IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – As of Friday, more than 350 students in the Iowa City Community School District were under quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19. INDIANAPOLIS, IN (IRN) – Kofi Cockburn scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, and No. 3 Illinois beat the No. 5 Iowa men’s basketball team 82-71 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament title game. INDIANAPOLIS, IN (IRN) – Seventh-ranked Maryland’s scoring depth and impressive skills were once again on display in a 104-84 rout of the Iowa women’s basketball team to claim a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament championship on Saturday. IOWA (IRN) – While the calendar says that Spring begins in just a few days, winter is not going away quietly across Iowa. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for portions of north-central Iowa, in effect from Sunday night into Monday. The southern part of the state should expect rain.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – More than 1 million doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in Iowa, the state announced Friday, even as residents who qualify struggled to make appointments for a shot. Iowa has no centralized system for people to make a vaccine appointment. Gov. Kim Reynolds dismissed an early plan to pay Microsoft to set up a statewide registration and appointment scheduling program. Instead, the state set up a website that offers information about where to get vaccines but leaves scheduling to individuals. AFTON, IA (IRN) – More than 5,300 Iowans have lost their lives to the coronavirus. Joe and Judy Chastain, married for 54 years, died nine hours apart from the disease. They had just retired to Afton. Please don’t read the following unless you update the scores when the games are finished. I am unavailable to do so. INDIANAPOLIS, IN (IRN) – Luka Garza scored 24 points, Joe Wieskamp made two key baskets late and the No. 5 Iowa men’s basketball team fended off Wisconsin 62-57 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night. The third-seeded Hawkeyes (21-7) rallied from a six-point halftime deficit behind Garza. Iowa advanced to face third-ranked Illinois in today’s semifinals. INDIANAPOLIS, IN (IRN) – Monika Czinano scored 27 points, Caitlin Clark added 20 points and 11 assists and the sixth-seeded Iowa women’s basketball team beat seventh-seeded Michigan State 87-72 Friday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game. The Hawkeyes (18-8) will be seeking their fourth win in the tournament when they take on top seed and No. 7-ranked Maryland.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The man accused of shooting and killing Dexter Meeks in Cedar Rapids in 2011 has pleaded not guilty. Mykel Roberts entered a written plea on Thursday. Dexter Meeks was shot in the head. KANSAS CITY, MO (IRN) – A decision about Steve Prohm’s future with the Iowa State men’s basketball program may not come until next week. The Cyclones’ historically poor season came to an end Wednesday night with a 79-73 loss to No. 24 Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. The Cyclones have a 2-22 record, an 18-game losing streak, and finished the regular season 0-18 in the Big 12. With two other losing seasons since 2017, it’s uncertain if Prohm will return to the Cyclones for a seventh season. INDIANAPOLIS, IN (IRN) – Gabbie Marshall scored 22 of her career-high 27 points by halftime and the sixth-seeded Iowa women’s basketball team knocked third-seeded and No. 19-ranked Rutgers out of the Big Ten tournament 73-62 in Thursday night’s quarterfinals. Iowa will face seventh-seeded Michigan State, which had earlier upset No. 9-ranked Indiana, in a Friday semifinal. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – After cancelling for the first time ever last year because of the pandemic, the annual SaPaDaPaSo Parade will go on this year. The 46th annual Saint Patrick’s parade will take place this Saturday at the Hawkeye Downs racetrack, drive-thru style. People attending can drive around the race track in their vehicles and view all the stationary parade entries.

IOWA (IRN) – As Iowa crosses the one-year anniversary of its first positive cases of coronavirus, it is on track to hit another milestone, state officials said Wednesday; 1 million doses of vaccine will be administered by the end of the week. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Senate passed bills Wednesday that would heighten penalties for unlawful protests and ban cities from reducing police budgets. One bill heightens penalties for assaulting police, rioting or assembling unlawfully. It also makes blocking streets or highways a misdemeanor and requires those arrested for certain crimes to be held for at least 24 hours. Drivers who hit protesters unlawfully blocking streets or highways will be given civil immunity unless they engage in “reckless or willful misconduct.” IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A Georgia man was sentenced to two years in federal prison last week in connection with a scheme to obtain over $60,000 in fraudulent tax refunds from University of Iowa employees in 2015. POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Polk County Health Department is warning citizens not to turn to Craigslist to make a vaccine appointment. It may be a scam. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A jury in Polk County has found Des Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri and an acquaintance not guilty on all charges after their arrest last year during protests over racial injustice in Des Moines. Sahouri was covering the protests as a reporter, and had been charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. The acquittal is seen nationally as a victory for the First Amendment and freedom of the press.

WASHINGTON D.C. (IRN) – The closest race for a federal seat in the last election will be talked about in a U.S. House committee Wednesday. In Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Rita Hart lost to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks by just six votes after several recounts. Hart filed a petition with the U.S. House instead of the Iowa court system, saying 22 ballots were not counted. Miller-Meeks was certified the winner by the state and seated provisionally in January. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A jury in Fayette County has convicted a man of murder in the 2018 death of an infant. Dean Alan Hettinger, 24, of Westgate, was a caretaker of four-week-old Holten Smith. Holten had brain bleeding when hospitalized and 36 traumatic rib fractures were identified during his autopsy. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – Ankeny police are investigating what they call a “suspicious” death at a mobile home park. Witness interviews are underway and investigators are attempting to contact the family of the deceased. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A West Des Moines police officer returned to work Monday months after being struck by a car on Interstate 35 while on duty. The Nov. 8 crash left Officer Jon Kaufman in critical condition. Kaufman suffered multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed and blood clots during the crash. Kaufman returned to patrol following months of medical procedures, physical therapy and extensive screening. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Less than 24 hours after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a new voting reform law into effect, an Iowa civil rights group has filed a lawsuit to stop the state from enforcing it. LULAC Iowa, a state branch of the nation’s oldest and largest Hispanic organization, filed the lawsuit. The law reduces Iowa’s early voting period from 29 to 20 days, among other provisions.