DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The days of needing to be 18 to serve alcohol may be coming to an end in Iowa. A bill in the state legislature would eliminate the age requirement to serve in restaurants and bars as well as sell alcohol in stores. Right now, anyone can take an alcohol order but an adult must physically serve the drink or ring up the sale in a store.The bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, said the current age limit makes it hard on restaurants and bars that are dealing with a labor shortage.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – After six hours of deliberations, a Linn County jury has found a Cedar Rapids man guilty of killing his parents and sister in 2021. Alex Jackson, 22, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder on Wednesday. He’ll receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison on March 3.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – Iowa OSHA is investigating after a contractor died in an accident at Adventureland amusement park in Altoona. 20-year-old Zachary Alesky said he was carrying a steel beam when he slipped on ice, and the beam came down and crushed his chest.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One person was seriously injured when a building exploded on the northeast side of Des Moines Wednesday evening. The explosion and fire was at Metro Motors. One man was rescued from the burning building and transported to a nearby hospital. The victim sustained serious burns and is in critical condition. The cause of the explosion and fire is still under investigation.

CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – A 39-year-old man from Cedar Falls was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty in a bank fraud scheme. Nolan Otto Dewall was a manager and shareholder at a Black Hawk County grain cooperative and a part owner of a trucking company in Dike. In May of 2018, DeWall started a “check-kiting” scheme in which he transferred large amounts of funds by check between the grain cooperative and trucking company. The checks were designed to falsely and temporarily inflate the balances of the accounts to benefit the grain cooperative, which was in financial distress. When the check-kiting scheme collapsed, the trucking company’s account was left with a negative $247,000 balance.