DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Des Moines police are investigating robberies at two metro pharmacies Monday night that may be linked. WHO-TV reports the robberies were 25 minutes apart at two Walgreens Drug Stores. Police say the suspect told employees he had a gun but no witnesses saw a weapon. The description of the suspect in both robberies was similar. No one was injured and police have not made any arrests.

ALTOONA, IA (IRN) – An Altoona woman is dead after a three-vehicle crash near Altoona Monday. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 57-year-old Susan Jones was slowing down for traffic on Interstate 80 when she was rear-ended by a dump truck driven by 41-year-old Levi Wiley of West Des Moines. Jones died at the scene. Wiley was not injured. The crash is under investigation.

MARION, IA (IRN) – A soldier from Marion lost his life last week at Fort Hood, Texas. Private First Class Mason Webber, 22, was killed performing maintenance on a Bradley fighting vehicle at Fort Hood. The Army Combat Readiness Center is investigating the incident.

DUBUQUE, IA (IRN) – A Michigan man is facing charges after deputies in Dubuque County found a large amount of marijuana and THC in his vehicle. KCRG-TV reports on Sunday, deputies stopped Graham Musial, 36, for a traffic violation. Deputies found more than 146 pounds of marijuana and THC. Officials say the street value of the drugs is between $250,000 and $300,000.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A popular September 11, 2001 memorial is being canceled this year, according to Des Moines Parks and Rec. The department will not install the Tribute Trail at Gray’s Lake Park this year. The city has installed one flag for every person killed in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks every year since the tragedy. City officials said the Tribute Trail will not be installed this year due to a lack of volunteers and shortage of flags. The city hopes to bring the memorial back in 2020.

PRESTON, IA (IRN) – An eastern Iowa man died in the hospital Wednesday after suffering injuries from a house explosion last month. The Des Moines Register reports Daniel Miller, 39, of Preston, was alone in his home when the house became engulfed in flames from a house explosion on August 16. Miller had the house built three years ago. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.

JACKSON COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A Sabula man was killed after crashing his motorcycle in rural Jackson County on Saturday evening. John Cole, 52, was driving a 1996 Harley-Davidson, when it left the highway into a ditch, colliding with an embankment. Cole was thrown from his motorcycle by the force of the crash and killed.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Marion Police officers responded to a domestic disturbance call on Sunday. Officers learned the victim had been assaulted by 19-year-old Antwan Antonio Dixon Jr. and escaped the house before calling police. The two reside together at the address along with five children. Once officers went to arrest Dixon, he refused to leave the home. After an almost two hour standoff, Dixon voluntarily surrendered. He was taken to the Linn County Jail and charged with Domestic Assault, Strangulation and Sex Abuse.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A woman is expected to be OK after someone stabbed her at a home in the Capitol Heights neighborhood in Des Moines. WHO-TV reports the woman is in her 30s, and police are now looking for a male suspect in his 30s.

AMES, IA (IRN) – ESPN’s College GameDay is coming to Jack Trice Stadium for the Cy-Hawk game on Sept. 14. The Hawkeyes are ranked number 19 in the latest Associated Press poll while ISU dropped out of the poll after a narrow victory over UNI.

POLK COUNTY, IA (IRN) – An eastern Iowa man is accused of intentionally ramming his vehicle into a car with his wife and stepson inside, according to the Des Moines Register. Eric Short, 38, from Delaware, Iowa, was charged with child endangerment causing bodily injury and domestic abuse. He’s in jail.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Iowa State Patrol reports two people had to be taken to the hospital following a crash that closed the east mixmaster in Des Moines Saturday evening.
The crash involved two semi trucks and a van.

AMES, IA (IRN) – ESPN has confirmed College GameDay is coming to Jack Trice Stadium for the Cy-Hawk game on Sept. 14. The announcement came during the fourth quarter of the Texas vs. LSU game. College GameDay tweeted out, “AMESDAY IT IS! For the first time ever, we’re coming to Iowa State!”

LEON, IA (IRN) – The Central Decatur Student Council donated $2,600 to the city of Leon at their high school football game Friday night. KCCI-TV reports the money was raised to help repair the Leon cemetery that had been vandalized last month. The student council ran a fundraiser that allowed students to wear hats to school for $1 and teachers to wear jeans for $5.

IOWA (IRN) – Pig ear dog treats infected 23 Iowans with salmonella in the past year — more than in any other state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday updated an ongoing alert, first publicized this summer, that consumers should avoid the popular dog treats made of smoked pig. Pig ears are linked to a “multidrug-resistant salmonella” outbreak in 35 states. Humans likely get the disease from handling the treats.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Investigators believe they have solved a high-profile, decades-old murder case in Cedar Rapids. KCRG-TV reports police have closed the case in the 1989 murder of Brian Schappert. Schappert, 22, was stabbed to death during the early morning hours of September 8, 1989, while working at a Kum & Go convenience store. Police recently narrowed their investigation down to two possible suspects. Both are dead.

ANKENY, IA (IRN) – An Ankeny teenager was arrested after being accused of downloading child pornography from the dark web. KCCI-TV reports Saul Munoz Banderas, 18, was arrested Friday after months of investigation.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Iowa City Police have made an arrest after a child abduction attempt. KGAN-TV reports police arrested 24-year-old Rodney Bryant of Iowa City, after they responded to a report of a 3-yr-old that had been picked up by a stranger and carried a short distance away. The child’s mother confronted the person and was able to take her child from him, uninjured. The male then left the area on foot. Bryant is charged with Kidnapping.

AMES, IA (IRN) – Ames has been named the Best College Town in America by financial news website 24/7 Wall St. The website named the 30 best towns, starting with Ames at number one and ending with Madison, Wisconsin, at number 30. The rankings considered the share of residents enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate institution, the number of colleges and universities in the area, the median age of residents, the city’s unemployment rate and the number of bars per 100,000 city residents. Ames finished first, and number seven was Iowa City.