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Iowa early News Headlines: 3-a.m. Monday, 11/14/16

News

November 14th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has called for a single statewide minimum wage rather than a hodgepodge of wages that vary by county, and a new Republican majority in the Legislature could give him a clear path to enact uniform pay rates. That worries some supporters of higher minimum wages who fear the state could couple an insignificant wage increase with a ban on local jurisdictions approving their own higher wages, as four counties have already done.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The West Des Moines police chief who had been accused in a lawsuit of discriminating against three women has resigned. The Des Moines Register reports that West Des Moines City Manager Tom Hadden asked Police Chief Shaun LaDue to resign. City officials wouldn’t say whether the request was linked to the sex discrimination lawsuit or LaDue’s testimony last week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers are considering imposing tougher penalties for violent acts against law enforcement officers following the fatal shootings of two officers earlier this month. Republican State Rep. Ken Rizer tells the Des Moines Register he thinks tougher penalties are needed after the Nov. 2 attacks that killed 24-year-old Urbandale Officer Justin Martin and 38-year-old Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony Beminio.

MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — Authorities in North Dakota are investigating a report of shots fired during a weekend protest against the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Morton County sheriff’s spokesman Rob Keller says the report of shots fired was received Saturday morning, when about 500 protesters were outside a work yard for the pipeline in Mandan, a community about 50 miles north from an area where hundreds of protesters have been camping in for months. No one was injured in the incident.