More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Students at several high schools across Iowa plan to join Friday’s national walkout to protest gun violence and seek safer schools. The event marks the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High shooting in Colorado. Many of the Iowa teens were on break last month and couldn’t join national walkouts.

In Des Moines, East High School students plan to start their demonstration with speeches outside school around 10:30 a.m. and then walk over to the Capitol to talk to lawmakers about their stances on guns.
Students in Johnston, Pella, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines have said they’ll be leaving their classrooms Friday, too.

Police in Creston report a man from Polk County was arrested on a drug charge, Wednesday afternoon. 19-year old Aldreias Jerome Campbell, Jr., of Des Moines, was arrested a little after Noon, Wednesday, on the Southwestern Community College campus, for Possession of Marijuana. Campbell, Jr. was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Charles City man accused of molesting a 17-year-old boy has been convicted again. On Wednesday a jury in Mason City convicted 62-year-old Doug Lindaman of misdemeanor assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He had been charged with felony sexual abuse. His sentencing is set for May 11. The trial had been moved to Cerro Gordo County from Floyd County because of pretrial publicity.
Lindaman was convicted in 2016 of sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy in 2011. The Iowa Supreme Court later vacated the conviction, because Lindaman was allowed to represent himself without knowingly waiving his right to an attorney. Lindaman was running for a school board spot when arrested in 2015.

A mistrial in his second trial was declared Feb. 26 after two prosecution witnesses violated court instructions.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of text messaging before a fatal Linn County crash has been found guilty. Court records say 36-year-old Keith Furne was convicted by a jury Wednesday of two counts of vehicular homicide and one of reckless driving resulting in serious injury. The crash occurred on Nov. 3, 2016, on the north side of Robins. Authorities say Furne was writing a text while driving his pickup truck before ramming into the back of a car. Two teenage girls were killed: 16-year-old Selena Apodaca and 13-year-old Isabella Severson. The trial was moved to Story County.

Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Ankeny is offering a free class to high school girls in tenth through 12th grade to learn about careers in firefighting or Emergency Medical Services. The chair of the DMACC Fire Service/Paramedic program, Dewey Anderson, says the four-hour class will be hands-on. “We have a fire truck out here, we are going to have them learn about the different parts of firefighting. We also will have our DMACC ambulance there and they will learn about Emergency Medical Services and hopefully generate some excitement,” Anderson says.

He says firefighting is a profession that has been dominated by men, but they are trying to show women there’s a place for them too. “I think for a lot of years it was viewed as you have to be big and burly and manly to do this type of work. But really….you do have to be in shape, but you have to have some smarts. You have to understand the concepts of what goes into firefighting,” Anderson says. He says the methods have changed through the years. “There’s a lot of science behind firefighting — it isn’t just riding the fire truck and throwing some water on the fire.You have to know different things such as what type of fire you are fighting and how to fight it. You have to know how to hook up hydrants, you have to know how to don protective gear correctly. All of that stuff goes into being a firefighter,” according to Anderson. “It’s really technical, it’s changed over the years and it’s a lot more technical. I I am hoping that some of these girls will get excited enough about the whole process to be able to consider that as a career.”

He says there are many women in rural volunteer fire departments, but metro departments have lagged behind. Anderson says they want to see more women in their program. “We have maybe one or two a year that go through the fire science program here at DMAAC. I’ll tell you they can get jobs very easily once they graduate. That’s the word we are trying to get out also — get you associate’s degree in fire science and you can get a good paying job once you complete the program,” Anderson says. You can find out more about the program online at: www.dmacc.edu/careerdiscovery. Or you can call Dewey Anderson at 515-965-7051 to discuss the class and program.

(Radio Iowa)

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 38-year old Wendell Brian Leach, of Des Moines, was arrested at around 12:11-a.m. today (Thursday), following an incident at Ironwood Avenue and Highway 48, west of Elliott. Leach was taken into custody for Public Intoxication. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $300 bond. Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff’s Deputies in Montgomery County arrested 26-year old Devon Keith Hale, who is listed as homeless. Hale was arrested in the 300 block of E. Washington Avenue (Belt Auto Center), for Disorderly Conduct associated with three separate incidents, including one at Red Oak Pawn and the Houghton State Bank. He was also charged with Interference with Official Acts, following an incident at the Montgomery County Jail. Hale was being held in the jail on a $300 bond.

Iowans who are filling up the gas tanks of their cars — and their snowblowers — are paying more lately. Gail Weinholzer, at Triple-A-Iowa, says gasoline prices are higher than usual. “We’ve had a strong demand throughout the winter,” Weinholzer says. “We’re exporting a lot of crude oil. Crude oil is trading up above $65 a barrel and all of that formed a confluence of reasons why prices have stayed high through the winter and are a bit higher than they were last year at this time.”

The average price for gas in Iowa is two-58 a gallon. That’s up 20-cents from a year ago. Last weekend’s U-S-led strike on Syria likely isn’t to blame, at least not much. “Syria is not an oil exporter, not directly,” she says. “There’s some nervousness within the market about any continuing hostility and that’s keeping crude oil prices high. Crude oil prices have been high throughout the winter so it’s not having that significant of an impact.”

While the weather is still wintry, we’re almost a month into spring, which usually means an upturn in gas prices. “We’re most of the way through the switch-over from the winter to the summer grade of fuel, even though we’re not actually experiencing summer at this point,” Weinholzer says. “The summer grade fuel burns cleaner and costs more to refine so we always see prices rise in the spring, although I wouldn’t expect them to rise any more than a nickel or a dime between now and Memorial Day.”

The daily Triple-A survey shows Iowa’s most expensive gas is in Dubuque, averaging two-65 a gallon, while the cheapest gas is in Council Bluffs at two-49.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:55 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa regulator says the state’s top elections official will not be required to identify his private businesses in a conflict-of-interest disclosure form because other state officials have kept them secret without consequence. The statement from Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board director Megan Tooker comes a day after The Associated Press reported that Secretary of State Paul Pate owns a strip mall and two rental storage businesses that he didn’t list on an ethics filing last week.

OAKLAND, Iowa (AP) — The parents of a 16-year-old girl who died in a school bus fire in western Iowa last year are suing the school district. The Des Moines Register reports that Glen and Natalie Klindt accuse Riverside Community School District in the wrongful death lawsuit of negligent hiring, training and supervision of 74-year-old bus driver Donald Hendricks, who also died in the fire. The Klindts say the Dec. 12 death of their daughter, Megan Klindt, caused them severe emotional distress.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa appeals court has granted a new trial for a man convicted of murder who argued that the jury was biased against him. The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday sided with Lee Christensen, who argued on appeal that several jurors had seen Facebook posts threatening the jury and warning of riots if Christensen weren’t convicted. Christensen was sentenced in 2016 to 50 years in prison for the June 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Thomas Bortvit.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Court records say a Dubuque man scheduled for a murder trial in August has made a plea deal with prosecutors. The Telegraph Herald reports that a hearing is scheduled Friday for 36-year-old Michael Piantieri, who’s pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Dec. 2 slaying of 42-year-old Beverly Puccio at her home. The agreement says Piantieri will plead guilty to second-degree murder and face a mandatory sentence of 50 years in prison.