On June 10, 2024, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a single motorcycle accident with unknown injuries.
An investigation determined William Sears of Des Moines, Iowa was operating a red 2016 Victory motorcycle in the 1300 grid of US Highway 34. William lost control and collied with the ditch. William was transported by Henry County EMS due to injuries from the collision. Damage to the motorcycle was more than $1,500.
A woman in a wheelchair was stuck inside of a mobile home that was on fire on Monday. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office received an E911 call of a gas stove on fire at 6:12pm on June 10th, in the Green Valley Mobile Home Court Area.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Mount Pleasant Fire Department responded to the scene. Upon arrival, all occupants were removed from the trailer and the fire was determined to no longer be active. No injuries or damages were reported from this incident.
Iowans can be glad about the price of gas this week, as the price of both regular and diesel fell considerable amounts.
After falling 8 cents from last week, the price of regular unleaded gasoline averaged $3.15 across the state. This is a 22 cent drop from last year.
The national average on Wednesday was $3.45, down 5 cents from last week’s price.
Retail diesel prices in Iowa fell 5 cents this week with a statewide average of $3.49. One year ago, diesel prices averaged $3.64 in Iowa.
The current Iowa diesel price is 30 cents lower than the national average of $3.79.
Natural gas prices jumped up a whopping 28 cents at the Henry Hub reporting site and are currently priced at $3.01/MMbtu.
Tips for saving energy on the road or at home are available at energy.gov and fueleconomy.gov.
There was a fire in Mount Pleasant on Wednesday evening at the Mount Pleasant Motors building. The staff were working on a vehicle when it caught on fire, which quickly spread throughout the rest of the building. Thankfully, the fire department has a weekly meeting on Wednesday evening, meaning an abundance of firefighters were able to respond quickly. The fire was contained to just the auto shop side of the building and was under control approximately 5 minutes after the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department arrived.
15 firefighters, 2 engines, tower 1, command 1, and a brush truck, all responded. The fire chief would like to thank Mount Pleasant Police Department and Mt. Pleasant Utilities for their assistance.
High School Baseball
Van Buren County could not stop scoring last night as the Warriors defeated Lone Tree 22-3. Van Buren County will take on New London at home tonight at 5:30 pm in a doubleheader.
New London lost to Hillcrest Academy yesterday 11-0.
Winfield-Mt. Union defeated Danville last night 8-3. Jaden Bauer and Henry Bellrichard each slapped a double to collect an RBI for the Bears. The Wolves will compete against Hillcrest Academy tonight on the road at 5:30 pm.
Danville will travel to Mediapolis tonight at 5:30 pm.
Burlington Notre Dame was locked with Highland at five after three innings of play; the Nikes then exploded for 12 runs to win 17-5. Burlington Notre Dame will host West Burlington tonight at 5:30 pm.
West Burlington surrendered three runs in the bottom of the 6th inning, leading to Louisa-Muscatine taking home the win 5-3.
Central Lee clobbered Wapello last night 16-3. Zach Manwill, Chase Johnson, and Brayden Wyrick each finished with three RBIs as the Hawks slugged seven extra-base hits. Central Lee will face off against West Burlington tomorrow, June 14th, at 5:30 pm at home.
Mt. Pleasant’s offense was firing on all cylinders last night as the Panthers defeated Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 13-3. Ben Newton and Zach Newton each collected three RBIs with Payton Hagans legging out a triple and nabbing two RBIs in the win. The Panthers will travel to Burlington tonight at 5:30 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 5:15 pm.
Fairfield and Washington will finish their series tonight at 5:30 pm in Fairfield.
High School Softball
Danville barely escaped with the win last night against Winfield-Mt. Union, 15-12. The Bears will travel to Mediapolis tonight at 5:30 pm.
Winfield-Mt. Union will compete against Hillcrest Academy tonight at 7 pm at Mount Mercy University.
Mediapolis handled Pekin last night 15-3. Payton Harris finished with a double and a game leading four RBIs for the Bulldogs.
West Burlington lost a heartbreaker last night to Louisa-Muscatine 5-4 in walk-off fashion. Logan Kelley smacked a solo home run in the losing effort. The Falcons will look to get back in the win column tonight against Central Lee on the road at 7 pm.
Central Lee’s late eight run surge helped propel the Hawks to a 17-13 victory over Wapello last night.
Holy Trinity Catholic will host Central Lee tonight at 5:30 pm.
New London lost to Hillcrest Academy yesterday 13-4. The Tigers will face off against Van Buren County tonight in a doubleheader with game one at 5:30 pm on the road.
WACO will compete against Wapello tonight at 5:30 pm at home.
Fairfield will host Washington tonight at 5:30 pm.
Mt. Pleasant will look for revenge on the road against Burlington tonight at 5:30 pm.
