ONAWA, IA (IRN) – An Iowa man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his grandmother in 2018. Eliot Stowe was sentenced in the beating death of 66-year-old Cheryl Stowe at her rural home in Castana in June 2018. Stowe declined to address the court before he received the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder. Prosecutors say Cheryl Stowe’s body was found wrapped in a rug and duct tape at the edge of a cornfield near her home. GENESEO, IA (IRN) – A woman was found dead in a burning house in Geneseo on Christmas. Firefighters and officers with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office found the woman on the floor, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. BLACK HAWK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Five people were sent to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries after a head-on collision on Highway 20 in Black Hawk County on Sunday morning. Authorities say the highway was covered with snow and ice. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The football season for the Hawkeyes is over. On Sunday afternoon the Mizzou Football team tweeted “COVID-19 knocks Mizzou football out of TransPerfect Music City Bowl.” The Mizzou Football team is temporarily pausing activities until Jan. 2 due to COVID-19 concerns among student-athletes, coaches and staff. THE MIDWEST, U.S.A. (IRN) – A winter storm will move across the Plains and Upper Midwest this final week of 2020 and will make for difficult, if not treacherous, travel conditions for much of Iowa on Tuesday. Tune in to (your station ID here) for current severe weather and travel information.

POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a rollover crash that killed the driver of a pickup truck Saturday night. Witnesses say a 2015 Dodge Ram was travelling at a high speed when it ran a stop sign entered a field and rolled over. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Approximately 20 to 25 train cars derailed near Des Moines Friday after a small bridge collapsed. No one was injured. WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – Waterloo police say a local man inappropriately grabbed a Casino server this month. Sandi Dedic, 42, allegedly has a history of such abuse. INDIANOLA, IA (IRN) – The gravestone of Chris Street in Indianola has been vandalized. Chris, was a basketball player at the University of Iowa in the early 1990s before he was killed in a car accident 27 years ago.

TODDVILLE, IA (IRN) – A Center Point woman was arrested for OWI and texting while driving after a head-on collision in Toddville on Friday afternoon. Jennifer Buelow, 33, has been charged with Operating While Intoxicated, Use of Electronic Communication Device While Driving and other traffic charges. The person driving the other vehicle was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. MINNEAPOLIS (IRN) – Brandon Johnson made all four of his 3-point attempts in overtime and finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for Minnesota in a 102-95 win over No. 4 Iowa. Iowa led by 3 with 15 seconds to play. Joe Touissant had a chance to ice it, but missed both free throws. That allowed Marcus Carr to come down and send the game into overtime with a three. AMES, IA (IRN) – Iowa State running back Breece Hall and linebacker Mike Rose are The Associated Press Big 12 offensive and defensive players of the year after the Cyclones’ best conference season ever. Matt Campbell earned coach of the year honors. The Big 12 runner-up Cyclones will play in a New Year’s Six bowl for the first time, facing Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A cat named Lottie has been reunited with his Des Moines owners just in time for Christmas after he went missing nearly five years ago. 37-year-old Kara Hanlon figured the cat had died until she got a letter in the mail saying otherwise. The Animal Rescue League’s animal control division had picked up Lottie and identified him by scanning his microchip. She got him back Monday.

ES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,425 additional COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. There have been 71 additional COVID-19 deaths for a statewide death toll of 3,739. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A four-year-old boy received a life-threatening gunshot wound Wednesday in Cedar Rapids. The shooting appears to be unintentional. WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Outgoing Iowa Rep. Steve King filed an ethics complaint Wednesday against the leader of the House of Representatives. King said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s decision to pull King off of all congressional committees last year deprived Iowa’s 4th Congressional District of equal representation. McCarthy stripped King of his committee assignments after King made comments perceived as racist. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A federal judge has granted a temporary injunction to stop the University of Iowa from dropping its women’s swimming and diving team in the 2021-2022 school year. The program was one of a handful cut by the University in August. Several female athletes filed a federal lawsuit accusing the university of committing Title IX violations after it was cut. IOWA (IRN) – A winter storm has hit Iowa, and the northwest part of the state was hit the hardest. Several county sheriff’s departments have stopped responding to calls because deputy vehicles are stranded. The Iowa State Patrol said Iowans in the northwest part of the state should stay off the roads until the storm passes.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa Workforce Development said it expects a gap in pandemic-related unemployment benefits as it awaits the signing of Congress’ newly passed COVID-19 relief bill. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation are scheduled to end Dec. 26. DALLAS COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A homicide investigation is underway after a man with a gunshot wound died at a rural intersection near Adel on Tuesday. The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Division of Criminal Investigation are investigating the man’s death as a homicide. The identity of the man shot and killed has not been released. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The U.S. Department of Justice said it found reasonable cause that conditions at Glenwood Resource Center violated the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. The DOJ released the findings of its investigation into Glenwood on Tuesday, which stated that experiments were conducted on residents without their consent. The report concluded that the disabled shouldn’t be used as “human guinea pigs.” CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids announced a minimum wage increase to $15.25 starting in January. A general two percent wage increase for eligible employees was also approved to start in January. Mercy officials say the changes were prompted by the challenging year that both the pandemic and derecho created for healthcare workers. THE MIDWEST (IRN) – The coldest air of the season is taking aim at the upper Midwest. A strengthening low pressure system over the Dakotas is moving toward Minnesota and Iowa this morning. This developing system will lead to a triple threat in Iowa, with precipitation, wind, and a powerful Arctic Front in today’s forecast.