LECLAIRE, IA (IRN) – A vehicular homicide case against a man who crashed his SUV into a group of motorcyclists, killing two and injuring another, has been closed because the suspect has died. WQAD-TV reports 52-year-old Darryl Wilson had drugs and alcohol in his system. MARSHALLTOWN, IA (IRN) – Fire crews in Marshalltown worked to put out a fire at a meat processing plant Saturday morning. WHO-TV reports the fire happened at the JBS Swift & Co. plant around 10:30 a.m. Crews say when they arrived on scene they had to put out a large flammable gas-fed fire at the methane collection lagoon. Nobody was injured. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – People walked up and down the sidewalks around Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids Friday protesting the layoffs of 63 custodians. KCRG-TV reports protesters held signs saying “save our custodians” and held up brooms and dustpans. The company is laying off custodians who are covered under a collective bargaining agreement and hiring subcontractors. COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (IRN) – A Council Bluffs mother has been charged after leaving her 12-year-old son along an I-80 exit before school. The Daily Nonpareil reports that 33-year-old Shameka King faces child endangerment and abandonment charges. The boy says his mother left him after he got out of the car over an argument about which shoes to wear to school. The boy had no money or food. The mother verified the boy’s account, asking police, “What am I supposed to do? Be late for work?”

WATERLOO, IA (IRN) – A couple found dead in a murder-suicide at George Wyth State Park in Waterloo suffered from health problems. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that autopsies confirmed that 86-year-old Neil Miller shot and killed his wife, 83-year-old Marilyn Miller, before taking his own life. The Millers had medical issues and that people who knew them say the couple didn’t want to go to a nursing home. They’d been married 65 years. HARTFORD, IA (IRN) – A man has been arrested in connection with an overnight house fire in Hartford Friday. KCCI-TV reports firefighters found the house engulfed in flames. They later found a body inside. 28-year-old Stephen James Major had been staying at the home, and he was arrested in Marshalltown and charged with first-degree arson and operating a motor vehicle without owner’s consent. CRAWFORD COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A search is underway for a girl who disappeared in the Boyer River Thursday. WHO-TV reports she was one of five people inside a car that crashed into the river around 3 a.m. The four other people in the car were sent to the hospital for treatment of possible hypothermia. Officials had to call off the search Friday night due to fog. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The three highest paid state of Iowa employees are coaches. The University of Iowa’s head football coach Kirk Ferentz pulled in more than 4.8 million dollars this year. Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery earned 1.7 million, and the Cyclone’s head basketball coach Steve Prohm pocketed 1.6 million. University officials say the athletic programs are self-sustaining, and salaries market driven.

WASHINGTON, IA (IRN) – At least one person is dead in an early morning house fire in Washington. KCII-Radio reports the two-story house was filled with smoke, and flames could be seen coming from the attic. Fire crews responded, as did the coroner. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s ban on owning machine guns would be ended under a bill before the Iowa Legislature. The Des Moines Register reports Sen. Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig in northwest Iowa, says his bill would allow possession of machine guns as well as short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns made before 1986. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines woman is in jail, and her five children are in state custody after she was arrested Thursday for OWI 2nd. KCCI-TV reports police found 31-year-old Delora Jo White parked on railroad tracks. They found her children, ages 12, 10, 2, 1 and 7 months, along with a pit bull at a nearby motel. Two of the children were in dirty diapers, and officers had a hard time getting into the room because of trash blocking the doorway. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A Des Moines taxi driver was drunk when he crashed his van yesterday morning, killing a passenger and injuring another. 29-year old Mohamed Diriye faces multiple charges. The passengers were from Kansas. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – A man attacked a mother who was putting her 3-year-old child into her car, and drove off the with vehicle in Davenport, according to WQAD-TV. The woman had set down her car keys on the driver’s seat while she was securing her child. The man grabbed the keys and tried to get into the vehicle. The two fought over the keys, but she was pushed to the ground. She was able to get her child out of the vehicle before he took off with it. IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Food trucks may soon be able to operate around downtown Iowa City, but that has some restaurant owners concerned. KCRG-TV reports the city council moved forward with an ordinance to allow food trucks to operate between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. as part of a pilot program. Currently, food trucks have to stay away from downtown.

