DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Officials are concerned about more deaths on the road after the U.S. Department of Transportation released its statistics on deadly motor vehicle crashes. In Iowa, there was a 26 percent increase in fatal crashes this past year, the fourth-highest in the country. Many officers agree the increase in fatalities is because of drivers being distracted. In 2016, there were more than 37,000 motor vehicle-involved deaths nationwide. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police in central Iowa have arrested a man charged in the death of a woman whose body was found under a bridge in Kentucky. KCRG-TV reports 35-year-old Valenti Ware was arrested Friday at a Des Moines home on a Kentucky warrant charging him with murder and evidence tampering. Ware was being held Friday in the Polk County Jail awaiting extradition to Kentucky. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – West Des Moines police are searching for a man who tried to lure an elementary school-age girl into his car Thursday afternoon. KCCI-TV reports the girl, who attends Crossroads Park Elementary, was on her way home from school when she noticed a man in an SUV driving slowly next to her. Police say he tried to entice her into his vehicle. She ran to a nearby apartment building, where she got help. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Hackers potentially accessed protected health information for 820 people following an email scam at an Iowa agency. The Iowa Department of Human Services says hackers sent so-called phishing emails to agency employees on Aug. 23. Nine DHS workers inadvertently provided passwords that gave hackers access to their email accounts. The department says all individuals potentially affected are being notified by mail and will be offered up to a year of credit monitoring at no charge. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A photo op turned into a rescue operation along the Raccoon River Friday night. WHO-TV reports a couple were taking photos on the river bank, when the woman fell on the rocks and injured her leg. Des Moines Water Rescue was called in to try and reach her, but rough terrain and steep river banks made accessibility difficult. Efforts were eventually successful.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Projections for Iowa’s budget are down again, and could force spending cuts when lawmakers return in January. The $7.2 billion budget in effect since July is down by about $130 million. Iowa’s economy is growing more slowly than expected. Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for poor budget priorities. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is taking the US Secretary of Education to court and accusing her of breaking the law and putting American students at risk for fraud. Attorney General Tom Miller announced Iowa is joining other states in a lawsuit against the US Department of Education and Secretary DeVos. Miller says the DOE is illegally ignoring the “gainful employment rule” that is meant to stop for-profit schools from defrauding students. The rule requires a college to prove that it is actually training students. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Police are investigating a drive-by shooting in which witnesses say they heard 10-15 shots fired. KCCI-TV reports a bullet pierced the front window of a home, and witnesses say the gunfire was rapid fire. The gunman is still at large, and it’s unclear if anyone was injured. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Three Des Moines police officers will not face charges for fatally shooting an armed woman earlier this year. WHO-TV reports a grand jury decided Tuesday that the officers were justified in shooting Tiffany Potter. Potter stopped her car when the three officers started to follow her. She then ran and fired a gunshot before an officer fired back. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man has admitted to participating in a scheme to defraud people throughout the U.S., primarily the elderly. KCRG-TV reports 33-year-old Tobey Hines pled guilty Thursday to wire fraud. Hines would call a person on the phone, falsely telling that person a relative was in jail. The caller then asked the person to wire money for bail to get the relative released. The scheme netted over $225,000 for the group, and jail time. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Halloween parade-goers in Dubuque may notice something is missing this year – the candy. WQAD-TV reports city leaders, police, and YMCA organizers made the decision that throwing or handing out candy would not be allowed this year due to safety concerns. Police say they’ve seen kids run out in the street to gather candy, almost being hit by floats or cars.

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Police have charged a Burlington man with killing his mother by striking her in the head with an electric guitar. The Hawk Eye newspaper reports 29-year-old Garret Selters was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday in the death of 56-year-old Linda Selters. Police say Selters confessed to killing his mother by striking her in the back of her head with a Les Paul guitar. CERRO GORDO COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A Clear Lake man died after a motorcycle wreck Tuesday. KIMT-TV reports 49-year-old Bernard Dewitt was riding his cycle when he left the road and went into the Winnebago River. Dewitt was traveling with two other friends on separate motorcycles. MASONVILLE, IA (IRN) – One person is dead after crashing through a barn and hitting a tree near the northeastern Iowa town of Masonville. Troopers say the driver left the road for an unknown reason, went through the barn, and struck a tree. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating a stabbing that sent one man to the hospital yesterday. KCCI-TV reports the incident happened near a downtown Dart Bus station. Police say a bleeding man ran into the DART station and asked for help from an on-duty officer. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital with nonlife-threatening stab wounds. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Iowa may soon punish bars who routinely put drunk drivers on the road. The Traffic and Safety Board of Iowa wants to implement a “place of last drink” database. Police may start tracking bars to find out which ones have histories of over-serving. Those bars could possibly lose their licences. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – Two Ankeny brothers are riding their motorcycles to South America to make the world a better place. The Naylor brothers will leave November 15 on a six-month ride traveling 20,000 miles down the Pan-American highway to the southern tip of Argentina. They hope to raise $20,000 dollars to build a school in Uganda. Brother Ross says, “we`d like to think that we’re setting an example that it’s okay to dream big…the world, even though it looks big and scary, is really just filled with people that are the same as you and me.”