High School Softball Rankings
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released their fourth edition of the softball rankings yesterday and a new southeast Iowa team entered the top 15.
In Class 4A, Burlington tumbled a spot in the top 15 to #12 this week after losing their first game of the year to Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in game one of a doubleheader Tuesday night. After allowing only one run to score through their first seven games, the Grayhounds have watched 30 runs score against them in their past six games. Lillian Hand leads the offense with a 0.477 average and a team leading 16 RBIs.
Class 3A saw Washington gain a spot in the rankings from #8 to #7. The Demons tout a team ERA of 2.35 and a team batting average of 0.385 as Leighton Salazar is hitting 0.548 with 20 RBIs.
West Burlington fell out of the top 15 and Central Lee jumped at the opportunity to be ranked 15th. The 13-4 Hawks have been slugging the ball with 10 team home runs. Shana Buford is a big reason for their success with a 0.581 batting average and a team leading five home runs and 27 RBIs.
Prospect League
The Clinton LumberKings hosted the Burlington Bees last night for a doubleheader and the home team scraped by with two wins: 6-3 in game one and 7-6 in game two.
Christian Dunn doubled home a run for the Bees, while Ben Swails and Mason McCurdy each collected two RBIs for the LumberKings in game one.
Game two saw a four-run 6th inning by the Bees thwarted by a Clay Jacobs RBI single in the bottom half of the inning. Boston Halloran tabbed two RBIs for the Bees.
Burlington will stay on the road to face off against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp tonight at 7:05 pm.
Clinton will take on the Lafayette Aviators tonight at 6:30 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1924 – The New York Yankees win by forfeit over the Detroit Tigers after a brawl amongst the teams and spectators ensues in the 9th inning.
1973 – Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell play together for the first time, setting the record of staying together as an infield for 8 1⁄2 years (LA Dodgers).
2012 – San Francisco Giants’ Matt Cain pitches the first perfect game in the franchise’s history against the Houston Astros.
A very warm day today may lead to isolated to scattered strong to severe thunderstorms late this afternoon and especially tonight. Large hail, damaging winds, and frequent lightning will be the primary threats. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a Marginal Risk, level 1 out of 5 for severe storms tonight, generally northwest of Iowa City to Dubuque Iowa.
Tomorrow, building heat and humidity will combine with near daily thunderstorm chances in the region from Thursday through the weekend. Some strong to severe storms will be possible from time to time. Locally heavy rain will also be possible out of any storm system. Thursday, the Storm Prediction Center is forecasting an Enhanced Risk for severe weather, level 3 out of 5 for areas south of Interstate 80.
A Riverside woman was sentenced yesterday to 600 months in federal prison for two counts of Production of Child Pornography, following a plea of guilty on an earlier date.
According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Abigail Margarete Knight, 36, produced child sexual assault material of two minor victims between July 2020 and May 2023. Knight used photos and videos of minors and sent the child sexual assault material to two men, one in Texas and the other in Missouri, through the use of cellular phones and internet chats.
After completing her term of imprisonment, Knight will be required to serve five years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Washington County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations, and the ICAC Task Force.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc. For information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.
Kyle John Randolph, 31, of Nauvoo, Illinois, passed away at 10:55 p.m. Monday, June 10, 2024, at his home in Nauvoo. 
He was born on July 15, 1992, in Fort Madison, Iowa, the son of Kipp and Kathy (Clift) Randolph.
He is survived by his parents: Kipp and Kathy; brother: Kevin (Ashley) Randolph of Warsaw, Illinois; nieces: Vayda and Kenley Nichols of Warsaw, Illinois; grandmother: Rosalie Clift of Kahoka, Missouri; aunts and uncles: Gary (Cathy) Randolph of Canton, Missouri, Deana (Mirko Beusan) Owen of Georgetown, Indiana; Chad Owen of New London, Missouri; Sherry Koonce of St. Genevieve, Missouri; Debbie (Kirt) Malone of Palmyra, Missouri; Cindy (Jacob) Kumm of Palmyra, Missouri. Also surviving are several cousins and other relatives.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents: Richard and Linda Randolph and maternal grandfather: Don Clift.
Kyle was a 2010 graduate of Fort Madison High School. He worked at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy on the service team. Kyle was of the Christian faith and in his youth attended Victory Faith Community Church. He enjoyed riding his Harley Davidson, mixed martial arts, attending St. Louis Cardinals games and drawing. Kyle looked forward to weekend trips with his brother and spending time with his family and friends.
A visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Friday, June 14, 2024, at Schmitz Funeral Home in Donnellson.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, June 14, 2024, at Schmitz Funeral Home in Donnellson with Pastor Anna Sadler officiating.
Burial will be at Frazee Cemetery, Alexandria, Missouri.
A memorial has been established in his memory.
Schmitz Funeral Home of Donnellson is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.schmitzfuneralhomes.com
