From the category archives:

Fires/Accidents/Disasters

It’s believed there are no Iowans among the casualties after a chartered bus crashed in southern Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after leaving a northern Iowa casino. Minnesota state patrol Captain Matt Langer was at the scene.

Langer says the accident happened at 3:09 P.M. as the eastbound bus on Interstate 90, just west of Austin, crossed the center median, entered the westbound lanes and rolled over in the north ditch. He says everyone on the bus was either killed or hurt.

There were 23 people on board. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene while everyone else was transported to hospitals. Injuries ranged from minor to critical. The bus was returning to Rochester, Minnesota, from the Diamond Jo Casino in northern Iowa’s Worth County.

Langer says the cause of the accident is unknown. He says road conditions at the time of the crash were good so weather is not thought to be a contributing factor. The bus was operated by Strain Bus Line Motorcoach Tours out of Rochester. The names of the victims have not been released.

Contributed by John Mickelson, KTLK, Minneapolis

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Mother seeks tougher teen driving laws

by Radio Iowa Contributor 11/18/09 10:02 AM

The mother of a teenager who died in a crash on Interstate 380 in eastern Iowa is pushing for tougher laws and punishments for teen drivers involved in crashes, even if the teen driver isn’t directly at fault. Marie McGee-Benedict says she knows nothing will bring her daughter back, but she fears for the other [...]

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Explosion damages corn dryer in Boxholm

by Radio Iowa Contributor 11/17/09 9:53 AM

Authorities in central Iowa’s Boone County are trying to determine the cause of an explosion and fire Monday morning at the West Central Cooperative in Boxholm. Two men were injured as a result of the blast that occurred shortly before nine o’clock.
One of the men was treated and released at a medical facility while the [...]

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Anita man dies in accident

by Radio Iowa Contributor 11/16/09 10:21 AM

A western Iowa man is dead, another injured, after a single-vehicle rollover accident Sunday morning in Cass County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 1999 Chevy Cavalier was traveling east on Boone Road, about three-miles northeast of Anita, when for reasons unknown, the car went out of control and overturned into the south ditch.
Two [...]

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Woman spends night in wrecked vehicle

by Radio Iowa Contributor 11/13/09 10:19 AM

Floyd County officials say an 86-year-old woman is hospitalized after spending a night in her wrecked vehicle along a county road. The Iowa State Patrol says Charlotte Owen of Marble Rock was found in her vehicle early Thursday morning.
The Patrol says the accident took place about 9 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of State Highway [...]

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State trooper honored for heroism after Parkersburg tornado

by O. Kay Henderson 11/12/09 3:48 PM

Governor Chet Culver presented the Sullivan Award to 11 Iowans today. It’s the state’s highest civilian honor. One of the Sullivan Award winners is a state trooper who spotted the massive tornado headed to Parkersburg in May of 2008 and wound up risking his own life to save people trapped in the rubble.
Trooper Todd Souhrada first [...]

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Three Emmetsburg teens charged with setting fires

by Radio Iowa Contributor 11/11/09 1:42 PM

Authorities in northwest Iowa believe they’ve found the persons responsible for more than a dozen fires set at vacant farm sites over the past couple of years. Three Emmetsburg teens are facing charges. The Palo Alto County Sheriff’s office says the first reports came in July of 2007 with arson fires set on abandoned farms [...]

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