DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines union official has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and embezzlement from his union. Prosecutors said in a news release that 54-year-old Theodore Watson entered the pleas Monday in U.S. District Court in Des Moines. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 23. He was employed as business manager for Local 74 of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers.

Prosecutors say Watson defrauded United Way of Central Iowa by sending fraudulent requests for grant funds to train adults. In one instance, he received a $19,000 check from United Way that he used for himself. Prosecutors also say Watson took cash advances and made unauthorized purchases on a union credit card and then submitted altered credit card statements and false monthly reports to the union.

DES MOINES – Officials with Google, Monday, launched the Google.org Impact Challenge Iowa, the tech company’s first Iowa challenge inviting nonprofits throughout the state to submit proposals for bold ideas to grow economic opportunity in their local communities. The Impact Challenge was announced at the “Grow with Google” digital skills training event, hosted by the Des Moines Public Library. Dan Harbeke, Head of Public Policy and External Affairs at Google in Council Bluffs, said “Our hope with the Google.org Impact Challenge Iowa is to help Iowa nonprofits bring their great ideas to life. Iowa is an incredibly diverse state, with a wide variety of issues that impact different communities and a huge amount of local talent seeking to solve unique challenges.”

Qualifying Iowa nonprofits are invited to submit their proposals for their most innovative ideas to grow economic opportunity in their community. Together with a panel of local judges, Google will review the applications and choose five winners who will receive $175,000 in grant funding and training from Google. After the five winners are announced, Iowans will be invited to vote on which project they believe will have the greatest economic impact. The winner of that public vote will receive an additional $125,000 in funding. In total, Google.org will grant $1 million to local nonprofit organizations.

The Iowa Impact Challenge local advisor panel includes:

Dr. Dan Kinney, President, Iowa Western Community College
Georgia Van Gundy, Executive Director and Board Secretary, Iowa Business Council
Monica Chavez-Silva, Board Chair of Iowa Council of Foundations & Assistant Vice President for Community Enhancement, Grinnell College
Sherry Ristau, President, Quad Cities Community Foundation
Tej Dhawan, Chief Data Officer, Principal Financial Group

While the $1 million Impact Challenge is the second statewide to date after Illinois, Google.org has offered economic-opportunity focused Impact Challenge grants in Cleveland, Columbia, Oklahoma City and Pittsburgh. The Impact Challenge was announced Monday morning in Des Moines at the first stop of a three-city Grow with Google tour that includes Council Bluffs and Davenport. Through Grow with Google, the company’s aim is to help everyone across America – those who make up the workforce of today, the students who will drive the workforce of tomorrow and the small businesses that keep our economy strong – access the best of Google’s training and tools to grow their skills, careers, and businesses. In Iowa, the Grow with Google team will provide hands-on training to hundreds of Iowans through 12 different workshops and nearly a hundred one on one coaching sessions.

With its tour, Grow with Google aims to help address the skills gap by preparing Americans for middle-skill jobs, positions that require some skills but not four year degrees. According to the National Middle Skills Initiative, middle skills jobs account to 56% of Iowa’s labor force. Google has a data center in Iowa and has invested more than $2.5 billion and established a long-term commitment to the region and state. Iowa nonprofit organizations can find more information on the Google.org Impact Challenge and submit their applications by visiting g.co/iowachallenge. The deadline for submissions is May 17th at 11:59 PM Central. The five winners are expected to be named in the fall of 2019.

(Radio Iowa) — Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro says the new absentee voting option for Iowa Caucus-goers may help spur turn-out among Iowa Latinos and other minorities. “I do think for some people who are uncomfortable going on one night — or they can’t go there on one night ’cause they’re working — and declare their intention in front of many other people, that being able to do that absentee will ensure that more of them actually participate in the process,” Castro says, “which will be a good thing.”

Castro, who spent the past two days campaigning in eastern and central Iowa, is 44 years old and the only Latino in the Democratic presidential race. He’s been making the argument on the campaign trail that Americans are ready for a “new generation of leadership.”

“Having served as the mayor of the seventh-largest city in the country, I have a track record of getting things done,” Castro says. Castro was San Antonio’s mayor for five years before he served as U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development in the Obama Administration. Castro recently released what he calls a “People First” immigration plan. He’d significantly boost U.S. investment to stabilize the Central American countries many of those seeking asylum in the U.S. are fleeing.

