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.

A blown tire resulted in a semi rolling-over on Interstate 29 Saturday afternoon, about two-miles north of the I-680 split, in Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 38-year old Steffen Edwards, of Kansas City, Missouri, was traveling northbound at around 2:50-p.m., when he saw a puff of smoke, and the 2008 Freightliner semi he was driving began to pull suddenly to the left.

The semi, registered to Digital Sound Systems, Inc., of Lenexa, KS, went out of control, entered the median and crossed the southbound lanes and rolled into the west ditch. The accident happened at around 2:50-p.m. Authorities say Edwards was transported by Midwest Medical to Creighton Hospital in Omaha, for treatment.

Police in Red Oak say a woman from Clarinda was arrested Saturday night. 40-year old Tammy Marie Milleson was taken into custody following a traffic stop. Milleson was arrested at around 10:15-p.m. on a warrant out of Page County for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Suspended charge. She was transported to the Page County Jail, where her cash bond was set at $435.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will hold a 2016 land leasing and valuation workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 2nd.  The workshop is a key source of information to landowners and tenants on land value and rental rate trends.  There will also be discussion of different ways to determine a cash rent, how to establish a flexible cash rent, and considerations to have a successful land rental rate negotiation.

Lower cash prices for crops has tightened margins on producers and put downward pressure on land values and rents.  The workshop will also discuss the cost of crop production for 2017, so that tenants can plan accordingly and landowners are aware of the costs tenants face outside of just paying the rent.

Officials say if there will be any change to a land lease agreement for 2017, notice that the 2016 lease will terminate must be given in writing before Sept 1st.  ISU Extension is offering this unbiased workshop to help both landowners and tenants make informed and mutually advantageous land leasing agreements.

The cost is $20 per person with pre-registration, and includes the updated land leasing handbook.  Shelby County Extension will be holding this workshop starting at 9:30 am Tuesday (August 2nd) at the Shelby County Extension Office located at 906 Sixth Street in Harlan.  Call (712) 755-3104 to pre-register, or for questions. United Bank of Iowa will sponsor a light lunch following the session.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest late Saturday night of 46-year old Randy Allen Etheridge. The Corning man was taken into custody at around 10:50-p.m.following a traffic stop near Prescott. Etheridge was placed under arrest for OWI 3rd Offense (test refusal) and Driving While License Revoked. His bond was set at $6,000.

Randy A. Etheridge

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:20 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Powerball officials say one ticket sold in New Hampshire matches all six numbers in the Powerball drawing worth $487 million. The winning numbers for the Powerball are 11-17-21-23-32 and the Powerball number is 5. The numbers were drawn Saturday night for the nation’s eighth-largest lottery jackpot.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa hospital will soon begin offering heroin and opiate overdose rescue kits to the public. The Telegraph Herald report that Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque officials announced Friday that the hospital and its pharmacy will distribute kits with two nasal injection doses of naloxone to counteract the effects of opioids. To obtain the kits, people must go through a 30-minute training session to ensure the naloxone is administered properly.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State officials say the work of a crime laboratory analyst fired after posting a racist online rant will be independently reviewed by another analyst. Iowa Department of Public Safety spokesman Alex Murphy tells the Des Moines Register that such reviews are a common practice after the departure of any forensic scientist. Amy Pollpeter, a 10-year employee, was fired Tuesday after she lashed out at the Black Lives Matter movement _ and all blacks in general _ in a July 8 Facebook post.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a crop-dusting plane hit power lines just south of Sac City in western Iowa, causing it to crash and killing the pilot. The Fort Dodge Messenger report that the crash occurred around 9:15 a.m. Friday. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory told the newspaper that the plane came down in a corn field about three miles south of Sac City. The pilot’s name has not yet been released.

LEON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Florida cyclist has died while participating in the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol tells Cedar Rapids television station KCRG that 60-year-old Clifton Kahler suffered a heart attack around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday near Decatur. Investigators say he had been pedaling about two miles west of Decatur on Highway 2 when he was stricken.

Kahler was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Last Sunday on the first day of this year’s RAGBRAI, 72-year-old Wayne Ezell, also from Florida, died when he was struck by a pickup near Glenwood.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a crop-dusting plane hit power lines just south of Sac City in western Iowa, causing it to crash and killing the pilot. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports the crash occurred around 9:15 a.m. Friday. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory told the newspaper that the plane came down in a corn field about three miles south of Sac City. The pilot’s name has not yet been released.

Hazardous materials team member Steve Teske says the plane was fully loaded with fuel and about 300 gallons of pesticide and fungicide. Teske says all the fuel and chemicals were absorbed into the soil after the crash. Steven Hansen, who owns the farmland where the plane crashed, says the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will monitor the site.