(Spirit Lake)– A Jackson, Minnesota man accused of fatally shooting a woman in February outside her workplace in Milford has been found competent to stand trial.

Christian Goyne-Yarns was charged with 1st degree murder in the death of Shelby Woizeschke. He is accused of shooting Woizeschke of Spencer in the parking lot at GrapeTree Medical Staffing on February 3rd as she arrived for work. Woizeschke died three days later in a Sioux Falls hospital.

Goyne-Yarns was originally scheduled to go on trial in August, but that was delayed after the competency evaluation was granted. Online court records don’t list a new trial date.

A hearing on a defense motion for a change of venue is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, October 5th, in Dickinson County District Court.

(East Chain, MN)--A large fire early Thursday morning severely damaged a sow barn south of East Chain owned by Hugoson Pork.

A news release from the Hugoson family states they are grateful there have been no reported injuries to staff or emergency responders. The release goes on to say the fire is believed to have started around 3:30 a.m. Thursday. More than 10 area fire departments responded from local communities.

The majority of the site is considered a total loss. 

(Estherville)--2022 is on pace to be a record year for fatalities on Iowa roads with 252 lives lost already. This is why the Iowa State Patrol is conducting a speed enforcement project going on now through October 4^th.  Iowa State Trooper Kevin Krull.

Krull says a high percentage of fatality accidents are caused by excessive speed.

With harvest getting underway, Krull says now is a great time to slow down as there will be a lot of large slow moving farm vehicles on the road.

Krull adds the chances of surviving an accident are much better if you’re buckled up.

Krull says the State Patrol will partner with the Lyon, Osceola, Sioux and O’Brien County Sheriff’s Departments, Sheldon Police Department and the DOT Motor Vehicle Enforcement looking for the same violations. Krull spoke with Dave Van Roekel Thursday morning on KILR FM 95.9.

(Okoboji)--The annual Northwest Iowa Artisans Road Trip is set for this Saturday and Sunday. This year’s tour is being organized by the Pearson Lakes Art Center. Visual Arts Director Danielle Clouse-Gast says the road trip is free.

Clouse-Gast says the road trip includes artists from six counties.

She says the tour will feature a wide variety of art.

Clouse-Gast says an artist directory and map for the road trip can be found online at lakesart.org.

(Estherville)--An early morning traffic stop last Saturday in Emmet County resulted in the arrest of a Texas man on drug charges.

Emmet County Sheriff Mike Martens says a deputy initiated a traffic stop in the 2100 block of Highway 4 just before 1:45 a.m. after an oncoming vehicle failed to dim its headlamps. In the course of the investigation into the traffic stop, a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia were discovered in the vehicle.

As a result, the driver, 23-year-old Richard Bazan of Houston, Texas, was placed under arrest and transported to the Emmet County Jail where he was booked for possession of a controlled substance-marijuana, 1st offense and possession of drug paraphernalia. Bazan was also issued a written warning for failing to dim headlamps.

(Spencer)--A 15-year-old girl escaped injury in a rollover accident Wednesday morning near Spencer.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says shortly before 7:30 a.m., the teen lost control of a 2013 Kia Sportage while traveling westbound in the 2400 block of 330th Street. The vehicle started to fishtail after crossing a bridge. It went into the ditch and rolled, coming to rest on its top.

The juvenile was cited for failure to maintain control.

Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $8,000.

(Dickens)--Two people are facing charges after a traffic stop this past Sunday on Highway 18 near Dickens.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says shortly before 10 a.m., a deputy witnessed the driver and a front passenger switch places while waiting for the vehicle to pull over. The deputy made contact with the male in the passenger seat, identified as 27-year-old Chase Kounkel of LeMars. It was determined Kounkel had a barred driver’s license. He was charged with driving while barred, two counts of child endangerment, speeding, reckless driving, tint, no seatbelt, driving under suspension and failure to file S.R. Insurance. He was released after posting bond.

A female in the driver’s seat, Ashley Scarlett, was cited with two counts of child endangerment and was released pending a future court appearance.

