From the scene of his mothers murder, showed up at her house. My husband called me and said ashton had went to ththdoor, said that nick had stabbed and killed his mom and put the porkchops in the refrigerator. My husband called and`told me, well really its a seven year old telling us what had happened. Happened. The defense claims a mix of alcohol and anti depressants made luerkens violent. Testimony will continue tomorrow. Murders, shootings and other violent aas have grabbed a lot of headlines in the corridor in recent years. Years. In cedar rapids alone, 89 reports of shots fired in 2015. 2015. Whe almost everyone agrees the violence hasasto stop, some e stepping up and doing something about it. Reporter dora miller takes a closer look at the Community Efforts effortsin this fox 28 news special report. Report. Children are innocent thats how we picture themem its how we want to see them. We dont want to believe they could be capable of heinous crimesa but in early september, cedar rapids found out a hard truth. When dino found 15yearold aaron richason on the frontnt steps of his home. Home. Standing here watching this kid bleed last night, its not a joyful thing and it was very painful to see this young man bleeding and throwing up blood. The teenager later died and 14yearold d bert humbles s s arrested as the child suspected of pulling the trigger. Trigger. It angers me, makes me more outraged to hear 15yearold child has lost his life, his whole life was ahead of him. According to police records, richardson was the youngest victim of the six homicides this year. Year. We certainly have a problem withshots fired and then this recent incncent where two very young people, 14 and 15 years old, one unfortunately being killed and the other one possibly facing life in prison, has really become a rallying call for the community. Community. They say it takes a village, were trying to raise that village again to uake sure that children feel safe. Dorice ramsey the executive director of an Afterschool ProgramJane Boyd Community house. She says they want to be solid support for children in the community. Community. When pele feel connected, when people feel a part of a community, when you ow who your neighbor is, when you know the name of your neighbor, its those personal relationships that people have that will really change the fabric of this community. Community. It takes schools and the police and nonprorot agenenes, because what we know is with violence, its really an eroding of hope, its people feeling as though they arent getting the support they need. At four oaks a childrens advocacy prograra n grgrnewald says they offer that supporta but with Different Community groups sprouting up, theres likely some in your own backyard. Backyard. Were not the neighborhood watch, ere not telling you what to do, were not peeking out our r ndows looking for ways to get you involved. Involved. One of the oldest associations in cedar rapids belongs to what many call the most troublese area in the city Wellington Heights. So far this year, almost 25 shots fifid reports, but with the help of people who want to see change, their crime has seen a decrease. Decrease. Our crime is down in one year approximately 25 percent across the board. Board. Thats who i see in this neighborhood, a lot more than shooters and drugs and everything, i see people that want to help, i see people that want to be engaged in the community. The president of the Wellington HeightsNeighborhood Association says they neemore people who care about t is city to roll up their sleeves s and take action. People like grady daniels, who lives in Wellington Heights and makes himself part of the solution. Solution. Myself, the Wellington HeightsNeighborhood Association, the police, weve been trying to put togethth programs where e youth can get t together and find alternatives to violence. So when city leaders put together a think tank to combine all the citys anti violence groups, pe was renewed. Renewed. the issue associated with violence, the out of this problem. Were all in this. This. Theres a lot of different groups with the same goal, im not knocking none of them, they have the same goal but all the directions are scattered. Scattered. We really have to do a good job of taking everyones strengths and putting it into this think tank and figuring out whats gonna a the best for oururkids and then whats best for our kids is gonna be best for our community. The goal of peace takes more than one group, more than one approacha approacha the solution we find is in small, concrete action steps and it juststtakes many, many, many of them. Covering the corridor in cedar rapids, dora miller cbs 2 news ten at ten as far as moving forward, organizers of the ink tank say theyll be meeting once a month to brainstorm ideas and compare statistics. They say the key to success is keeping the community involved. Now an update to a tragic story that has taken an even darker turn. Turn. A police officer, only weeks from retirement, gunned down by three men near chicago. A massive manhunt began to find the shooter as a community was left in fear. Thats what happened in fox lake, illinois two months ago. But tonight, it appears it was all an elaborate suicide. Suicide. For weeks, the xhought of a staged Police Shooting seemem impossiblele. Om such a beloved and veteran officer. But now, investigators say Charles Gliniewicz knew his dark side was about to surce. Rface. The qnvestigation found gliniewicz had been stealing and laundering money from