DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man faces multiple charges after allegedly sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old boy and planning to meet him. According to police, 54-year-old Matthew Marcalus planned to meet the boy at an Ankeny movie theater for sex. Marcalus was arrested by Ankeny police when he arrived at the theater. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A former Iowa official now running for state auditor was wrongly fired in retaliation for reporting illegal conduct at the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, a Polk County jury found Friday. Todd Halbur began working as comptroller for the division in 2015 and sued after he was terminated in July 2018, alleging whistleblower retaliation on the part of the beverages division and its director, Stephen Larson. He was awarded $1 million. Halbur is running as a Republican to unseat Auditor Rob Sand, the Democratic incumbent. SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Tyson Foods, one of the world’s largest meatpacking companies, is shuttering multiple corporate offices, including one in metro Sioux City. They plan to transfer the employees to the international meatpacker’s world headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas. About 1,000 employees across multiple states will be impacted. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – The lowest water levels in the Mississippi River in a decade, caused by a severe Midwest drought, have closed the vital channel to barge traffic at a crucial time of the year for the transport of crops from the nation’s heartland. The low water has also been responsible for eight barges running aground during the last week.

IOWA (IRN) – The entire state of Iowa will soon be under a Freeze Warning. A Freeze Warning will go into effect for all of Iowa beginning at 1 AM Saturday. The warning will remain in effect through 9 AM Saturday as temperatures go below 32 degrees. This will be the earliest freeze in the last 10 years. OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – A Wapello County man and woman have been found guilty on federal charges of labor trafficking for bringing two immigrants from Micronesia to their home, then stealing their wages. Nesly Mwarecheong, 46, and Bertino Weires, 51, each pleaded guilty this week in federal court. When the men arrived they were made to work at a meat processing plant in Ottumwa. Mwarecheong and Weires then confiscated and kept most of the men’s pay – allowing them to keep just $20 per pay period. They also took the men’s passports and social security cards. HIAWATHA, IA (IRN) – A Hiawatha man was arrested on Thursday for sending a threatening communication to election officials in Arizona. According to court documents, 64-year-old Mark Rissi allegedly left threatening voicemails that also falsely claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen. DECORAH, IA (IRN) – Two teenagers have been arrested and charged in connection to an August burglary of Stone Ridge Community Church in Decorah. The teens face multiple felony charges. NEWTON, IA (IRN) – A man from Newton was arrested while he was speaking at a city council meeting Monday. Noah Petersen tried to use his allocated three minutes to criticize police department actions. Mayor Michael Hansen called him out of order, asked him to leave, and when Peterson didn’t, police arrested him.

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A Waterloo woman will spend up to 10 years in prison for luring her cousin to his death. Prosecutors originally charged Danaesha Martin with first degree murder. She later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of conspiracy and testified at the trial of Raymond Birden Junior. Birden is one of two men who shot Shavondes Martin in 2018. Prosecutors said it was in retaliation for a drive-by shooting, which killed Birden’s brother in 2016. That’s when Birden had Danaesha bring her cousin to her apartment complex where he was killed in the alley behind the apartment. WARREN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A man is dead after a single-car crash around 5:30 p.m. in Warren County yesterday. The Iowa State Patrol says 57-year-old Russell Menth of Leonard, Texas was killed when his truck went into a ditch along Interstate 35 near Saint Mary’s. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – For the first time in almost three decades, an alum of a Cedar Rapids minor league baseball team won a Major League Baseball batting championship. Luis Arraez, who won the Midwest League batting crown in 2016 with the Kernels, clinched his first title in the majors on Wednesday – finishing the season with a .316 batting average for the Minnesota Twins. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Former President George W. Bush will be in Cedar Rapids tomorrow. President Bush is in town to receive a humanitarian award and headline a fundraiser for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. ROSEMONT, (IL) – The University of Iowa was voted as the 2022-23 preseason Big Ten Conference women’s basketball favorite by both the conference’s 14 head coaches and a select media panel, the conference office announced Wednesday. The coaches and media also named Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark as the 2022-23 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, with Clark chosen by the coaches as the preseason honoree for the second consecutive year.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Attorney General’s Office said two Cedar Rapids police officers were justified when they shot and killed a man while investigating a domestic disturbance in August. The man was holding a weapon and refused to obey orders. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A third teenager charged with murder in a drive-by shooting death of a 15-year-old boy outside a Des Moines high school in March has agreed to plead guilty to lesser crimes. The plea agreement may allow Gumaro Marquez-Jacobo, 18, to avoid prison time for charges related to the March 7 death of 15-year-old Jose Lopez. CHILLICOTHE, IA (IRN) – One man is in the hospital after a house explosion near Chillicothe in southeast Iowa on Tuesday. The Wapello County Sheriff’s Office says they received a call about a house that exploded at noon on Tuesday. The caller also said a man was outside the house. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – A teacher and coach at Ankeny High School remains hospitalized in a coma on Tuesday after apparently striking his head on the ground when he crashed his bike early Saturday morning. Greg Lage was riding his bike home after bartending on Friday morning when he crashed on gravel near Birdland Marina. A passing police officer spotted Lage lying on a trail and called 911. When Lage stopped breathing, the officer performed CPR until EMTs arrived. Lage remains hospitalized in critical condition with brain injuries. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines’ southeast side could be in for a major overhaul. The city wants to transform the area from blighted to beloved. And it all starts with Southeast 14th Street, one of the busiest streets in the metro with an average of more than 36,000 cars a day.

NEVADA, IA (IRN) – Rescue crews are calling a crane operator a hero for what he did to get an injured co-worker out of a concrete tank. According to the Nevada Fire Department, a man fell 25 feet into that tank at a rural construction site a few miles south of Nevada. Paramedics were able to climb down and stabilize the man. The department said a crane was used to lift the victim out of the tank. The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A 17-year-old accused of killing his parents in Cedar Rapids will stand trial in December. Ethan Orton faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his parents Misty Scott-Slade and Casey Orton. When police arrived at the home, they found Orton sitting outside covered in blood. Police say he admitted to stabbing and killing his parents to “take charge of his life.” IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Donald Clark, who spent more than six years in prison for a sex crime he did not commit, was awarded $12 million by a state district court jury in Iowa City on Monday. Clark was convicted in 2010 of abusing a student during the 2003 school year. He was freed in 2016 after a judge ruled that his now-deceased public defender provided ineffective assistance. The alleged victim admitted to some false testimony and the county prosecutor’s office dropped the case. BROOKLYN, IA (IRN) – A fatal crash occurred between a semi-truck and a tractor south of I-80 near Brooklyn on Monday. The Iowa State Patrol says the driver of the semi-truck rear-ended the tractor. The tractor was hauling a grain trailer. The tractor driver was killed. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A person has been taken to the hospital with non-life threatening gunshot injuries after being shot outside of Southridge Mall in Des Moines. Police say that a car pulled up and fired shots at the victim. The victim started running and was shot again. The victim has a wound in their arm and their leg. Police estimate around 20 shots were fired in what they believe to be a targeted incident.