CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — The Department of Corrections says a 38-year-old inmate in a mental health unit in Coralville has killed himself. Officials say in a news release that Alex James Mabe was found early yesterday, hanged with a bed sheet attached to a wall vent. Staff tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Sioux City Council has voted to authorize the sale of $22.3 million in bonds as part of a planned $120 million Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The Sioux City Journal reported that the council voted three to one yesterday to authorize the bonds. The bonds will help pay for parking, utilities and other infrastructure as part of the planned gambling and entertainment center.

EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) — Workers are making progress on a Evansdale memorial to two young cousins who were abducted last summer and later found dead. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports workers have constructed two of four gazebos as well as a large shelter on an island at Meyers Lake. The memorial is dedicated to 10-year-old Lyric Cook and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say they’ve charged a 21-year-old man with first-degree murder in the death of a 20-year-old man in April. Police arrested Demarco Ontario Robinson yesterday and charged him in the shooting death of Kenyatta Dovantae Taylor.