Wednesday Morning Read: Town halls, Hawkeyes win, gun bill

Stand your ground - Iowa would be the latest state to adopt a stand-your-ground law if a proposal for revisions in gun regulations filed this week comes to pass.Cedar County Sheriff Warren Wethington said he supports the stand-your-ground provision, arguing that retreating is not always an option.'Even if there is a stand-your-ground law, you still have to be able to articulate why someone was going to use deadly force or cause serious injury to you or a loved one,' Wethington said.Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, however, doesn't feel the current law needs changing when it comes to reasonable force.'What I'm concerned about with stand your ground is that it will make it much easier for someone to take someone's life and simply say, 'I felt threatened,'' he said. Read more about the bill here.

Hawks win - The resiliency the Hawkeyes showed throughout regulation was rewarded with a satisfying overtime win, 96-90, against Indiana on Tuesday night. 'For us to kind of be able to take the game over instead of playing not to lose, we played to win today. Today it didn't matter who they had or didn't have on the floor, we just made sure we played our game. That's when we got good looks at the basket,' freshman forward Tyler Cook said. 'We were aggressive defensively. I keep going back to Ryan (Kriener)'s blocks (in overtime). If you go for a block and miss, that puts you at a disadvantage rebounding. He trusted himself and went and got those blocks. Read more about their victory here.

Petties trial - Sierrah Simmons died from a gunshot wound to her head and Quintrell Perkins from a gunshot wound to his upper chest, an Iowa state medical examiner testified Tuesday in the murder trial of Kendu Petties. Petties is accused of shooting the pair in a southeast Cedar Rapids home in 2014. Read more about what happened during the trial Tuesday.

Angst towards Ernst - A large sign-waving crowd overflowed the council chambers at City Hall in Maquoketa, Iowa, urging that U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst 'do your job' and that an investigation be launched against President Donald Trump. With Congress in a recess, lawmakers in many states and districts are returning to some constituents increasingly critical of the first weeks of the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress. Read more about Sen. Ernst's stops here.

Quotable - In that spirit, Clear Lake farmer and Democratic activist Chris Peterson, offered Grassley a gift. 'I got a present for you if you want them, he said before giving Grassley an earful on family farms, the EPA, health care and more. 'They're called Tums and you're going to need them in the next few years.' Grassley appreciated the offer, but told reporters it wasn't necessary. 'The only time I need Tums is when I have chocolate ice cream before I go to bed,' Grassley said.