” Lauchlan says.
Today’s ceremony is at two p-m. The Iowa Veterans Cemetery near Van Meter assisted with the interment of seven veterans in another ceremony back in 2009. For information on the Missing in America Project, visit their website at: www.miap.us.
(Radio Iowa)
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