STONINGTON, CT (IRN) – A Council Bluffs man and his son have been killed in a tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 95 in Stonington, Connecticut. Police say 31-year-old Sergio Castellon, of Council Bluffs, and his 7-year-old son, Sergio, were pronounced dead at the scene Monday night. The truck struck a guardrail and bridge abutment. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A former field hockey coach who was fired at the University of Iowa last year has filed a state civil rights complaint. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that Tracey Griesbaum’s action is a step toward filing a lawsuit. Griesbaum said gender bias under athletics director Gary Barta led to her firing. The university denies the allegations CYLINDER, IA (IRN) – A 58-year-old Iowa man tried to rescue his son who was overcome by fumes in a hog manure pit, but both men later died. The Des Moines Register reports the accident occurred Saturday afternoon in the northwest Iowa town of Cylinder. Gene Opheim and his 32-year-old son, Austin, were making repairs when Austin was overcome by gases. His father then entered the pit to save his son but was also overcome. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – Authorities have arrested two people for an illegal fireworks manufacturing operation at their home in Council Bluffs.  According to KETV, 55-year-old Craig Woodward and 22-year-old Katelyn Reynolds were arrested Monday afternoon, and were charged with manufacturing fireworks without a license. A large quantity of fuses and powder was found. DES MOINES (IRN) – Police are investigating the burglary of a church in Ankeny. WHO-TV reports the burglar caused several thousand dollars worth of damage Monday, and escaped with an unknown amount of money. Father Steve Orr of Our Lady`s Immaculate Heart Catholic Church has a message for him. Orr says if the burglar is that desperate, he needs help, and that’s what the church is for. You don’t need to burglarize the Church for it to help you. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) –  Close to 100 people rallied outside Iowa City Hall Monday evening demanding change after a video surfaced online of a black teen being forced to the ground during an arrest. The teen was playing at the recreation center when he didn’t comply with a police order. Iowa City Police are changing department policy as a result to use “verbal de-escalation techniques” when possible rather than force. SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – The U.S. Marshals Service is looking for a fugitive from a work-release program. The Sioux City Journal reports Michael Euchner II, 25, is wanted for violation of his parole for sex abuse stemming from a 2009 conviction in Ida County. Euchner removed his GPS monitoring bracelet while at work and fled his place of employment in Sioux City. WASHINGTON, DC (IRN) – Iowa’s college graduation rates and loan default rates are better than most states, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The national average for students graduating within six years is just over half, at 55 percent, while Iowa is at 63 percent. The percentage of those who defaulted on student loans within three years is 5 percent, less than half the U.S. rate of 11 percent. For-profit colleges have the worst rates.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The Des Moines Water Works reported Monday that nitrate removal from the city’s drinking water has cost $1.5 million so far this year, according to KCCI-TV. The facility has operated a record 148 days. Water Works staff said elevated nitrate levels in its water sources are largely attributed to upstream agricultural land practices. The facility is suing three northern Iowa counties for their alleged upstream pollution. DES MOINES (IRN) – A fire destroyed a $490,000 Waukee home Monday morning, burning through the roof, the garage and two cars. Flames started inside the garage, but residents didn’t know about the fire until a neighbor knocked on the door to warn them. No one was injured. CEDAR COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Two Muscatine men were killed in an accident early Sunday morning on Interstate 80 in Cedar County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a semi tractor and trailer were legally parked on the shoulder of the Interstate when for an unknown reason the 2009 Toyota driven by 22-year old Gregorio Javier Tapia ran into the back of it. Tapia and his passenger, 19-year-old Anthony Nunez, died in the collision. DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Three men have been charged with robbing a Dubuque man at gunpoint on Saturday. The Dubuque Tribune Herald reports Anthony Logan, 20, of Dubuque, Hakeem Cage, 17, of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Michael Burdunice, 20, of Davenport were charged with first degree robbery. Burdunice was also charged with providing false identification and Cage is charged with carrying a concealed weapon and interference with official acts. The robbers stole a cellphone and a wallet. GUAM (IRN) – An Iowa National Guard Airman has drowned in Guam. Dead is Senior Airman Drew Bellairs, 20, of Osage. Bellairs drowned while swimming Saturday. He was a member of the Maintenance Group, 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard based in Sioux City, and was serving on temporary duty in Guam. He graduated from Osage High School in 2013, and was a student at Iowa State University, majoring in Criminal Justice. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – Authorities pulled a man’s body from the Missouri River Sunday, and are working to determine who he was and how he ended up there, according to KETV. The body was reported near the Ameristar Casino on the Council Bluffs side of the river.  A 911 caller on the Nebraska side saw the body floating near the south Omaha bridge. FORT DODGE, IA (IRN) – Two people are dead in an accident in Webster County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2002 Ford Mustang driven by Chad Grell, 38, of Fort Dodge accelerated excessively to pass a vehicle when it lost control, entered a ditch, and struck a utility pole. Grell was ejected from the vehicle. A passenger in the vehicle, April Montgomery, 34, of Otho was also killed. Injured was Amanda Imhoff, 25, of Fort Dodge. DES MOINES (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating two shootings that happened over the weekend near Drake University, according to KCCI-TV. Two people were wounded Sunday morning near a Kum & Go. Police are also investigating a shooting that happened Friday night that involved a police pursuit of an SUV. Two suspects eventually abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, eluding police.  

