DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police were busy at the Des Moines International Airport Wednesday after a loaded weapon was found in a carry-on bag. WHO-TV reports the gun was discovered at the security screening checkpoint. When police arrived, they took the Diamondback .380, which was loaded with seven rounds, and gave the owner of the bag a citation. The bag’s owner was then allowed to board their flight.

WEST DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police are searching for the driver of a car that crashed into a family burial site that sits in the middle of a West Des Moines roundabout. The Des Moines Register reports the driver abandoned the car in Huston Cemetery around 3:30 a.m. Saturday.
The vehicle had damaged the fence, landscaping and some headstones before coming to rest.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – Cedar Rapids police have arrested a North Texas man they say attended church services and scammed members by claiming his family was killed in Syria, and he needed money to fly home. KCRG-TV reports that 41-year-old Alan Michael Farha of Carrollton, Texas, allegedly scammed churches out of $5,000 to $6,000. He’s been charged in similar schemes in six other states.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Police are investigating an alleged attempted kidnapping that happened Monday in Des Moines. KCCI-TV reports a woman called police, saying she was being chased by three men in a white, rusty minivan. The men were yelling, “hey, hey you! Get into our car!” After she ignored them, they cut across three lanes of traffic, pulled in front of her, opened the passenger door, and tried to get her to get in. She fled to the safety of a coffee shop.

BUCHANAN COUNTY, IA (IRN) – Chris Soules and his defense has requested the former “Bachelor” star’s trial be pushed back. KGAN-TV reports they say they need more time to prepare for trial. Soules is charged with leaving the scene of an April 24 crash in which he rear-ended a tractor, killing 66-year-old Kenneth Mosher. He has pled not guilty.

MAYNARD, IA (IRN) – Angelo Pizzo, screenwriter for the sports movies Hoosiers and Rudy, is now looking to Iowa for inspiration. KWWL-TV reports PIzzo is writing a script where an Iowa girls high school basketball team will be the stars. It is set in 1956, when the Maynard High School girls won the State Championship. The movie will be based on the 2013 book, Maynard 8 Miles, which features an Iowa farm family and the immense impact of six on six girls basketball in Iowa in the 1950’s.

SIOUX CITY, IA (IRN) – A teenager accused of using a BB gun to shoot his 3-year-old sister has pled not guilty in Sioux City. The 17-year-old is charged with willful injury and child endangerment. KETV reports one BB was removed during surgery, but the other BB entered near one of the girl’s eyes and lodged next to her brain. Doctors say it is too risky to remove, so it’s been left in place.

MASON CITY, IA (IRN) – A Mason City woman found herself in a hospital due to an unexpected encounter Sunday in her yard. KIMT-TV reports the women felt something hurt her foot, looked down and saw a cut. She didn’t think much about it until several hours later when the cut became more painful, and she couldn’t walk. He foot turned purple, she grew nauseated and dizzy, so she went to the hospital. It turns out she was bitten by a rattlesnake. Fortunately, the anti-venom worked, and she will be OK.

DEWITT, IA (IRN) – Law enforcement agencies are investigating the deaths of two people near DeWitt. KCRG-TV reports family members didn’t get an answer when they tried calling yesterday, after one didn’t show up for work. Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies inside their home.

LUCAS COUNTY, IA (IRN) – A construction worker from Waterloo was hit and killed by a driver yesterday in a construction zone in Lucas County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 32-year-old Brady Rasmus, of Chariton, failed to see 48-year-old Barbarella Moore, of Waterloo. Moore was flagging vehicles while another worker was cutting concrete. Moore was hit by Rasmus’ SUV and died at the scene.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Governor Kim Reynolds on behalf of disabled Iowans. The lawsuit claims Iowans with severe disabilities are suffering from cuts in services following the state’s privatization of Medicaid under then Governor Branstad. The plaintiffs say Reynolds and her human services director should be held responsible for depriving thousands of Iowans with disabilities the health care they desperately need.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s former U.S. attorney and Hawkeye football tight end is now weighing in as an analyst on CNN. KCCI-TV reports Matt Whitaker is making a name for himself as a CNN panelist, sparring with Anderson Cooper and his cable show experts. Whitaker said at first he was intimidated meeting and sparing with political legends like Carl Bernstein and David Axelrod, but then realized they put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else.

