MARION, Iowa (AP) — Officials in Marion are set to approve a plan to repair the city’s historic train depot that was heavily damaged in last summer’s devastating derecho weather event. The Gazette in Cedar Rapids reports that the Marion City Council received a motion Tuesday night from the city’s Parks and Recreation department to approve a contract for the repairs. The council is expected to approve the contract at Thursday’s formal session.

The depot was built in 1892 and moved to City Square Park in 1990. The structure’s northside roof was smashed by a fallen tree during the Aug. 10 derecho, which brought winds of more than 100 mph to eastern Iowa and damaged many buildings and trees in the region.

(Radio Iowa) – Police in Sioux Falls, South Dakota say the shooting death of a 27-year-old man who recently moved from Spencer to Sioux Falls was not a random act, but no suspect is in custody. Police Lieutenant Terrance Matia says Mitchell Houchins was found near the intersection of two streets in a residential area of Sioux Falls. “We know now that he died from a gunshot wound to the chest,” he says.

Investigators believe Houchins was shot at about 11:15 p.m. last Wednesday.  “Houchins was laying in the middle of the street for 25 minutes before police were even called,” Matia says. “Cars drove by him. One particular individual actually walked by him and asked somebody if they wanted to see a dead body and then that person that he told that to…thankfully…called police.”

Houchins is the son of late Clay County Attorney Michael Houchins and his wife Jeanne. Social media information shows he moved from Spencer to Sioux Falls just months ago.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted in the hit-and-run death of a 71-year-old woman in Des Moines last year has been sentenced to five years in prison. The Des Moines Register reports that 42-year-old Isaias Flores Morales was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in November to leaving the scene of a fatal accident and fleeing to avoid prosecution.

He was arrested in Illinois weeks after the death of Stephanie Markert, who died a week after being hit on Jan. 30, 2020, near the Drake University campus. Markert was the house mother for Delta Gamma sorority at Drake at the time of her death.

Two people were arrested on separate charges early this (Wednesday) morning, in Mills County. At around 1:40-a.m., 40-year-old Kale Garrett Hardman, of Malvern, was arrested for being a Fugitive from Justice. And, 22-year-old Kiasha Lynette Adams was arrested following a traffic stop on I-29 at mile marker 34. She was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance. Bond was set at $1,000.

Sheriff’s deputies on Tuesday, cited Bayleigh Major, of Missouri Valley, for unsafe passing and failure to provide proof of [insurance].

Cass County Health System officials Wednesday (Today) announced the arrival of the first baby of 2021. Gavin Leo arrived January 4, 2021. The CCHS Obstetrics team presented the family with a baby blanket and a year’s supply of diapers.

Pictured (L to R): dad Alex holding Gavin and mom Emily. (Photo courtesy CCHS)

(Radio Iowa) – Hundreds of students, parents and alumni are asking Luther College in Decorah to wait longer before returning to in-person instruction. The college announced this week students must return to campus to attend classes in-person starting Monday, unless they have a documented condition that puts them at a high risk for complications from COVID-19. Madeline Lomprey, a senior at Luther, says the college should allow more time to identify infections among students who were traveling or going out over the holidays. Lomprey says, “For me, I wouldn’t go out to the bar, but I see pictures almost every weekend on social media of people that are.”

According to Lomprey, around 13-hundred people — including nearly 40-percent of students — have signed a petition. It calls on Luther to keep classes online for the remaining three weeks of the semester. Lomprey says she’s worried other students returning from the year-end break could unknowingly bring the virus back to campus. “It only takes a few minutes for that to spread if you’re all sitting in the same room,” she says. “We really need to be more proactive than just waiting for those indicators to rise again.”

A college spokesperson said in a statement that local COVID numbers are now similar to October when students studied in-person, adding, the college will soon add more testing on campus.

(By Grant Gerlock, Iowa Public Radio)

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The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Creston Police Department report 23-year-old James Riddle, Jr., of Creston, was arrested a little after 6-a.m. today (Wednesday), for Driving While Suspended. Riddle was cited and released from the scene, on a Summons to Appear.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Tourism Office has created a checklist for traveling along Iowa’s 12 scenic byways and the so-called “digital passport” provides some discounts along the way. “As you travel the byways, you can check in at various locations along the way,” says Jessica O’Riley, communications manager for the Iowa Tourism Office. “There’s about 100 different locations along the 12 participating byways. Each check-in gets you entered to win a monthly prize package. Some of the participating locations also offer deals and discounts. Each time you redeem a deal or discounts, that also counts as an entry into the monthly prize package.”

The promotion will last through December 31, 2021, so each month somebody with one of these Scenic Byways Passports will win a prize package worth about two-hundred dollars, including an overnight, stay along one of the byways. The 12 scenic bylaws take travelers to national landmarks, historic sites and local attractions. The best way to see Iowa is to get off the interstates and explore the backroads and uncover those hidden gems in the small towns,” O’Riley says. “The Scenic Byways are a great way to do that.”

O’Riley says the byways also showcase the state’s topography. “A lot of people tend to stay in one corner of the state…If you’re in western Iowa and you can appreciate the Loess Hill, maybe you’ve never seen the Driftless area in northeast Iowa,” O’Riley says. “It’s a great opportunity to get out and really explore our own backyard.” This summer, the state launched a similar digital for the 100th anniversary of the state park system and O’Riley says it was so popular all the prizes were redeemed within the first two weeks. O’Riley’s theory? People like a check-list. “If you show them: ‘Here’s a list of things to do,’ people love checking things off and completing a task,” O’Riley says.

Download the Iowa Scenic Byways Passport here. January’s prize package is from the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway. It includes a one-night stay at the Hotel Millwright in Amana and gift certificates at Amana shops.