CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — Mercy Medical Center officials say the hospital would partner with a national health care company in building a 100-bed psychiatric hospital in Clive. The Des Moines Register reports that Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services would be its partner. Universal Health has more than 350 hospitals and other facilities across the country and in Great Britain. The Clive hospital would be its first Iowa project.

Mercy’s plans for building the hospital were initially reported earlier this month, but the location wasn’t disclosed. Mercy filed a detailed application Wednesday with state regulators. The $31 million facility could open by 2020, if the state were to approve it.

Supporters say the Mercy project would address a critical shortage of treatment services in central Iowa. It would be the only free-standing mental hospital in central Iowa.

Motorists traveling across Iowa are at a greater risk for hitting a deer right now. Mick Klemesrud, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says late May into the early part of June is the second-worst time of the year for deer running into traffic. “It’s primarily due to the birthing season,” Klemesrud says. “Our does are running off last year’s fawns, telling them it’s time to be on their own. Then, she’s going to be looking for a secluded area, maybe a nontraditional area, where she feels comfortable and can deliver this year’s fawn.”

Only November ranks higher than June for vehicle-deer collisions. And the animals aren’t just darting into traffic early in the morning or late at night. “They can be on the move at any time,” Klemesrud says. According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, 12 people were killed in vehicle crashes with deer in Iowa over the last four years. Hundreds of other people were injured, while thousands more have at least dealt with deer-related damage to their cars or trucks. The DNR has a deer advisory board, which has agreed to a statewide deer population that supports an annual hunting harvest of 100,000 to 120,000 deer. “Last year, we harvested 105,000 – so our herd is on the lower end of that harvest goal,” Klemesrud says. “I think we’re in that range of where we find (the deer population) socially acceptable.”

Another reason for the rise in vehicle-deer crashes this time of year involves the increase in cars on Iowa roads due to the start of the summer travel season.

(Radio Iowa)

Authorities are releasing the name of the man who’s been missing since a kayak accident in Fort Dodge on Monday afternoon. The missing boater is 26-year-old Alex Dencklau, of Clare. Dencklau and his wife were kayaking on the Des Moines River when the kayak Alex Dencklau was in capsized below a hydroelectric dam. Dencklau’s wife was able to swim to shore. A kayak paddle belonging to Decklau was discovered Wednesday near the Fort Dodge Wastewater Treatment Plant. Rescue efforts will continue today (Thursday).

(Radio Iowa)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is joining Iowa and the city of Council Bluffs in a lawsuit to challenge the federal government’s approval of a tribal casino near Omaha.
Attorney General Doug Peterson announced the effort Wednesday to prevent the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska from building the casino in Carter Lake, Iowa.

The National Indian Gaming Commission ruled last year that the tribe can put a casino on trust land in the city. Carter Lake is the only city in Iowa located west of the Missouri River, and the only way to access it by land is through Nebraska, where casino gambling is illegal. Neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa, has three casinos.

Tribal Chairman Larry Wright Jr. says he’s confident the court will rule that the tribe can offer gaming on its sovereign land.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Authorities in Iowa said Wednesday evening, that on May 20th, the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call shortly after 1-p.m., with regard to human remains found in the 22000 block of 275th Street in rural Mason City.  Deputies from Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene a short time later and requested the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for assistance at the scene.  Investigators collected the skeletal remains and they were transported to the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny.  An autopsy was performed on May 23, 2018.  The results of the autopsy are not currently being released.

An anthropologist was able to determine that the remains may have been there for between 5 to 15 years. The remains are believed to be from a white female between 20-45 years of age, height between 5 foot to 5 foot 7 inches tall.

The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office was able to definitively determine through a forensic odontologist that the remains are not those of Jodi Huisentruit.

The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office and the DCI request if you have any information regarding a missing person that fits the description of the person we described, that you contact the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office at 641-421-3000.

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

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is joining Iowa and the city of Council Bluffs in a lawsuit to challenge the federal government’s approval of a tribal casino near Omaha. Attorney General Doug Peterson announced his role in the legal challenge to prevent the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska from building the casino in Carter Lake, Iowa. The National Indian Gaming Commission ruled last year that the tribe can put a casino on five acres of trust land in the city.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa-based utility is proposing a massive wind turbine project that would be the nation’s first investor-owned electric utility to generate all of its customer demand from wind energy. Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy said Wednesday that it’s submitting its proposal for a $922 million wind project to the Iowa Utilities Board. The project is slated to generate enough electricity to power 2.4 million homes. MidAmerican is a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A lawsuit alleges Iowa’s new voter identification law violates the state constitution. Priorities USA Foundation says the lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Polk County District Court in Des Moines. The national group, which is covering legal costs, provided a copy of the lawsuit. It’s the first legal challenge against the new ID requirement and its provisions. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is named as a defendant in the suit.

HIAWATHA, Iowa (AP) — Iowa income taxes will begin to fall under a tax bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. Reynolds signed the bill Wednesday in Hiawatha. Under the law, the state will cut $2.8 billion in corporate and personal income taxes over six years if it meets certain revenue targets. If not, some cuts would be delayed. Middle-class families are expected to save an average of $86 to $257 next year. A typical family of four would save about $7 every two weeks.

A Sioux City man who was taking his brand new truck to be detailed today (Wednesday) will end up requiring more than a wash and wax on the pickup. Police Sergeant Scott Hatting says the 73-year-old man was pulling into “Hitches, Trailers and More” around 11 a.m when something went wrong.

He says the man accidentally step on the gas instead of the brake as he was pulling in to park and the truck went through a window of the building and struck an employee who was working inside. The employee was taken to the hospital as a precaution with minor injuries. Hatting says since the accident happened on private property the truck owner would not be cited.

“But clearly he’s at fault. The damage to his vehicle is probably around eight thousand dollars I would guess just for paint. And the building — substantially more — just because a lot of property was damaged inside as well,” officer Hatting says. The unidentified driver was not hurt and had just bought the 2018 pickup Tuesday.

(Radio Iowa)

A volunteer firefighter in southeast Iowa is accused of arson. According to the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office, 20-year-old Chance Beres was arrested in connection with a structure fire in a rural part of the county Sunday night. The structure was destroyed and investigators say Beres is also a suspect in connection with a number of fires that have occurred in the county over the last five months.

He’s currently charged with second-degree arson. The Des Moines Register reports that Beres is an EMT with Midwest Ambulance in Grinnell and was also a probationary member with the Montezuma Volunteer Fire Department and EMS since April 18.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A lawsuit alleges Iowa’s new voter identification law violates the state constitution. Priorities USA Foundation says the lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Polk County District Court in Des Moines. The national group, which is covering legal costs, provided a copy of the lawsuit. It’s the first legal challenge against the new ID requirement and its provisions. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is named as a defendant in the suit.

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — Officials in the northeastern Iowa city of Independence have changed their mind on plans to stop flying a giant American flag, following a public outcry. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the Independence City Council voted Tuesday to reverse its April 30 unanimous decision that would have permanently removed a flag and pole in Triangle Park that can be seen by drivers on U.S. Highway 20. The vote also restored funding for the flag.

The council had said last month that high winds that frequently damage the flag, lighting problems and a broken electronic sign were costing the city too much.