DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Democratic National Committee will recommend scrapping state plans to offer virtual, telephone-based caucuses in 2020 due to security concerns, sources tell The Associated Press. The recommendation from DNC leaders makes it highly unlikely that the party’s powerful Rules and Bylaws Committee would allow Iowa and Nevada to proceed with their current plans for virtual caucuses next February. DNC officials and some presidential campaigns have raised concerns about possible hacking.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne says the patience of Iowa farmers is wearing thin as President Donald Trump’s trade policies damage soybean markets and his administration’s ethanol policy reduces corn demand. Axne, a Democrat, convened a meeting with farmers and agriculture groups at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday with USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey, a Republican and former Iowa secretary of agriculture. Northey says Trump realizes farmers are stressed in part by administration policies.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — It took only seconds for a towering coal-fired electricity plant in Marshalltown to be reduced to rubble. The Sutherland Generating Station was imploded Thursday morning, with explosions causing the structure to crash to the ground and send up a plume of dust. The plant, owned by Alliant Energy, had operated since the 1950s but ceased operation in 2017 after a natural gas power plant came online.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa funeral home is calling on families to pick up the unclaimed cremated remains of nearly 100 people that it has been keeping in a locked closet for years, some since the mid-1990s. Lanae Strovers, of Hamilton’s Funeral Home in Des Moines, told TV station KCCI that she has already made arrangements for 200 sets of the unclaimed ashes but is still trying make arrangements for 91 others. Any that remain unclaimed will be buried in a cemetery during a Sept. 26 service.

(Radio Iowa) — The speed of Missouri River levee repairs remains the key dilemma for southwest Iowans waiting for word on rebuilding after this spring’s flooding. The flood recovery task force Governor Kim Reynolds appointed earlier this year met again yesterday (Thursday). Task force member Larry Winum (WIN-umm), a banker from Glenwood, says the city council in Pacific Junction is determined to save their town — but face major obstacles. “Pacific Junction has never been flooded in their lifetime, ever, and now all of a sudden the rules that come down from the government say: ‘Well, you can’t rebuild there because now we know you’re in the flood zone,'” he says. “Well, they weren’t in a flood zone until the levees broke, so that’s frustrating for people, particularly if they’ve lived there all their lives.”

Governor Reynolds says state tax dollars have been spent on some projects, but there’s uncertainty about how much the State of Iowa may have to contribute to levee repair. “It’s extremely frustrating. I’m very frustrated. The bureacracy and the hoops that they expect you to jump through,” Reynolds said. “You make one small step forward and it’s four steps back.”

Reynolds says her idea of flexibility is very different from the Army Corp’s. The governor says homeowners and businesses in the flood zone are in a “catch-22” situation because rebuilding can’t start until the levees are fixed.

Atlantic Police, Fire, and Rescue were called to the scene of a vehicle on pedestrian accident around 3:18pm Thursday afternoon at 10th and Maple Streets in Atlantic. Atlantic Police Officer Devin Hogue told KJAN News the accident happened after students were released from school.

There were students walking westbound at 10th and Maple and had the right of way. A red Buick that was traveling west on 10th Street proceeded to make a left turn to head south on Maple Street, not yielding to the students that were crossing the street. One student, approximately 10-years-old, was struck by the vehicle and suffered a possibly serious leg injury. The injury at the scene did not appear to be life threatening.

No further details are being released at this time and the investigation into the accident is ongoing.

DES MOINES– Gov. Kim Reynolds today (Thursday) announced her appointment of Julie Schumacher as a judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals. Schumacher, of Schleswig, Iowa, currently serves as a district court judge in Judicial Election District 3B. She has previously served as a district associate judge, an assistant county attorney for Crawford County,  and an assistant city attorney for Denison.

She also engaged in the private practice of law in Denison for nearly twenty years. Schumacher received her undergraduate degree from the University of South Dakota and her law degree from Creighton University School of Law.

The Iowa Court of Appeals is Iowa’s intermediate appellate court. It is composed of nine judges and decides appeals from district courts across Iowa. Schumacher fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Iowa Court of Appeals Chief Judge Gayle Nelson Vogel of Spirit Lake.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former western Iowa pastor already charged in Nebraska with sexually assaulting two children has, along with his wife, been charged with an additional count of witness tampering. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 44-year-old Emanuel Rodriguez and 42-year-old Veronica Rodriguez were arrested this week. Police say Emanuel Rodriguez called his wife from jail after his arrest earlier this month on the sexual assault counts and told her to contact the mothers of the two girls. Victoria Rodriguez later told her jailed husband that she said she had sent text messages to the girls’ mothers saying her husband “had lost his whole career in the ministry” because of the accusations.

Police say Emanuel Rodriguez fondled two prepubescent girls between 2017 and May 2019 at two Omaha homes previously owned by Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the pastor at Calvary Assembly of God Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at the time of his arrest.

(Press Release) — Marne Elk Horn is now a recognized member of the Smart Rural Communities SM program, which is offered by NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association.  “Across the United States, rural, community-based broadband providers are serving small  towns with robust broadband networks to support critical and innovative solutions for rural communities and Marne Elk Horn is one of them,” said NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield. “Marne Elk Horn is helping to build a nationwide network of Smart Rural Communities, where broadband connections are helping create a brighter future.”

“We have been a Gig Certified Community through NTCA since we completed our fiber project in Elk Horn, Kimballton, Marne, Brayton, and Walnut,” said Janell Hansen, CEO of Marne Elk Horn. “To us, that was step one, which was connected to our technological capabilities. The Smart Rural Community approach is about how the technology benefits the people, businesses, community and region. We have always been about serving our customers with the best products for a fair price. The Smart Rural Community initiative is an extension of that while connecting us to other companies and communities like us nationwide.”

According to Bloomfield, the Smart Rural Communities program promotes collaborative work among rural broadband providers and other local leaders to develop broadband-enabled solutions for education, economic development, healthcare and more. The Smart Rural Communities initiative celebrates the technological leadership of nearly 850 small, community
based rural broadband providers in NTCA’s membership. “I am so proud of Marne Elk Horn for rising to meet the challenge of providing exceptional service in rural America, where our member companies face low population density, geographic obstacles, regulatory hurdles and limited budgets,” stated Bloomfield.

“NTCA’s Smart Rural Community Providers are leading by example and charting a course toward an even more vibrant, productive and community-oriented rural America.” Hansen said more info can be found at www.metc.net/smart.