POLICE IN NEWTON SAY A MAN WAS FOUND STABBED TO DEATH AT HIS APARTMENT COMPLEX TUESDAY NIGHT AND A SUSPECT HAS BEEN ARRESTED. RESPONDING OFFICERS FOUND 41-YEAR-OLD RANDALL MIKESELL JR. BLEEDING FROM WOUNDS TO HIS ABDOMEN. THE VICTIM DIED AT THE SCENE. BY WEDNESDAY MORNING, 33-YEAR-OLD SHANE BORREGO HAD BEEN ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE BORREGO HAD GONE TO THE APARTMENT TO RETRIEVE PROPERTY WHEN THERE WAS AN ALTERCATION BETWEEN THE TWO MEN.
IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS SAYS THE LAST PIECES ARE BEING PUT IN PLACE TO MAKE CORONAVIRUS VACCINES AVAILABLE TO ALL ADULT IOWANS BEGINNING MONDAY. REYNOLDS PROVIDED AN UPDATE DURING A WEDNESDAY PRESS CONFERENCE. IOWA’S SEVEN-DAY PERCENTAGE OF POSITIVE COVID TESTS REACHED 5% AGAIN ON TUESDAY AFTER BEING WELL BELOW THAT LEVEL FOR MOST OF MARCH.
THE DRAKE RELAYS ARE BACK ON TRACK FOR LATER THIS MONTH. AFTER BEING CANCELED LAST SPRING, THE ANNUAL TRACK AND FIELD EVENT WILL THOSE WHO HAD TICKETS FOR LAST YEAR’S EVENT WILL HAVE FIRST PRIORITY FOR SEATS AT THE 2021 DRAKE RELAYS.
THE WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS VISIT THE LINCOLN STARS TONIGHT, TRYING TO SHAKE A THREE-GAME SKID. THE ROAD GAME BEGINS AT 7 P.M.
AFTER AN IOWA GUN SHOP REFUSED TO SELL HIM A FIREARM, A COLORADO MAN IS NOW IN CUSTODY. 40-YEAR-OLD ADAM VANNOY CAME TO THE ATTENTION OF IOWA AUTHORITIES AFTER ATTEMPTING TO PURCHASE A SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLE IN ANKENY. STORE OFFICIALS BECAME CONCERNED WHEN VANNOY ALEGEDLY SAID HE WAS SURPRISED PEOPLE DIDN’T SUSPECT HE WAS THE BOULDER MASS SHOOTER. NOW OFFICIALS HAVE LEARNED VANNOY HAD RECENTLY BEEN RELEASED ON BOND FROM A JAIL IN NEBRASKA, WHERE TROOPERS HAD SEIZED SEVERAL FIREARMS AND MARIJUANA FROM HIS VEHICLE DURING A MARCH 14 TRAFFIC STOP. U.S. JUDGE STEPHEN JACKSON SAYS CONTINUED ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN WEAPONS AND ODD BEHAVIOR JUSTIFIES THE GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST TO JAIL VANNOY PENDING TRIAL.
IOWA GOVERNOR KIM REYNOLDS SAYS SHE IS TAKING A FIRST-HAND LOOK AT THE STATE’S VACCINATION EFFORTS. THE GOVERNOR NOTED ON WEDNESDAY THAT SHE HAS SEEN A LOT OF ENTHUSIASM FROM THOSE GETTING THE SHOTS. EXPANDING VACCINE AVAILABILITY COMES AT A TIME WHEN COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS ARE CLIMBING. ALL IOWA ADULTS WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR INOCULATIONS BEGINNING ON MONDAY.
THE UNI PANTHER VOLLEYBALL TEAM BEGINS MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PLAY THIS EVENING. UNI’S MATCH AGAINST DRAKE WILL BE IN NORMAL, ILLINOIS. [UNI WAS 8-8 DURING THE MVC REGULAR SEASON]. LIVE COVERAGE OF PANTHER VOLLEYBALL WILL BE CARRIED ON KXEL, BEGINNING AT 4:45.
A MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER IN THE 2018 DEATH OF A FOUR-WEEK OLD FAYETTE COUNTY CHILD SEEKS A NEW TRIAL. ON MARCH 9TH, A JURY VERDICT FAVORED THE PROSECUTION IN ITS CASE AGAINST 24-YEAR-OLD DEAN HETTINGER. HOWEVER, LAWYERS FOR HETTINGER ARGUE THAT THE EVIDENCE DOES NOT MATCH THE OUTCOME AND CLAIM THAT THERE IS NOT A CLEAR TIE BETWEEN THE INJURIES SUFFERED BY HOLTON SMITH AND THE CHILD’S TIME IN HETTINGER’S CARE. WHEN THE BOY WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL IN SUMNER, MEDICAL WORKERS IDENTIFIED DOZENS OF BROKEN BONES AND A BRAIN INJURY. SMITH DIED SEVERAL WEEKS LATER. HETTINGER HAS ALSO BEEN CHARGED FOR THREATENING HIS GIRLFRIEND, WHO HAD BEEN ASSIGNED CUSTODY OF THE INFANT.
GATHERINGS TO COMMEMORATE THE LIVES OF TWO MURDERED EASTERN IOWA PRISON WORKERS CONTINUED LAST NIGHT. IN CENTRAL IOWA, WORKERS AT THE FORT DES MOINES CORRECTIONAL FACILITY CAME TOGETHER IN A VIGIL FOR NURSE LORENA SCHULTE AND CORRECTIONS OFFICER ROBERT MCFARLAND. OUR COVERAGE PARTNERS AT DES MOINES’ TV-13 TALKED WITH JERRY EVANS, WHO DIRECTS THE 5TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. ON MARCH 23RD, SCHULTE AND MCFARLAND WERE KILLED DURING A FAILED ESCAPE ATTEMPT. INMATES MICHAEL DUTCHER AND THOMAS WOODWARD WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE IOWA STATE PENITENTIARY IN FORT MADISON, WHERE THEY AWAIT TRIAL.
CRACKS IN SOME WINDOWS ARE A CONCERN AT THE STEAD FAMILY CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL IN IOWA CITY. ESTIMATES SUGGEST IT WOULD TAKE 10 TO 15 MILLION DOLLARS TO REPLACE TWO FLOORS WORTH OF WINDOWS IN THE 14-FLOOR FACILITY. THE IOWA BOARD OF REGENTS WILL CONSIDER THE PROBLEM DURING A MEETING NEXT WEEK.
