DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Frontier Airlines announced new flights from Des Moines to Las Vegas today. Flights will be Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, beginning August 14.
MARION, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of stabbing his ex-girlfriend in the Marion Hy-Vee parking lot in 2015. KGAN-TV reports a judge determined that the jury should have been instructed to consider an insanity defense for Nicholas Luerkens. Luerkens stabbed 29-year-old Lynnsey Donald to death in front of her son. He then tried to kill himself on the scene.
DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Board of Pharmacy has named the former pharmacy technician who admitted to watering down the opioid prescriptions of hospital patients and stole the powerful painkillers. KCCI-TV reports Victor Van Cleave diverted approximately 252 vials of Fentanyl and 18 vials of hydromorphone in 2016 while working at Methodist in Des Moines. Van Cleave replaced the missing medication for over 700 patients with salt water.
OELWEIN, IA (IRN) – The Oelwein Police Department has taken eleven people into custody following a months-long investigation. KWWL-TV reports the suspects were arrested in the Oelwein area, and are all connected to a drug ring that includes the sale and distribution of methamphetamine.
IOWA (IRN) – Iowa Republican Congressman Rod Blum is finally holding open meetings for constituents, but you’ll have to prove you really are a constituent to get in the door. WHO-TV reports Blum will begin a series of town hall meetings on Monday, his first of the year. To attend you must bring an ID to the meetings to prove you live in the First District or you won’t be allowed in the doors. Some Republicans have accused liberal advocacy groups of paying protesters to fill town hall meetings across the country.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A group of Cedar Rapids students traded books and pencils for fishing poles and bait on Wednesday. KCRG-TV reports the fifth graders at Truman Elementary School went to the Prairie Park Fishery as part of a physical education class. Teachers say fishing is a great lifetime sport that kids can do on their own, with friends, or with their parents and grandparents. The kids did manage to snag a few fish, which were caught and released.