DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two men have been charged with murder following the death of a Des Moines resident who was severely beaten when his car was stolen in 2013. Twenty-year-old Leshaun Murray and 21-year-old Terrance Cheeks Jr. have been charged with first-degree murder. The two were 15 at the time of the carjacking in which Mike Wasike was injured. Wasike died in January after years spent in care centers.
Murray and Cheeks have been in prison since their convictions for robbery. Online court records don’t list the names of attorneys who could comment for them regarding the newly filed charges.

A third person involved, Kenneth Barry, was 17 at the time. He has not been charged with murder.

Today (Tuesday) will be a somber day for the law enforcement community in Council Bluffs, marking one year since the death of Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Burbridge. He was fatally shot by an escaping inmate who was later caught after a car-jacking in Omaha. Sheriff Jeff Danker says while a year has passed, the incident is still fresh in everyone’s minds.

“When something like this happens, it pretty much changes everybody,” Sheriff Danker says. “It can happen. Law enforcement is a dangerous profession. It brings home that it can happen anywhere at any time to anybody.” Another deputy was shot and wounded in the incident which happened during an inmate transfer. The sheriff says there was an immediate and generous outpouring of sympathy that’s continued for all these months. “The other law enforcement agencies, the citizens, everybody’s been so supportive,” Danker says. “We really appreciate it. When a tragic event like this happens, it really helps you get through it by having the support of your community behind you.”

Today, law officers will be putting black bands on their badges, there will be a moment of silence at the time of the shooting, and flags across the county will be at half staff. There’s also a service planned this weekend in Council Bluffs featuring a life-size sculpture of a horse. “On Saturday, they’re going to have the unveiling of this Horse of Honor at the old Squirrel Cage Jail,” Danker says. “A number of different artists have put different work on that horse, just things that were special to Mark in his life.”

The inmate accused in the death of Burbridge is 25-year-old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus 175 years after he entered guilty pleas to first-degree murder, attempted murder, escape, kidnapping and other crimes.

(Radio Iowa, w/thanks to Karla James in Omaha)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A report says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states has surged to its highest level in a dozen years. The report released Tuesday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index hit 64.5 in April, compared with 62.1 in March. The February figure was 59.7.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says much of the recent manufacturing sector growth has been driven by exports. The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The business with the only state license to manufacture marijuana for medical use is planning a news conference at the state capitol today (Tuesday), hoping to convince lawmakers to let more Iowans use cannabis products. Senators from both sides of the aisle favor the move, but House leaders are against changing the law which limits use to about 15 medical conditions. Senator Tom Greene, a Republican from Burlington who is a pharmacist, supports a law that would let cannabis oil, pills or creams be used as treatment whenever a doctor thinks it might be useful. “I think it behooves every one of us here in the Senate to contact our representatives who serve our same districts in the House and tell them that 80 percent of Iowans want us to move on medical cannabis,” Greene says.

Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says there’s been a reduction in opioid overdose deaths in states that have legalized marijuana for broader medical use. “We’re raging incrementalists here, how we approach these issues, but at some point it’s time to step up and look around the country, see what’s working and take some votes around here on some of this stuff,” Bolkcom said.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, says lawmakers should wait until an advisory board reviews the new state law and makes recommendations later this year. Cannabis products will be sold from five state-licensed “dispensaries” starting December 1st.

(Radio Iowa)