The presidential race is overshadowing a pitched battle for partisan control inside the state legislature. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake is the top Republican in the legislature and she was a delegate at the Republican National Convention last month. She says the event revealed the “messaging” Trump intends to use for the fall, but that’s not necessarily going to impact legislative candidates. “There’s a lot of discussion about the presidential, but it doesn’t immediately move then to down-ballot,” she says.

Republicans hold a firm majority in the Iowa House and Republicans have focused on trying to win control of a majority of seats in the Iowa Senate. Democrats currently have a 26-to-24 seat advantage. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs is the top Democrat in the legislature and he was a delegate at last month’s Democratic National Convention.

Gronstal offers this advice to legislative candidates: “Your future doesn’t depend on the top of the ticket, the national mood. It depends on what you do in your own race.” Gronstal is up for reelection this November. Gronstal told reporters last week he has so far personally knocked on eight-thousand doors in his district. Each state senator represents about 60-thousand Iowans.

Gronstal’s Republican opponent is Dan Dawson, a state employee who is special agent in the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

(Radio Iowa)

n annual Iowa pheasant population survey starts today (Monday) and it’ll be done by people in all 99 counties, driving up and down rural roads, looking for the birds and counting them. Todd Bogenschutz, a wildlife research biologist at the Iowa D-N-R, says indications show the popular game bird’s population is at least stable and is likely growing. “We’ve got a real good correlation between what we count on the roadside routes and what pheasant hunters ultimately harvest,” Bogenschutz says. “The weather conditions this past winter and spring were favorable for pheasants. There’s optimism about what we’re going to see next week when we start running the routes.”

The roadside survey is done every year during the first two weeks of August, or sometimes a little longer, depending on the weather. “We’ve got about two routes in every county and they’re three miles long,” he says. “We’ve been doing these same routes since the 1960s, usually the same staff run them every year and it gives as a real good index of the population. We have no way of counting all the pheasants out there but if we do it the same way every year, it gives us a real good trend indicator.”

Bogenschutz said the survey records the numbers of other animals the spotters see, including: quail, Hungarian partridges, cottontails and jackrabbits. The results of the survey will be released in early September. Iowa’s pheasant hunting season begins October 29th.

(Radio Iowa)

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It isn’t clear how the most basic of baking ingredients, flour, became contaminated with bacteria normally found in animal feces. The E. coli-tainted flour from General Mills has sickened 46 people in 21 states and prompted about 45 million pounds of it to be recalled. Plus, the Food and Drug Administration is cautioning raw cookie dough and cake batter aficionados not to indulge.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Expert says human remains found at a Council Bluffs construction site may belong to Mormon pioneers who crossed the area in the 1800s. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the bones were found Thursday and Friday at a construction site and will be examined at the University of Iowa.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A long-awaited national cemetery for U.S. military veterans and their families south of Omaha will be dedicated this week before accepting its first burials this fall. The Omaha National Cemetery will be dedicated Friday at an off-site ceremony in Sarpy County. Cemetery director Cindy Van Bibber says the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is expected to complete an initial segment of the property to be used for in-ground casket and cremation burials as early as September.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An agency overseeing a grant program that addresses abandoned and neglected buildings in rural Iowa communities has no immediate plans to change how it administers the program following a state audit that questioned its accountability reporting. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it plans to run its Derelict Building Grant Program in the same manner when the agency considers a new round of applicants beginning Monday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A long-awaited national cemetery for U.S. military veterans and their families south of Omaha will be dedicated this week before accepting its first burials this fall. The Omaha National Cemetery will be dedicated Friday at an off-site ceremony in Sarpy County, NE. Once complete, the entire 236-acre cemetery will serve the burial needs of more than 112,000 veterans in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. 

Cemetery director Cindy Van Bibber says the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is expected to complete an initial segment of the property to be used for in-ground casket and cremation burials as early as September.

National cemeteries provide burial spaces for honorably discharged veterans, their spouses and eligible dependents at no charge.

Officials with the Department of Corrections, Sunday, said the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison was placed on restricted movement Saturday, after several altercations took place. The incidents involved multiple offenders, with no serious injuries reported.  None of the staff were injured, either. The visiting room at the facility was closed for the rest of the weekend.  No further information is available at this time, as the incident remains under investigation.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports two people were arrested on separate assault charges last week. On July 24th, 27-year old Ashley Dawn Salazar, of Adair, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault for allegedly striking a person and putting them in a choke hold. Salazar was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond or surety. On July 28th, 41-year old Elmer Lee Harwell, of Bedford, was arrested by Stuart Police for Domestic Abuse Assault/3rd offense. He was being held without bond in the Adair County Jail.

Sheriff Vandewater reports also, 29-year old Matthew Lee Richards, of Fontanelle, and 26-year old Nathalie Urioste, of Omaha, were arrested on separate, OWI/1st offense charges, July 24th. Richards was cited for the offense and released, while Urioste was later released on bond.

48-year old Floyd Richard Coombes, of Thayne, WY., was arrested Saturday evening near Stuart, for a Prescription Drug Violation. Coombes was being held in the Adair County Jail on $1,000 bond.

35-year old Jennifer Marie Woollums, of Osceola, and formerly of Greenfield, was arrested July 25th in Adair County, on an Adair County warrant associated with Child Support payments. Woollums was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $2,000 cash only bond.

Also on July 25th, 20-year old Antione Luckett, Jr., of Ottumwa, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol on Interstate 80 in Adair County. Luckett, Jr. was arrested for Driving Under Suspension, Providing False Identification Information, and he was cited for Speeding. Luckett pled guilty to the Adair County charges, was sentenced to time served, and held on separate warrants issued by the Ottumwa Police Department. He was later released to the custody of Ottumwa Police.

Police in Red Oak, Sunday morning, arrested a man on assault and child endangerment charges. 22-year old Logan Samuel Cashatt, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9:35-a.m. for Domestic Assault, Simple Assault, Obstruction of Emergency Communications, and child endangerment. His bond was set at $2,600.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – The human remains found last week at a Council Bluffs construction site may offer more clues about the Mormon pioneers who crossed the region in the 1800s. Sister Terry Latey is a research librarian with an Omaha chapter of the Church of Latter Day Saints. She says the area where human remains were found was likely part of the Mormon Trail that hundreds of pioneers followed west to Salt Lake City.

The Daily Nonpareil reports the bones discovered Thursday and Friday will be examined at the University of Iowa. The bones are believed to be more than 100 years old. Council Bluffs Police Capt. Todd Weddum says the department isn’t investigating because the age of the bones means they couldn’t be linked to any missing persons cases.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An agency overseeing a grant program that addresses abandoned and neglected buildings in rural Iowa has no immediate plans to change how it administers the program following a state audit that questioned some of its accountability reporting. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the Derelict Building Grant Program is managed effectively and has rules in place to ensure its success.

A report from the state auditor’s office released in July recommends that DNR work with the Iowa Legislature to add language that establishes measurable goals for some conservation programs, including the grant program. A DNR spokeswoman says such rules exist for the grant program. The grant program distributes $400,000 annually to small cities and communities in Iowa. A round of applications will be accepted beginning Monday.