Authorities say a 15-year-old female and a six-month-old baby were in the vehicle.

(Peterson)--An Everly woman and her newborn baby have died from injuries sustained in a single vehicle crash near Peterson on Tuesday.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened shortly before 6 p.m. on County Road M-27, about three miles north of Peterson. Courtney Engeltjes was driving a 2003 GMC Envoy southbound on M-27, left the roadway to the right, overcorrected and entered the east ditch with the vehicle coming to rest on the driver’s side.

Engeltjes and her newborn daughter were both taken to Spencer Hospital and later airlifted to another hospital where they died from their injuries.

(Lakefield, MN)--A Sherburn woman was sent to the hospital after a single vehicle accident Wednesday evening on Interstate 90 in Jackson County.

The Minnesota State Patrol says the accident happened around 7:05 p.m., two miles west of the Highway 86 exit.

The patrol says a 2015 Chrysler Town and Country driven by 28-year-old Kirsten Ringgenberg of Sherburn was traveling eastbound on I-90 when the vehicle left the roadway, entered the median and rolled.

Ringgenberg was taken to the Worthington Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The Jackson Ambulance assisted at the scene.

(Spencer)--As recently reported on KILR, Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. has been awarded an Iowa Nonprofit Innovation Grant funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. UDMO is one of twenty-four nonprofits in Iowa to receive the grant. UDMO Director of Program Development Shakira Meyer explains how the $450,000 grant will be used.

Meyer says UDMO is in the process of purchasing a building.

She explains the benefits of having all of the services provided by UDMO housed in one location.

The proposed project includes accessibility renovations, and functional renovations to optimally serve the residents of Clay County. Meyer says the project will increase the capacity of UDMO’s food pantry.

Meyer says a ribbon cutting will be announced when the purchase of the building is complete and other details have been finalized.

(Estherville)--An Estherville woman is facing charges as the result of a recent traffic stop in Emmet County.

Emmet County Sheriff Mike Martens says shortly after 5:35 a.m. on September 16th, a sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling 78 miles an hour in the 4100 block of Highway 9 east of Estherville. Upon investigation at the scene, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia were discovered in the vehicle.

As a result, 20-year-old Julissa Diaz of Estherville was placed under arrest and transported to the Emmet County Jail where she was booked for possession of a controlled substance-marijuana, 1st offense, possession of drug paraphernalia, speeding and unlawful possession of tobacco products as a person under 21, 1st offense.

(Washington, D.C.)--Just four days after it was introduced, legislation to help families locate missing loved ones with Autism, Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions unanimously cleared the Senate last Thursday. The bill to extend Kevin and Avonte’s Law was introduced by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. The original law, authored by Grassley, was passed in 2018.

The bill is named in honor of two young boys diagnosed with autism, one from Iowa and one from Minnesota, who wandered away from supervised settings and drowned. 

On another topic, Grassley expressed his support for the nomination of Iowan Alexis Taylor to serve as undersecretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

Grassley criticized the Biden Administration for taking 20 months to fill the post.

(Sibley)--An Ocheyedan man was arrested Monday evening on charges of third-degree criminal mischief and OWI-first offense.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office says the arrest of 36-year-old Scott Hanson stemmed from a report of someone shooting paintballs or plastic BBs at a residence in Sibley.

The caller showed the responding deputy a small hole in siding near the front door and a small white glass marble lying near the door. The caller also provided the license plate of a vehicle registered to Hanson.

Another deputy headed to Ocheyedan to see if Hanson had returned home and stopped his vehicle for an equipment violation. Hanson had bloodshot/watery eyes and impaired balance.

He admitted to shooting the marble at the Sibley house as well as about 20 other shots over the last few days.

In addition to the damage on Monday, there was previous damage on the south side of the house consisting of five holes in the siding and a broken window.

Hanson told the deputy he would do it again when he gets the chance.

The damage was estimated at $750 to $1,500.

(Estherville)--A Blue Earth, Minnesota man was arrested this past weekend in Emmet County as the result of an early morning traffic stop.