SHELLSBURG, IA (IRN) – A 79-year-old man died Monday after being pinned by an overturned tractor in rural Shellsburg. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office says Arlo Becker was driving the tractor when it overturned while pulling a sprayer up a steep grade. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – An Alabama-based company is seeking to block Des Moines from enforcing rules limiting the sale of fireworks to industrial zones. KCCI-TV reports American Promotional Events, which bills itself as the nation’s largest distributor of consumer fireworks, filed the petition Monday in Polk County District Court. It seeks an injunction stopping Des Moines from enforcing its ordinance and an emergency hearing where the company would argue the local rules violate state law.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – A man found guilty in a crash that killed a 12-year-old Des Moines girl has been sentenced. KCCI-TV reports Fernando Lopez-Aguilar caused a three-car crash in Des Moines which killed twelve-year-old Lea Phann. Her grandfather suffered serious traumatic brain injury in the crash. Lopez-Aguilar was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Former lotto security director, Eddie Tipton–along with his brother Tommy–entered a plea agreement Monday with six other states including Iowa. He entered a guilty plea to theft by fraud and computer crime in Wisconsin, and has agreed to admit to ongoing criminal conduct charges in Iowa. Tipton is required to pay more than $2.2 million in restitution for rigging and winning seven lottery tickets in five states. He also faces up to 30 years in prison.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (IRN) – President Donald Trump has rescheduled a previously postponed trip to Iowa in June, according to his campaign website. Trump is scheduled to appear at a rally in Cedar Rapids June 21.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – The Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines has announced it’s adding another baby to the family. The new addition, a Japanese macaque, was born on June 3rd. She weighed just over a pound at birth, which is big but healthy for a macaque. She is the first successful birth of a Japanese macaque at the zoo in more than 15 years. She will be named at this Friday’s Zoobilation event, which is a gala fundraiser for the zoo.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa’s Insurance Division is proposing a stopgap measure to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ensure all Iowans have access to health insurance in 2018, saying no carriers will provide individual insurance in the state under the Affordable Care Act. Minnesota-based Medica is the only remaining statewide insurer on the exchange and has said it will drop out if changes aren’t made.

MONTROSE, IA (IRN) – An officer responding to a burglary in progress call has shot a man in southeast Iowa. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says the shooting occurred early Monday morning in rural Montrose. The man is being treated for his wounds.

DES MOINES, IA (IRN) – Iowa could see more than $100 million cut from federal grants that would reduce funding for early education, job training and low-income assistance. KCRG-TV reports the budget proposal by President Trump calls for the elimination of several block grants for the state. A spokeswoman for Gov. Kim Reynolds says her office will work with federal partners to ensure funding priorities are met.

IOWA CITY, IA (IRN) – Firefighters are investigating a fire in the Bowen Science Building on the University of Iowa campus Sunday. KWWL-TV reports the fire was put out quickly, and no one was injured.

URBANDALE, IA (IRN) – Firefighters responded to a fire at a townhouse in Urbandale Sunday, according to WHO-TV. The flames started on the deck and then spread before firefighters were able to put out the fire in the attic. Fire officials say it is especially difficult to put out fires in hot, windy conditions, but crews were grateful for people in neighboring homes who brought out water to ensure the firefighters stayed hydrated.

MARION, IA (IRN) – The city of Marion is working to help save Monarch butterflies, according to KGAN-TV. Monarchs need milkweed to survive. It’s what adults lay their eggs on and what the caterpillars eat for food. A group gathered yesterday to make milkweed seed balls for RAGBRAI. The goal is for cyclists to toss out the seed balls as they ride, with the hope more plants will sprout.