MARION, IA (IRN) – A 15-year-old boy has been convicted of fondling three kindergarten students while volunteering at an eastern Iowa elementary school. KCCI-TV reports it is unclear what punishment he could face at his April 28 disposition hearing. The parents of two of the children have sued the classroom teacher and the district, alleging they should not have let the boy have unsupervised contact with the students last fall. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two children in Des Moines escaped serious injury when a car crashed through their bedroom wall and landed on the bed where they were sleeping. The Des Moines Register reports that the crash into the ground-level apartment happened Friday. The driver says she went to back out of a parking spot, but put the car in drive instead of reverse, sending her into the building. One child suffered a scrape on the face, likely from debris. The other child wasn’t injured. Police say it was accidental, so charges aren’t expected. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A jury found Travis West of Norwalk guilty of involuntary manslaughter and delivery of a controlled substance Friday in the overdose death of a West Des Moines woman. KCCI-TV reports West gave heroin to Bailey Brady, who died of a drug overdose in 2015. West was with Brady in her apartment when she died. MARION, IA (IRN) – A Linn County Co-Op employee has been charged for stealing thousands of dollars from his employer. KCRG-TV reports police were contacted in August after officials at the co-op suspected an employee was stealing money. 56-year-old Robert Ball has been arrested. He’s charged with first degree theft and ongoing criminal activity. Ball is accused of taking more than $10,000 since 2007. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Two Iowa sisters met at the Dubuque airport this week after 75 years apart, according to KWWL-TV. Jan and Dee were separated when they were three and four years old. Jan never stopped searching, and finally tracked down her sister. Jan says, “When I first heard her voice on the phone, I just fell apart. I said, ‘I’ve loved you all my life, and I prayed for you.’”

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Dubuque Police are investigating a murder that happened early this morning. KWWL-TV reports police received a report of a stabbing, and once on scene, found a dead woman. They also found a man inside the home. An investigation is underway. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A man broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and used a knife to stick a copy of a no-contact order on a wall of her Dubuque apartment. Police say the gist of a message written on the order was: Who’s going to stop me? The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports 24-year-old Bodhi-Kristoffer McGowan is in jail on charges of burglary and violating a no-contact order. The woman had returned from a trip and found that her apartment had been ransacked. Also, an ice cream container in her refrigerator had four knives stuck into it. SPRINGVILLE, IA (IRN) – A alleged drunk driver slammed into a storage shed in the Linn County town of Springville, starting a fire. KCRG-TV reports 37-year-old Kurt Hepker was taken into custody and charged with OWI. No one was hurt. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A huge anti-abortion rally took place at the Statehouse Thursday, according to KCCI-TV. Hundreds of “Rally for Life” participants gathered to encourage lawmakers to vote in favor of anti-abortion legislation. Chanting, “Unborn lives matter!” Iowans at the rally said they will not give up until abortions are banned in the state. MUSCATINE, IA (IRN) – Store owners at the Muscatine Mall are angry about a fake news story claiming the mall is closing in May. WQAD-TV reports the story, headlined “Say Bye to the Mall,” has gone viral on Facebook. The mall manager says the story is false, but that hasn’t stopped it from spreading. It originated on a website that encourages users to create fake news stories to “prank” their friends. Store owners say this has been was one of their worst weeks ever. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Polk County Jailers say they have a new tool to help improve inmate behavior, make the jail more efficient, and give inmates something to do. WHO-TV reports the jail was given 97 tablets, free of charge, from the company Telmate. Inmates are charged up to five cents per minute for streaming music, movies and playing games. Inmates can also use the tablets to sign up for Chaplain services, attorney visits, medical requests, and access the law library.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An 88-year-old convicted sex offender accused of grabbing an Iowa state mental hospital worker has been found unfit to stand trial. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports William Cubbage grabbed the worker between the legs last year while she was showering him at the hospital in Independence. Cubbage was convicted of numerous sex crimes beginning in 1987, and gained notoriety after he was accused in 2011 of molesting a 95-year-old woman at a Pomeroy nursing home. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque woman accused of stealing more than $70,000 from her employer has pled guilty. KWWL-TV reports 35-year-old Jennifer Shively wrote unauthorized checks on the accounts of her employer while she worked as the man’s bookkeeper. BELMOND, IA (IRN) – A man from the north-central Iowa town of Belmond passed away Monday afternoon in an accident at a cooperative. Dan Feller died after falling from a platform while loading a truck. The accident is under investigation. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – One day after introducing an amendment that would ban abortions in Iowa as soon as six weeks after conception, lawmakers have dropped the plan. WHO-TV reports the amendment approved by a House committee yesterday would have made it illegal for an abortion to be performed after a fetal heartbeat was detected. The amendment was added to a bill that already bans abortions 20 weeks after conception. The revised bill passed. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Terry Branstad has lowered his projections for Iowa’s upcoming budget year by about $173 million amid declining state revenues. KCCI-TV reports Branstad’s revised budget reduces funding to some departments, community colleges and the state’s three public universities. It also cuts money from a job skills training fund. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Dubuque man’s proposal to his girlfriend drew lots of attention Tuesday. KCRG-TV reports Jeremy Valentine placed red plastic drinking cups into a fence to spell out his marriage proposal to his girlfriend, Lucy Reisen. It said simply, “Lucy, marry me. I ‘loe’ you.” The fence was on a overpass over busy Highway 20. Jeremy says he misspelled the word “love” because he got in a hurry when he noticed a policeman was watching him. There’s no word yet on whether or not Lucy has accepted.

