CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – The University of Northern Iowa Panther Marching Band will ring in the new year in the Old World. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the band has been asked to march in the London New Year’s Day Parade on Jan. 1st.  Danny Galyen, director of the UNI marching band, says he believes it will be the first time the UNI band has performed internationally.

A selection committee of top-tier music educators made recommendations about which bands to invite. Thousands of featured performers from around the world will march past such landmarks as Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster.

The parade’s website says it attracts twice as many spectators as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

A single-vehicle rollover  accident late Saturday morning in rural Cass County claimed the life of  a Griswold teen. The crash was reported at 11:52-a.m. near 70828 570th Street, or about two-miles south of Highway 92, southeast of Griswold. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Corey Larsen told KJAN News 18-year-old Austin Oldenkamp, of rural Griswold was traveling northbound in a 2006 Chevy Monte Carol, when for reasons unknown, he lost control of the car. The vehicle entered the west ditch and rolled twice before coming to rest upright. Oldenkamp was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the crash site by Griswold Fire and Rescue, Medivac ambulance, and Iowa DNR Officer and the Iowa State Patrol.

A landmark building in downtown Des Moines caught fire and partially collapsed early this (Saturday) morning. KCCI-TV reports large numbers of firefighters and equipment responded to the three-alarm blaze at the former Younkers Department Store near 7^th and Walnut Streets. The blaze was reported at 12:50-a.m., and within minutes it was upgraded to a three-alarm fire.

Witnesses reported huge flames leaping from the upper floors of the building.  Video captured by one witness shows a huge part of one wall collapsing into the street. The upper floors of the structure were fully engulfed in flames when the first firefighting crews arrived. The flames spread quickly according to fire officials, because the building was under construction and many interior rooms were open.

As of 7-a.m., firefighters remained on the scene pouring water on what remains of the building. The inside of the building has collapsed. Buildings to the east and south of Younkers were damaged by falling debris and smoke, and nearby the Hub Tower was evacuated. It sustained significant damage due to the fire, including shattered windows and heat damage.

There is no word yet on what started the fire.