HOLY CROSS, IA (IRN) – A man from the northeast Iowa town of Holy Cross convicted of killing four teenagers has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. KWWL-TV reports Joseph Connolly was driving a truck last year when it hit an ATV, killing four 14-year-old boys. Connolly took a plea deal, which dropped charges of driving drunk.

PRESTON, IA (IRN) – The Easton Valley school district has settled a legal dispute with a neighboring district in eastern Iowa. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports Easton Valley must pay $450,000 to Northeast Community School District to settle the two-year legal battle over a grade sharing contract that reached the Iowa Supreme Court.

JAPAN (IRN) – Japan is lifting some import bans on U.S. live poultry and poultry meat, but not in Iowa, according to WHO-TV. Eight states can resume exports on its birds, but Iowa is not on that list. Restrictions remain here and in six other midwestern states. Japan’s move follows a similar move lifting bans on U.S. poultry by Canada last week.

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Five people exposed to carbon monoxide at a Sioux City extended-stay motel were taken to a hospital in critical condition Wednesday evening. The Sioux City Journal reports a 30-year-old woman, her two children and her parents were taken by ambulance to a local hospital and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. All are expected to recover.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man said he sexually assaulted and killed a random woman Tuesday because there “was nothing better to do,” and says he didn’t know the victim–she was just in the “wrong place at the wrong time.” KWWL-TV reports Helmon Betwell, 19, was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree sexual assault and two counts of third-degree burglary.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Valley West Mall officials evacuated the facility Wednesday in the wake of a bomb threat. KCCI-TV reports the security director at the mall said he received a call around 6 p.m. Officers completed a search and gave the all-clear shortly thereafter. The threat was a hoax.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A Waterloo man drew his gun when he spotted a burglar inside his home Monday afternoon, but he didn’t need to use his weapon because he found the intruder passed out in the middle of the heist. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports Drake Siemens, 19, likely passed out from a medical condition or an overdose. Siemens was arrested for second-degree burglary when he was released from the hospital.

MARION, IA (IRN) – Central Iowa Power Cooperative is providing a $2 million dollar loan to a Polish company building a plant in Marion. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports ELPLAST America is constructing a new $4 million production facility. ELPLAST America supplies zippers used for flexible packaging. The company has more than 700 clients in over 50 countries. They plan to hire 10 employees.