Castro would make illegally entering the U.S. a CIVIL offense — punishable with a fine — rather than have illegal entry continue to be a CRIME. “This president has tried to, effectively, use immigration in an emotional way to divide people,” Castro says. “…I’m going to tell about the human lives that are impacted and what we can be as a country that if, of course, we have secure borders, but we also treat people with respect and with compassion and I believe that there are enough people in Iowa and throughout the country that will believe in that.”

Castro says immigration has helped the U.S. economy grow in the past and the U.S. needs immigrants today to fill jobs. Castro formally kicked off his presidential bid in January and has raised about one-point-one million dollars for his campaign in the first three months of the year. Castro says if Democrats choose him as their nominee, he will present himself as “the opposite” of Trump.

“Even to those people who agree with this president, you know I think you also want somebody who that’s being straightforward with you and being open and honest,” Castro said. “And I would say: ‘Don’t mistake bluntness or vulgarity for honesty.'” Like many of his competitors for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, Castro supports the goal of “Medicare for All” as well as universal preschool and renewing the federal ban on assault-style weapons.

(Radio Iowa) — Former Republican Governor Terry Branstad has donated to a Republican challenging Congressman Steve King’s bid for reelection. Branstad and King had been long-time allies. Two of Branstad’s top 2010 campaign staffers went on to help steer King’s 2012 reelection. Now, Branstad has donated a thousand dollars to Randy Feenstra, the state senator who is running against King in the 2020 primary.

King held a town hall meeting in the small community of Stanhope yesterday (Monday). King said the controversy that led Republican leaders to remove him from House committees derailed his plan to meet in January with Iowa’s two new House members. King says Iowa’s congressional delegation has flood recovery to work on together and he wants to set up a meeting with Congresswomen Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne.

“When we get geographical issues like this, they should be nonpartisan. We should lock arms and get these things done,” King says. “I don’t sense any friction or push back.” During yesterday’s town hall meeting, King was asked about his working relationship with the two new Democrats in Iowa’s congressional delegation.

“We lost two good representatives in this state. Now we have two freshmen and we need to communicate,” King said. “And I will take that as good advice. It is, I know.” King will hold a town hall meeting in Pocahontas County later this week. The event will be held at the Laurens Public Library on Wednesday afternoon.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Senate has sent a bill legalizing the growing of industrial hemp to the House for consideration. The Iowa Hemp Act passed the Senate Monday 49-1. Sen. Kevin Kinney, a farmer from Oxford says his goal is to make hemp Iowa’s third commodity behind corn and soybeans. The bill allows licensed growers to cultivate the crop on up to 40 acres.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking lawmakers for $15 million from the ending balance of the current year’s budget for immediate work on levees and repairs in flooded communities. She’s also seeking $10 million from next year’s budget to accelerate housing improvements. Reynolds announced her request Monday, saying federal money often takes months or years to arrive. Reynolds also announced the creation of a Flood Recovery Advisory Board, which will coordinate state recovery efforts. .

OTHO, Iowa (AP) — Officials at the 11,000-square-foot Webster County Museum are weighing whether to try and quickly repair a leaky roof, move the artifacts to another building or disband the collection altogether. Phyllis Stewart, the museum’s volunteer curator, said the former Otho Elementary School building holds all of Webster County’s history. Stewart added the museum can’t open this spring because of the water and mold issues.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Cory Booker’s presidential campaign has proposed a significant expansion of the earned income tax credit that he said would lower the annual tax bill for almost half of American taxpayers. The senator from New Jersey, who recently launched a national tour aimed at boosting his 2020 presidential bid, discussed his new tax credit proposal during a visit to Iowa on Monday _ the date that most Americans’ taxes are due to the IRS.

Officials with the Glenwood Police Department, Monday, said five arrests had taken place over the past few days. Three people were arrested on drug charges.

On Sunday, 53-year old Christine Hughes, of Glenwood, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was later released on a $1,300 cash or surety bond. 52-year old Sean Runyan, of Alton, MO.,  was arrested Sunday for PCS and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. His cash/surety bond was set at $1,300. And, 18-year old Brandon Burghardt, of Carter Lake, was arrested in Glenwood, Sunday, for a Controlled Substance Violation and Poss. of drug paraphernalia. He posted a $5,300 cash/surety bond.

