DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teenager has testified in the murder trial of his adoptive mother, telling jurors she refused to feed his sister days before she starved to death. Forty-three-year-old Nicole Finn has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the Oct. 24 death of 16-year-old Natalie Finn. She’s also accused of abusing two of her other adopted children, who investigators say were severely malnourished and living in squalid conditions in the family’s home.

The Des Moines Register reports that Jaden Finn told a Polk County jury on Wednesday that Natalie had become too weak to get up to eat. He told jurors his mother told his sister she wouldn’t feed her if she wouldn’t get up. Jaden also testified that their mother forced them to ask permission to eat, bathe or leave their room.

Iowa once again leads the nation in the percentage of high school students who graduate. Iowa Department of Education director, Ryan Wise, says 91-point-three percent of students in the class of 2016 completed high school within four years in Iowa and a national report says that the best in the country. The 2016 graduation rate in Iowa was up three-tenths of a percent from the year before and is up three percentage points during the last six years. The national graduation rate is about seven percent lower at 84-point-one percent.

New Jersey was the only other state to top 90 percent — at 90-point-one. Wise says the graduation rate is just one measure of success as the state has work to do to ensure all the graduates are prepared to succeed beyond high school.

(Radio Iowa/Dar Danielson)

Senator Chuck Grassley sent an early morning tweet, suggesting he’d been cut from the roster of senators who’ll work on a tax package. Grassley said he had been “dropped” as a member of the conference committee that will come up with a final version of the tax bill. Grassley mentioned President Trump in his tweet. Grassley said he wouldn’t be “in the front line fighting” for what he and Trump believe should be in tax package.

Grassley is the former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the panel that writes tax policy. Grassley remains on the committee and, in his tweet, Grassley notes he is the committee’s “senior Republican.” Last week, Grassley sparked attention with a comment about the estate tax. Grassley said eliminating the estate tax rewards people who save and invest rather than those who spend “every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies.”

Earlier this week, Grassley told Radio Iowa his comments were not about people who live paycheck-to-paycheck but about two fictional people — one who saves and one who “doesn’t save anything.” Protesters have been leaving empty liquor bottles outside Grassley’s Des Moines office. A parody website called “booze women or movies” is now online, featuring Grassley’s original comment mixed with dance music.

(Radio Iowa/O. Kay Henderson)

The face of a young central Iowa man who died almost two years ago will be featured on a Rose Parade float that’ll be seen by millions of people on New Year’s Day. Eighteen-year-old Drew Lienemann, of Waukee will be among some four-dozen organ donors who will be depicted on the Donate Life float during the popular holiday parade, according to Tony Hakes, spokesman for the Iowa Donor Network. “He was a senior at Waukee High School before he passed away,” Hakes says. “He was an organ donor and was able to save, enhance or heal the lives of many. He was a remarkable young man, great athlete, great sense of humor, great family guy. We got involved with his family when he passed away and became a donor.”

Lienemann’s face will be recreated in what’s known as a florograph, an all-natural picture made from things like coffee grounds, sugar, sesame seeds, nutmeg and cloves. That florograph will be sent to the family here in Iowa this month. “The family gets to put the finishing touches on it and they actually complete the florograph,” Hakes says. “We ship it out to California and then the family will go out to Pasadena for the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game. They will actually decorate the float and be able to put the florograph back on the float which will then be in the Rose Parade on January 1st.”

Lienemann’s parents and two sisters will be making the trip from Waukee to California for the event. Hakes says it’s all an effort to raise awareness about the cause. “The Rose Parade is viewed by millions around the world and it’s a great opportunity to talk about organ and tissue donation and how people should register and why people should register as a donor,” Hakes says. “If someone doesn’t have a ‘Y’ on their driver’s license in the lower right hand corner next to ‘Donor,’ and they want to register before they renew their license, they can go to IowaDonorNetwork.org and sign up there.”

Lienemann took his own life in January of 2016 and his parents went public with what happened, holding a news conference in hopes of preventing further tragedies. They encouraged anyone struggling with thoughts of suicide to reach out for help immediately, saying, seeking help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-TALK (8255), or if you’re interested in organ donation, visit IowaDonorNetwork.org.

(Radio Iowa)

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers reports two of his Officers were assaulted after they responded to a disturbance late Wednesday night. They were called to 515 S. 10^th Street, Lot 27, at around 11:10-p.m., where an allegedly intoxicated man had bitten a female occupant of the residence, on the leg.

Officers located Tyler J. Shea-Sledge inside the home. Shea-Sledge is alleged to have resisted officers as he was being placed under arrest for assault resulting in bodily injury. Shea-Sledge also spit on officers while being taken into custody. He faces additional charges that include assault on police officers, assault resulting in bodily injury and resisting arrest. Shea-Sledge was being held in the Page County Jail on $2,000 bond. He also being held without bail on an outstanding felony warrant from Nodaway County, Missouri for failure to appear at a required hearing. Clarinda Police were assisted during the incident by Deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Department.

Police reports have been submitted to the offices of Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review regarding the filing of formal charges.

A Creston man residing in the 200 block of S. Peterson Street reported an incident of Theft to the Creston Police Department, Tuesday. The man said sometime over the past three months, someone took a cherub statue, a garden hose, and light bulb from the outside of his home. The property was valued at $72.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Board of Regents has agreed to rename the University of Iowa art museum for a Muscatine couple donating $10 million for construction of a new museum. The Des Moines Register reports that the regents were told Wednesday during their telephonic meeting that Richard and Mary Jo Stanley committed the money last month. Richard Stanley, who died in November, earned his master’s in engineering from the university in 1963. His parents also earned degrees at the Iowa City campus.

The new name will begin being used in spring. The name: University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art. The building that had housed the museum and its 15,500 pieces of artwork and artifacts was extensively damaged during the 2008 June floods.