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – A Burlington man may have murdered his mother. The Hawk Eye reports police responded to a report of a domestic incident and found 56-year-old Linda Sue Selters unresponsive and with life-threatening injuries. She later died. Authorities say she was struck multiple times with a blunt instrument. Her son, 29-year-old Garret Scott Selters, has been charged with murder. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – Pottawattamie County jurors found a 77-year-old former youth mentor guilty on 11 charges, including sexual abuse, false imprisonment and stalking. Donald Brammer sat motionless in a wheelchair Tuesday as the verdict was read. KETV reports the former Boys and Girls Club volunteer locked an 11-year-old in a bathroom and sexually assaulted her. The prosecuting attorney said, “the jury saw through that Brammer was trying to portray himself as a feeble old man, when actually he is a dangerous and threatening individual.” Brammer could face a sentence of up to 193 years in prison. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Windsor Heights police are investigating a road rage related crash on I-235 Monday. KCCI-TV reports witnesses told police 50-year-old Ernest Mitchell was driving with road rage, turning into 63-year-old Allen Chadwick’s vehicle and crashing them both into a barrier. Mitchell took off but was later found by police. He was cited for reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and no insurance on file. Chadwick sustained minor injuries. LA PORTE CITY, IA (IRN) – A man from the northeastern Iowa town of La Porte City injured last month when he lost control of his bicycle and crashed has died of his injuries.The Courier reports that 52-year-old Jeffery Lutgen died Sunday. He lost control of his bike while riding and hit his head, resulting in his death 15 days later. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Neighbors answered a Cedar Rapids mother’s plea for help to save her baby when he stopped breathing. KCRG-TV reports Raven Taylor found her one month old son unresponsive. She had a friend call 911 and she ran outside screaming. Her neighbor Joe Rohn ran to help. Rohn is CPR certified, and this is the first time in 20 years he has used his training. After nearly ten minutes passed, the baby opened his eyes. KEOKUK, IA (IRN) – The geode has now been the state rock of Iowa for 50 years, according to WHO-TV. The legislature named it the state rock in 1967. The rock helps drive the tourism industry in Keokuk, which is known as the geode capital of the world. Kirk Brandenburger, Executive Director of the Keokuk Convention and Tourism Bureau says, “It’s a tremendous asset, it keeps a lot of people coming here and coming back…” A local geologist says “it’s like opening a Christmas present, you never know what’s on the inside.”

ST. LOUIS, MO (IRN) – Former UNI football player Jaz Granderson was shot and killed in St. Louis early Monday morning. KSDK reported that St. Louis police identified Granderson after he was found with a gunshot wound around 1:00 a.m. Granderson was later pronounced dead at a hospital. He was living in St. Louis where he was an assistant football coach at a high school. Granderson played for UNI from 2009 to 2011. WARREN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – An Indianola man was injured while climbing into his tree stand on Sunday while deer hunting. The DNR reports 24-year-old Bobbie Joe Stephens fell approximately 23-feet into a ravine while hunting on private land in southern Warren County. He was able to call a hunting partner for help after falling and breaking his ankle. The tree stand straps were broken due to weather exposure over time. The tree stand had been left up since last season. JONES COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The former Fire Chief from the Jones County town of Olin faces multiple charges after police say he assaulted a child with the intent to sexually abuse her. KCRG-TV reports Matthew Vonbehren faces five counts of lascivious acts with a child and two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Police say he assaulted a 13-year-old girl numerous times. LINCOLN, NE (IRN) – A woman from Missouri Valley, Iowa was arrested after attacking a Lancaster County, Nebraska Sheriff’s deputy with a knife Saturday. KETV reports the deputy responded to a motorist assist call, and found 49-year-old Faith Jensen under a pile of clothes in the back seat of her car. Deputies said Jensen was acting strange and when she got out off the car, she attacked the deputy with a knife. A taser and a canine unit were used to restrain Jensen. She’s in jail. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An 18-year-old Des Moines resident is charged with sending a threatening text message to West Des Moines Community School District students earlier this month. KCCI-TV reports Kiren Jay Kelly is charged with one count of threat of terrorism — a Class D felony. Officials determined there was no imminent threat. Kelly is in jail. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Third graders at Jefferson Elementary School in Davenport are learning something new–how to use an-old fashioned dictionary. WQAD-TV reports many of the students hadn’t used a book dictionary before, and were accustomed to looking up words on smartphones and their tablets. Thanks to a Davenport Elks group, each student now has an old fashioned dictionary they can hold in their hands. Now that’s “old-school.”