IOWA (IRN) – Both Iowa State and the University of Iowa football teams are ranked in the top 25 of the USA TODAY preseason poll. Kirk Ferentz’s squad debuts at 19th in the poll, while Matt Campbell’s team comes in at No. 24. It’s the first time the Cyclones have been ranked in the preseason poll, and the first honor for the Hawkeyes since 2016. Clemson, the defending national champion, will enter the season with the top ranking.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines woman has been released from jail after police charged her for beating two children so badly they both tried to escape by jumping from a second story balcony. KCCI-TV reports Rasheena Perry, 30, is facing three charges of child endangerment. Her two nieces, 4 and 7 years old, had been placed in her care. Police say Perry is mentally ill and her neighbors said she was seen running out of her apartment naked and bloody.

MUSCATINE, IA (IRN) – Law enforcement officials have lost track of evidence from a 1980 murder case that an Iowa inmate wants to examine for DNA that could prove his innocence or confirm his guilt. William Beeman is serving a life sentence in the rape and stabbing death of 22-year-old Michiel Winkel. Winkel’s nude body was found behind a log at Wildcat Den State Park near Muscatine.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Polk County judge has called off the trial of a former Valley Junction business owner after he attempted to commit suicide by walking into traffic on I-235.
Robert Kuhn, 50, is accused of secretly recording underage employees as they used the restroom at his former record shop, Wayback Records. His trial began on Monday at the Polk County Courthouse. After testimony concluded, Kuhn walked into traffic on I-235 and was hit by a dump truck, according to the Des Moines Register. Kuhn was not killed but remains hospitalized.

AMES, IA (IRN) – The remains of an Iowa native killed during World War II are finally back home. Cpl. Ralph L. Bennett of Ames fought during the siege of Myitkyina, Burma. He was 22 years old.