MARION, IA (IRN) – Marion Police are looking for a man they say robbed a convenience store. KCRG-TV reports a man wearing a backpack, camouflage mask, black pants, and a dark blue jacket with stripes robbed the Hawkeye Convenience Store Friday morning. He displayed a handgun and then fled on foot with cash. No one was hurt during the robbery.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL (IRN) – An eyewitness to Friday’s mass shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport in Florida says a Council Bluffs couple were among the victims. WCCO-TV reports an interview with a man at the scene who says he comforted a woman from Council Bluffs who was on vacation when she was shot in the neck. He says the woman’s husband was shot in the head and died. His account of events in the terminal have not been confirmed.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Amber Alert was issued Friday night for two Des Moines children who were abducted by their biological mother. 11-year-old Morgan Griffin and 12-year-old Landon Griffin were last seen with Mary Purcell, whose parental rights have been terminated. One of the children has medical issues that need ongoing attention. Authorities believe Purcell is driving a gold or brown 2003 Chevrolet Suburban and heading to Oregon.
OSCEOLA, IA (IRN) – The Clarke County Development Corporation is eyeing a new strategy to spur residential development in Osceola by offering a deal developers may find almost too good to be true. WHO-TV reports the corporation has entered into an agreement with the city to give “shovel-ready” lots away for free to developers who are interested.
OUTER SPACE (IRN) – Iowa native and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson made history Friday as she took her seventh spacewalk outside the International Space Station, which puts her in a tie for the most spacewalks ever made by a female astronaut. KCCI-TV reports that Whitson, who was born in Mount Ayr, is on her third long-duration mission to the International Space Station. She has spent more than a year of her life in zero gravity and almost 40 hours on spacewalks over the last 15 years.