LAMONI, IA (IRN) – A small plane crashed near Lamoni along Interstate 35 this morning. The sheriff’s office said the incident happened around 8 a.m. The plane crashed near the south end of the runway at the Lamoni Municipal Airport on airport property. The Federal Aviation Administration said that preliminary reports indicate two people were on board the single-engine Cirrus SR-22.

ANAMOSA, IA (IRN) – One of the two men accused of murdering two Anamosa prison employees during an attempted escape in March will have his fate decided by a judge rather than a jury. Michael Dutcher, 29, requested the bench trial after he was warned by the judge that moving the case due to pretrial publicity might take some time. Dutcher’s trial is scheduled for August 3 in Anamosa.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A woman was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for damaging valves and setting fire to construction equipment along an oil pipeline that crosses Iowa and three other states. Thirty-nine-year-old Jessica Rae Reznicek also was ordered to pay nearly $3.2 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release after her prison term for conspiracy to damage an energy facility ends.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A former horticulture teacher who oversaw the Des Moines Public Schools’ greenhouse operations, is accused of misspending more than $19,000 – and possibly more – in a report released by State Auditor Rob Sand. That includes more than $18,000 paid to his wife to serve as his assistant and $1,300 in misspent Menards rebates.

WASHINGTON, DC (IRN) – President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a mental health bill into law named for Sgt. Brandon Ketchum – an Iowa veteran who took his own life after being denied mental health services in 2016. The ‘Sgt. Ketchum Rural Veterans’ Mental Health Act’ was written by Iowa congresswoman Cindy Axne. The bill creates new programs within the VA that are specifically targeted at increasing mental healthcare access in rural areas.