DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Students at several high schools across Iowa plan to join Friday’s national walkout to protest gun violence and seek safer schools. The event marks the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High shooting in Colorado. Many of the Iowa teens were on break last month and couldn’t join national walkouts.

In Des Moines, East High School students plan to start their demonstration with speeches outside school around 10:30 a.m. and then walk over to the Capitol to talk to lawmakers about their stances on guns.
Students in Johnston, Pella, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines have said they’ll be leaving their classrooms Friday, too.

Police in Creston report a man from Polk County was arrested on a drug charge, Wednesday afternoon. 19-year old Aldreias Jerome Campbell, Jr., of Des Moines, was arrested a little after Noon, Wednesday, on the Southwestern Community College campus, for Possession of Marijuana. Campbell, Jr. was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Charles City man accused of molesting a 17-year-old boy has been convicted again. On Wednesday a jury in Mason City convicted 62-year-old Doug Lindaman of misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He had been charged with felony sexual abuse. His sentencing is set for May 11. The trial had been moved to Cerro Gordo County from Floyd County because of pretrial publicity.
Lindaman was convicted in 2016 of sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy in 2011. The Iowa Supreme Court later vacated the conviction, because Lindaman was allowed to represent himself without knowingly waiving his right to an attorney. Lindaman was running for a school board spot when arrested in 2015.

A mistrial in his second trial was declared Feb. 26 after two prosecution witnesses violated court instructions.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of text messaging before a fatal Linn County crash has been found guilty. Court records say 36-year-old Keith Furne was convicted by a jury Wednesday of two counts of vehicular homicide and one of reckless driving resulting in serious injury. The crash occurred on Nov. 3, 2016, on the north side of Robins. Authorities say Furne was writing a text while driving his pickup truck before ramming into the back of a car. Two teenage girls were killed: 16-year-old Selena Apodaca and 13-year-old Isabella Severson. The trial was moved to Story County.