CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man charged in the killing of an 18-year-old high school student 40 years ago is seeking to exclude from his trial DNA evidence used to arrest him. The Des Moines Register reports that an attorney for 65-year-old Jerry Burns filed a motion this week to exclude DNA evidence police lifted from a straw Burns had discarded last year. Attorney Leon Spies says in his motion that police didn’t have a warrant to seize the tossed-out straw. Police arrested Burns last December for the stabbing death of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest of 34-year old Colan Hanner, of Orient. The Adair County man was arrested after a traffic stop in Creston for Driving while Suspended. Hanner was cited for failure to yield and failure to provide proof of financial liability. He was seen by a magistrate and released.

A Red Oak man was acquitted Wednesday, of two charges stemming from his arrest on Aug. 16 (2019). 41-year-old Matthew Walter Riley was found not guilty of second-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit sexual assault. following a two-day trial.  An additional charge of third-degree forcible sexual assault was dismissed in October. Riley’s attorney says his client had been charged with a felony offense based primarily on the testimony of a single witness. After the 12-person jury rendered their unanimous verdict, Riley was allowed to walk out of the courtroom a free man.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) — The next two weeks represent the most difficult time of the entire year for the LifeServe Blood Center, as donors become scarce due to things like holiday travel, flu season and the winter weather. Danielle West, a spokeswoman for LifeServe, says they’re taking donations six days a week at seven Iowa donor centers, in addition to mobile blood drives across about 90-percent of the state. “We have a lot of fun blood drives going on — on Christmas Eve, the day after Christmas, the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s,” West says. “We’re just trying to remind people that we still need blood donors to come in because unfortunately, there’s still a lot of people in hospitals that need those blood transfusions.”

A single blood donation can save the lives of up to three local hospital patients. “We really could use all blood types, definitely the O-negative and O-positive, those are used most often in hospitals, so we truly bug our O donors pretty often,” West says. “Platelets are always in need as well. It takes a bit longer to make a platelet donation but a lot of those go to cancer patients.” LifeServe Blood Center is the sole provider of blood to more than 120 hospitals across Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska. “If you’ve never done it before, it takes 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish to give that pint of blood,” West says. “We take that and separate that out into red cells, platelets and plasma, so it truly is going to impact three different lives in this community because we’re the only ones supporting these local hospitals in our areas.”

LifeServe has donor centers in: Ames, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Mason City, Sioux City and Urbandale.

Here are some American Red Cross blood and blood platelet donation opportunities:

Adair County:

• Orient – 1/15/2020: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., at the Orient-Macksburg High School.

Audubon County:

• Audubon – 12/27/2019: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., at St. Patrick’s Parish Center (2050 Hwy 71 N)

Cass County:

• Atlantic – 12/26/2019: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Cass County Memorial Hospital; 12/29/2019: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Cass County Community Center.
• Griswold – 1/10/2020: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Griswold High School.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa man has died in Norfolk, Nebraska, after the Jeep he was driving crossed a raised median and crashed into a truck. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened Thursday morning when 30-year-old Donovan Rasmussen, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, apparently lost control of a Jeep on Highway 81. The vehicle crossed a raised median and hit a cargo truck. Rasmussen died in the crash. The driver of the truck was 34-year-old Westley Lyon, of Columbus, Nebraska. He was treated for minor injuries. The crash forced the closure of Highway 81 for about four hours.