DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A judge rejected a request by former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s lawyers to set aside a jury verdict that concluded Branstad had discriminated against a former state official because the official is gay. The judge affirmed a jury verdict of $1.5 million awarded to former Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfrey. Jurors concluded that Godfrey was the victim of discrimination and retaliation when Branstad tried to force him to quit in 2011 and then cut his pay.

ZEARING, IA (IRN) – The Story County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a death in Zearing on Wednesday. KCCI-TV reports officials received a call that a 70-year-old man approached a neighbor’s residence and said he killed his wife. When authorities arrived at the residence they found a deceased, 62-year-old female. The man told police he killed his wife because she was “cheating on him,” and she was trying to move out.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, IA (IRN) – More than 20 rail cars filled with coal derailed in southwest Iowa on Wednesday, according to WHO-TV. The cars left the tracks under a bridge outside Red Oak, spilling massive amounts of coal. No one was injured.

IOWA (IRN) – The dairy industry is undergoing major changes. KCRG-TV reports the Associated Milk Producers Incorporated will end production at its eastern Iowa plant in Hudson. Since 2008, Iowa has lost 50 percent of its dairy farms. And on Tuesday, America’s largest milk producer, Dean Foods, filed for bankruptcy.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The retailer Von Maur is planning on opening in the vacant anchor space left behind by Younkers at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines. Younkers left behind 140,000 square feet after the department store closed. Von Maur is planning on opening on both floors.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A man who threatened to blow up the White House and kill President Donald Trump has entered a guilty plea. KCRG-TV reports Christian Delatorre, 25, entered the plea Tuesday in Cedar Rapids. Delatorre is charged with willfully threatening to take the life of and inflict serious harm upon the president. A psychiatric nurse reported Delatorre made the threats on May 3 while he was a patient at Mercy Medical Center in Dubuque.

CHARITON, IA (IRN) – An 18-year-old woman’s beating at a party in Chariton was caught on camera early Sunday morning, according to KCCI-TV. The woman was at a party when a group who had been drinking ganged up on her and started calling her names. She said four men and two women yelled obscenities at her, pulled her hair, and punched and kicked her. She was able to get away and walked with one shoe over a mile to get help. She has two black eyes, a broken nose, facial fractures, and bruised ribs and legs.

BETTENDORF, IA (IRN) – A family of six is now homeless after a fire broke out at their mobile home in Bettendorf overnight. WQAD-TV reports the owner of the home at the Devils Glen Mobile Home Park says it only took a few minutes for their home was engulfed in flames. There were no injuries.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The future of 800,000 undocumented immigrants is now in the hands of the United States Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the high court heard arguments on President Donald Trump’s executive action to end the DACA program. Thousands of people across the country rallied in support of the Dreamers, including dozens who gathered at the Iowa Judicial Branch Building. There are nearly 3,000 DACA recipients in Iowa. Approximately 1,400 of those have become parents to U.S. born children.

LENOX, IA (IRN) – A grocery store in Lenox is serving up something different behind their meat counter. KCRG-TV reports the butcher at Ramsey’s market sings while she works. The owner of the store says singing brings joy to everyone who shops there, and that there should be more joy in the world.

A missing person was found deceased in Louisa County, according to KCII radio. At approximately 7 p.m. Monday, 55-year-old Jack D. Strause Jr. of Wapello was last seen in a boat on the Iowa River near Elrick Junction. At 9:08 p.m. Strause was found dead on the boat approximately one quarter mile south of that location. Foul play and suicide are not suspected. An autopsy has been scheduled.

LE MARS, IA (IRN) – A Le Mars man burned in a fire at a northwest Iowa hog confinement has died. KWWL-TV reports Jorge Orozco was refueling a power washer engine when he spilled gas on himself and the machine. The vapors ignited, burning Orozco.

AMES, IA (IRN) – The man who was injured after falling from the upper-level seating at Iowa State University’s football stadium has been identified. Eric Ely fell from his seat during Iowa State’s football game against Oklahoma State University. Witnesses say the fall happened as he jumped up after a big play by the Cyclones, with witnesses saying his momentum carried him over the edge.

IOWA (IRN) – Des Moines broke a 79-year-old snowfall total on Veterans Day. Snow began to hit the region in the early hours of Monday morning. By 8:30 a.m. the Des Moines International Airport received 2.9 inches, breaking a record of 1.5 inches the airport set in 1940. Cedar Rapids received 5.8 inches but doesn’t keep records of historic snowfall totals.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The remains of an Iowa veteran killed in World War II will return home more than 70 years later. World War II veteran and Granger native Channing Whitaker joined the Marine Corps at age 17. His mother had to sign papers so he could go off to battle.
The young Iowa Marine died in 1943 during the Battle of Tarawa. More than 11,000 U.S. Marines lost their lives during the three-day battle in the Gilbert Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

LEMARS, IA (IRN) – A man injured in a hog confinement in September has died. KCRG reports, 38-year-old Jorge Orozco of Sioux City died Saturday at a Nebraska burn center. According to officials, he and another man had been using a power washer to clean the hog confinement. When Orozco left the building to refuel the power washer, he spilled gas on himself and the machine. The vapors ignited, burning Orozco at the hog operation about five miles northwest of Le Mars.

MADRID, IA (IRN) – A child jumped from a window to escape a house fire in Madrid this morning. According to fire officials, a child was in the home when the fire started somewhere in the kitchen. Fire crews were able to quickly put the flames out. No injuries were reported.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines man who was 17-years-old when he violently shook and killed his baby will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. WHO-TV reports Jayden Straight was sentenced to 100 years in prison on Friday. His daughter, 8-month-old Raija Straight, died in the hospital last July.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A University of Iowa administrator accused of killing his wife stood to gain more than $2 million from her death, according to the Des Moines Register. Roy C. Browning Jr. had no reliable income and was falling deeper into debt when JoEllen Browning, his wife of 43 years, was stabbed to death on April 5. JoEllen Browning had planned to meet with a banker to discuss a depleted savings account — one she shared with her husband — about an hour before she was found dead. Her primary beneficiary in the event of her death was her husband.

WEBSTER CITY, IA (IRN) – Authorities in Hamilton County are investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found Sunday morning. Police say there is nothing to indicate that the public is in any danger.

CHICAGO, IL (IRN) – A suburban Chicago post office has been named in honor of an original member of the famed all-black Tuskegee Airmen who flew scores of missions in World War II. Captain Robert Martin was born in Dubuque in 1919. During his service, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart.