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Iowa early News Headlines: Thursday, Aug. 4th 2016

News

August 4th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

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

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A West Des Moines police officer has been killed in a motorcycle crash. Authorities say Officer Shawn Miller was traveling south on Highway 169 after attending a court hearing in Dallas County when he collided with a car. He was pronounced dead at the scene. West Des Moines Police Chief Shaun LaDue said at a news conference that the 47-year-old Miller was married with three children.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has proposed new daily catch limits and a harvest season for commercial turtle trapping. The Des Moines Register reports that the proposal limits the daily catch to 14 snapping turtles, one softshell turtle and three painted turtles. Trappers have been allowed to catch an unlimited amount of turtles year-round. The DNR also proposes a commercial trapping season that begins July 1 and runs through Dec. 31 to protect turtles during their nesting season.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Marshalltown voters have overwhelmingly approved plans to spend $17.5 million on a center for the city’s police and fire departments. The Times-Republican reports voters approved the center Tuesday night, with 65.2 percent supporting the proposal and 34.8 percent opposed. The margin of victory was enough to top a 60 percent threshold required for passage of such tax measures in Iowa. The vote came 15 months after about 65 percent of voters defeated a police-only measure.

YARMOUTH, Iowa (AP) — Environmental specialists and fisheries biologists from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are investigating a second fish kill in a week in southeast Iowa likely caused by aerial spraying of crop fields. A fish kill near the headwaters of Big Creek about a mile west of Yarmouth includes several species of dead and stressed catfish, bullheads, bass, suckers and creek chubs.