PLEASANT HILL, IA (IRN) – A teacher with the Southeast Polk School District is accused of sexually abusing one of his students and faces multiple charges. Court documents show 39-year-old Abraham Christopher Smith, of Pleasant Hill, is charged with two counts of third-degree sex abuse and sexual exploitation by a school employee. According to court documents, there was a pattern of intercourse between Smith and a 15-year-old female student. One incident was at the home of the victim and another at a park while stargazing.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Vice President Mike Pence is in Des Moines today, and former Vice President Joe Biden arrives tomorrow. Biden leads President Trump in the most recent polling in Iowa by three percentage points.

IOWA (IRN) – Challenger Theresa Greenfield, a property management executive and Democratic nominee, holds a six-point lead over incumbent U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, a first-term Republican, in the latest poll of Iowa voters. The Nexstar Iowa 2020 Research Poll shows Greenfield leading Ernst 51%-45%.

BREMER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A man was arrested after leading authorities on a chase in two Iowa counties on Monday. The Bremer County Sheriff’s office says the chase started in Butler County when they got a report of a truck driving erratically. When a deputy tried to make contact with the driver, he took off. The driver, identified as Nicholas Schwartz, was caught and taken into custody in Tripoli, after he crashed with a Tripoli Police Department squad car.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Halloween store in Dubuque is having its best sales year ever despite the pandemic. Erica Foster, store manager of Spirit Halloween, says “we have surpassed our goal for this season, which is absolutely amazing being that we are still before Halloween…normally we don’t hit our sales goal for the whole season until Halloween or the day after when we have our 50 percent off sale.”