Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:00 a.m. CDT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport man faces a first-degree murder charge after authorities say he killed his girlfriend during an argument. The Quad-City Times reports that 55-year-old Thomas James Lopez was charged following the woman’s death Sunday afternoon. Davenport police say Lopez assaulted 37-year-old Melissa Lewis at their home on Aug. 31. According to an affidavit, Lopez slapped, choked and pushed her, causing her to fall back and hit her head on a window sill.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — An overnight shooting at an event center in Clive has killed two people and injured two others. Authorities say 29-year-old Johnny Lee Ollie Jackson of Des Moines died outside of 7 Flags Event Center. Another victim, 44-year-old Kevin Lee Hall of Des Moines, died on the way to a local hospital. Authorities say 31-year-old William Dale Celander and 25-year-old Kelly Christopher Love Jr. suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — A group plans to ask Lee County officials to create a task force to study the impact of increasing the county’s minimum wage. The Fort Madison Daily Democrat reports that county supervisors will discuss the issue at their meeting Tuesday. The request came from a group calling itself the Lee County Raise the Wage Coalition.

VENTURA, Iowa (AP) — A herd of 40 goats is helping to clear nuisance vegetation at an Iowa state park. The Globe Gazette in Mason City reports that the goats will graze on non-native honeysuckle, buckthorn and other plants that have crowded out native vegetation. The goats belong to “Goats On The Go” in Ames.

Anita Rescue and Wiota 1st Responder personnel along with Medivac Ambulance, were called to the scene of a rollover accident Monday evening on Interstate 80, in Cass County. The accident happened near the 66 mile marker of I-80 eastbound, at around 6:15-p.m. According to dispatch reports, two occupants of a Mazda were out of the vehicle when law enforcement arrived. The pair did not request transport to the hospital.

No additional details are currently available.

The governor has signed a proclamation declaring this week (September 5th through 11th) as Suicide Prevention Week. Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Suicide Prevention Program coordinator Pat McGovern says there’s a simple goal. “Really just wanting to raise awareness that suicide is an issue that affects many, many Iowans, many more than I think most people understand or believe,” McGovern says.

Health Department statistics show suicide is the tenth leading cause of death for all Iowans and the second leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year-olds and those ages 25 to 44. McGovern says you can help prevent a suicide by reaching out to friends, family and co-workers. He says it’s not always easy. “It really depends on your relationship, it’is different if a really good friend or a family member who you are really comfortable with — as compared to someone who you might work with and might socialize with at work — but not be friends with outside of work. So, it really does depend on the relationship,” according to McGovern.

He says it is important to take action regardless of the relationship. “The really bottom line is that it’s okay to ask someone how they are doing. It’s even okay to say ‘are you thinking about suicide, are you thinking about taking your own life?,'” McGovern says. “Again, that’s not a comfortable thing, that’s not something that comes naturally to most people. I am in that group. But it is okay to ask that. If someone is suicidal, asking them that question is not going to make them more suicidal.”

McGovern says asking someone about the issue could start a conversation that lets them know there is help available. He says if you addressing thoughts of suicide it isn’t something you have to tackle on your own. You can call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800- 273-TALK or go to www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You may also contact Your Life Iowa by calling (855)-581-8111, texting (855)-895-8398 (2:00 to 10 p.m. Central) or visiting www.yourlifeiowa.org.

McGovern says there are often signs that someone is considering suicide. “There are, and normally it’s not just one thing. We all have ups and downs, some days we are happier than others and that can be caused by any number of variables,” he says, “and feeling suicidal is the same way. It’s not just one thing in a vacuum. It’s normally a constellation of events or feelings or experiences.”

For more information about how to help someone, visit the Iowa Department of Public Health’s website at: idph.iowa.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) – An overnight shooting at an event center in Clive has killed two people and injured two others. Authorities say 29-year-old Johnny Lee Ollie Jackson of Des Moines died at the scene of the shooting outside of 7 Flags Event Center. Another victim, 44-year-old Kevin Lee Hall of Des Moines, died on the way to a local hospital.

Authorities say 31-year-old William Dale Celander and 25-year-old Kelly Christopher Love Jr. were hospitalized with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Clive Chief Michael Venema says the shooting involved a personal dispute, and the public is not in danger. As many as 60 people were in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.

Authorities say the center had been hosting an event, and security staff had removed several people.

DES MOINES – An Omaha, Neb. man was injured after being thrown from a boat Sunday evening on the Missouri River in Harrison County. Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Monday, 23-year old Nathan Case was a passenger sitting in the front of an open bow boat when the vessel hit the wake from another boat causing him to fall out of the front shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday approximately four miles south of the Little Sioux boat ramp. The boat Case fell out of went over the top of him and he was hit by the propeller.

