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Iowa early News Headlines: Mon., May 5th 2014

News

May 5th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — With the legislative session adjourned, members of the Senate Government Oversight Committee are poised to renew an investigation into state employment issues aided by the authority to subpoena witnesses. The committee subpoena power authority through a resolution passed as the last Senate action of the 2014 session on Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A longtime editor at the Des Moines Register has died less than two weeks after suffering a heart attack. The Des Moines Register reports 55-year-old Randy Brubaker died Saturday. He was senior news director at the newspaper and had held several leadership roles since 1983. Funeral arrangements are pending.

ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have arrested two Iowa men on suspicion of kidnapping and assault after they were found in a parked vehicle with a woman. The Polk County Sheriff’s office says an Altoona officer contacted the men after smelling a strong odor of marijuana. The woman told authorities she had been sexually assaulted at a nearby location by the 28-year-old and 27-year-old men she was with. The woman was taken to a hospital, and the two men were arrested.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Rain and wind is washing away enough of Iowa’s fertile topsoil to potentially reduce crop yields by $1 billion, so researchers are working to develop a better way to measure erosion. The Des Moines Register reports researchers think parts of Iowa could be losing up to 12 times more soil that government reports suggest.