DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Senate’s impeachment trial has wrapped up its Saturday business, and that’s freed several presidential candidates from Washington for the weekend. Some are heading to Iowa for a last-minute blitz of campaigning before the state’s caucuses kick off the battle for the Democratic nomination.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota plan town halls, rallies and concerts across Iowa on Saturday to keep their supporters motivated heading into the final stretch of the caucus campaign. They’ll join former Vice President Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who don’t have Senate obligations.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Leaders in western Iowa say lingering floodwaters and damage from last year’s Missouri River flooding has led them to again cancel Loessfest. The Council Bluffs City Council said Friday in a news release that restoration work on Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, where the festival is held right across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska, can’t begin until after the spring thaw. The council says there isn’t enough time between the thaw and the Memorial Day weekend event to get the work done. Last year, Loessfest was initially postponed to Labor Day weekend, then canceled altogether due to ongoing flooding.

Police in Creston report and accident Friday morning caused about $2,500 damage, but no one was injured. Officials say a 2008 GMC pickup driven by 57-year old Jackie Trichell, of Corning, was traveling south on Sumner Street at around 7:50-a.m., and had a green light to proceed into the intersection with Highway 34. A 2017 Jeep Cherokee driven by 35-year old Adam Goodvin, also of Corning, was traveling east on Highway 34, and tried to stop at the traffic light, but due to slush on the road, his SUV slid into the intersection and struck the pickup on its right side.

No citations were issued.

The Riverside Community School District has reached a settlement with the parents of a teenager who died in a fiery school bus accident in rural Pottawattamie County a little more than 2-years ago. The lawsuit had been filed against the District in April, 2018, by Glen and Natalie Klindt, the parents of 16-year old Megan Klindt. The teen, along with the school bus driver, 74-year old Donald Hendricks, died December 12th, 2017.

An investigation determined the bus was southbound on 480th Street, when Hendricks turned into a driveway to pick up Klindt–his first passenger. As the bus backed out of the driveway, it became stuck in a ditch. As Hendricks attempted to move the bus out of the ditch, a fire started in the vehicle’s engine compartment, and spread into the passenger compartment. Both Hendricks and Klindt were unable to escape the burning bus. Autopsies indicate both died of soot and smoke inhalation.

In a statement on the district’s website, Friday, Superintendent Tim Mitchell said “The District did not admit wrongdoing in reaching the settlement” with the Klindts. Mitchell added, “The parties recognize that no amount of money can represent this loss. However, the District’s sincere hope is that resolving this matter will assist the family and community in gaining closure for this devastating event.” He said also, “The District will continue to focus on providing excellent educational services to its student body and ensuring the safety of students and staff.”

(Radio Iowa) — A dedication ceremony was held Friday afternoon in Iowa City, for the new Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences building on the University of Iowa campus. U-I Professor and department chair Mark Blumberg says the six-floor, 33-million-dollar structure replaces the aging Seashore Hall, located just east of Van Allen Hall. Blumberg calls the building “a wonderful addition to our lives.”

“It’s amazing. It’s got windows. It’s got light. It’s got state-of-the-art classrooms and labs and places for our students to teach, and our graduate students who TA in classes,” Blumberg says. “It’s got wonderful common spaces for undergraduates and graduate students to sit and talk and study and do all of the things that they do.”  This is the first centralized home for the psychology department and Blumberg says it will position the U-I to better prepare students for learning modern psychology and finding jobs in the field. “As the sixth oldest psychology department in the country, we were founded in 1890, you just never ran into students. You could never have a conversation because you never saw them,” Blumberg says.

“So finally, we have a place. We’re like other departments on campus now where students can come and study and meet professors and talk with each other and learn and do their research. It’s an amazing, big step for us.”  Blumberg says two of the top five psychologists in the nation during the 20th century earned degrees at the U-I. Ground was broken on the 64-thousand square-foot facility in October of 2018 and the project was completed on time and under budget. “That meant that we were able to finish up some things that were critical but that we didn’t know we were going to be able to afford,” Blumberg says. “By the summer, we will have completed everything we could have hoped to complete and still be under budget.”

The Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences is one of the largest U-I departments with 12-hundred declared majors, 500 minors, and some 23-thousand student credit hours taught in psychology every year.

(Radio Iowa) — The controversy on where Woodbury County Supervisor Jeremy Taylor lives and how that impacts his standing as a voter and public official continued with new twists, Friday. County Auditor Pat Gill issued a ruling Friday, that Taylor’s voter registration is canceled because his new home on Christy Road is his primary residence instead of his previous home on Grandview Boulevard. Taylor says he still owns the original home and lives there part of the week — and the auditor ignore the “overwhelming evidence.” “Including five statements from adjacent neighbors who testified that I have met the legal requirements of residency — and do reside in the Grandview residence,” Taylor says.

Taylor says he is taking the auditor’s decision to court. “I’m going to appeal this decision, which is my right to do. And just made that intention known in the county attorney’s officer — which will stay the vacancy hearing on Monday,” Taylor says. Taylor is a Republican who is also a candidate for Iowa 4th District Congressional seat. The Monday hearing would have had Auditor Gill, County Attorney Patrick Jennings and County Treasurer Michael Clayton decide if Taylor should continue to serve as a supervisor representing his district.

A petition from the district questioned Taylor’s residency and he says it is an attack against him by local Democrats. Auditor Gill declined to comment on Taylor’s comments or his ruling.