DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is preparing for surgery. It comes after the 89-year-old hurt his hip Tuesday. His office didn’t release any more information about the injury. A spokesperson said Grassley is in good spirits and is expected to make a full recovery. Iowa’s longest-serving U.S. senator was in Des Moines on Monday for the start of the Iowa legislative session. OTTUMWA, IA (IRN) – A 27-year-old hospital worker in Ottumwa sexually abused several patients before his death last year. Devin Caraccio, of Centerville, worked as an internal medicine hospitalist at Ottumwa Regional Health Center. He died in October of an accidental drug overdose. During the death investigation, police gained access to Caraccio’s cellphone, which contained images of nine victims, ranging from children to adults. Police said he recorded himself sexually abusing the patients, who were either asleep or unconscious at the time. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Classes will resume tomorrow for Des Moines Public Schools students as the district recovers from what it is calling a “cybersecurity incident.” A spokesperson says that the district’s information technology professionals have made significant progress in restoring the district’s systems. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Governor Kim Reynolds addressed Iowans Tuesday night for her 6th Condition of the State address. She laid out her 2023 policy agenda, touching on everything from education reform to family planning legislation. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A family is paying it forward with a new therapy dog at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines. The dog, named Ruby, brings a sense of calm to patients she visits. Rob Ridnour, the golden retriever’s owner, is no stranger to the hospital. Both of his children spent years there, receiving treatment for cancer. They’re both in remission now. Ridnour said bringing Ruby to the hospital is a full-circle moment for his family.

ANKENY, IA (IRN) – An Ankeny man is asking for deferred judgment after his 4-year-old daughter fatally shot herself in May. Akeem Holmes pleaded guilty to charges including involuntary manslaughter in November. Police say the girl shot herself in the head with her father’s gun last May. He will be sentenced later this week. WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Urbandale man who allegedly had his girlfriend have sex with other men for money is facing charges. According to court documents, 22-year-old Jacob Michael Kerr rented a West Des Moines hotel room for about a month. It was there that he allowed his girlfriend to have sex with multiple men for money, according to police. Kerr allegedly took a portion of the earnings. Police believe Kerr arranged and vetted clients to come to the hotel for sex. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines Public Schools have canceled classes for today, due to a ‘cyber security incident’. The district announced late Monday afternoon that classes would be canceled today as its computer systems remain offline. Earlier on Monday the district reported an internet outage across its campuses due to ‘unusual activity’ on the district’s network. The district said it preemptively took the network offline. IOWA (IRN) – The Iowa Legislature got back to work Monday with Republicans holding even larger majorities in both chambers and goals of approving more tax cuts, further easing gun restrictions, and spending public money to fund private schools.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – New court filings show a man charged with attempted murder after an overnight stabbing in Cedar Rapids earlier this week is accused of attacking a man his ex-girlfriend was with. Michael Chevalier, 33, is in the Linn County jail on a quarter million dollar bond. Those filings show the man that was attacked says Chevalier came at him with a ten-inch buck knife just after midnight Thursday, while he and Chevalier’s ex were on the Cemar bike trail. The man was stabbed in the back. JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A crash involving 15 vehicles on I-80 near Iowa City resulted in the deaths of two people early Sunday morning. Nine semis and six passenger vehicles were involved in the accident. Several drivers lost control of their vehicles and crashed into each other. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – A man found shot behind the wheel of a car in southwest Cedar Rapids is dead, and investigators are hoping to talk to any witnesses that saw what happened Sunday night. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two people were arrested Thursday night for allegedly trying to steal a child in downtown Des Moines. Laurie Lynn Potter, 56, and Michael Ernest Ross, 43, were arrested and charged with Child Stealing, a Class C Felony. The victim and their mother were at her office building downtown. The mother noticed two people, later identified as Potter and Ross, hanging around the office entrance and went to ask if they needed anything. After she opened the door, Potter and Ross grabbed her child by the arm and tried to run out of the Skywalk. The mother was able to fight them off and scare them away. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines Fire Department extricated a driver from a car after a single-vehicle crash on Sunday. The department said that slick roads caused a car to slide and crash into a gas pump around 7 a.m. The pump didn’t explode. The driver was taken to the hospital.

STORY COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A former Iowa church pastor is accused of drugging and sexually abusing a child more than a decade ago. 68-year-old Mark Benson allegedly abused the girl several times at his home in Cambridge from 2009 to 2012. The victim was between the ages of 10 and 13 at the time. She told police Benson gave her medicine to make her sleep before he abused her. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police say they confiscated a record number of guns in the city last year. They collected 780 guns in 2022 compared to 640 guns which was the average for the previous three years. Police say it’s almost become routine for officers to find guns at crime scenes. MARENGO, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is claiming that C-6 Zero is not following through on its promises to clean up the site after a massive explosion rocked the facility in December. According to officials, exposed chemicals and hazardous materials are still left in the damaged building. CORALVILLE, IA (IRN) – Iowa has the highest average radon levels of any state, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services said the invisible, tasteless, odorless, radioactive gas is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the state, leading to an estimated 400 deaths annually.

GRINNELL, IA (IRN) – Police say a shooting at an apartment complex in Grinnell was self-defense. Grinnell police arrested Cody McCall and Logan Moline in connection to the Dec. 29, 2022 shooting. They face assault and burglary charges. The two men allegedly broke into the victim’s apartment and attacked him, with McCall trying to stab the victim in the throat with a kitchen knife. That’s when the victim shot McCall twice in the chest. McCall and Moline ran from the apartment. Police say they caught Moline quickly after he slipped on ice. McCall told police he attacked the victim to keep him from using his gun. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s office has identified the human remains found on December 30 as missing Cedar Rapids employee Erik Spaw. Hunters found the body in the Cedar River on Friday. Erik Spaw, an employee with the Cedar Rapids Water Division, was reported missing after his city-owned fleet vehicle was recovered from the Cedar River. Spaw’s family believes complications from Spaw’s Type 1 Diabetes contributed to his crash. WASHINGTON, D.C (IRN) – The U.S. House of Representatives still has no speaker after 11 votes over the course of three days as Republicans in the chamber are in disarray. Frontrunner Kevin McCarthy continues to come up short with a small block of Republicans voting against him. All four of Iowa’s representatives have continued to vote for McCarthy. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The new legislative session in Des Moines starts next week, and there’s an effort by Iowa’s Democratic Rural Caucus to protect public schools from Governor Kim Reynold’s controversial school voucher plan. Organizers said they’re hearing rumors that lawmakers could bring the school voucher plan to a vote their first week back at the statehouse after it failed last session. One anti-voucher advocate says, “this is really just a tax break for parents wealthy enough to send their kids to private school.” DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Brenna Bird was sworn in as Iowa’s attorney general on Thursday. Bird, a Republican, defeated Democrat Tom Miller in the November election. Miller had held the office for nearly 40 years, making him the longest-serving state attorney general in the country. Bird says one of her biggest priorities is addressing what she calls ‘government overreach.’