OSCEOLA, IA (IRN) – Fire crews spent hours battling a blaze on the downtown square in Osceola yesterday morning. The building was vacant, but there is an apartment building next to the fire. People living there were safely evacuated. The fire chief says the firewall stopped the flames from spreading.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (IRN) – The Indiana State Police said Tuesday that they used genealogical data and crime scene evidence to link an Iowa man who died in 2013 to the killings of three female motel clerks and the sexual assault of a fourth in Indiana and Kentucky from 1987 through 1990. Harry Edward Greenwell, who died at age 68 in New Albin, Iowa was the so-called “I-65 killer.” The killings earned that name because they happened at motels near Interstate 65.

POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Polk County Board of Supervisors committed over $15 million to affordable housing projects on Tuesday. A majority of that money will be used to support the acquisition, conversion and construction of permanent housing that supervisors said will be geared toward supportive housing for underserved populations. The units will be for single people making less than $19,000 a year, and $27,000 a year for a family of four. Rent would range from $480 to $685 a month.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – In a bill passed by the Iowa Senate on Tuesday, the State of Iowa would spend $1,000,000 on nonprofit pregnancy support groups that oppose abortion. The bill is now eligible for consideration by the Iowa House.

IOWA (IRN) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has sent letters to four cities stating that their panhandling ordinances violate free speech and must be repealed. The four cities that received letters are Bettendorf, Davenport, Coralville, and Dubuque. Staff with the ACLU say cities are restricting free speech and criminalizing poverty.