DENISON, Iowa (AP) – A 26-year-old Denison man has been sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without parole for murdering two elderly people and trying to burn their bodies. A judge administered the sentence Friday to Michael Schenk, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson in January in the murders of 80-year-old Marvin Huesling and 81-year-old Alice Huisenga. Schenk received an indeterminate sentence of 10 years for the arson charge.

Another defendant, 19-year-old Jayden Chapman, also faces murder and arson charges and is scheduled to go to trial April 28. Authorities say Schenk and Chapman shot the pair at a trailer home in Deloit in March 2014 and then set it on fire. Investigators say the men were likely trying to steal scrap metal.

The annual “Cancer in Iowa” report doesn’t show a lot of change in the numbers when it comes to projected new cases of cancer and cancer deaths this year. The report is compiled by the State Health Registry of Iowa based in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, where Mary Charlton is an assistant professor of epidemiology. “It’s relatively stable since last year, our projections are about the same with those numbers,” Charlton says. “Over the last several years though the 16-thousand-900 new cases of cancer have come down a little bit from our projections in 2012 through 2014. Cancer deaths have been stable the last few years, with our projections right at six-thousand-400. And those projections have remains relatively unchanged over the last several years.” Charlton says better treatment for some types of cancer is part of the reason the numbers have stabilized.

She says treatments for common cancers such as breast cancer, have caused the death rate to remain similar. Charlton says they’ve stopped screening as much as they used to for prostate cancer, which means they aren’t finding as many new cases. Lung cancer remains the biggest killer for men and women. “One out of every four cancer deaths is due to lung cancer, so it’s definitely one of the more deadly cancers, even though it’s not as common as prostate or breast cancer,” according to Charlton. While smoking rates have dropped in the state, Charlton says the odorless, colorless gas called radon has kept lung cancer a concern.

“That’s a particular issue here in Iowa. I think people have started to become more and more aware of this issue,” Charlton says. “But people can have relatively high levels of radon in their homes, especially with the newer homes that are built. They are tighter and keep more air inside — as opposed to older, draftier homes that kind of let that gas out. So, radon is another important risk factor to consider with lung cancer.” Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women behind lung cancer — while prostate cancer is second in men behind lung cancer. Charlton says an increasing concern in the study is the number of cases of skin melanoma.

“That’s one of the fastest growing cancers in Iowa, and in fact, since the mid-1970s the incidents have quadrupled to the recent time period. So that’s been a major thing to keep our eye on,” Charlton says. Charlton says some of the increase can be attributed to changes in the way melanoma is reported. She says it’s important to educate Iowans about the problem as it’s one of the most preventable forms of cancer.

“Up to 90-percent of melanoma cases are due to ultraviolet light exposure which can obviously be minimized through use of sun screen or protective clothing and not using tanning beds, things like that,” Charlton says. “But for those who are diagnosed with advance melanoma that has already spread, the five-year survival rate for that is only 13-percent. And there hasn’t been a lot of progress made, as it’s very difficult to treat at that stage.” Melanoma rates are highest among older adults, but it is the third most common cancer in kids and young adults. To see the full report, go to the U-I College of Public Health’s website at: www.public-health.uiowa.edu.

(Radio Iowa)

Former Hewlett Packard president Carly Fiorina is considering a bid for the G-O-P’s 2016 presidential nomination — and she is due in Iowa this Saturday to headline a day-long women’s conference sponsored by the Polk County Republican Party.  “Women are half the nation, but we know that women sometimes disengage from the political process because they don’t like the tone of it, the vitriol of it,” Fiorina says. “They feel like it’s a lot of talk without a lot of results — frequently, unfortunately that’s true — and so this is all about getting women engaged.”

Fiorina wowed the crowd at Steve King’s Iowa Freedom Summit in January with her critique of Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Fiornia told Radio Iowa this week that one reason she’s contemplating a run for the White House is because there’s a general sense of “disquiet” among Americans. “They are worried about what’s going on in the world and in many cases they look at these vast government bureaucracies in Washington, D.C. and feel as though their government and their politicians have failed them,” Fiorina said. “I think what people think is missing is leadership.” Fiorina, who lost a race in California for the U.S. Senate in 2010, suggests her lack of experience in elected office may be instead seen as a bonus by voters.

“Ours was intended to be a citizen government,” Fiorina said. “…We’ve somehow gotten used to this notion in the last 50 or 60 years that only professional politicians can run for office and I don’t think it’s a particularly good habit we’ve gotten into.” And Fiorina says it would be helpful to have someone in the Oval Office who hasn’t been occupied by “running and winning” at politics, but who, instead, understands how the economy actually works.

“And for someone, as well, to understand executive decision making,” Fiorina said, “which is making tough calls in tough times for which you’re held accountable.” In 1999 Fiorina became the first woman to lead a Fortune 500 corporation, but she had a rocky ride as C-E-O of Hewlett Packard. After five and a half years at the helm she was forced to resign by board members who complained about H-P’s acquisition of rival Compaq. Fiorina says in business, actions — not speeches — are what counts.

“And, in terms of results, we took a company that was about $44 billion and took it to $88 billion — we doubled it in size. We went from growing at two percent to growing at nine percent. We tripled our rate of innovation to 11 patents a day. We quadrupled our cash flow. We went from lagging behind in every single product category in every market to leading in every product category in every market,” Fiorina said. “A company was transformed from falling behind to moving forward. I’ll run on that record all day long.” Fiorina will speak this Saturday at the “Enlighten, Empower and Engage Women’s Conference” at the West Des Moines Marriott. The event starts at 9 a.m. and is scheduled to end at three o’clock.

(Radio Iowa)

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A Dubuque woman has been accused of using an extension cord to whip her daughter over a cellphone password. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that 38-year-old Consuelo Hernandez-Flores was arrested on Thursday and charged with assault with injury. Court records don’t list the name of a defense attorney who could be contacted for comment about the case for Hernandez-Flores.

A criminal complaint says the woman’s 17-year-old daughter reported that her mother whipped her several times with the extension cord, leaving bruises, welts and abrasions on her legs. The girl says her mom hit her because she would not give her mom the password to her cellphone. Officers say Hernandez-Flores acknowledged “spanking” her daughter with the cord.

The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest on Thursday, of 29-year old Colbie Fike,  of Glenwood. Fike was taken into custody for Driving While barred. Her bond was set at $2000.

Police in Creston say a resident in the 700 block of West Prairie Street reported to authorities on Tuesday, that several items had come up missing from his home, and that his credit card had been used without his permission. The theft occurred sometime between Jan. 23rd and March 10th. Items missing include an Ipod, diamond ring and money. The credit card had an unauthorized charge amounting to nearly $75. The total loss was estimated at $2,400.