MUSCATINE, IA (IRN) – A man from Davenport has been charged with Homicide by Vehicle after authorities found his vehicle submerged in the Mississippi River. 36-year-old Joshua Scott Peters’ vehicle was found with a dead body in it. WINTERSET, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s oldest oak tree is clinging to life following last month’s EF-4 tornado that hit Madison County. The bur oak, which stands in Pammel State Park, sprouted in 1634, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. That’s nearly a full century before the birth of George Washington (1732). The rolling hills in the park have never been plowed, and the park contains 40 or 50 of the oldest oak trees in Iowa. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A new $58 million dollar hockey arena in Des Moines just got its final approval. The new Buccaneers arena is going up at Merle Hay Mall. The Iowa Economic Development Authority approved the plans to funnel $26.5 million into the project. The approval allows the Buccaneers to finish raising money, and start building. It will seat 3,500 fans, and the project is expected to be complete in fall of next year. AMES, IA (IRN) – A research team at Iowa State University has won a prestigious award for developing a new way that could remove thousands of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. The team won a $1,000,000 prize from XPRIZE Carbon Removal as a way to help advance its vision of removing a major greenhouse gas from the environment in the hope of slowing climate change.

WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – A Waukee couple has been charged with child endangerment after falling unconscious behind the wheel with an infant in the car. On April 17th, Jake Stratton and Brittney Ballinger were driving with their 3-month-old infant in the car, when they took fentanyl causing both of them to pass out behind the wheel and Ballinger to overdose. Officers say Stratton and Ballinger were found unconscious with the car stopped but the gear in drive. Ballinger was reportedly slumped over the infant from an apparent drug overdose. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Governor Kim Reynolds office has confirmed Iowa will join a multi-state effort to police the southern border in Texas. Iowa is one of 24 states taking part in the Governors’ Border Strike Force. The effort is championed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and has drawn interest from the country’s Republican Governors. CARROLL, IA (IRN) – Nearly 100 parents and teachers attended a packed Carroll Community School Board meeting Thursday night. The crowd wore orange stickers reading, “I Support Carroll Teachers.” Those in attendance brought three binders worth of complaints against a school administrator who they claim bullies teachers. The board declined to look at the stack of complaints, which accuse an administrator of bullying educators and degrading their teaching styles. The board said their attorney told them not to read the complaints. BREMER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A farm in northeast Iowa is the latest to be hit with a case of the highly contagious bird flu. The farm, located in Bremer County north of Waterloo, had a confirmed case in a commercial turkey flock. This is the 17th case of bird flu found in Iowa across 13 counties.

WEST LIBERTY, IA (IRN) – The city of West Liberty is running out of time to reach an agreement with its volunteer fire department, before every member resigns. Earlier this month, the department sent a letter to the city, threatening to resign if the city doesn’t change how they divide up financial resources. Members accused the city of demanding complete control of the department and finances without transparency, harassing volunteers, and stalling to hire more EMS personnel. The city responded to the letter, calling the accusations either wrong or unfounded. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for the 2018 shooting death of a Cambridge woman. 22-year-old Jaquarious Scoggins was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in January to second-degree murder for the death of 25-year-old Mercedes Wathen. Scoggins must serve a minimum of 35 years before he’s eligible for parole. He shot her in the head. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Police have arrested a suspect for the city’s first homicide of 2022. Authorities announced Wednesday they arrested 25-year-old Sam Sando for the shooting death of 24-year-old Trishay Thompson. Sando faces charges of first-degree murder. Thompson was shot outside an apartment complex on January 9th. He died from his injuries more than two weeks later. CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – One person is in jail after two people were robbed overnight in Cedar Falls. 20-year-old Isaiah Malik Pratt was arrested and charged with Robbery 2nd, Burglary 2nd, and Possession of Marijuana, 2nd offense. Cedar Falls police were called around 10 pm to a parking lot for a report of two people being robbed. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Dotdash Meredith will end the print edition of Martha Stewart Living next month, making it the company’s seventh title to cease physical publication this year. Martha Stewart Living follows other Dotdash Meredith titles that have ended their print runs this year, including EatingWell, Entertainment Weekly, Health, InStyle, Parents and People en Español. Those cuts resulted in about 200 layoffs.

ANAMOSA, IA (IRN) – An inmate serving a 15-year prison sentence at the Anamosa State Penitentiary died Monday due to an apparent suicide. Anthony Spurgeon, 31, was pronounced dead at 9 a.m. Monday, April 18 at the prison. Spurgeon had been serving his sentence for the crime of habitual offender and other charges out of Wapello County. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Firefighters and police are on the scene of a fire this morning in downtown Cedar Rapids. Crews responded to a call of a fire just before 3:00 a.m. Multiple businesses and storefronts are located in the area. POWESHIEK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Firefighters in Poweshiek County battled a fire at Ponderosa Lumber near Montezuma yesterday. There’s no word on the cause, or if anyone was injured. AMES, IA (IRN) – The Ames Police Department is looking for a man who allegedly assaulted a nurse in the Mary Greeley Medical Center emergency room on Monday night. At about 9:45 p.m., a man entered the hospital and assaulted a nurse at the front counter. He then left. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Tuesday was supposed to be the last day of session for the Iowa legislature, but some issues are still under debate. A major sticking point is private school vouchers. Governor Reynolds and Senate Republicans want to take money from public schools to be used as tuition for private school students. So far, House Republicans and Democrats are opposed. Opponents say private schools will be able to choose which children they enroll, and won’t have the same accountability public schools do.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A bill that would allow older teens to work in child care facilities just grew closer to becoming law. It would also increase the ratio for how many kids these providers would watch. The Republican-sponsored measure passed through the Senate yesterday in a 30-18 vote. Safe and affordable child care activists are unhappy with the new bill. If it becomes law, it will lower the age to be eligible to work in child care centers unsupervised to 16. They say it’s unsafe. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A ruling from a federal judge in Florida declared mask mandates on airplanes and other transportation methods unlawful because the CDC exceeded its statutory authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act. As a result, many airports across the country, including Iowa, have dropped the mask requirement. HUDSON, IA (IRN) – The Hudson Police Department is warning of gas thefts with the recent rise in gas prices. The Hudson Police Department is asking the community to be vigilant. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – A junior from Ankeny High School recently found out she got a perfect ACT score of 36. Sydney Madetzke said she found out her results while she was in class, and was very excited–nearly hyperventilating. Less than one-half of 1% of all test takers earn the top score.