DYERSVILLE, IA (IRN) – A man wanted on federal charges is now behind bars in Linn County, according to KWWL-TV. Authorities have been looking for Darryl Grigsby for 17 years. Grigsby was on the U.S. Army’s most wanted list for attempted rape and attempted armed robbery. Law enforcement says he was able to avoid being captured for 17 years, using many aliases and hiding in plain sight. He was arrested in Dyersville. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The man accused of killing two Des Moines metro police officers in ambush-style killings will receive a change of venue for this trial. Scott Greene is charged with the murders of Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony Beminio and Urbandale Officer Justin Martin. Judge Karen Romano has ruled that the trial will be moved to Dubuque County because of extensive pretrial publicity in Polk County. LE MARS, IA (IRN) – A man charged with stabbing his sister to death has chosen to have a judge, not a jury, decide his fate. The Sioux City Journal reports that 34-year-old Thomas Bibler waived his right to a jury trial. Bibler has pled not guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of 27-year-old Shannon Bogh, of Le Mars. He was arrested that day after a short standoff at his Le Mars apartment. BUCHANAN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A Waterloo man was driving drunk and possibly high on drugs when he crashed his vehicle into the Aurora library in Buchanan County. KCRG-TV reports the crash caused extensive damage to the exterior and interior of the building, and to items and equipment inside. It also broke a water pipe, which flooded the building. 28-year-old Jerod Siebel faces multiple charges. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Republicans in the Iowa House unveiled last-minute fetal heartbeat legislation Tuesday. KCCI-TV reports the provision would ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is present. Democrats say they are angry the plan was unveiled just minutes before it was scheduled for a vote. Republicans say they have always campaigned on pro-life issues, so Democrats should not be surprised. The vote was postponed. PLEASANT HILL, IA (IRN) – On Tuesday night, the Pleasant Hill City Council honored a man for his heroism. WHO-TV reports the mayor awarded Damian Bell the Carnegie Medal for saving a man from drowning in an icy lake in Indianola this February. The victim was treated for exposure at the hospital and released. The DNR says the man would not have survived if it wasn’t for Damian’s actions.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A new survey suggests that farmland values in Iowa have inched upward in the past six months. A report from the Iowa Realtors Land Institute says values climbed nearly 1 percent from September to March, hitting $6,545 an acre. The Des Moines Register reports the increase was the first since September 2013. The increase, though small, is encouraging as the average value of Iowa’s farmland has dropped 25 percent since March 2013. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A fire in Waterloo early this morning is being called suspicious, according to KWWL-TV. Officers found leaves on fire and a broken beer bottle in the kitchen that had been lit and thrown through a window. No one was hurt. There are no suspects. So far, there are no suspects. WEVER, IA (IRN) – Authorities have released the cause of death for a man found in Indian Path Park in Wever last month, according to KHQA-TV. The body of 47-year-old James Nelson was discovered the morning of February 11. Yesterday, the Lee County Medical Examiner said that Nelson died from a gunshot wound to the head. His death is being considered a homicide, and the investigation continues. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – One person is in critical condition after getting shot in the face Monday night. KCRG-TV reports the gunshot victim walked into a Waterloo hospital emergency room a little after 9 p.m. An ambulance transferred the victim to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for life-threatening injures. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Iowa House panel has approved a bill that would toughen Iowa’s regulations for texting and driving. The bill would allow a law enforcement officer to pull over a driver specifically for texting. It’s a secondary offense under current law, meaning an officer must have another reason to initiate a traffic stop. The proposed legislation has bipartisan support. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Local government control over the minimum wage in Iowa is in jeopardy. The State Senate has approved a measure setting Iowa’s minimum wage at $7.25 per hour–the current federal minimum wage. It also blocks local governments from increasing the wage above the state minimum. The bill now goes to Governor Branstad for his signature.