the Fox Lake Police which had been occurring for seven years. Years. Investigators say they also found evidence that he used thousands of dollars on personal items including g m memberships, mortgage payments, even adult websites. To make matters worse, authorities have identified two others implicated by the evidence found in the officers personal belongings. The head of the e x lake news quote the ultimate betrayal. Right now, privacy concerns threaten to derail an overhaul of the nations Mental Health care system systemcritics sasathe rrent plan could make it hahaer for people to get the Psychiatric Care they need. National correspondent Kristine Frazao take a closer look at the debate. Debate. In this fo28 news exclusive. Exclusive. The first overhaul of americas Mental Health care system in decades and theres now pushback coming from 19 of the 23 democratic lawmakers on the house energy and commerce committee. Thats where the bill i iing debated now. Everyone knows that we need to do better when it comes to Mental Health services. Represenative tim murphys bill written in the months following the massacare at e Sandy Hook Elementary School in connecticut in 2012 had enjoyed bipartisan support. Its waning now because of proposed changes to hippa privacy laws that would give family members and caretakers o oa mentally ill person more medical information. We want to make sure people feel they can go in privacy to get the help they need and to ask for whatever they need to resolve their Mental Illness. Democrats say if hippa is changed it will deter the mentally ill from seeking help. In other words, defeating the very purpose of reforming Mental Health care. About 10 Million People in the u. S. Have a serious Mental Illnesses like schizophrenia or biopolar disorder. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness or nomee almost half dont get psychiatric treatment nonofor many reasass including homlessness, incarceration, and too few hospital beds. We rarely if ever focus our attention on the broken Mental Health system until these mass tragedies occur. So, maybe it is the silver lining. Namis ron honberg [pronounced h ahnberg] hates to conflate Mental Health care with Mass Shootings, because he says not all perpertrators have a mentalalillness. But he believes murphys bill has the potential to eliminate some Mass Shootings in the future. You cant help but ask yourself had there been more agressive intervention available under these circumstances could the tragedies ha been prevented in the first place. Im Kristine Frazao reporting also today, a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging governor branstads decision to close two state Mental Health centers. Centers. Democrat and Union Leaders filed the lawsuit, claiming the governor lacked the authority to make such a move without legislative approval. But a judge sided with the governor, saying he has the authority to veto funding for the centers in Mount Pleasant and clarinda. An attorney representing lawmakers and afscme says they plan to appeal to the iowa in nth liberty today. Today. The corridor Business Journal celebrated a new beginning where it all started. Started. The publication held an official groundbreaking for the companys new headquarters. The independent paper is moving out of the io[a River Landing and building a new home in north liberty, where the first issue was created 11 years ago. The new headquarters will be built at the villas at liberty executive park. Construction begins next week. The grace period on Student Loans is quickly coming to an end for the most recent batch of college graduates. Graduates. When it comes to paying all that money back, there are a lot of options available. Fox 28 News ReporterMellaney Moore explains explainsfrom the university of iowa. Iowa. College can be an exciting time in ones life. And an expensive one too. To ts a bummer, but its, i mean, i wanted to go to college, i wanted to come here, its worth it. Right now. Well see in four years. Radavich says she has upwards of 50 thousand dollars in loans. As a sophomore. Sophomore. Education is worth it to me. The university of iowa office of Student Financial aid sayayborrowers in the 2014 graduating class dollars in student loan debt. They say one of the first thingsyou can do is talk with your debt counselor about repayment options whether your plan is s a number of years or y yr income. Income. There are incomebased repayment plans that are available, so you could reduce that Monthly Payment substantially depending on what your income is. If you have several loans, consolidation n ay be an option to look into. But harrington says its not for everybody everybodyright now what they do is they take a weighted average of all of your Interest Rates. That means you might not necessarily save money. Harrington says if youre able. Pay y during the grace period and any extra you can. Can. Youll have less interest accruing over time, so it will allow you to pay down the loan a little bit faster. The Financial Aid office wants students to be proactive i figuriri out how t tpay for school rather than reactive. Many students say a College Education is worth it and a priceless investment. Investment. I definitely think it is because im so happy to be going to school here. Covering the corridor in iowa city, memeaney moore, fox 28 news. The Financial Aid office suggests using online resources to research the best repayment options available. Next on the ox 28 news at nine. Nine. Its almost time to unwrap