Spending Bill

Gov. Branstad says he'll take a close look before signing a spending bill passed by the legislature early this morning.  It pays off about $60-million in state debt, and includes money for the Midwest United States-Japan Conference in Des Moines in September.

Spring Planting

Iowa farmers say they're still on track to get their corn planted despite cold, wet weather that slowed their start to the planting season. 23 percent of Iowa's corn crop is now in the ground.

LAZERfest

LAZERfest is moving to downtown Des Moines. The music festival was scheduled for May 11th at the Central Iowa Expo grounds in Boone, but due to the weather this year, organuizers say they are moving the event to Wells Fargo Arena.

Drive at Gunpoint

A 20-year old Newton man faces charges he held a woman at gunpoint while driving around Jasper county. He's Nathan Nelson, and police say he drove around rural gravel roads north of Newton Monday with the female victim in his front seat. It was unclear if Nelson knew the victim or how long he kept her in the car.

Secret Settle Folo

The latest department to come under scrutiny in the confidential settlements investigation: The Iowa Board of Regents. Yesterday, 400-pages of previously-secret settlement documents were released to the oversight committee. WHO-TV reports the documents cover dozens of employees at the three major universities, with payouts from a few hundred to several thousand dollars.

Younkers Folo

Delays in tearing down the part of the Youkers building devastated by fire. Falling glass from the Hub tower across the street has made the area unsafe to work in, and the recent rain has slowed other work. The walls of the burned-out east building will be coming down soon.

DNR Auction

The Iowa DNR is preparing to auction off all sorts of hunting equipment, including firearms, bows and tree stands. The Spring Auction is set for May 10th at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. You can preview the items up for auction the day before from four until six.