MONONA, IA (IRN) – A man has been sentenced to prison after being arrested during a failed attempt to rob a northeast Iowa bank by sending notes from a drive-up window. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 21-year-old Tyler Koehler, of Monona, was sentenced Monday to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted bank robbery. Koehler admitted trying to rob the Freedom Bank in Monona by passing repeated notes via a drive-up window that threatened to “blow this place up” unless given cash. A teller stalled Koehler until police arrived and arrested him.
WELLMAN, IA (IRN) – A Wellman man died in a farming accident Monday according to KCII radio. A chemical sprayer struck and ran over 65-year-old Merlyn Yoder. He died at the scene.
MILFORD, NE (IRN) – Four people from Clinton were killed in an Interstate 80 crash in Nebraska. WQAD-TV reports five people were heading to Colorado in a Chevrolet when the 20-year-old driver crossed the median and collided with a Buick. The 75-year-old driver in the Buick tried to avoid the crash but hit the passenger side of the Chevy. Four of the five people in the Chevy were killed; two 20-year-olds, a 19-year-old, and the 49-year-old mother of the driver. The Chevy driver survived the crash, and there is no word on the condition of the 75-year-old.
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Two Waverly men have pleaded guilty to possessing carfentanil pills, according to KCRG-TV. The two, both 20, say they bought hundreds of the pills through a “dark web” marketplace and sold them to other people. Carfentanil is an elephant tranquilizer, and is not intended for humans to take. It is 10,000 times more potent than morphine.
CRESTON, IA (IRN) – A doctor who served patients in Creston for nearly 30 years will close his practice at the end of the month. WHO-TV reports Dr. Tom Young says Greater Regional Medical Center sent him a termination of lease notice, but the hospital says Dr. Young chose not to accept a fair market value contract and a new retail space that was presented. With both sides unable to reach an agreement, patients who went to the private practice will soon be forced to go elsewhere.
ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – Facebook’s data center in Altoona is expanding, according to KCCI-TV. The $1.5 billion project is already Facebook’s largest construction site in the world. The company plans to ask city leaders for approval of two additions to one of its buildings. Currently, work is underway on a fifth and sixth building. The data center employs more than 200 workers.