OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Bail has been set at $5 million for an Iowa resident accused of killing a romantic rival last seen alive more than four years ago in Omaha. Forty-one-year-old Shanna Golyar, of Persia, Iowa, is charged with first-degree murder. Bail was set during a hearing Tuesday inside the Douglas County Jail. Prosecutors say she killed Cari Farver, of Macedonia, Iowa, who was 37 when she was reported missing in November 2012.

Golyar’s attorney is James Martin Davis, and he said Tuesday there’s no confession, no body, no murder weapon and “no sufficient showing of blood that there was a death that even took place.”

Prosecutors say Golyar and Farver had dated the same man and that Golyar tried to cover up the killing by posing online as Farver.

President-elect Trump has named almost all of his cabinet members but hasn’t yet announced his pick for U-S Secretary of Agriculture. Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says he’s not sure why the process is taking so long or even what the president-elect is looking for in the position. “It’s important to get to it,” Northey says. “It’s one of the last handful of positions out there. I’m hopeful we’ll see something soon but I don’t have any particular insight into who that may be or when that may be.”

A few names on the alleged “short list” include former Iowa State Representative Annette Sweeney of Alden, Texas Ag Commissioner Susan Combs and former Texas A&M President Elsa Murano. Northey is a member of the Trump Ag Advisory Committee and says rural America helped elect Trump, so there is pressure for him to get the nomination right. “It’s kind of a puzzle,” Northey says. “You don’t necessarily want people from the same state and you have a certain demographic that’s already filled and you want a different demographic. So, besides getting somebody good for agriculture, there’s a lot of other considerations.”

Because of those factors, Northey says it may make this decision even more difficult. Northey says time will be short because the new ag secretary will have to quickly assemble a team to run the U-S-D-A. Northey says, “All of us are looking forward to that name because, besides the secretary, there’s a lot of other positions under that to fill and make sure that department is running come January 20th like it needs to.”

The U-S Ag Secretary post has been held the past eight years by former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. The website Politico.com speculates the ag secretary pick may not be announced until the new year.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 1:50 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some Iowa voters returned to the ballot box for one more election before the end of the year. Polls opened Tuesday morning for a special election to fill the District 45 seat left open by the September death of Iowa Democratic Sen. Joe Seng. The eastern Iowa district includes parts of Davenport.

BELLEVUE, Iowa (AP) — State officers have joined the investigation of what authorities say is the “suspicious” death of an eastern Iowa man. Police found the body of 59-year-old James Remakel at a home in Bellevue around 1 p.m. Sunday. An autopsy has been ordered.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new report says sales of Iowa Lottery tickets spiked in the budget year that ended June 30 and generated the most revenue in the program’s 31-year history. Backed by surging sales of instant-scratch and Powerball tickets, the Lottery brought in $366.9 million in total revenue, a $42 million increase from the prior year. A state audit says $88 million of that money went to the state’s general fund and to help veteran’s programs, the highest amount for the Lottery since its start in 1985

MONTICELLO, Iowa (AP) — A Monticello woman says she’s gotten back the class ring she lost 30 years ago. Theresa Martin told station KCRG a man named Curtis Rose had posted a Facebook item about it, asking whether anyone knew someone who’d gone to Monticello High School with the initials TKM. Classmates saw the post and put Rose and Martin in contact. He told her he found it two years ago in Cedar Rapids.

The Harlan Police Department reports the arrest on Dec. 21st, of 32-year old Anthony Koester, of Harlan. Koester was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant charging him with theft 5^th degree.  Koester was taken to the Shelby County Jail.

And, on Dec. 20th,  a criminal complaint was sent to the Shelby County Clerk of Court requesting a warrant be issued for Carlos Fonseca-Triminio charging him with violation of a no contact order.  Triminio allegedly sent Facebook messages to woman from Harlan.  There is a no contact order in-place between the woman and Fonseca-Triminio.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports an Atlantic woman was arrested last Friday (Dec. 23rd) on drug charges. 22-year old Maisie Sheryl Williams was taken into custody on a Sheriff’s Office warrant for felony Possession with Intent to Deliver/Meth. Williams was taken to the Cass County Jail and remains held on $50,000 bond.

