Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:40 a.m. CST

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — The landscape around the Muscatine County Courthouse will change when nine large ash trees are removed because of damage caused by the emerald ash borer. The Muscatine Journal reports county officials decided to remove the trees after they were inspected by an expert because they could be a safety hazard. Damage caused by the emerald ash borer beetles kills the trees and leaves the limbs brittle.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs officials are trying to determine how far invasive zebra mussels have spread from one of the basins where the city draws drinking water from. The Daily Nonpareil reports the mussels were found during maintenance this fall, but it’s not clear if they have begun to colonize and clog the pipes leading into the city’s water treatment plant.

ASBURY, Iowa (AP) — The firing of Asbury’s parks director is being questioned by board members who oversaw his work. Parks board member Ken Resch tells The Dubuque Telegraph Herald that the firing of Jason Thieme last Wednesday was a surprise.

PHOENIX (AP) — Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer fought her Republican party in the Legislature for months to push through an expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Now, she hopes one of the pillars of President Barack Obama’s health care law can be saved as Donald Trump pushes to dump much of the overhaul. Many officials in GOP-led states that expanded Medicaid are like Brewer. They support the program that brought insurance to about 9 million low-income Americans who couldn’t afford it themselves.