Iowa Network Services

An Iowa company that specializes in call center solutions and other services ... KCCI says Iowa Network Services is buying Caleris... Iowa Network services says Caleris will keep operating under its name and the two main leaders will stay with Caleris... Ron Keller, president and CEO of INS, said Caleris is a great fit with the back-office services INS currently provides... some job cuts are coming with the move... but no word on how many. But it's possible 100 new jobs are coming with expansion.

Legal Fireworks

An Iowa state senator is proposing that the state allow, legally, the sale of fireworks in Iowa... KCCI says the bill from senator Mark Chelgren would restrict the sale of fireworks to those 18 years and over, and county boards and city council would regulate the sales... lawmakers banned the sale of fireworks in Iowa back in the 1930s, following a major fire in Spencer. The sales tax income from the sale of the fireworks would go toward equipment for local fire departments.

Student Housing

The University of Iowa and Iowa State University are rushing to build more dormitories as high enrollment causes soaring demand for student housing.  The Regents will meet tomorrow to discuss financing to complete a $53 million residence hall project for 500 students in Iowa City.They will also discuss plans to build build an estimated $50 million dormitory to house 700 students at ISU.  The universities have spent millions to lease off-campus apartment buildings due to a boom in enrollment over the years

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Robber Thanks Clerk

Des Moines police are looking for an armed robber with good manners.  When he pointed a gun at a clerk at a Git N' Go store and demanding money Monday night,  the  cashier handed over $100.  Police say the robber thanked her before fleeing with the cash.  He remains at large.

Excessive Force Claim

A Des Moines family said a surveillance video shows police used excessive force to serve a search warrant in their home. Ankeny police say the homeowners would not answer their door. The video was shot by multiple cameras on a home surveillance system. The north side homeowner said she's terrified to stay in her home now. But police said what they found proves there's more to the story. The Suburban Emergency Response Team, SERT, was serving an Ankeny police search warrant for stolen wallets and credit cards.

DPS Employee Fired

An Iowa Department of Public Safety employee has been fired for accessing criminal records involving her two daughters. A judge ruled last week that ex-information technology support worker Kathleen Sohn is ineligible for unemployment benefits because she violated a policy banning employees from accessing relatives' records. Sohn testified during an unemployment hearing last month that she didn't remember whether she accessed her daughters' records last May.

Child Death Murder Charge

Oskaloosa police said Tuesday a woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of an 18-month-old girl.
Alicia Marie Ritenour is charged with first-degree murder. She is being held in the Mahaska County Jail pending bail of $25,000. Ritenour is the mother of the girl who died, Ava Ritenour. Police found the girl dead inside Apartment 224 at the Southern Hills Apartment Complex in Oskaloosa on Jan. 24. She had been dead for "a significant period of time" when found by law enforcement.