That same day, 18-year old Brittnee Marie Chase, of Oakland, was arrested in Cass County on a charge of OWI 1^st Offense. Chase was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on her own recognizance.

And on December 20th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 27-year old Andrew Bennet Leeper, of Adair, on an Atlantic Police Department warrant for OWI 1^st Offense. Leeper was taken to the Cass County Jail and was released later that day on $1,000 bond.

Anyone with information about any of the incidents is asked to call the Harlan Police Department at 712-755-5151. Shelby County Crimestoppers is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the incidents.

The Union County Sheriff’s office says a 2006 Hyundai Sonata reported stolen Dec. 16th from outside a residence in Lorimor, was recovered Monday (12/26), in Adair County. No other details were immediately available on where the vehicle was found, its condition or any suspects in the case.

The Sac County Sheriff’s Office today (Tuesday), identified the victim who died in a head-on crash crash Saturday morning between a semi and a pickup truck. According to Sheriff Ken McClure, a passenger in the pickup, 65-year old Sharon Rohlf, of Odebolt, was killed in the crash. Her husband, 64-year old Gary Rohlf, of Odebolt and five other people were injured in the crash that happened in dense fog at around 8:24-a.m., about one and one-quarter miles west of Lake View, on Highway 175.

According to the report, a semi-tractor trailer driven by 24-year old Ivan Milosevic from Chicago, Illinois, was traveling west on Highway 175 when Milosevic tried to pass a westbound car driven by 77-year old Richard Daisy, of Lake City. The semi collided head-on with Rohlf’s pick-up that was traveling eastbound. A passenger car driven by 61-year old Jeanette Fertig, of Odebolt, then rear-ended the pickup.

Rohlf, Feritg, a passenger in Fertig’s vehicle, 73-year old Barbara Scott, of Odebolt, Milosevic and a passenger in his semi, 27-year old Kiwan AlDaloi of Allen, Texas, were transported to Loring Hospital in Sac City by Sac County Ambulances from Lake View and Sac City. Rohlf and Scott were subsequently transported to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City for treatment of critical injuries. Fertig was treated at Loring Hospital. Milosevic and AlDaloi were treated and released. Daisy was not injured in the accident.

The accident remains under investigation by the Iowa State Patrol, assisted by the Sac County Sheriff’s Office and Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office today (Tuesday), issued a report on recent arrests. Included in the report was 33-year old Steven Lewis Elings, of Neola, who was arrested at around 2-a.m. today (Tuesday), for Domestic Assault with Injury, Child Endangerment without injury, and Obstruction of Emergency Communications. Authorities say Elings and his girlfriend had been involved in a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 30,000 block of Magnolia Road. Elings’ 36-year old girlfriend suffered apparent minor injuries during the incident. The report said Steven Elings was apparently intoxicated at the time of his arrest.

A man booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree, Saturday afternoon. Sheriff’s officials say 20-year old Ben David Lein, of Council Bluffs, allegedly caused nearly $7,000 damage to the jail facility. Windows, a video visitation booth, a hanging mirror, sprinkler head and clock were damaged during the incident.

And, 22-year old Tyler John Wright, of Council Bluffs, was arrested just before 6-a.m. Sunday for OWI/1st offense, after a jail employee found a vehicle in a ditch at around 5-a.m. in the vicinity of 240th Street and Highway 92. The employee told dispatchers the driver of the 2016 Buick Verano, later identified as Wright, appeared to be intoxicated.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Department reports three arrests took place over the past week. At around 12:55-a.m. Sunday, 43-year old Daniel Lee Liddick, of Glenwood, was arrested in Glenwood for OWI/2nd offense. His bond was set at $2,000. At around 9-p.m. on Dec. 21st, 26-year old Patrick Neil Jack, of Malvern, was arrested for Obstruction of Emergency Communication, the bond was which was set at $300, and at around the location and time, 36-year old Helen Elaine Tuper, of Malvern, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault. She was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.