Emmet County Sheriff Mike Martens says at around 2:40 a.m. Sunday, a sheriff’s deputy observed a vehicle speeding in the 3400 block of Highway 9 and initiated a traffic stop. While conducting an investigation into the matter, a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia and open containers of alcohol were discovered in the vehicle.

As a result, the driver, 28-year-old Branden Torgerson of Blue Earth, was placed under arrest and transported to the Emmet County Jail where he was booked for possession of a controlled substance-marijuana, 1st offense, possession of drug paraphernalia, no driver’s license and possession of an open container of alcohol on a public roadway as the driver. A passenger in the vehicle was cited and released for possession of an open container of alcohol on a public roadway as a passenger in a vehicle.

(Peterson)--An Everly woman was seriously injured in a single vehicle accident early Tuesday evening north of Peterson.

Just before 5:55 p.m., the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a single vehicle rollover in the 4700 block of M-27. Upon arrival, deputies determined that Courtney Engeltjes was driving a 2003 GMC Envoy southbound on M-27, left the roadway to the right, overcorrected and entered the east ditch with the vehicle coming to rest on the driver’s side.

Engeltjes was transported to Spencer Hospital with serious injuries and was later life-lighted.

Damage to the GMC was described as disabling.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Iowa State Patrol, Spencer Police Department, Peterson Fire and Rescue and Spencer Ambulance.  

(Lake Park)--Two people from Wisconsin were seriously injured in a two vehicle accident Sunday south of Lake Park.

The Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office says the accident happened around 10:10 a.m. at the intersection of County Roads M-27 and A-34. Deputies say 59-year-old Kevin Reverts of Hartley was driving a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado northbound on M-27 and 75-year-old Paul Montague of Middleton, Wisconsin was westbound on A-34 driving a 2017 Volkswagen Golf. Montague stopped and then proceeded to enter the intersection in front of Reverts. Reverts was unable to stop in time and collided with Montague. Reverts’ vehicle spun around and came to rest in the northwest corner of the intersection. Montague’s vehicle continued northwest and came to rest in a cornfield.

Paul Montague and his passenger, Joan Montague, were trapped in the vehicle and were extricated by mechanical means. The Montague’s were suspected of having serious or incapacitating injuries. They were both transported by ambulance to the hospital. No injuries were reported by Reverts or his passenger.

Both vehicles were totaled in the accident.

The Lake Park Fire Department, Lake Park Rescue, Milford Fire Department and Lakes Regional Healthcare Ambulance assisted at the scene.

(Spirit Lake)--The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to join the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications System. Switching to the new public safety radio system will cost about 5.5 million dollars.

The supervisors voted to fund that cost by dipping into carryover funds; by using a little more than $1.2 million in the county’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds; and by raising the county’s general fund levy to the maximum level.

Supervisor Tim Fairchild said he feels that’s the most equitable way to do it, instead of dividing up the costs between the various entities. Fairchild added it will also do away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest costs that would have been associated with issuing bonds for the project.

(Estherville)--Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she was recently informed that the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has agreed to audit the IRS at her request. Ernst announced the audit request last month to determine if the employees of the tax collecting agency have paid their own taxes.

Ernst says over 300 IRS employees are repeat offenders.

On another topic, Ernst says work is underway in Congress on the next Farm Bill.

Ernst is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She made her comments during a visit to Estherville on Monday.

(Spencer)--Spencer Hospital’s annual Breast Cancer Awareness Walk is set for this Sunday, October 2nd. Vice President of Marketing Susan Zulk says this is the 17^th year for the walk.

Zulk says the walk will begin at 4 p.m. at the hospital park located on Grand Avenue.

She says the walk will take place along Grand Avenue.

(Lake Park)—A house was damaged by fire Tuesday morning in Lake Park. Fire Chief Brandon Ehret says firefighters were called to 106 East 1^st Street around 7:20 a.m.

Ehret says they’re not sure what caused the fire.

Ehret says two people were home at the time and were able to get out safely. However, a pet bird did perish. Firefighters were on the scene for about an hour.