On Saturday, 28-year old Tyler Chambers, of Glenwood, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault and Child Endangerment. He posted a $3,000 cash/surety bond. And, on Friday, 55-year old Kevin Henderson, of St. Joseph, MO., was arrested in Glenwood for Disorderly Conduct. He posted a $300 cash/surety bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is asking lawmakers for $15 million from the ending balance of the current year’s budget for immediate work on levees and repairs in flooded communities. She’s also seeking $10 million from next year’s budget to accelerate housing improvements. Reynolds announced her request Monday, saying federal money often takes months or years to arrive.

Reynolds also announced the creation of a Flood Recovery Advisory Board, which will coordinate state recovery efforts. Reynolds says she’ll lead the panel of up to 15 people. Flooding in March damaged more than 50 levees stretching about 250 miles along the Missouri River. Reynolds says 25,000 homes were destroyed or have major damage and more than 4,200 businesses were affected.

Early damage estimates provided to the federal government for a disaster declaration total $1.6 billion but Reynolds says that is likely to grow.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Senate has sent a bill legalizing the growing of industrial hemp to the House for consideration. The Iowa Hemp Act passed the Senate Monday 49-1. Sen. Kevin Kinney, a farmer from Oxford says he hopes to make hemp a third leading commodity in Iowa in addition to corn and soybeans.

The bill allows licensed growers to cultivate the crop on up to 40 acres. Industrial hemp can be used in food, fiber, paper and other products and Kinney says it’s been estimated it could grow to be a $1.9 billion market by 2022.

The National Conference of State Legislatures says at least 38 states considered legislation last year after the federal government eased restrictions in the Farm Bill on commercial production. Nebraska lawmakers gave a bill its first-round approval Monday but it must pass twice more before it goes to the governor.

(Radio Iowa) — Just when it appeared floodwaters were receding in parts of southwest Iowa’s Fremont County, the saturation returned over the weekend. Fremont County Emergency Management director Mike Crecelius says the water has crept back over roads in the Percival area and in the parking lots at a truck stop at the exit off Interstate 29 is back underwater.

“Everyone’s looking forward to these warmer temperatures. On the other side of that, these warmer temperatures mean all that snow these folks north of us got last week is going to be melting and that comes into the river below Gavin’s Point,” he says. The Gavin’s Point Dam on the Missouri River is located in South Dakota.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials announced over the weekend it had awarded the contract for repairs to the levee closest to Percival. Crecelius says it could be some time before those repairs take place, however. Meanwhile, Corps officials continue to work with city crews in Hamburg to fortify the levee southwest of Hamburg that breached last month.

Crecelius says roughly two feet of water is still covering the southern end of the community. Meanwhile, piles of flood-damaged materials discarded from homes have been placed curbside by local residents. “Nothing in there is really worth saving in most cases,” Crecelius says. “…DOT is providing eight trucks and three grapples starting today, to pick up all the debris that the folks have been dragging out to the edge of the streets and segregating it by the EPA requirements.”

Due to the ongoing flood conditions, the evacuation orders already in place in Fremont County will remain in place.  “We don’t want somebody being out there and then getting stranded and needing medical attention or the house catches fire and emergency services can’t get to them in any way, shape or form and the only way, then, would be to get a boat and go out there and get them,” Crecelius says. “We’re really not equipped to do that kind of stuff here.”

Crecelius says flood-damaged roads remained closed in the county. He says despite this, some vehicles–including trucks–are still ignoring the road closed barriers. “Three of them decided to go across Highway 2 and try to get to Nebraska City yesterday,” he says. “They have Jersey barriers on the Nebraska City side, so all three of them had to back their way down the bridge and one of the Fremont County deputies was sitting there when they came back through the water.”

The ticket for failing to obey a “road closed” sign is 195 dollars when court fines are included.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers, Monday, said two search warrants were executed Sunday afternoon at 901 W. Tarkio Street. During the investigation, Police seized approximately 40 grams of methamphetamine and several thousand dollars of cash.

Taken into custody was 35-year old Lacey Jo Smalley and 30-year old Vanessa Ranae Jones, both of Clarinda, along with 28-year old Thomas Jeffrey Engstrand, of Braddyville. All three were charged with possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, gathering where illegal drugs are sold and used and failure to affix drug tax stamps. All three were being held at the Page County Jail on bail.

Reports concerning the incident have been submitted to the office of Page County Attorney Carl M. Sonksen for review regarding the filing of formal charges.