CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A north-central Iowa venue best known for hosting the last concert of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson before the trio died in a 1959 plane crash is now a National Historic Landmark. The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs announced in a release Friday that the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake had earned the designation from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

National Historic Landmarks are buildings, sites, districts, structures and objects that have been determined to be nationally significant in American history and culture. The ballroom’s nomination was officially approved on Jan. 13.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a 21-year-old woman who was found unconscious in the parking lot of a sorority house at Iowa State University. The Ames Police Department responded to a medical call at 9:49 a.m. Friday at the Delta Delta Delta Sorority after a caller reported finding the woman. The city said in a news release that she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman is a student at Iowa State. Her identity is being withheld pending notification of family. Police say there does not appear to be a threat to the community.

(Radio Iowa) – Legislative leaders from both parties say there’s no agreed-upon plan yet, but momentum is building for changes in Iowa’s bottle deposit law. House Democratic Leader Todd Prichard of Charles City says something needs to happen with the so-called “Bottle Bill.”

A 1979 state law established the nickel deposit on bottles and cans containing alcoholic and carbonated beverages. Retailers selling those beverages are to accept the empties and pay back the deposit fees. Grocers say the empties are unsanitary and shouldn’t be brought into their stores. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says the redemption system set up by the Bottle Bill is complicated, but that doesn’t mean legislators should shy away from trying to address concerns.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, says the Bottle Bill has worked as a litter reduction tool.

Grassley says he hears about the Bottle Bill from constituents and lobbyists “constantly,” but there are 100 different opinions on how to fix it. The three lawmakers made their comments on the “Iowa Press” program on Iowa P-B-S.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 26-year-old Des Moines father has been arrested and charged after investigators say he left his 4-month-old daughter with a serious head injury last year. Station WHO-TV reports that Zachary Wallace was arrested early Friday morning and booked into the Polk County Jail. He’s charged with child endangerment causing serious injury and neglect or abandonment of a dependent person.

Police say medics were called to Wallace’s home on Aug. 10 for an unresponsive infant. Doctors say the baby was exhibiting seizure-like symptoms and had suffered a brain bleed. Wallace told investigators she fell from a bed, but doctors say she would not have been able to inflect such a severe injury on herself.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines has announced its newest addition: a 6-foot, 125-pound giraffe. The zoo says in a news release that the male calf was born Monday to Skye, a 6-year-old giraffe that has lived at the zoo since 2015. The father is Jakobi, a 15-year–old giraffe that has sired several calves over the years. Beginning Jan. 28, the zoo will release several possible names and will ask the public to vote on their favorite.

Voting will be free, although people will be able make a donation in honor of the new calf. The Blumenthal indoor giraffe viewing area is currently closed to the public to allow mother and calf to bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The jackpot for the Mega Millions lottery game has grown to $1 billion ahead of Friday night’s drawing after more than four months without a winner. That record drought is thanks to bad luck, poor odds and reduced play partially blamed on the coronavirus pandemic. It’s only the third time a lottery jackpot has grown so large, but much has changed since the last time such a big prize was up for grabs in 2018.

And even as the huge Mega Millions prize and a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot won Wednesday by a single ticket sold in Maryland have juiced sales for the games, Maryland lottery director Gordon Medenica noted: “We’re not out of the woods yet.”