TIPTON, IA (IRN) – A 61-year-old Illinois man has been given 25 years in prison for shooting at vehicles along Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. KGAN-TV reports Charles Johnston, of Belvidere, Illinois, was sentenced Friday. Johnston fired several shots on Jan. 11, 2018, at a rest area and at a semitrailer at a gas station and then at an Iowa state trooper. Johnston had become obsessed over a family supposedly killed in a collision with a semi and that he wanted to retaliate against a truck driver or truck drivers. Johnston had been a teaching psychology at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. SUMNER, IA (IRN) – One person died after their pickup truck crossed the centerline, entered a ditch, went airborne, and rolled into a light pole in a Dollar General parking lot in the Bremer County town of Sumner. Another person was injured. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A smoke detector may have helped save a woman from a fire in her apartment in Des Moines. WHO-TV reports when crews arrived, they saw smoke coming out of one unit and a woman waving for help on the balcony. Crews were able to get her off the balcony and put the fire out. She suffered minor smoke inhalation but refused treatment. There’s no word on what started the blaze. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Nineteen Democratic presidential hopefuls descended into Iowa Sunday for the largest gathering of candidates so far in the 2020 race. The 2019 Iowa Democrats Hall of Fame was held in Cedar Rapids. The candidates were each given five minutes to separate themselves from the others on the campaign trail. Former Vice President Joe Biden was not in attendance, as he was attending his granddaughter’s graduation. Biden is the frontrunner in the polls. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Twenty-five thousand people attended Pride Fest in Des Moines Sunday. Organizers say this is the biggest turnout in the history of the event.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating a second attempted ATM theft in a week. KCCI-TV reports Sgt. Paul Parizek said the crime is moronic, because thieves are highly unlikely to get away with any cash during the crime, due to the way the machines are built. CHARLES CITY, IA (IRN) – Officials at a chicken processing plant in northeastern Iowa announced the plant will close in August, taking 500 jobs with it. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City closes on Aug. 5. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Nine Scott County churches are teaming up to honor lives lost in the community. They are remembering victims of gun violence with T-shirts. WQAD-TV reports it’s called “Memorial to the Lost.” Each T-shirt represents a victim of gun violence in Scott County since 2014. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The LGBTQ community is celebrating some historical milestones this year: 10 years of marriage equality in Iowa and 50 years since the Stonewall riots that paved the way for pride celebrations. WHO-TV reports joining in the festivities at Pridefest in the east village of Des Moines were numerous presidential candidates.

BREMER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A man who reached speeds of 127 miles per hour on a motorcycle in Bremer County is facing multiple charges. KIMT-TV reports Dylan Jacobs, 20, of Clarksville, was taken into custody Wednesday night after he was initially clocked going 106 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone. SCOOBA, MS (IRN) – A woman from Iowa was among three people killed in a four-vehicle crash this week in eastern Mississippi. The Mississippi Highway Patrol reports 67-year-old Kathleen Estling of Altoona was one of the three. Five other people were injured. Investigators said a southbound pickup crossed the median of U.S. Highway 45 and hit three northbound vehicles. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Supreme Court has denied a request by the attorney for former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to stop a civil trial in which Branstad is accused of discrimination against a gay former state worker’s compensation commissioner. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The State of Iowa reported a 36th and 37th Safe Haven baby Friday. A baby girl was born May 24th. A baby boy was born May 27th. Both were turned over to the state under the Safe Haven law. A court hearing will be held in a month to decide legal custody for both children. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police in Des Moines are looking into another reported sighting of a mountain lion. WHO-TV reports the report came in from the city’s south side early Friday morning. Police are investigating and have not yet determined whether the sighting can be confirmed.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a massive train derailment in eastern Iowa. Twenty-eight cars filled with coal went off the tracks yesterday evening just east of Cedar Rapids. KALONA, (IRN) – A teenager who went missing Wednesday night in rural Kalona was found deceased Thursday afternoon. KCII-radio reports 16-year-old Colton Allen’s body has been recovered. No other details have been released. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Vernon Huser has been convicted twice of First Degree Murder for hiring a hitman to kill Lance Morningstar, his wife’s lover in 2004. He’s had those convictions thrown out on appeal while maintaining his innocence. On Thursday he finally admitted his guilt and then walked out of court a free man. Louis Woolheater was convicted for First Degree Murder for the shooting. However the investigation revealed that Woolheater had been contacted by Huser, whose ex-wife had a romantic relationship with Morningstar, before the shooting. Huser was sentenced to time served and released. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police and FBI agents raided 12 locations across the metro Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation into the C-Block gang. The Department of Justice says eight people were arrested. CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – A high-speed chase that extended through two counties in eastern Iowa Thursday morning ended when the driver crashed into a fence at an RV dealership in Cedar Falls. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the driver tried to hide in a camper, but was apprehended. USA (IRN) – Torrential rainfall across the United States in the month of May kept piling onto what has already been a significantly wetter-than-normal year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports May 2019 was not only the second-wettest May on record, it was also the second wettest of any month on record in the US only behind May 2015. That beat out more than 1,000 months on record. Iowa had its fourth-wettest May ever.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – According to the office of the governor, Gov. Reynolds experienced chest pain earlier today and out of an abundance of caution went to the emergency room to seek medical care. The governor was seen by a physician. Her blood tests, chest x-rays, and electrocardiogram test were all normal. She has been released from the hospital and is back working at the Capitol. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The former office manager of the Iowa City Area Development Group is accused of misusing approximately a half-million dollars of ICAD funds over more than a decade. According to the Iowa State Auditor’s Office, a special investigation identified nearly $470,000.00 of improper disbursements made by Sheri Jelinek. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police say heavy police and FBI presence in several neighborhoods is part of a collaborative investigation effort. FBI agents and police were at several homes for some time Thursday morning. LINCOLN, NE (IRN) – A Montana man dubbed the AK-47 bandit and accused of holding up banks in several states over a five-year period has been sentenced in a Nebraska federal court to 35 years in prison. KIMT-TV reports Richard Gathercole is suspected of robbing the Iowa Heartland Credit Union in Mason City in 2015 DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Polk County jury will decide whether former Gov. Terry Branstad was acting out of anti-gay animosity when he slashed a former state official’s pay and asked him to resign nearly a decade ago. Former Iowa’s Workers’ Compensation Commissioner, Chris Godfrey, a Democrat, first filed the case in 2012, and it has cost taxpayers over a million dollars in lawyer fees so far. CRESTON, IA (IRN) – A Creston family used their teen son’s obituary to send a message to bullies with a plea for kindness after he took his own life. In the obituary, the family of 16-year-old Dan Richards began by remembering their son as “the ideal son.” His obituary reads, “He was easygoing and so caring … Dan touched the lives of many. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body.” Richards attended Creston Community High School and died on May 30. But Richards’ family also sent a pointed message, writing, “to the bullies out there who succeeded in making Dan feel worthless, he wasn’t…the family has no hard feelings towards you, and you are forgiven. Your actions are between you and God now.” IOWA (IRN) – Iowa residents who want to try their hand at fishing this weekend will not need a state license to do so. The DNR declared Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9 as Free Fishing Weekend. It means that a state-issued fishing license will not be required along Iowa’s waterways, ponds, and lakes.