WAUKEE, IA (IRN) – An audit by state auditor’s office of the Waukee Community School District has identified more than $130,000 expenditures “which were not in the best interest of taxpayers.” The approximately $129,000 of costs identified include $83,000 spent on retreats for the District’s administrators, $18,000 of purchases made with procurement cards, and $28,000 for lounge chairs and furniture purchased for the Superintendent’s office.

BLOOMINGTON, IL (IRN) – A semi truck driving the wrong way crashed with a school bus carrying a girls basketball team, killing two people just outside Bloomington, Illinois, according to CNN. The crash was reported Wednesday. The driver of the semi truck, a 34-year-old man from Iowa, and Charles Crabtree, 72, a school volunteer traveling with the team, were killed in the crash. The semi truck’s driver has not been named pending next of kin notification.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Both occupants of a reportedly stolen sedan that crashed in Des Moines on Monday have now died. The Des Moines Register reports the driver of the sedan, Jair Sanchez-Banos, 17, died Wednesday. Passenger Emilio Esteban Garcia, 16, died earlier. Police said the two were tied to an earlier drive-by shooting.

CRESTON, IA (IRN) – Beth Kulow, a former dean at Southwestern Community College in Creston, is facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing from the school. WHO-TV reports Kulow is accused of approving the use of school funds for private expenses including travel and her wedding. Kulow resigned in October.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Sen. Chuck Grassley says he will not support any Republican challenger to President Donald Trump in the primary ahead of the 2020 election. Grassley says anyone is welcome to campaign in Iowa, but he won’t be appearing with them. Outgoing Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he’s seriously considering challenging Trump for the 2020 GOP presidential nomination.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A stunt done to get some laughs in Mason City did just that – but it also caused an increase of calls to the Mason City Police Department. KIMT-TV reports Joe Paulsen, owner of Kllen Sweep Construction, placed a dummy that looked like a man in trouble hanging from a gutter and reaching for a ladder on the front of his business. Paulsen was trying to replicate the famous scene by Clark Griswold in the movie Christmas Vacation. Police weren’t happy, and Paulson took it down. He still thinks it’s funny.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – Investigators say an altercation preceded a railroad officer’s shooting of a man in Mason City. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says Union Pacific special agent Louis Miner stopped 30-year-old Nathan Olson for trespassing on Union Pacific property last Thursday, and an altercation occurred. The DCI hasn’t released whether Olson was armed. He remains hospitalized. Miner was treated at a hospital Thursday and then released.

NEW HAMPTON, IA (IRN) – A Chickasaw County man will spend life in prison for the death of his infant son. WQAD-TV reports Zachary Koehn, 29, left the four-month-old baby in a bedroom for nearly two weeks last year. Authorities found baby Sterling dead in a swing seat, weighing less than 7 pounds, in a diaper that hadn’t been changed in a week, and with maggots forming under his skin. The boy’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, 21, has pled not guilty and will have a separate trial.

FORT COLLINS, CO (IRN) – A Colorado man already in custody for causing a fatal crash that killed a Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School teacher and his daughter is now facing murder charges. KGAN-TV reports 19-year-old Marcos Orozco was fleeing police after a burglary when he crashed into a vehicle carrying 55-year-old John Nees and 38-year-old Nicole Nees. The father was visiting his daughter on Thanksgiving in Fort Collins.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man who worked for a non-profit organization that helps at-risk youth is charged with enticing a minor under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose. WHO-TV reports Akil Jabbar met with the minor in the middle of the night with the intent of committing an illegal sex act with her. Jabbar allegedly planned to supply the girl with illegal drugs and alcohol.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Gov. Kim Reynolds says the Federal Emergency Management Agency has again rejected a disaster assistance request for victims of tornadoes that hit Marshall and Polk counties last summer. FEMA stated that the damage wasn’t severe or widespread enough to merit individual assistance. Marshalltown was hit especially hard by the July tornado, which damaged more than 900 homes.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Icy roads caused many accidents in eastern Iowa after rain early this morning. Some accidents caused blockages or closures on major interstates and roadways. Reports are still coming in.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Two people were hospitalized in critical condition Monday after their reportedly stolen vehicle led police on a chase that ended in a crash in Des Moines. Police said the injured were also tied to an earlier drive-by shooting. The car that was stolen was left alone running.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines mother drove to the school drop-off while drunk and nearly plowed into a group of elementary students, according to KCCI-TV. Heather Mapes, 43, is in jail. Mapes was drunk as she swerved into the bus lane at Garton Elementary School and narrowly missed hitting a group of students. Mapes was dropping off her 5-year-old daughter when she hit the curb. She then argued with school staff, and a bus driver stopped her from leaving the scene.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Des Moines Police Department is investigating the case of a dog being shot with four arrows. A man found a stray pit bull and took it into his grandmother’s home, where it attacked her poodle. The man then shot the pit bull with four arrows. Both dogs had to be put down.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN – Former President George H.W. Bush made his final journey to Washington, D.C., on Monday to lie in state after his death. KCRG-TV reports his death is sad news for Becky Beach, of Des Moines. Beach, who worked for and has been friends with the Bush family for 40 years, said she is mourning the death of her longtime friend. Beach says she was a 22-year-old college graduate when she volunteered in Iowa to help Bush run for president in the late 1970s.

CHICAGO, IL (IRN) – The Chicago Bulls have fired head coach Fred Hoiberg. The Iowa State Cyclone hoops legend, known as The Mayor, coached at ISU for five seasons after ending his NBA career due to a heart problem. Hoiberg was named Chicago`s head coach in 2015.
In 2017, he guided the team to the First Round of the NBA Playoffs, where they were ousted by the Boston Celtics.

CEDAR FALLS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Falls Police and the UNI Police Department responded to the scene of an armed robbery on Saturday. KWWL-TV reports a woman says a man with a handgun threatened her, then took her purse and ran.

CLEAR LAKE, IA (IRN) – A bus crashed Friday night on Interstate 35 near Clear Lake. KIMT-TV reports the bus was carrying the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men’s basketball team. Troopers believe ice is to blame for the bus leaving the roadway and hitting the guard wires. Of the 25 passengers, two were injured but are expected to be OK.

AMES, IA (IRN) – As if getting a parking ticket wasn’t bad enough, the city of Ames is informing those who recently paid parking fines that their private information — including credit and debit card numbers — may have been stolen. Approximately 4,600 people may have been affected.

IOWA (IRN) – Iowa State (8-4) is headed to San Antonio, Texas, to play in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28 at 8 p.m. The Cyclones will take on No. 13 Washington State (10-2). The Iowa Hawkeyes are heading back to Tampa. Iowa (8-4) will face Mississippi State (8-4) in the Outback Bowl on January 1. This is the first-ever meeting between Iowa and Mississippi State.