CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Union leaders say workers have ratified a contract for the General Mills processing plant in Cedar Rapids. Local 110 of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said Thursday the three-year agreement reached last week covering the 520 workers will “ensure the maintenance” of benefits.

The deal provides for annual pay increases and six extra of paid time off annually, among other things. The two sides have been negotiating since January, when workers voted for the union representation. The workers overwhelmingly rejected a company offer on Nov. 6.

Red Oak Police, Thursday night, arrested 48-year old Michael Vaughn Cox, of Red Oak. Cox was arrested at around 7:50-p.m. in the 1800 block of N. 8th Street, for Public Intoxication. His cash bond at the Montgomery County Jail, was set at $300.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:25 a.m. CST

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials have identified two people found dead inside a central Iowa apartment as a woman and an infant. The Des Moines Register reports that Webster City police have identified the victims as 28-year-old Mariangelys Ortiz and 3-month-old and Abimelec Ortiz Figueroa. The bodies of both were found inside the Webster city apartment Sunday morning. The cause of deaths has not been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State natural resources officials say Iowa will report 622 river, lake and wetland segments with impairments to the Environmental Protection Agency as part of its 2018 summary of water quality. That’s a 2% increase over the 608 reported in the 2016 report. The federal Clean Water Act requires states to compile a report every two years.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say one person has died in an industrial accident at a biofuels plant in central Iowa. Television station KCCI reports that the Nevada Public Safety Department confirmed the death occurred Thursday afternoon at Verbio North America’s Biorefinery in Nevada, which is about 40 miles north of Des Moines. Officials say the person died at the scene but did not give details of the nature of the accident.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — A defense expert says a confession by the suspect in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts is not reliable because he was sleep deprived and susceptible to coercion. Brian Leslie, a consultant with expertise in interrogation techniques, reviewed video of an 11-hour interrogation of Cristhian Bahena Rivera in August 2018. He notes Rivera fell in and out of sleep before admitting involvement in Tibbetts’ death. Leslie says he would “not take a lot of what was said as credible.”

A traffic stop Thursday morning in Adams County resulted in a foot pursuit. Deputies initiated the stop at around 11:16-a.m., on a vehicle traveling 72 mph in a 55 zone. 18-year old Emmeline Grace Stougard, of Corning, fled from deputies on foot. Stougard and 18-year Camren Joseph Solari, also of Corning, had an active no contact order in-place from an incident that took place earlier this Summer.

They face charges of Violation of a No Contact Order, and Interference with Official Acts.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Page County, Thursday, arrested 36-year old David Llewellyn Warkentien II, of Clarinda. He was taken into custody on a Page County Bench warrant for 2 counts of Control Substance Violations, for failing to appear at a plea and sentencing hearing. Warkentien was unable to post the $5,000 bond, and was being held in the Page County Jail pending future court proceedings.

NEVADA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say one person has died in an industrial accident at a biofuels plant in central Iowa. Television station KCCI reports that the Nevada Public Safety Department confirmed the death occurred Thursday afternoon at Verbio North America’s Biorefinery in Nevada, which is about 40 miles north of Des Moines.

Officials say the person died at the scene but did not give details of the nature of the accident. The victim’s name has not been released pending notification of family members. An investigation into the fatal accident is ongoing.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — Officials have identified two people found dead inside a central Iowa apartment as a woman and an infant. The Des Moines Register reports that Webster City police have identified the victims as 28-year-old Mariangelys Ortiz and 3-month-old and Abimelec Ortiz Figueroa. The bodies of both were found inside the Webster city apartment Sunday morning.

The cause of deaths has not been released. Police Chief Shiloh Mork said on Sunday that there was nothing about the deaths that suggested the public was in any danger.

A defense expert says a confession by the suspect in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts is not reliable because he was sleep deprived and susceptible to coercion. Brian Leslie, a consultant with expertise in interrogation techniques, reviewed video of an 11-hour interrogation of Cristhian Bahena Rivera in August 2018.

He noted that Rivera denied involvement in the disappearance and death of Tibbetts until near the end, around 4 a.m., after he had been falling in and out of sleep. He says he would “not take a lot of what was said as credible.” Leslie testified on the second day of a hearing on Rivera’s motion to suppress statements made during that interrogation.  Judge Joel Yates said Thursday he would take the matter under advisement and rule as quickly as possible.

Relatives of the man suspected of killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts say they rushed to a sheriff’s office after learning he was being questioned and waited for hours without getting to speak with him. Alejandra Cervantes Valle testified Thursday that she asked a police officer whether the family needed to call a lawyer for her nephew, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, during the August 2018 interrogation.

Valle says the officer told her that was unnecessary because they would be done in 15 minutes. The family left two hours later without any update. Police say Rivera later led officers to a cornfield where they say he hid Tibbetts’s body beneath a pile of leaves.

Judge Joel Yates ruled Thursday that he will not allow lawyers for Cristhian Bahena Rivera to submit a written affidavit from their client unless he agrees to submit to cross-examination by prosecutors.
Lawyers for Rivera, who is charged with murder, say they won’t allow him to testify. Yates rejected the affidavit. Rivera says in the affidavit that he was unaware of certain rights and scared to invoke others.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Eight months after flooding began along the lower Missouri River, the amount of water being released from dams upriver will start to be reduced later this month.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the amount of water being released from the Gavins Point dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will start to gradually be reduced on Nov. 23 as part of its plan to cut releases for winter.

The amount of water being released into the river has been at 80,000 cubic feet per second — more than twice what is typical — for months. By mid-December, that will be reduced to 22,000 cubic feet per second.

The river has remained high ever since the spring flooding because the amount of rain and melting snow flowing into the river was near record levels this year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State natural resources officials say Iowa will report 622 river, lake and wetland segments with impairments to the Environmental Protection Agency as part of its 2018 summary of water quality. That’s a 2% increase over the 608 reported in the 2016 report.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says Thursday the 622 water body segments on this year’s list had 831 impairments. An impairment means a segment of a water body doesn’t meet established quality standards.

The most common river impairments in Iowa include bacteria presence and fish kills, for which the most common cause is animal waste. Iowa has more pigs and egg-laying chickens than any other state, and it constantly struggles to balance water quality and agricultural interests.

The most severe problem for lakes is algae growth. That’s often the result of nutrients such as phosphorous from farm fertilizer washing from fields into the water. Environmental activists Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement say it’s evidence the state is failing when it comes to improving water quality.