FORT DODGE, (IA) – A 13-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder for shooting a man just a few blocks from an elementary school in Fort Dodge, according to KWWL-TV. The school went into a lockdown for about 30 minutes because of the incident. The man is recovering, and the name of the boy isn’t being released because of his age. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A bill to make texting and driving a primary offense in Iowa is getting support in the Iowa Senate. The bill would allow law officers to stop all drivers who they see texting. Currently, officers have to stop them for another violation first, like speeding, and then they can also issue a ticket for texting. The Iowa State Patrol likes the idea. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An inmate at the Polk County Jail is accused of assaulting a guard Tuesday night before being sentenced to life in prison Wednesday. WHO-TV reports Steven Asbury was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of James Patton in 2016. He now faces additional charges. The guard will be OK. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A worker suffered a life-threatening injury at a Cedar Rapids manufacturing plant Tuesday, according to KCRG-TV. A 35-year-old male was caught between the side of a scissor lift and an I-beam at Red Star Yeast. His condition has not been released. DAVENPORT, IA (IRN) – Davenport city leaders are trying to get owners of rental properties to pay their overdue sewer bills. WQAD-TV reports the unpaid bills now add up to $1.5 million. Iowa law says you can’t put a lien on a rental property with unpaid sewer bills. The city is only collecting from about 30 percent of rental properties, and will look to shut off the water of those behind on sewer payments. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A robber is behind bars thanks to the quick thinking of a Des Moines store owner. KCCI-TV reports a man came into Manjeet Aulakh’s Fast Mart and threatened her with a knife. Surveillance video shows her distracting him, and pushing a panic button, while he grabbed the cash register and fled. She chased him with a stun gun, and when he drove away she memorized his license plate number. Police have arrested 44-year-old Paul Solis. Aulakh says don’t underestimate the power of a woman.

MANCHESTER, IA (IRN) – A man accused of driving his vehicle into a loaded school bus in eastern Iowa wants to withdraw his guilty pleas. The Dubuque Telegraph-Herald reports the attorney for 42-year-old Monte Klink filed a motion Friday. Klink had pled guilty to 2nd offense driving while intoxicated and to two counts of causing serious injury by vehicle. Klink’s SUV collided with a bus near Manchester in 2015. 32 students were treated for minor injuries. CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – A rising star in the Iowa Democratic party says she won’t run for governor next year. KCRG-TV reports Liz Mathis has opted out of the race. There had been speculation the state senator would run in the Democratic primary to potentially challenge Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who will move into the governor’s role once Terry Branstad resigns to join the Trump administration. DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Former Republican State Senator Kent Sorenson was sentenced to 15 months in prison in relation to a 2012 Iowa Caucus payola scandal involving Ron Paul’s presidential campaign. Prosecutors recommended no jail time, only two years of probation. Judge Robert Pratt disagreed, saying Sorenson’s crimes could not go unpunished. Pratt says, “A slap on the wrist exacerbates the cycle of corruption in politics.” DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow a woman who gets an abortion to sue the doctor who performed the procedure if she experiences emotional distress later–at any time in her life. KCRG-TV reports if approved, the measure would be the first law of its kind in the U.S. . WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Iowa National Guard is sending 30 Soldiers and Airmen to assist federal, state, and local agencies with the Inauguration of Donald Trump Friday. Airmen from the 185th Air Refueling Wing based in Sioux City, the 132nd Wing in Des Moines, and Soldiers and Airmen from the 71st Civil Support Team from Des Moines will be deployed. WINTERSET, IA (IRN) – Winterset resident Ruth Lampe just turned 104 years old. WHO-TV reports Lampe’s friends held a birthday party for her at the Winterset Senior Center. She’s still active, and on Mondays and Tuesdays comes and makes coffee, cleans tables, wraps silverware, and visits with people at the center. Lampe says her only regret is that she never would have sold her house if she had known she would live so long.