URBANDALE, IA (IRN) – A man who had said he was only defending himself when he killed another man at a central Iowa bar has been given 50 years in prison. KCCI-TV reports 49-year-old Rodney Henricksen was sentenced for killing Joshua Sadlon. Sadlon, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, died a day after the incident at the Escape Lounge in Urbandale in January 2018.
Henricksen had said he’d tried to de-escalate threats made by the drunken Sadlon and said Iowa’s “stand your ground” law protected him from prosecution. The jury rejected his claim of self-defense. Prosecutors called it a bar beating, not a bar fight.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A federal grand jury indicted five men on Wednesday who are alleged to have participated in sex trafficking in Iowa and elsewhere. All are in custody and have made an initial appearance in federal court in Des Moines. Their victims included minors.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Two men and a woman have been indicted on multiple federal charges in connection to an unsolved crime from 2014 that resulted in the death of James Booner of Marion. The three were robbing Booner of meth in his possession, and proceeds from his sale of meth when they allegedly shot and killed him.

U.S.A (IRN) – Dressbarn will be closing all 650 of its stores. The women’s clothing retailer has locations across the country. There are 10 Dressbarn stores in Iowa.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Iowa City is bustling during the night hours, according to Iowa City Downtown District executive director Nancy Bird. Bird says, “We went from two hotels to essentially five or six…so that’s a really big impact.” KGAN-TV reports to tap into that night economy ICDD hired the next night-time mayor. Joe Reilly, an Iowa City local and University of Iowa alum, was hired. He’ll be responsible for marketing after-hours events and will serve as liaison between businesses and patrons.

ADAIR COUNTY, IA (IRN) – One person has died as the result of what has been determined to be an EF2 tornado in Adair County early this morning. Raccoon Valley Radio reports authorities responded to a residence southeast of Adair shortly before 2:00 a.m., and found 74-year-old Linda Lee Brownlee deceased, and 78-year-old Harold Brownlee with serious injuries. Harold was flown by air ambulance to a Des Moines hospital. The residence was destroyed. Debris from the farmstead landed on Interstate 80 at mile marker 77, and a semi was reported in the ditch at that location. No tornado watch or warning was in effect.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Family members are reeling after a former Des Moines resident was the victim of a heinous crime in Illinois. KCCI-TV reports Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, 19, was strangled in April and her unborn child cut from her womb while living in Chicago. The infant remains hospitalized in an intensive care unit. A 46-year-old woman and her 24-year-old daughter are charged with killing Ochoa-Lopez. Her father, Des Moines resident Arnulfo Ochoa, said his pain and sorrow is sometimes too much to bear. He says, “she always had a smile on her face. That’s the way I want to remember her.”

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Across the country Tuesday, crowds gathered to protest new laws aimed at restricting abortion, including a near-total ban in Alabama. The Des Moines Register reports at the Statehouse in Des Moines, about 200 people huddled in the rotunda to protest Iowa’s own fetal heartbeat law, which was enacted in 2018 and struck down by a state court in January.

MOLINE, IL (IRN) – A 14-year-old and 21-year-old face multiple charges after a high-speed chase in a stolen car that started in Davenport and ended in Moline, Illinois yesterday. WQAD-TV reports the 14-year-old was driving.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A southwest Iowa man has filed a free speech lawsuit against a sheriff’s deputy, his supervisor and the county after he was charged with harassment for writing a social media post that profanely criticized the deputy. KGAN-TV reports Jon Richard Goldsmith from Red Oak became angered after attending a festival in Corning and watching an Adams County sheriff’s deputy search a car and have a confrontation with another person.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – With a ceremonial groundbreaking today, Facebook announced its data center in Altoona is expanding. KCCI-TV reports the social media giant is adding two buildings and some 1 million square feet to its already expansive 2.5-million-square-foot campus. Construction on the new building is expected to start this summer.

WINNESHIEK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – An 86-year-old Decorah man driving a utility vehicle on a highway in rural Winneshiek County was killed in a collision with another vehicle. The Iowa State Patrol reports the man turned in front of an oncoming car. The other driver wasn’t injured.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The property battle continues in downtown Des Moines. WHO-TV reports the former YMCA site along the river is one of the most sought-after pieces of real estate in Des Moines. The federal government wants to use the space for a new $137 million courthouse, but community, business and city leaders say this would be a mistake. Instead, they want an attraction that would bring people downtown and generate property taxes. Federal officials will decide Wednesday if the project will go ahead.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed a law aimed at growing opportunities in rural parts of the state by expanding workforce housing tax incentives and grants to boost broadband. Reynolds signed the “Empower Rural Iowa Act” into law at a business in Wilton.

JOHNSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A group of Boykin Spaniels is helping a threatened species one hunt at a time. WQAD-TV reports the dogs from Montana are specially trained to sniff out and retrieve turtles for researchers to study. Yesterday, they were at work near Coralville, sniffing out the threatened Ornate Box Turtle. The dogs follow a scent trail left behind by the turtles. Once they find one, they carefully pick it up and bring it back to the researchers. After study, the turtles are returned to the wild.

CERRO GORDO COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A man under the influence of drugs intentionally drove head-on into an oncoming vehicle Sunday night before he swerved and caused his own vehicle to roll over in Cerro Gordo County. KIMT-TV reports Luis Rodriguez, 26, of Worthington, Minnesota, is accused of driving at an oncoming vehicle before both vehicles swerved to avoid colliding. Rodriguez suffered minor injuries.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man was arrested after a standoff Sunday night in Des Moines after reports of a domestic dispute. KCCI-TV reports more than 20 police cruisers were at the scene. The 53-year-old man barricaded himself in a house and was eventually taken into custody.

WEBSTER COUNTY, IA (IRN) – One person is dead after a crash at an uncontrolled intersection in Webster County Sunday. A 72-year-old man collided with a vehicle driven by a 20-year-old. The 72-year-old man was killed, and the 20-year-old was ejected from the vehicle and taken to the hospital. His passenger, a 15-year-old, was also hospitalized. Neither driver was wearing a seat belt.

ARLINGTON, IA (IRN) – The sentencing for Chris Soules, an Iowa native turned reality TV star involved in a fatal northeast Iowa crash, will proceed Tuesday as planned, a judge has ruled. The Des Moines Register reports a judge on Friday denied a request to delay the sentencing of the 36-year-old from Arlington who gained a national fan base in 2015 when starring in ABC’s “The Bachelor.” Soules was originally charged with a felony for leaving the scene of a deadly accident following an April 2017 collision that killed Kenny Mosher, 66, of Aurora.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Former University of Iowa National Champion wrestler Tony Ramos is retiring from competition. Ramos is a three time All American and 2014 NCAA champion for the Hawkeyes. Ramos was taking part in the 2019 world team trials this weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina when he lost to a former Penn State national champion. After the match, Ramos walked to the center of the mat, removed his shoes, and left them. That’s a time honored tradition for retiring wrestlers.