IOWA COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) — The Iowa County Sheriff’s Department says no injuries were reported after a semi tractor-trailer collided with a train Thursday morning. KCRG says the accident happened a littler after 9-a.m., south of Main Amana on U.S. Highway 151.

Officials say a 19-year-old was driving a semi-truck and failed to notice the eastbound train approaching the crossing. The driver sideswiped a pickup truck that had stopped at the railroad crossing before the semi collided with the train.

The pickup truck sustained minor damage. The 2007 Kenworth semi tractor was a total loss. The train sustained an estimated $2,000 damage. The driver of the semi was cited for failing to stop at an active train crossing.

(Radio Iowa) – A 46-year-old man is the suspect in a Christmas Day murder in southeast Iowa. Burlington Police, responding to a report of a shooting around 7:30 on Wednesday night, found 44-year-old Anthony DeCarlo Campbell of Burlington dead inside a home.

According to a news release, the Crime Scene Team from the state Crime Lab and other state agents assisted Burlington Police in the investigation and 46-year-old Eric Christopher Rios of Burlington is under arrest, facing a first degree murder charge.

(Radio Iowa) – A coalition of groups is urging the governor and legislators to provide state funding for a full-day of preschool for four-year-olds who live in low-income households. The statewide Voluntary Preschool Program currently covers a half day for each four-year-old. Des Moines School Board chair Jackie Norris says four hours of preschool is difficult for working parents to navigate.

“We are advocating at the statehouse, asking them to fully fund and support 16,000 young children, approximately at the age of 4, that are at 185% of poverty level, so they can have a full day of preK,” Norris says. Norris says enrolling those 16-thousand four-year-olds in full day preschool also would open up some child care slots.

“It’s a win for a lot of people who are trying to advance the child care effort,” Norris says. “It moves some of the four-year-olds out of a child care setting and moves them into a public school or a private school or Christian school setting where they can receive preK from an accredited teacher.” Public school districts as well as private and Christian schools may receive state funding for four-year-old preschool.

Norris says research shows 90 percent of a child’s brain develops by the age of five and preschool pays dividends in the long term. “You would see a dramatic impact on our literacy rates — they would go up…Our math rates — they would go up. Our attendance rates, they would go up,” Norris says. “We’ve got the research that shows the difference between a student who has gone to preK and not oftentimes is anywhere from 7% to 15% higher in their testing scores and testing abilities and that’s not just an urban issue. That’s urban, rural — across the state.”

Norris says in addition to public school districts, the Iowa Catholic Conference, the Iowa Association of Christian Schools and the Iowa Association of School Boards are part of the coalition calling for this preschool expansion. “I’m really hopeful that this is not a political issue,” Norris says. “This is an issue that’s really great for the kids of our state, for the kids of our state and that we can find some common ground and get this done.”

If all the four-year-olds who live in household with an annual income below 185 percent of the federal poverty level were enrolled in full-day preschool, the cost to the state would be 15 million dollars.

(Denison, Iowa) – Our sister station KDSN in Denison reports seven fire departments battled a blaze Thursday afternoon at what is known as the Old Vetter Building at 705 Highway 39. The blaze at the 14,000-square foot building broke out at around 3:50-p.m. When the first fire crews arrived, smoke was showing from the back of the building. A second alarm was called a few minutes later, with a request for additional equipment and manpower.

Crews responding to assist Denison Fire, includes those from Dow City-Arion, Manilla, Vail, Westside, Kiron, Schleswig. Ambulances came to the scene the Crawford County Memorial Hospital, along with the cities of Kiron, and Manilla.

KDSN photo

Additional agencies at the scene included the Denison Police Department, Crawford County Emergency Management, and Denison Municipal Utilities. The fire was confirmed knocked down at about 4:45-p.m. Some of the fire crews remained on the scene until around 5:50-p.m.

No injuries were reported, and a cause of the blaze was not immediately known.  The building was valued at approximately $360,000.

(Linn County, Iowa) – One person was transported to the hospital in Cedar Rapids, following a collision Thursday evening. The Iowa State Patrol reports a pickup driven by 73-year-old Steven Smith, of Cedar Rapids, was traveling in the wrong lane of Highway 30 near Iowa Highway 100. The pickup was heading west in the eastbound lane at around 6:24-p.m., when it collided head-on with an SUV driven by 31-year-old Jessica Morales, of Iowa City. Morales was not injured in the crash.

The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

(Silver City, Iowa) – One person died Thursday during a single-vehicle crash in Mills County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2011 VW Routan (SUV) driven by 38-year-old Kevin Deitchler, of Glenwood, was traveling north on 287th Street, north of Silver City at around 1:24-p.m., when the vehicle drifted off the road in the 1500 block of 287th Street.

