AMANA – An arrest has been made in connection to a woman found dead near Amana Lily Lake over the weekend. KCRG-TV reports 23-year-old McKinley Louisma of Hiawatha faces a count each of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office responded on Sunday as bystanders found the dead body of 20-year-old Melody Hoffman of Marion with multiple stab wounds. Louisma is accused of working with someone else to kidnap and kill Hoffman.

DES MOINES – Lawmakers have approved a bill that Republicans say expand religious freedom and Democrats claim will allow more discrimination. KTIV reports Senate File 2095 was passed out the Iowa Senate along party lines. The bill claims to prevent a governmental body from “treating religious conduct more restrictively than secular conduct.”

MARION – A settlement was approved to resolve a lawsuit between an Iowa school board and how a policy they approved provided accommodations to transgender and non-binary students. KCRG-TV reports the Linn-Mar School District voted to formalize what school staff was doing to support those kids. The Iowa Legislature passed a bill in response that rendered the policy largely useless. The advocacy group Parents Defending Education filed the suit and celebrated the settlement.