what could become a christmas classic for your family. Well give you an exclusive sneak peek at up on the wooftop created in the corridor. A car gives you freedom. Room to grow. And in time, room to grow up. Your dream car evolves, and protecting it takes committed support. Us tomorrow morning at seven for fox 28 morning live. The Iowa Caucuses are just three months away and theres an effort to teach teens more about the process. Process. Find out how both major poltical parties are coming together to teach kids at christmas . You couldnt wait to sneak a peek at the presents under the tree. Maybe shake a few boxes to guess whats inside . I know it may be a bit early but tonightin an exclusive reportwere going to loosen the wrapping on a very special Christmas Gift giftcreated the corridor. Corridor. It was really hard working with grace. Hey. Im just kidding, she did a killer job. Job. Hello . Hey, is this the north pole . No, its iowa. Io. What . Who are you . Im toby. And 11year old grace ingerswoll of iowa city plays morgan in up on the wooftop, the brand new Christmas Movie produced entirely in eastern iowa by backrow studios. Studios. This was definitely our biggest production yet. More cast, more crew members, bigger scope. We had to re create the north pole. We had to have a dog leading a sleigh. I got to drive a car. Ye we had to have grace driving a car. You see, its graces job, as morgan, is to get t by back the north pole after he falls off santas sleigh. Hey, do you know where i could find santa . Hmmmm, yes, the ll. The mama . Yeah, the mall. Well, can we go to the mall . Its closed, silly. Ahh candy crush. Every scene in up on the wooftop was shot in iowa city, solon and the quad cities with dozens of local extras and a central cast a crew of about fifteen, a Collaborative Experience that grace really enjoyed. Enjoyed. It was just nice to meet new people and work with them and hear r their ideas and share your own. You know, it helped make the whole thing better. Of course, wooftop is geared toward children, but clarke says with somom2nd city players aa Dennis Haskins as santa claus, theres plenty for adults to enjoy as well. Well. Theres definitely a lot of humor and a lot of themes that play to a mainstream audience so were really excited about that. That. Is this pipiow hypoallergenic . Go to sleep. Hey, just a warning, i get a little gassy at night sometimes. Oops sorry. Already set for global distribution, up on the wooftoto will have its red carpet premier at the Paramount Theatre next friday, november 13th. Were actually going to have a red carpet. Were gonna have a hollywood red carpet backdrop so people can walk the red carpet a a get their picture taken. And who knows, grace says this could be the start of a franchise. Franchise. Yeah. Wooftop on ice. Stan and dewey escape from jail. Stan and dewey escapepefrom jail, shes already got the plot line. Perfect. Hold on, what else ya got . Thats all. Okay. Next fridays red carpet premier includes a preshow event where you can meet the cast and crew and get treats for the kids. We have ticketet information at fox 28 iowa dot movie comes out on dvd, itunes, amazon and several other platforms november 17th. Still to come on the fox 28 news at nine. Nine. The fed chair speaks and wall street listens. What janet yellen said today that triggered a market selloff. Selloff. And looking to boost fast food sales by going gourmet. Well tell you about mcdonalds latest experiment to stop a slowdown in sales. If you think we can grow our economy while ignoring climate change, think again. Americas most Innovative Companies are already moving to clean energy using existing technology to improve their bottom line. Now we need a plan to help businesses and families across america to save money on electricity ancreate millions of new jobs. It all starts with 50 clean energy by 2030. Turning now to tonights business report. Report. When the fed talks, wall street listens. And that was certainly the case today. The chair of the Federal Reserve met with lawmakers today to d dcuss the countrys economic health. And it appears that after years of historically low Interest Rates, the fed is just about our statement indicates that december would be a live possibility but importantly that weve made not decision yet about it. It. As we said, wall street was listening to that news and it quickly triggered a selloff in theheajor markets for fear of a potential slowdown in economic growth. Growth. The dow shed more than 50 points. The nasdaq dipped nearly 3and the`sandp 500 fell more than 7 points. Heres some good news. Americans are buying more cars than ever. Ever. Us auto sales in october were up 14percent from the same time last year. And General Motors says iexpects the industry to surpass a sales record this year. Experts credit the spike in sales to low unemployment, cheap gas prices, low Interest Rates and more available credit. If you cant beat em, join emappears to be a strategy that fasasfood giant mcdonalds is testing overseas. Overseas. The company is experimenting with new gourmet burgers in england. The higher priced burgers are designed to compete against growing competitioiofrom chains like five guys and shake shack. If all goes well, they could roll out across the United Kingdom and even start appearing here in the us. Looking for a new direction after an election day defeat. Defeat. Stililto come on the fox 28 news at nine, what happens now that voters rejected a levy increase to fund the Cedar Rapids Library n