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (IRN) – An Amber alert issued Saturday night in Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota for a Sioux Falls boy has been cancelled.  Authorities say they have located 1-year-old Keegan Vortherms in Minnesota. TOLEDO, OH (IRN) – Arizona Cardinals rookie receiver and former University of Iowa receiver Damond Powell Jr. was wounded by gunfire outside his Toledo, Ohio home Friday evening. KCCI-TV reports 22-year-old Powell was wounded in his driveway from shots fired from a car. Witnesses reported seeing three men wearing masks in a gold-colored vehicle. Powell’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – Woodbury County needs a new jail, according to Sheriff Dave Drew. The Sioux City Journal reports the facility was designed to hold 140 prisoners with a current population of 210. A five year plan to address the new jail estimates a new facility designed to hold 350 inmates would cost $65 million. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) –  A Shenandoah man has been sentenced in the Southern Iowa District Federal Court to 16 years in in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. James Paul Davis, 31, participated in a network that brought in large quantities of methamphetamine to southwestern Iowa from the border region in Texas for distribution across southwestern Iowa and eastern Nebraska.

DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – One person is dead in Davenport after an stabbing that happened nearly a week before, according to KQWC-TV. The victim is Claude Hanson, 62, of Davenport. Police say no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. IOWA FALLS, IA (IRN) – An Ackley man was killed in a head-on collision between a car and a semitractor Friday afternoon near Iowa Falls. Two passengers in the car and the driver of the semi were injured. The Iowa State Patrol reports that Heralcio Guerrero Duran, 54, was killed when the 1991 Chevrolet Lumina he was driving struck the semi driven by Kirk Gunderson, 54, of Marshalltown. SLOAN, IA (IRN) – An arrest has been made in relation to a stabbing that occurred in the western Iowa town of Sloan last week.  KCAU-TV reports the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office arrested 28-year-old Johnathan Pettis, of Ponce de Leon, Florida, in Polk County, Nebraska on Wednesday in connection with the stabbing. ANKENY, IA (IRN) – In the wake of a deadly movie theater shooting in Lafayette, La., local mothers gathered outside Fridley Springwood 9 theaters in Ankeny on Friday to call for action on gun control. KCCI-TV reports the group, Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America, is a nationwide network of mothers concerned about firearm safety. The group is pushing for background checks for every gun sale.  

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Mason City man accused of hitting a woman with one of her own crutches during a fight last month has been sentenced to 38 days in jail, according to the Mason City Globe Gazette. Derrell Tate, 34, was arrested following a fight with two women about 3:30 a.m. Tate took one of the woman’s crutches and hit her with it during the fight. SAYLORVILLE LAKE, IA (IRN) – Two beaches have closed at Saylorville Lake after a potentially harmful blue-green algae was discovered. Routine water quality monitoring identified high levels of microcystin.  The algae can cause skin reactions, gastrointestinal pain, breathing problems or even liver damage. DES MOINES (IRN) A woman had to convince her brother to go to the hospital Friday after he was shot in the head. According to KCCI-TV, 20-year-old Kieon Aaron’s sister found him in downtown Des Moines after the shooting. He was conscious and alert, but bleeding badly from the back of his head. He wanted to go home and shower and then go to bed. After he showered, she was able to convince him to go to the Mercy ER, where staff reported the shooting to police. DES MOINES (IRN) – A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Nancy Sebring against the district, according to WHO-TV. Sebring sued for invasion of privacy, emotional distress and interference with a contract. The lawsuit comes after sexually-charged emails she wrote using her district email account were released. DES MOINES (IRN) – A man suspected of firing gunshots at a vehicle during a road rage incident has been arrested, eight days after being released from jail on other weapons charges. The Des Moines Register reports 21-year-old Jamar Wooten was arrested for the road rage incident Wednesday. He had been jailed earlier this month for carrying weapons on the outskirts of Des Moines’ 80/35 music festival and for theft. This is his sixth arrest this year. NEVADA, IA  (IRN) – A truckload of mail was destroyed in a truck fire along Interstate 35 near Ankeny on Tuesday.  According to KCCI-TV the majority of the mail on the truck was severely damaged or destroyed.  The truck had mail from multiple towns in Story County that was headed for a processing center in Des Moines. The driver was not hurt. VENTURA , IA (IRN) – A Garner woman was rescued from the Ventura Marsh Thursday evening. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office was contacted at 8 p.m. and told that Rebecca Ann Hejna, 53, had gone kayaking at 7 a.m. and had not yet returned.  Her pickup was found, and she was located a short time later by firefighters in their boat. She was partially submerged when found, but had no serious injuries. JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Johnson County supervisors plan to raise the minimum wage in the county to $10.10 per hour by 2017 even though it might be against Iowa law.  According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Michael Mauro, Iowa’s labor commissioner, says a local minimum wage higher than the state’s current $7.25 an hour would be unconstitutional. Iowa last raised its minimum in 2007.