Case was airlifted to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha in serious condition. He was not wearing a life jacket when he fell into the water. Other passengers on-board were able to get him back to the boat. The boat that Case was aboard was operated by 32-year old Brett Feder, of Omaha. Feder was charged with failure to having a throwable flotation device on board and for having an expired boat trailer registration.

The incident was investigated by law enforcement officers from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

A semi-retired Cedar Rapids businessman is the vice presidential nominee of the New Independent Party. It’s one of the so-called “third parties” with candidates on Iowa’s 2016 General Election ballot. Sixty-year-old Jay Stolba says the two-party system isn’t working. “What we need is to get more people with independent views and that are willing to compromise in Washington and, for that matter, at the state level,” Stolba says. The New Independent Party’s platform offers what Stolba describes as a “coherent plan” to dramatically transform the federal government.

“Either eliminate or redirect over a trillion dollars by eliminating programs within the government that have never produced,” Stolba says. “The problem with that is every congressional district has a stake in keeping these programs alive if it brings money to their state and we need to start getting some of those eliminated and direct the money toward where we need it. We also need a lot less directed towards the military. We’re supplying the military for the world and I really don’t think we need to be doing that.”

The gridlock and stalemate in Washington are created by the two-party system, according to Stolba.  “The problem is we’re down to two choices and quite honestly neither one’s very good,” Stolba says. “It’s very polarizing and there’s no compromise left in government anymore and I think if you introduce more people that are willing to compromise into the system, rather than creating a closed system where there’s this animosity and malice, we’d have a much better government for the people.” Stolba says the gerrymandering of congressional districts needs to end and the “Citizens United” Supreme Court decision needs to be overturned so campaign contribution limits can be enforced.

“What’s happening now is we’ve got a system that just absolutely does not work in Washington,” Stolba says. “The only thing that works is money.” Stolba was drafted to be the vice presidential running mate of his long-time friend Lynn Kahn, the New Independent Party’s presidential nominee.

“She’s been in government for 30-plus years,” he Stolba says. “She worked with the FAA as a psychologist. She worked on reinventing government with Al Gore.” Stolba says. Stolba says his current business interests are in real estate. In 2009 he sold Iowa Discount Shippers after owning and operating the company for 17 years.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa ranks among the top 12 states for milk and cheese production, but the state’s dairy industry often misses out on the spotlight due to Iowa’s role as a national leader in corn, soybean, beef, and pork production. Sue Ann Claudon, executive director of the Iowa Dairy Association, says there are currently around 1,260 dairy farms in Iowa — with each farm having anywhere between 50 and 5,000 cows. She’d like to see those numbers grow.

“We have a lot of dairy farmers in other states who would love to come to Iowa because we are a dairy friendly state,” Claudon says. “We have the feed stuff available and we have the resources — we have the businesses who serve the dairy (producers) already here.” California and Wisconsin are the top two milk producing states. Claudon says Iowa needs to expand its processing capacity before the state can significantly boost its production.

“We are working with the state and looking at how we can expand that processing capacity and compete against the other states, especially Wisconsin and South Dakota,” Claudon said. “One of the challenges with that, though, is those two states give incentives to businesses to come into their state.” The dairy industry is struggling in Iowa and across the country as dairy prices have gone down about 35 percent in the last two years.

The USDA announced in late August it would help out farmers by buying 11 million pounds of cheese out of private inventories. The cheese will be donated to food banks and pantries.

(Radio Iowa)

A wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources expects another good year for quail hunters after a dramatic increase in the number of birds taken last year. The D-N-R’s Todd Bogenschutz says the estimated 28-thousand-400 quail taken were a 165 percent increase compared to 2014. This year’s roadside indicates the trend could continue.

He says there was a slight upward trend in numbers and he says the statewide count of quail is the highest it has been in 27 years. Bogenschutz says quail numbers had suffered from the weather just like pheasants.  “I think we do have a small suite of folks who just go out to find quail. Of course those numbers have declined with our lower numbers over the last 20 or 30 years — but I think we still have a small group of dedication quail hunters that when they go out the door that’s basically what they’ve focused on,” he says.

Bogenschutz says there are also hunters who will take what they see. He says in southern Iowa, which is the best quail range, hunters will take pheasants or quails, depending on what they run into. Bogenschutz says the recent mild winters have helped all upland game improve their numbers.

(Radio Iowa)

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — An overnight shooting at an event center in Clive has killed one person and injured several others. Clive police say they were called to the 7 Flags Event Center shortly before 2 a.m. Monday on a report for gunshots fired. Officers say they found a male victim in the parking lot with a gunshot wound in his torso, followed by another shooting victim who was already dead.

Authorities say at least another two gunshot victims were driven to hospitals in private vehicles. Clive Chief Michael Venema says the people involved in the shooting knew each other. Venema says the shooting was the result of a personal dispute, and the public is not in danger.

Authorities say the center had been hosting an event, and security staff had removed several people.