The SUV crossed the oncoming lane of traffic before leaving the road and colliding with a driveway embankment. The vehicle then flipped  over the driveway and landed on its roof before coming to rest. Deitchler, who was wearing his seat belt, died at the scene.

(Clarinda, Iowa) – Page County Attorney, Carl M. Sonksen, reports the following activities in the Iowa District Court for Page County for the week of December 16, 2024. The Honorable Richard H. Davidson, District Court Judge of the Fourth Judicial District presided. All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

• Miguel Medina Chapa, age 46, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Domestic Abuse Serious Assault-Second Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 28 days in jail, with all but 2 days suspended. Defendant was placed on probation for one year and shall complete the Iowa Domestic Abuse Program. The Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $625, suspended, restitution, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
• Joshua Duane Dockweiler, age 46, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana. The Defendant was sentenced to 2 days in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $430, surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
• Shyvez Calille Ekanem, age 21, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Assault on Persons Engaged in Certain Occupations. The Defendant was sentenced to 1 year in prison to run consecutive with his pending incarceration sentences. The Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $430, suspended, restitution, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
• Nicholas Allen Gould, age 34, Shenandoah, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Interference With Official Acts. The Defendant was sentenced to 2 days in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $430. The Defendant was ordered to pay surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
• Mandi Sue Nichols, age 41, Shenandoah, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine-2nd Offense and Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana-2nd Offense. The Defendant was sentenced to 45 days in jail, with all but 10 days suspended on each charge. The Defendant was ordered to pay a fine of $430 on each charge, surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
• Mason Phillip Roach, age 41, Shenandoah, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana-3rd Offense and Possession or Carrying Firearms While Under the Influence. The Defendant was sentenced to 2 years in prison, suspended, and a fine of $855, on the Possession of Marijuana 3rd Offense charge and 1 year in prison, suspended and a fine of $430 on the Possession or Carrying Firearms While Under the Influence charge. The Defendant was placed on probation for 9 months. The Defendant was ordered to pay surcharges, court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
• James Vincent White, age 61, Clarinda, Iowa, appeared by counsel and pled guilty to Harassment in the Second Degree. The Defendant was sentenced to 269 days in jail, with all but 30 days suspended and ordered to pay a fine of $430.

(Radio Iowa) – Des Moines Police say their preliminary investigation indicates a Christmas Day shooting in a Des Moines home was a murder-suicide.

According to a news release from Des Moines Police, a 60-year-old man shot his 53-year-old wife, then shot himself. Police arrived at a home on the northeast side of Des Moines at around 4:15 Wednesday afternoon, found the man dead at the scene and his wife, who was critically wounded. She was transferred to a Des Moines hospital, where she died.

Her death is the 17th homicide of the year in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – International opera star and Centerville native Simon Estes retired from the stage in 2022, but he’s still working as an artist in residence at Iowa State University. Estes will turn 87 in March and he’s spending about three weeks a semester on the Ames campus, teaching private lessons with voice majors in the building that bears his name. The Simon Estes Music Hall was dedicated in 2020 and I-S-U President Wendy Wintersteen helped with the unveiling.

“Simon Estes is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished opera singers in the world. He has sung for U.S. presidents, for popes, for kings and queens,” Wintersteen says, “and as one of the first black opera singers, he helped break down racial barriers.” At the building’s opening, Estes said it was an incredible tribute to his near-six-decades-long career.

“Music and education and faith are the foundations on which my life has been built, and I’m still on that journey,” Estes says. “I didn’t know that the day would come and that you’d name a building after me, but you know, this building is named after me, but it’s not for me. It’s about me, and it’s about all of you young people.”

The son of a coal miner and the grandson of a slave, Estes says his philanthropic work is just as important in his life as music. He’s given hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to students in need, and built a music school in South Africa. Upon announcing his retirement at age 84, he told Iowa Public Radio most opera singers retire at 50 or 60.

“I really thank God that he’s given me this longevity not only in life, but having sung opera,” Estes says. “I made my debut in West Berlin in 1965.” Opera requires substantial strength in the singer’s core to control breathing and project the voice. Estes says there are some key reasons he was able to continue performing into his 80s.

Iowa State University image from 2020

“First of all, I think God gave me very special vocal cords or vocal folds, as the doctor’s say,” Estes says “I never smoked. I didn’t drink alcohol. I didn’t take any drugs, of course. I was very disciplined, always. I only sang the right repertoire at the right time in my life.” Estes played the lead in Porgy and Bess at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1985.

Estes is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the Juilliard School of Music. He has performed more than 100 roles with 84 major opera companies around the globe.