From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Police in Des Moines say they’ve arrested a man suspected in a string of overnight arson fires involving half a dozen vehicles that also damaged at least two homes. Police say in a news release that the fires occurred starting around 11:30 p.m. Sunday into early Monday morning. The fires included six vehicle fires, two of which damaged homes, and an electrical box fire that all happened within blocks of each other in northeastern Des Moines. Police say patrol officers spotted a person leaving the scene of the last fire around 2:20 a.m. Monday and arrested 32-year-old Andrew Anthony, of Des Moines. Anthony is currently charged with one count of arson and another count of methamphetamine possession.
MARION COUNTY, Iowa (AP) – A 37-year-old Iowa man was killed while deer hunting this weekend. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Nathan Allen Sharpnack of Winterset was shot Saturday afternoon while hunting with a large group of people in the Red Rock Wildlife Management Area north of Knoxville, Iowa. Officials said Sharpnack was shot in the torso likely by a member of a large hunting party. Investigators from the Marion County Sheriff’s office are helping the state agency investigate the shooting. An autopsy will be performed on Sharpnack.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Officials from Illinois, Iowa and the federal government are celebrating the completion of a new bridge carrying Interstate 74 over the Mississippi River. State and local politicians and Federal Highway Administration staff members gathered on the the structure recently to publicize its opening to traffic sometimes this month. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the bridge, under construction for four years, is one of the largest construction projects in state history. The $1 billion project, nearly 90% of which came from federal money, replaces an initial bridge that opened in 1935. A second span was completed in 1960.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – A former Waterloo man was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison after a woman he sold heroin to died of an overdose. Forty-year-old Eric DeAngelo Griggs was sentenced Friday. Authorities allege Griggs sold heroin to a Cedar Falls woman on Aug. 31, 2018. She was found dead the following morning. An autopsy determined she died of heroin intoxication. In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams said there was no way Griggs didn’t know that heroin and other opioids were potentially lethal. The judge also found that Griggs obstructed justice by sending a threatening letter to a person he thought was cooperating with investigators.
ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – A 40-year-old Sioux City man has been sentenced to 54 years in prison for running over his friend and shooting at the victim’s girlfriend. Jayme Powell was sentenced Friday for two counts of attempted murder and other charges. Prosecutors said Powell ran over Richard Polak, who riding his motorcycle on Interstate 29 near Whiting, Iowa, on Dec. 27 after the two had a fight earlier that night in Sioux City. Powell also was convicted of firing shots at Polak’s girlfriend, Jaimi Bucholz, who was driving with a baby in her vehicle. Polak, of Omaha, suffered numerous injuries and walked with a cane during the sentencing hearing Friday.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Two Iowa teenagers charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of their high school Spanish teacher will remain in jail after a judge decided to keep their bail bond at $1 million cash only. Attorneys for Willard Noble Chaiden Miller and Jeremy Everett Goodale, both 16, asked Judge Joel Yates to reduce their bond so they could be released from custody while awaiting trial. Prosecutors resisted citing the brutal nature of the teacher’s death. Yates says in a written ruling released Friday that he considered several factors including the nature and circumstances of the offenses charged. The attorneys for both teens declined to comment on the judge’s decision.
