IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – A trial date of November 17 has been set for an Iowa City man accused of having sex with incapacitated women. KCCI-TV reports Nathan Schloss, 24, faces 18 counts of sexual abuse and 22 counts of invasion of privacy. He’s pleaded not guilty. Police found the videos after Schloss turned in a hard drive to show police a video of his former roommate, Leo Nopoulos, torturing a cat. Nopoulos has pleaded guilty to animal torture.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Or is it? KCRG-TV reports that Alexander Hartman moved to Marion just a few weeks ago, and was shocked to find a stack of 11 speeding tickets from the Cedar Rapids Police in his mailbox one day totaling almost $900. After hearing Hartman’s explanation that he was ignorant of the city traffic cameras, all but one of the tickets was dismissed.

CASCADE, IA (IRN) – Two semitrailer drivers were arguing over their CBs about one cutting the other off in traffic about the time that one’s load shifted Wednesday night, spilling hazardous materials on a roadway near Cascade. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports emergency crews were on scene for about seven hours cleaning up the spill.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – Hay prices are falling in Iowa. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports hay prices averaged $115 per ton in May, $41 per ton less than May 2014. Alfalfa hay prices fell $51 per ton from one year ago, to $129.

DES MOINES (IRN) – Governor Terry Branstad has vetoed $55.7 million in additional funding to K-12 schools that had been approved by the Legislature for the 2015-16 school year, according to the Des Moines Register. The one-time cash infusion into schools was part of a compromise reached by Democratic and Republican legislators in a lengthy and bitter fight over school funding.

DES MOINES (IRN) – A Pennsylvania man was arrested and charged with sexual abuse after a teenage girl said he inappropriately touched her on an airplane Wednesday. KCCI-TV reports Ranjit Khati, 35, of Pittsburgh, was charged with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse after the plane landed in Des Moines.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation says drugged driving is a growing problem in Iowa. Increasingly, impaired drivers are under the influence of illegal and sometimes even legal drugs that pose serious threats to motorists, just like drunk driving. In 2014, there were 47 drug-related traffic fatalities in Iowa.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The Des Moines Fire Department has seen an increase in the number of people jumping into the Des Moines River needing rescue. KCCI-TV reports there have been eight jumpers in the past 30 days.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating a shooting that injured a woman early Thursday morning. WHO-TV reports 23-year-old Ta-jya Cason was taken to Iowa Lutheran Hospital by her brother and two friends. Cason had been shot in the thigh. She told police the group had been had been hanging out by the Wells Fargo Arena when the shooting happened.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Ames police report an arrest in an armed home robbery case.  According to KCCI-TV, Desean Marquis Sims, 18, of Ames, was arrested on an unrelated warrant on Wednesday, and later charged in the robbery case. A warrant has been issued for Jeremy Devon McCorley, 25, of Ames, in connection with the case. Both men face first-degree robbery and assault while participating in a felony charges.

HAMDEN, CT (IRN) – Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Iowa Democratic Caucus and now trails the front-runner 52 – 33 percent among likely Democratic Caucus participants, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. Vice President Joseph Biden is third at 7 percent.

MERRILL, IA (IRN) – A manure spill at Plymouth Dairy near the northwestern Iowa town of Merrill was being investigated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources on Wednesday. Manure being pumped was flowing around a settling basin rather into it. It is not believed that a fish kill occurred as a result of the spill.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – Three men were shot Wednesday night in Dubuque. KWWL-TV reports the injuries are non-life threatening and that police are looking for suspects. Two of the three were treated and released from the hospital. Names of the victims have not been made public.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Corrections says two men failed to return to work release facilities.  Phillip Joseph Bittner, 26, did not report to the Marshalltown Work Release Facility. Bittner is a lifetime sex offender. Christopher Allen Showalter, 36, did not return to the Ottumwa Work Release Facility. He was convicted of domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury. Bittner was found early Thursday morning, while Showalter remains at large.

DES MOINES (IRN) – A former Iowa State University professor has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for falsifying his research findings. Dr. Dong Pyou Han, 58, was sentenced in the Southern District of Iowa Federal Court Tuesday for two counts of making false statements to the National Institutes of Health about his HIV/AIDS research.

STORM LAKE, IA (IRN) – A gear box on the dredge at Storm Lake broke Wednesday afternoon resulting in a visible oil sheen across most of the surface of the lake. The Department of Natural Resources says there is no longer any oil visible, and they believe no environmental damage occurred.

BURLINGTON, IA (IRN) – Officials are on the lookout for a man who failed to return to the Burlington Work Release Facility. KWQC-TV reports 23-year-old Eric Dewayne Coleman, Jr. was placed on escape status after failing to return to the facility from his job. Coleman was serving 10 years for robbery.

