JANESVILLLE, IA (IRN) – A driver’s education instructor who was the Mayor of Fairbank was killed in a crash on Monday in the Bremer County town of Janesville. A 14-year-old student driver was southbound on Highway 218 in a 2014 Chevy Impala when they left the road onto the shoulder then overcorrected and crossed into oncoming traffic. The Impala was hit on the passenger side by an oncoming Toyota Highlander. 71-year-old Gregory Harter was pronounced dead at the scene. The 14-year-old driver and a 14-year-old passenger were taken by ambulance from the scene, as was the 44-year-old driver of the Highlander. POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Polk County is seeing another spike in COVID-19 cases this summer. Omicron B.A. 5 subvariant is causing the rise. This strain is highly contagious and is quickly becoming the dominant strain in Iowa as well as the U.S. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids police were called to Mercy Medical Center Monday after a staff member reported seeing a suspicious item left by the curb near the Hall Perrine Cancer Center. The bomb squad was sent to evaluate the suspicious item. Officials determined that the item was not a threat and it was safely removed. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A group of residents in a southside Des Moines neighborhood is no longer getting their mail delivered after two dogs attacked a postal worker last month. Residents say the pause in service is unfair, inconvenient and has become a headache. About 26 homes are affected by the pause in service.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Average gasoline prices in Iowa have fallen 15.2 cents per gallon in the last week. The price of gas is now averaging $4.33/g today, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 2,036 stations in Iowa. Prices in Iowa are 39.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and are a $1.35/g higher than a year ago. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police responded to about 200 calls for service from 9 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday, including multiple shootings that they are now investigating. One shooting turned deadly, becoming the 10th homicide of 2022. The victim, a 32-year-old Des Moines resident, sustained an apparent gunshot injury. PALO, IA (IRN) – A suspicious death investigation is being conducted in Benton County. Jodie Bevans, 58, was found dead in her Palo home during a welfare check on Friday. Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy and the investigation continues. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – The Waterloo Fire Department responded to a call of smoke inside the Rath Packing Company on Saturday. When crews arrived, one small fire was located on the main floor. Another small fire was located on the top floor. Crews knocked down both fires with no reports of injuries. The cause of the fires is under investigation. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Starting today, everyone will have to mask up inside city buildings in Cedar Rapids. Transmission of COVID-19 is considered “high” according to the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Level monitoring. The City of Cedar Rapids says it’ll follow CDC recommendations to require masks indoors, at least for city buildings. Masks will be recommended on Cedar Rapids transit.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The body of the 11-year-old girl who went missing in the Raccoon River on Wednesday has been recovered. The girl had been on the water on an inflatable raft with two other children. She got off the raft, went under the water and did not resurface. TAYLOR COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The person infected by a suspected brain-eating amoeba in a southern Iowa lake has died. Missouri health officials say a resident from their state likely picked up the deadly parasite at the Lake of Three Fires State Park in Taylor County. It’s the first reported case in Iowa of the rare and deadly infection. The beach at the Lake of Three Fires remains closed as the state awaits official test results to confirm the presence of the amoeba. JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Johnson County Sheriff and emergency personnel responded to I-380 after a report of an erratic driver shortly after midnight on Friday. After a chase into Iowa City, the vehicle was stopped and two thirteen-year-olds now face numerous charges. The car had been stolen from Cedar Rapids. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man got the chance to thank the officers who saved his life after a medical emergency earlier this year. Officers Brandon Gudenkauf, Mark Lorenzen and Chief Deputy Dave Riniker were on duty at the Hempstead Graduation ceremony in May. While they were there, Terry Hirsch, who was attending the ceremony, had a medical emergency. On Thursday, the officers paid a visit to Hirsch’s home, so he could give them a proper “thank you.”

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines Police Department says a 35-year-old man who was struck by a vehicle late Thursday night has died from his injuries. Police said the preliminary investigation indicates the man was crossing a busy street when a Volkswagen Jetta driven by a 23-year-old Des Moines woman appeared to swerve to avoid hitting the man but was not able to. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller on Tuesday called on the state legislature to support a red flag law aimed at reducing gun violence. Governor Reynolds says she will consider it. JOHNSTON, IA (IRN) – Police say they arrested the command chief of the Iowa Air National Guard in Polk County on Wednesday night after he reportedly drove under the influence, damaging property at Camp Dodge. Thomas Fennell, 57, of Sioux City, enlisted in the Iowa Air National Guard in 1988 and was named command chief in 2017. OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – The lives of over 300 people have been saved, thanks to one Ottumwa woman. On Wednesday, the late Kayte Mosher, who was only 20 when she died, was honored posthumously by the Iowa Department of Transportation, the organization that records donor status on driver’s licenses. After her death in 2012, since she was a donor, many received her organs and tissue. During the event, her story was shared, and her family received a permanent tribute plaque. GILBERT, IA (IRN) – What started as a way to pass some time for a kindergartener has grown into a world championship. Irene Jiao Fei, 9, of Gilbert, recently returned from Panama, where she won a world chess championship for players nine and under. Now a fourth grader, her parents signed her up for a chess club in kindergarten to give her an activity to be involved with.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Despite the seasonal summer slowdown, Iowa keeps setting new sports betting benchmarks. In June, more than $122 million were wagered in the state. That’s the highest amount in June on record, 10% higher than the year before. Since legal sports gambling began in Iowa in August of 2019, more than $4 billion worth of bets have been placed. Experts predict Iowa will surpass $3 billion placed in sports bets this year alone. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police and the Des Moines Fire Department conducted water rescue efforts along the Raccoon River last night. Police say that an 11-year-old girl had been on the water on an inflatable raft with two other children. She got off the raft, went under the water, and did not resurface. The search is continuing this morning, but she is presumed to have drowned. LINN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Multiple rescue and law enforcement agencies in Linn County are searching for someone who went missing at Palisades-Kepler State Park on Wednesday. Rescue personnel were called in when a person began to struggle and went underwater. The search continues. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – West Des Moines Police are working to find a suspect in the armed robbery of a bank on Wednesday morning. The robbery happened just before noon at First Class Credit Union. Police say the suspect, wearing a mask and armed with a silver handgun, demanded money from a teller then fled the bank. SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Sioux City police removed dozens of snakes and mice from a home Monday night. Marilyn Twinn lives in a townhouse in Sioux City. When she came home one day, she found a python in her garage. She believed the snake came from her next-door neighbor. After getting a search warrant, police and animal control confiscated mice and snakes from the property while the homeowner was out of town. Twinn claims the neighbor’s 6-month-old baby could have easily been killed by the python.