NEWTON, IA (IRN) – An Iowa couple faces child endangerment and drug charges after police say they were caught riding in a vehicle driven by a 13-year-old. The Newton Daily News reports that 51-year-old Paul Deaton and 48-year-old Jacqualine Deaton, of Colfax, were arrested Sunday. A Jasper County sheriff’s deputy noticed a heavy odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, and when stopped Paul Deaton reached behind a seat and grabbed a pipe along with four grams of marijuana.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa teenagers convicted of murder will no longer face life-without-parole sentences, after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled today that the sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The Des Moines Register reports Justice Brent Appel wrote in a majority opinion that locking young killers away permanently is simply too “speculative” when they have not been given any chance to show rehabilitation in prison.

MORSE, IA (IRN) – One person was killed and another injured after a semi collided with a tractor Thursday afternoon just outside of Morse. The Iowa State Patrol reports a tractor traveling west turned left in front of a semi traveling east, causing the collision. The tractor driver was ejected and killed. The driver of the semi was transported to an area hospital with injuries.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Bar staff at D.C.’s Bar in downtown Iowa City tell police that as they tried to remove a drunk man making comments against homosexuals from the bar, he reached for a gun. KCRG-TV reports officers arrived at the scene Wednesday night to find 37-year-old Jason Bason pinned to the ground by bar staff. His handgun was on the ground next to him.

BETTENDORF, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man is accused of threatening to post nude photos online unless the woman in the photos gave him money and sex. WQAD-TV reports 30-year-old Bradley Richard Williams of La Porte City was arrested Wednesday after his alleged victim showed threatening messages from him to police. Williams is charged with extortion.

ATLANTIC, IA (IRN) – Heavy rains hit much of Iowa yesterday, and caused some street flooding in Atlantic, prompting at least one rescue. WHO-TV reports a woman had to be pulled from her car at an intersection where water was several feet deep. She’s OK.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Soon, passengers traveling along Interstate 35 through six states will see a lusher refuge and more food for bees and butterflies in the hopes of helping the insects boost their declining populations, according to KCCI-TV. That 1,500-mile stretch of road from northern Minnesota to southern Texas is a flyway for monarch butterflies that migrate between Mexico and Canada.