(Radio Iowa) – A Wright County man was rescued from the Des Moines River Sunday Sunday evening.  21- year-old Latrell Word of Eagle Grove was pulled under by strong river currents and two men tried to rescue him.  A Fort Dodge man, his wife and uncle were camping in the area and saw the events transpire, leading the Uncle to call 911. The man and his wife rode their bikes to the bank of the river to assist in the rescue efforts, helping pull Word to the bank.

Humboldt Fire/Rescue and EMS workers arrived quickly after being dispatched around 6:30 PM and were able to bring Word to shore. He was then taken by ambulance to Unity Point Fort Dodge, emergency personnel said during the transport Word was somewhat responsive.

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Senator Joni Ernst and Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield are both criticizing the E-P-A administrator’s handling of federal ethanol policy — and each questions the other’s commitment to promoting the corn-based fuel. Greenfield says Ernst never should have voted to confirm a lobbyist from the fossil fuels industry to lead the agency. “I am calling for the EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler to step down immediately,” Greenfield said, “and I am calling for Senator Ernst to ask him to do the same and to Iowa first.”

Ernst says she threatened to call for Wheeler’s resignation last October if he didn’t follow through on the president’s promises to the ethanol industry — and Ernst ridicules Greenfield for getting Wheeler’s name wrong in a press conference. “Whatever she was calling him, a couple of different names…if you really are interested, you know, make sure that you’ve been engaging,” Ernst says, “and it’s only recently that she has started to engage in the RFS.”

Ernst says she’s been working on ethanol policy for at least a decade, starting when she was a member of the state senate.  “I’m glad that she’s finally paying attention to the RFS, good for her, but a little bit late,” Ernst says. Both Ernst and Greenfield are critical of the Trump Administration’s consideration of waivers that would let oil refineries escape the requirement to blend ethanol into gasoline. Ernst has recently blocked a senate vote on a man nominated to be the deputy administrator of the E-P-A — as a way of protesting the consideration of those waivers.

ALGONA, Iowa (AP) — A group still plans to hold a three-day motorcycle rally in northern Iowa that’s expected to attract thousands of bikers despite the concerns of local officials that the event could spread the coronavirus. Local officials usually welcome the annual Freedom Rally held on a farm northeast of Algona, but this year’s event planned for Thursday to Saturday has officials worried. Algona is in Kossuth County, which has had 32 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and no reported deaths. But officials think that could change because of the motorcycle rally, which typically draws 10,000 bikers. Organizers say they are encouraging social distancing and are calling for riders to limit trips into Algona.

In an update to our earlier reports, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday), released the names of the drivers who were injured during a crash Sunday afternoon, in Marne. Authorities say 78-year old Keith Reagels, of Marne, and 40-year old Alan Vanaernam, of Atlantic, were injured when a 2014 Town and Country Van driven by Reagels, failed to yield while attempting to turn left onto Marne Road from Washington Street, and was struck by a westbound 2014 semi, driven by Vanaernam.

Photos courtesy Cass County Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon.

After the semi struck the van on the driver’s side, the van spun into the southwest ditch. The accident happened at around 2:35-p.m. Walnut Rescue and Medivac Ambulance transported the drivers to the Cass County Memorial Hospital. Both vehicles were said to be a total loss.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has refused to block the execution of four federal prison inmates who are scheduled to be put to death in July and August – including an Iowa drug-dealer convicted of killing five people. Among them, was two children. The executions would mark the first use of the death penalty on the federal level since 2003. The justices rejected an appeal from four inmates who were convicted of killing children, including Dustin Honken.

Honken was a northern Iowa drug dealer facing federal charges for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine in 1993 when he shot and killed five people. Gregory Nicholson had planned to testify against Honken in his trial. Nicholson, his girlfriend Lori Duncan, and her two children Amber and Kandi were shot to death execution-style in July of 1993. Honken was convicted of the murders in 2004 and given the death penalty. He appealed but a district judge upheld the ruling in 2013. All of his appeals have been exhausted.

The court’s action leaves no obstacles standing in the way of the executions, the first of which is scheduled for July 13. The inmates are separately asking a federal judge in Washington to impose a new delay on their executions over other legal issues that have yet to be resolved.

OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) — A Kansas man has been sentenced to four years of probation in a Nebraska crash that killed four motorcyclists from Iowa. The Kearney Hub reports 24-year old Jeser Cisneros-Hernandez, of Liberal, Kansas, also was ordered Friday to serve 400 hours of community service. He pleaded no contest in February to reckless and willful vehicular homicide. Prosecutors dropped three more counts and two other charges in return for his pleas. Prosecutors say on July 1st, 2017, his vehicle crossed the center line on U.S. Highway 26 near Ogallala, south of Lake McConaughy, and hit two motorcycles carrying two people each.

The Iowa motorcyclists were identified as 54-year-old Sheila Matheny and 61-year-old James Matheny, from Bedford, along with 58-year-old Michal Weese and 59-year-old Jerolyn Weese, both of whom lived in Council Bluffs.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man drowned after going for a swim while fishing at a Linn County quarry. Linn County sheriff’s deputies were called about 9:30 a.m. Sunday to the Martin Marietta quarry, southeast of Cedar Rapids. Friends and relatives of a man told deputies he was fishing but opted to swim a short distance. He went under the water and didn’t surface. Teams from Cedar Rapids and Mount Vernon used boats to search and found the man’s body shortly after 11 a.m.

The man’s name was being withheld until relatives can be notified.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police have identified the victim of a weekend fatal shooting as a Keokuk man. Police were called Saturday night to an industrial area east of downtown and found a dead man on a road. He was identified Monday as 41-year-old Michael Thurman. On Sunday, police charged 27-year-old Andrew James Hall, of Des Moines, with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He was being held in the Polk County Jail.

The Griswold School Board will hold a Special Session 3-p.m. Tuesday, in the Elementary School Library. The meeting is being held to take action on steps necessary to refinance about $1.8-million worth of School Infrastructure Sales, Service and Use Tax Revenue Bonds. That includes:

• Consideration of Sealed Bids opened and reviewed by Superintendent Dave Henrichs, and the Financial Advisor.
• The possible awarding of bid to refinance the bonds
• And, action on a Call Notice Resolution to be filed with UMB Bank.