Two people were hurt following a collision between a pickup truck and a semi-truck in rural Linn County. It happened just before 3 p.m. yesterday when the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and other emergency responders were sent to a report of an accident along Prairie Hill Road near Linn-Jones Road. Deputies believe a pickup truck that was headed north on Linn-Jones Road did not yield at a stop sign at the intersection with Prairie Hill Road. This caused the semi to hit the pickup, sending the pickup into the ditch on the north side of the road. The two occupants of the pickup truck were taken to Jones Regional Hospital by ambulance. Officials described their injuries as apparently non-life-threatening. The driver of the pickup truck will be cited for failure to obey a stop sign and failure to yield the right of way.
Two people were killed and three were injured in a three-vehicle accident north of Davenport…it happened yesterday morning on Highway 61 near Long Grove when the driver of a van traveling north lost control, crossing over the median and colliding with a pickup truck and a car. Two people in the car were killed and another was flown to a hospital in Iowa City. The driver of the van was taken to a Davenport hospital with serious injuries, and the pickup driver had minor injuries.
Police say a suspicious device that was found at an Ankeny polling station forced an evacuation for about two hours yesterday morning. Police say a device that looked like a pipe bomb was found at the Lakeside Center, where residents were voting on an Ankeny school district special election. The building was evacuated. The State Fire Marshal, the agents with the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were called in. After the device was “made safe” the center was reopened about two hours after it was closed. No one was injured. The investigation into the origins of the device is continuing.
The Missouri Valley Conference has postponed the Illinois State-UNI volleyball series scheduled for this Sunday and Monday at the McLeod Center. That’s because Illinois State has fewer than the minimum number of eligible, medically available players. Make-up dates will be announced later.
A state employee has been arrested after being accused of mishandling around $135,000 between 2016 and 2019 during her time working for the Iowa Department of Juvenile Services. 36-year-old Nicole Foelske of rural Jesup turned herself in yesterday on arrest warrants for first-degree theft, felonious misconduct in office, and ongoing criminal conduct. Officials say thousands of state dollars were spent for personal purchases at Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. Most of the money was spent on gift cards, that then matched deposits made to Foelske’s PayPal account. The money was then transferred from the PayPal account, to Foelske’s personal bank account.
Yesterday was special election day in various Iowa jurisdictions…Waverly-Shell Rock school district voters approved a $31 million bond issue to build two new elementary schools, among other things…the measure passed with more than 72 percent voting yes, 60 percent was required. West Delaware school voters approved a $20 million bond issue for remodeling and repair of schools…the measure drew around 67.5 percent support. And Marion voters approved a $31 million bond issue that includes a new high school outdoor athletic complex and auditorium. The measure gained 85 percent support.
An Iowa company is leading a $2 billion effort to capture carbon dioxide from Midwestern ethanol plants and pipe it to North Dakota where it would be buried deep underground. The greenhouse gas is generated during the fermentation process and contributes to climate change when it’s released into the atmosphere. Summit Carbon Solutions says the plan is to gather carbon dioxide from at least 17 ethanol plants and pipe it to North Dakota where it would be injected into wells and stored underground. The carbon dioxide would be compressed into liquid form at the ethanol plants where feeder pipelines would send it to a larger pipeline that would extend across the Upper Midwest to North Dakota.
Police have charged five people with attempted murder in connection with a Des Moines shooting that critically injured a 2-year-old child. Police say the shooting happened Monday night when more than a dozen shots were fired into a house. Officers called to the home found that one of the shots had hit a child, who remained in critical condition yesterday afternoon. Police later arrested five people ranging in age from 18 to 20 believed to have been involved in the shooting. All were initially charged with attempted murder and weapons counts. Police say the group intentionally targeted the house, but say the toddler and a 17-year-old girl who were in the home at the time were not the intended targets.
