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

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Republican senator says his comments were misinterpreted when he defended GOP efforts to scale back the federal estate taxes because it helps those who invest rather than people who spend their money on “booze or women or movies.” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says his point regarding the estate tax was taken out of context and the government shouldn’t “seize the fruits of someone’s lifetime of labor after they die.”

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Severe thunderstorms raked portions of the Plains as a cold front swept away warm weather and replaced it with conditions more typical of December. Temperatures fell behind the front, but not before hail and high winds crossed much of the nation’s midsection Monday. Snow fell in the northern Plains, where a blizzard warning was posted for Monday evening.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former chairman of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has been sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to charges related to the misapplication of casino funds. U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Monday sentenced 63-year-old John Blackhawk to five years of probation and 150 hours of community service. He also must pay $36,000 in restitution. Blackhawk pleaded guilty in September to theft from an Indian gaming establishment _ a casino in Sloan, Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Navy says it will give a posthumous combat medal to the family of a northeast Iowa sailor on the 76th anniversary of his death on the battleship USS Oklahoma during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Aloysious H. Schmitt, who carried the rank of chaplain lieutenant junior grade, has been awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action.