TIPTON, IA (IRN) – A painting of a partially nude woman is creating controversy in Tipton. KCRG-TV reports Hugh Stumbo owns a downtown art gallery and recently put several pieces in the front window, including the painting containing nudity. The mayor and police chief requested it be taken down, but Stumbo says if the community wants a gallery, they have to accept what artists do.

HAMDEN, CT (IRN) – The latest Iowa caucus poll by Quinnipiac University is out. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker continues to lead the Republican presidential field. Walker is the top choice of 18 percent of poll respondents. Six other candidates are battling for second place, including businessman Donald Trump and neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 10 percent, U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz at 9 percent and former Governor Jeb Bush and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio at 8 percent.

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) –  A tip from the public on the potential whereabouts of a longtime Iowa fugitive has led to his arrest in Mexico.  KCCI-TV reports the U.S. Marshals Service says authorities in Mexico arrested Mitchell Meyer on Monday. Meyer was facing two counts of sexual abuse of a minor in 1999 when he was scheduled to appear for trial in Sioux City. He was released on bond but never appeared.

DES MOINES, IA – A 10-hour standoff with a man police say may be connected to a shooting in Des Moines ended peacefully Wednesday morning. WHO-TV reports the standoff was linked to a search for a suspect, Bobby Palmer, in a Sunday night shooting where one man was shot in the leg.

SPERRY, IA (IRN) – An attempted car theft that went wrong more than once resulted in the arrest of two people from Sperry, a community near Burlington. WQAD-TV reports Daniel McCarty, 41, and Natasha McCarty, 28, were arrested after they allegedly tried to start a Toyota Camry without a key. When that didn’t work, they then pushed the Camry with another vehicle for several miles before they were seen by the owner.

MOUNT PLEASANT, IA (IRN) – The final employees left the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute late Tuesday night. KCRG-TV reports staff and patients at the institute have slowly dwindled since Governor Branstad revealed plans to close the institute in January. The final patients were moved away from the facility late last week.

WASHINGTON, DC. (IRN) – Corn and soybean prices are significantly lower than they were last year at this time. The National Agricultural Statistics Service reports the average price received by farmers for corn during May in Iowa was $3.60 per bushel, $1.11 lower than May 2014. The May 2015 average price received by farmers for soybeans, at $9.57 per bushel, is $5.13 lower than the May 2014 price.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IRN) – The latest USDA planting report is out. U.S. farmers set a record soybean planting high with 85.1 million acres, up 2 percent from last year. Corn growers planted an estimated 88.9 million acres, the lowest corn acreage since 2010.

DES MOINES (IRN) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports the effort by law enforcement agencies to enforce Iowa’s boating while intoxicated law has resulted in making contact with more than 1,400 boaters on 380 vessels. Of the vessels contacted, officials issued 161 warnings or citations and made 10 arrests for boating while intoxicated. Last year, nearly three out of four of Iowa’s boating fatalities involved alcohol.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Two people are dead after a crash in Monona County Monday. The Iowa State Patrol reports 49-year-old Leon Weifenbach of Onawa was southbound when she veered into the northbound lanes striking a car driven by 52-year-old Joseph Metz of South Sioux City Nebraska.

DES MOINES (IRN) – An urn containing a mother’s cremains was among items stolen from a home while the victim slept. The Des Moines Register reports that the 26-year-old victim awoke to find his mother’s urn missing along with two cell phones. The victim gave police the name of Michael Duncan Byers, 29, who was found already booked in at the Polk County Jail for violating probation. The urn wasn’t recovered.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – The man suspected in the disappearance and death of Iowa State University student Tong Shao, 20, has been arrested in China. KCRG-TV reports Xiangnan Li, 23, a former business student at the University of Iowa, faces a homicide charge in China.  Li is suspected of suffocating his girlfriend, hiding her body in the trunk of her car and fleeing to his native China.

LOS ANGELES, CA (IRN) – A former Iowa State University Basketball player has been found dead. The Des Moines Register reports Jackson Vroman, 34, was found in a pool at his Los Angeles County home Monday. The cause of death has not been released. Vroman averaged 13.9 points per game his senior season (2003-04) and led the Big 12 Conference in rebounding.

MADISON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Deputies dispatched to a crash scene Monday morning found a man dead inside a vehicle. KCCI-TV reports the crashed car on its top was found about 15 miles southwest of Winterset. Deputies identified the driver as Daniel Holker, 57, of Winterset.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Police officers and firefighters responded to the First Avenue Bridge over the Cedar River in Cedar Rapids Monday evening for a report of a man who went into the river. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports witnesses say the man was seen passing underneath the Second Avenue Bridge but was not visible downstream at the Third Avenue Bridge. The search was suspended as darkness fell.