DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The son of an Iowa civil rights attorney in the midst of a high-profile civil trial against a former governor has been arrested in the courtroom where his mother’s trial is taking place. KCCI-TV reports 50-year-old James Barton Conlin, of West Des Moines, was arrested during a break in the proceedings Monday and charged with interference with official acts. He was booked into the county jail and released within an hour. Conlin told courthouse officials he was testing the air after his mother complained it was making her ill.

IOWA (IRN) – The two front runners in the 2020 bid for the White House crisscrossed Iowa Tuesday. Biden said the president is ‘an existential threat to America,’ and that his behavior is ‘bizarre.’ Trump called Biden “Sleepy Joe,” and said he was “weak mentally.”

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Rep. Steve King, the Iowa Republican who was stripped of his congressional committee assignments earlier this year, was not allowed to fly aboard Air Force One on Tuesday as President Donald Trump traveled to Iowa. King, who represents the state’s 4th District, asked the White House to join the President’s entourage, but officials rejected the request, according to CNN. Republican Senator Joni Ernst joined Trump aboard Air Force One.

CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – People in Cedar Falls are complaining that workers at city-owned cemeteries have been removing meaningful items used to honor the dead over the past few days. KWWL-TV reports visitors say city workers have also been throwing flags into dumpsters. The city has apologized.

IOWA (IRN) – Iowa leads the nation when it comes to the amount of waste its people and livestock generate. The Des Moines Register reports Christopher Jones, a UI research engineer, calculated that Iowa’s population — based on the waste from the state’s 3.2 million people and nearly 110 million chickens, pigs, turkeys and cattle — would be the equivalent of 168 million people.