Shawn Johnson Retires, Autism Advocates Speak Out, Cedar Falls Rallies for Injured Soldier, Landfill Burns: Pick of the Patches

The Patch community includes nine sites in Iowa. Here are some of what was shared on our Patches around the state over the past week.

When a 15-year-old autistic boy is shocked with a Taser by police at a Johnston movie theater because he can't calm down the confrontation ended with a police officer suffering a broken hand and the Urbandale boy spent nearly a week in juvenile jail. s and experts who say more training is needed for police and first responders to better interact with a coming "tsunami" of autistic adults.

Cedar Falls residents continue to rally to help raise money for . Morris, an explosive ordinance disposal technician, lost portions of both legs, his left arm at the elbow and his right hand in a bomb blast in Afghanistan and is recovering at Walter Reed Medical Center.

Waukee and West Des Moines voters shot down Jeff Mullen, whose inaugural foray into politics ended when Senate District 22 Republicans  Sen. Pat Ward to represent them on the November ballot. But the pastor of Point of Grace Church and politics is now part of “the fabric of my life.”

And last week saw the end of West Des Moines gymnast . The gold medal winner said her injured knee is not strong enough to compete in the London Olympics, so she is retiring at the ripe age of 20.

The week ended with in Waukee that did heavy damage to a house on Southeast Willowbrook Drive. Luckily, the residents weren't home at the time.

Election night in Johnston saw an upset with to newcomer and recent University of Iowa graduate Jake Highfill in the House District 39 primary. 

Turmoil continued in the Ankeny school district last week as the , the district's current associate superintendent of schools, . Wendt said at the end of the week that he has no plans to return one-year's severance pay to the district as he leaves for a job in Illinois. Meanwhile, Kimpston moved quickly to fill holes in the district's administrative team.

The has burned for two weeks, but progress was made this week in trying to control the smoky blaze. By sometime this week the entire area will be covered, although it will continue to burn after that.

Marion residents turned out by the droves — at least a thousand — on Thursday night for the weekly Marion by Moolight concert series. from this week's festival.

Students at Kate Mitchell Elementary School in Ames received a  The White House Kitchen Garden — which some Ames kids helped plant — had yielded broccoli, peas, onion and lettuce that was overnighted from Washington to Ames.