CRESTON, Iowa (AP) — A memorial service has been held for an Iowa couple and their children who died at a Mexican resort. The service was held Saturday afternoon in the gymnasium at Southwestern Community College in Creston for 41-year-old Kevin Sharp and his wife, 38-year-old Amy Sharp, and their children, 12-year-old Sterling and 7-year-old Adrianna. The burial was closed to the public.

A Mexican prosecutor says a gas leak in a water heater is suspected of killing them inside their rented condominium in Tulum. Their bodies were found March 23.
The family was reported missing by relatives about a week after they left for vacation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines are investigating the death of a 71-year-old woman whose body was found in her home on the north side of the city. Police say officers were called Friday afternoon to the home for a report of a death, which police have deemed suspicious.

Police have not released the woman’s name or how she died, saying detectives are awaiting results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Police say the woman’s car was missing from her home when police arrived, but that it was later found elsewhere.

ELDON, Iowa (AP) — Renewed attention on actress Roseanne Barr following the return of her television show has led some to wonder what happened to an abandoned 28,000-square-foot house she was building in southeast Iowa with former husband Tom Arnold.

The half-finished mansion has sat crumbling since construction was halted amid the couple’s divorce proceedings in 1994, just a year after Arnold and Barr began building the luxury country estate near Eldon, the Des Moines Register reported . Barr and Arnold, an Iowa native, donated the 1,338-acre property to the Indian Hills Community College Foundation, which sold it to MJW Hawkeye LLC.

The mansion was too expensive to tear down, said Darrell Limkeman, the manager of the property through Mid States Farm Management Co. “Not much left of it but a big pile of concrete. The walls have crumbled down,” Limkeman said. “They built that 2-acre pond back there. Roseanne wanted it heated to swim in, so there is a lot of wiring going back there.”

Several other structures remain on the property, including six homes that are rented. One building that at one point was set to be the guard shack is now a home owned by a local resident, he said. Though the site is difficult to get to because it’s surrounded by pasture lands with no finished roads, more than 400 people attended a tour of the property five years ago. Limkeman said some of the visitors were disappointed to see ruins instead of a completed mansion.

An estimated 18.4 million people tuned in to see the debut of ABC’s reboot of “Roseanne” on Tuesday, more than two decades after the original series ended its hit run.

It took just two hours for northwest Iowa authorities capture the suspect who allegedly robbed the United Bank of Iowa in Moville, Friday. Major Tony Wingert of the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Department says the white male suspect entered the small town bank just before 12:30, demanded money and fled in a stolen black BMW.

“We got information from pinging the car that it was down in the Port Neal area. One of the troopers came in on Port Neal and there was a black car along side of the road changing a flat tire,” Wingert says. “It matched the description, so he turned around…The trooper went to detain him…The male said, ‘No,’ got in the car and took off on a flat tire.” The high-speed chase didn’t last long.

“When he went across the railroad tracks right by Highway 75, he went airborne and lost control, continued a few hundred yards where he ultimately hit the ditch embankment,” Wingert says. “That caused him to flip up over the road and come to rest in somebody’s yard.” The suspect was taken to a Sioux City hospital for treatment. His name has not bee released.

(Radio Iowa)

The Pony Express Riders of Iowa are back in the saddle this Easter weekend as hundreds of them make the trek on horseback from across Iowa to Camp Sunnyside near Ankeny. This is the 51st year the riders have traveled to the Easter Seals facility, bringing with them money from a series of fundraising activities. Tim Allen of Whittemore is the group’s president.

“Throughout the state, there’s 300 to 400 riders that start in all four corners of the state,” Allen says. “Every county’s got their own little thing they do. We all end up at the John Deere plant just outside of Des Moines and we all parade in. It gets to be quite the show.” After the ride to the camp, there’s a celebratory dance, a thank you to all of the volunteers, he says. Allen has some advice for motorists this holiday weekend.

“Just look out for the horses because we’ve got riders of all ages,” Allen says. “My daughter, this will be her 3rd year riding on the ride and she’s 11 years old. My son’s 9 and he rides with me, so just be careful out there.” Some $270,000 was raised last year by the Pony Express Riders to help with the camp that has been in operation for 80 years, serving children and adults with disabilities. This year’s goal is $280,000.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A winning ticket for a giant lottery jackpot estimated at $521 million has been sold in New Jersey. Mega Millions says one winning ticket was sold in Friday night’s drawing. The winning numbers were 11, 28, 31, 46, 59 and Mega Ball 1.

The New Jersey Lottery said Saturday on Twitter that the winning ticket was sold at a Riverdale, Morris County, Lukoil station. Riverdale is in northeastern New Jersey, about 30 miles outside of New York City.

The $521 million is the annuity option, in which payments are made over 29 years. The cash option would pay $317 million. Mega Millions is played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers say “It sounds like Mother Nature may be pranking us with an April Fool’s day joke on Easter Sunday with the possibility of 2-4 inches of snowfall.” The Chief reminds residents, “That all on Street parking is banned in Clarinda when two or more inches of snow accumulates and remains in effect until the snowfall quits and the streets have been plowed.

“Registered owners of vehicles found in violation are subject to being ticketed for violating the snow ordinance parking ban ($15.00) and the vehicles are subject to towing/impoundment. Your cooperation in complying with the parking ban helps our snow plow operators clear the streets efficiently.”

A collision between a City of Winterset Police car and a pickup Friday night, sent two people to the hospital in Winterset. The accident happened at around 8:30-p.m. on Highway 92 at the intersection with 10th Street, in Winterset.

The Iowa State Patrol says 2009 Ford Crown Victoria driven by 30-year old Christian Ryan Dekker, of Osceola, was traveling north on 10th Street, with its lights and siren activated, when it collided with a 1967 Chevy pickup that was westbound on Highway 92. The driver of the pickup was identified as 49-year old James Robert Penny, of Winterset.

Neither driver yielded the right-of-way. Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in the northwest ditch of the intersection, where they came to rest. Dekker was transported by Madison County EMS to the hospital in Winterset. Penny was taken by Madison County EMS to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office assisted the State Patrol in its investigation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge over the Missouri River connecting Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, will be lit blue next week to raise awareness of autism.

Officials say the lighting will take place at dusk on Monday.

The event will coincide with World Autism Awareness Day. Participants will wear blue and gather on either the Nebraska or Iowa side of the bridge, and each group will meet at the center of the bridge for the lighting.

The bridge joins a number of regional, national and international landmarks — including the Nebraska State Capitol — that will be lit blue on Monday.

w/ Chris Parks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (546.1KB)

Subscribe: RSS