IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – University of Iowa officials say they’ve temporarily suspended nine fraternities for incidents with alcohol. University vice president Melissa Shivers says “the blatant and systemic failure to curb holding dangerous open events with alcohol, including tailgates, will stop.” The suspensions mean the chapters cannot participate in some organization-sponsored meetings, programs, social events, intramural sports or homecoming activities.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two people have been charged with attempted murder after a shooting Tuesday in Des Moines. WHO-TV reports 34-year-old Laura Dickey told her neighbor, 41-year-old Eleazar Villanova, that she was upset at her ex-boyfriend. Dickey drove Villanova to the ex-boyfriend’s apartment, where they saw him walking across the yard. Villanova jumped out of the car and began chasing the man while firing a gun at him. No one was injured.

BELLE PLAINE, IA (IRN) – A train collided with a semi in Belle Plaine Wednesday. KCRG-TV reports the semi tractor was destroyed. No injuries were reported.

INDIANOLA, IA (IRN) – Simpson College will layoff 13 full-time employees, including 12 faculty members, and eliminate the school’s art department as it contends with lower enrollment and changing student interests. The Des Moines Register reports Simpson’s enrollment has dropped 9 percent in the past three years and is currently at 1,250 full-time students.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The National Weather Service says nearly a dozen tornadoes touched down in rural areas across Iowa as strong storms swept the state Tuesday. Ten tornadoes were confirmed in the central third of the state, with the strongest hitting near Creston. That EF-2 twister brought winds of up to 120 mph, destroying a garage and pulling off part of a mobile home roof. No injuries were reported.