SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say a northwest Iowa jury will resume considering its verdict Thursday in the murder trial of a Nebraska man accused of killing his estranged wife. Twenty-nine-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he killed 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence.

The case went to the jury Wednesday morning. Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man. Defense attorney Mike Williams said in his closing arguments that there’s no doubt Morales killed the woman but said Morales “is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, not murder.”

AMES, Iowa (AP) – A jury has convicted an Ames woman of voluntary manslaughter for killing her husband. The Story County jury returned the verdict Wednesday against 36-year-old Candace Cummings in the second day of deliberations. Cummings was charged with first-degree murder for killing 36-year-old Harland “Jesse” Cummings. Prosecutors say she shot him as he slept.

Her sentencing is scheduled for July 17. Candace Cummings told investigators she killed her husband because of stress in their marriage and the years of abuse she’d suffered at his hands.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) regional directors will hold traveling office hours throughout the month of July in all 99 counties in Iowa. Representatives from Senator Ernst’s office will be available in counties throughout the state to assist Iowans with problems or questions about eligibility involving issues like Social Security, veterans’ benefits, military affairs, passports, immigration issues, and other federal programs. The Senator herself will NOT be at the traveling office hours.

If you are unable to attend the traveling office hours and are seeking assistance with federal agencies, please visit Ernst.Senate.Gov to contact one of her offices or submit a casework request.

Locally, Ernst’s traveling office will be held in the following counties, dates/times/places…

Adair County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, Adair County Courthouse Jury Room (400 Public Square, Greenfield, IA)

Adams County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM, Corning Public Library (603 9th Street, Corning, IA)

Audubon County: Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM, Audubon Public Library (401 North Park Place, Audubon, IA)

Cass County: Thursday, July 13, 2017, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM, Atlantic Public Library Community Room (507 Poplar Street, Atlantic, IA)

Guthrie County: Wednesday, July 5, 2017, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Guthrie County Courthouse Public Meeting Room (200 North 5th Street, Guthrie Center, IA)

Montgomery County: Thursday, July 13, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 pm, Montgomery County Extension Office Suite #2 (400 Bridge Street, Red Oak, IA)

Pottawattamie County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, Walnut City Hall (229 Antique City Drive, Walnut, IA).

Shelby County: Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Harlan Public Library (718 Court Street, Harlan, IA)

A complete list of all upcoming dates can be found here:https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/traveling-office-hours

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have been searching for the driver of a car that crashed into a family burial site that sits in the middle of a West Des Moines roundabout. The Des Moines Register reports police were dispatched to Huston Cemetery around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. The driver had abandoned the car, which had damaged the fence, landscaping and some headstones before coming to rest.

Huston Cemetery is named for James B. Huston, patriarch of one of the first families to settle in Dallas County. The city website says the first two people buried there were former slave girls with the last name of Harper who “died on their way to freedom.”

The once rural site has been overtaken by West Des Moines’ expansion. The city now owns the parcel.