From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
Testimony will continue for a second day today in the trial of the man accused of hiring two men to kill Chris Bagley in 2018. The prosecution discussed how Andrew Shaw ran a business selling marijuana and that he and Bagley were previously friends. But once Bagley began stealing from him, he asked Drew Wagner and Johnny Church to kill him. The defense said the murder was not premeditated and that Shaw wasn’t the one who organized the killing. He faces life in prison if convicted of first degree murder.
A northern Iowa gym teacher is accused of requesting explicit photos from someone he thought was a minor and sending photos himself. Skyler Ahrens of Forest City faces a series of charges, including sexual exploitation of a minor. Court documents show he came in contact with a Winnebago County deputy posing as a 15-year-old girl online. He asked for photos and sent nudes despite the officer claiming they were 15 several times. The district says Ahrens on leave and is cooperating with the investigation.
Iowa City’s entire electric bus fleet is out of commission, and the city doesn’t know when the buses might be running again. In 2023 Iowa City’s electric bus vendor Proterra filed for bankruptcy, and the company’s transit line was later bought out by Phoenix EV. Since Proterra went bankrupt, Iowa City hasn’t been able to do any repairs to its electric buses. The city’s waiting to hear back from a final quote on new electric buses–that could be as soon as next month. Once the city orders its new electric buses, it could take more than a year before the buses arrive and start running.
Commercial boat traffic on the upper Mississippi River is being impacted by a helicopter crash in the St. Louis area yesterday. Two people died when the chopper crashed into a barge near East Alton, Illinois. The Federal Aviation Administration says the helicopter ran into a power line and crashed into the barge around 11 Thursday morning. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
The 50th Annual St. Jude Sweet Corn Festival is kicking off this weekend, and volunteers came together to help out. They shucked around 18,000 ears of corn yesterday in preparation. The festival begins this Saturday at St. Jude Church in Cedar Rapids.
