FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – One of the Fort Dodge parents accused of drowning their newborn daughter in a bathtub is asking for different public defenders. Brandon Thoma and Taylor Blaha are charged with first-degree murder. Blaha submitted a letter to the judge asking for a new public attorney because she did not think her current representation had her best interest in mind. The letter also said she didn’t understand what they told her or what was on the court documents and asked the judge to consider her learning disability in the decision.

WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – Firefighters are investigating a fire at a commercial building in Waukee. The fire originated in the bailing room of the building. Firefighters say a machine malfunctioned, causing a spark which led to the fire. The “bailing” process compacts paper scraps into recycling, after which the paper is used to make phone books.

MARION, IA (IRN) – The Linn-Mar Board of Education is urging families to push back on Governor Kim Reynolds’ plan to divert taxpayer funds for Iowa families wanting to go to private schools. They say public schools are already underfunded and have been under attack and this latest proposal is “the greatest blow yet.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The artist who made a sculpture will pay to remove her sculpture from the Hotel at Kirkwood Community College after she sued, claiming the college had mutilated it. Molly Mason designed the sculpture as a water fountain when it was installed when the hotel opened in 2008. She filed a lawsuit in 2021 claiming Kirkwood had altered her work by removing the water feature and replacing it with plants around the base, referring to it as an “overgrown planter.”