(Radio Iowa) — Clear Lake police are asking for the public’s help in finding heirlooms from fallen rocker Ritchie Valens’ family reporting missing after the Winter Dance Party festivities last week. The Clear Lake Police Department on Sunday responded to the theft report of two picture collages and one movie poster belonging to the Valens family. The items were reportedly taken from the Best Western Motor Lodge in Clear Lake on Saturday from a conference room during a family luncheon.

The return of the items is a primary concern for the family, saying they are precious heirlooms, with the actual value still being determined. If anyone has any information about this case, they are asked to contact the Clear Lake Police Department

The Atlantic Fire Department was called at around 8:10-a.m., to assist firefighters from Brayton, who are battling a residential structure fire. The blaze was at 3144 Goldfinch Place, northwest of Brayton. No other details are currently available.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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The National Weather Service reports two winter weather systems to impact the state through early next week. One will bring light snow to much of the state early Sunday morning through Sunday afternoon. The second stronger system will bring another potential winter storm to impact Iowa late Monday through Tuesday night.

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LITTLETON, Iowa (AP) — A project that will remove a dam from the Wapsipinicon River in eastern Iowa may create hazardous ice conditions for snowmobilers and ice anglers upstream. The Iowa Natural Resources Department says work is expected to begin Monday on the Littleton Dam in Buchanan County. Rock rapids are being emplaced so the water will pool to about the same level provided by the low-head dam.

Officials say water under the ice upstream will drop as the dam is removed, leaving several feet of empty space beneath. What appears to be stable ice could collapse unpredictably. The low-head dam presented a danger over the years. Nine people have died near the dam since it was built in 1934.

Officials with the Creston Police Department report the arrest Thursday night, of 29-year old Jennifer Ann Self. The Creston woman was arrested on a charge of Theft in the 2nd Degree, and was being held in the Adams County Jail on a $5,000 cash or surety bond. Authorities said also, a Creston woman residing in the 300 block of N. Sycamore Street reported Thursday morning, that sometime between 3:40-and 5-p.m. Wednesday, someone took a wedding ring out of her vehicle while she was at work. The loss was estimated at $100.

(7-a.m. News)

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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ONAWA, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been delayed for a man accused of killing his grandmother in western Iowa. Monona County District Court records say a judge Wednesday set Sept. 10 as the new trial starting date for 21-year-old Eliot Stowe. The trial had been scheduled to begin this coming Tuesday. Stowe has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He’s accused of fatally beating 66-year-old Cheryl Stowe at the home they shared in rural Castana. Her body was found June 27 about a mile and a half from the home.

His attorney has filed notice to the court that Stowe will use an insanity defense .

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says the 215 attorneys, investigators and support staff in his agency are working under difficult circumstances due to spending constraints.  “It’s very much a make-shift operation that’s working so far, but is really tenuous,” Miller says. “…Any future cuts are potentially devastating.” Miller met Thursday with legislators who draft the budget for the Iowa Department of Justice. Miller described the various restricted accounts his agency has tapped to make up for a 37 percent decrease in state taxpayer support of his agency over the past decade. “I mean you get sort of the sense that we’re sort of putting this all together with baling wire, to some extent,” he said, “to make it work, to make it come out that we’re able to produce the kind of work that you and Iowans want from us.”

Miller’s office fields consumer complaints. Prosecutors in the Miller’s office were called in by county attorneys to handle more than 100 criminal cases in the past year, including 28 murder trials. In addition, Miller says there’s been a dramatic increase in the number of people convicted of a crime who appeal the judge’s or jury’s decision. “We have the same number of lawyers as we did four years or five years ago and we have 40 percent more cases,” Miller says, “so we have a huge workload for our criminal appeals lawyers.”

Attorneys from Miller’s office also represent more than 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Miller says those lawyers are handling an increasing number of complicated employment cases. About 23 percent of the attorneys in Miller’s office work on child support cases.

(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Department of Public Health program which helps kids get the proper dental care held steady in the past year at a little more than 50-thousand. Department oral health consultant Stephanie Chickering says that goes a little against past trends for what they call the “I-Smile” program. “Generally our numbers increase every year — and so 54-thousand is pretty stable from last year,” she says. “But notably, we’ve provided more than 500-thousand services since 2006.”

She says they have helped a variety of different kids. “We target high-risk children who maybe are lower socio-economic status. But we also will provide services to just about any child who has some sort of a dental need,” Chickering says. Chickering — who is a dental hygienist — says getting the kids to the dentist can make a difference beyond helping them prevent cavities and having a nice smile. “We do know that children with dental problems can have trouble eating, speaking, so they have issues developing. They can have trouble interacting with peers and with adults,” according to Chickering. “So, it is really more about full-body health and being able to develop and learn appropriately.”

Chickering says it not unusual to find a child who has acted out has done so because they had tooth pain or dental issues. “Which is an unfortunate way to get that attention, but that’s kind of how that shows up in very young. So, a child may’ve been disciplined for acting out — but all they were really trying to do was get somebody to notice the pain in their mouth,” Chickering explained.  And Chickering says feeling good about your smile can help kids feel good overall about themselves. She says the program is paid for in part through a state funding. “We also get some federal funding, and we also receive some match dollars from the Iowa Medicaid program,” Chickering says. “In Iowa we are fortunate that dental hygienists who work with Title Five screening centers in Iowa are able to bill Medicaid for service. So we are able to utilize that reimbursement within our programs.”

Chickering says there is a lot of demand and funds are always tight, so they try hard to make the most out of what is available. There are 23 I-Smile coordinators around the state who are responsible for working with children and families; dentists and dental office staff; medical providers; school nurses, teachers and administrators; businesses; civic organizations; and social service organizations. The coordinators work for county health departments or private, non-profit organizations to administer I-Smile in all 99 Iowa counties