Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 1:45 a.m. CDT

WEST BRANCH, Iowa (AP) — Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is finding fans among skeptics of the Democratic establishment in Iowa. This, after 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton suggested without giving evidence that Gabbard is being “groomed” by Russians to act as a spoiler in the 2020 race.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in eastern Iowa say a bicyclist has died after being hit by a car in Muscatine County. The Iowa State Patrol tells the Des Moines Register that 56-year-old Michael Joseph Mann, of Muscatine, was biking on a county road near Moscow late Thursday afternoon when a vehicle struck him from behind. Mann was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators have not reported filing charges in the case.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The last of the five people charged in a man’s fatal 2017 shooting during a Davenport robbery has been found guilty. The Quad-City Times reports that a jury on Friday found 36-year-old Christopher Dixon guilty of first-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in the Sept. 22, 2017, shooting that killed 20-year-old Brady Tumlinson and injured Tumlinson’s girlfriend.

NORTHWOOD, Iowa (AP) — The owner of a northern Iowa dog breeding operation has been found been guilty of animal neglect. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 66-year-old Barbara Kavars, of Manly, was found guilty Friday of 14 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect in connection with the operation of a puppy mill. Prosecutors say Kavars was holding Samoyed dogs in inhumane conditions when officials raided her operation on Nov. 12 and took about 150 dogs.

One person suffered what were described as minor, non-life threatening injuries, during an accident Saturday afternoon, south of Anita. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Shiels told KJAN news the accident happened at 750th (Highway 148) and Jackson Road, at around 4:20-pm.

Shiels said a white Ford Taurus was traveling westbound on Jackson Road, when for reasons unknown it went out of control and struck another vehicle that was parked along the road, while the other driver was taking a break. The Ford sustained heavy front-end, disabling damage, and was a total loss. The driver of the parked vehicle was not injured.

The unidentified driver of the Taurus was transported by Anita Rescue to the Cass County Memorial Hospital for treatment. No charges have been filed. The accident remains under investigation.

The Iowa Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has announced Elizabeth Olsen is the recipient of the Recognized “Young Dietitian of the Year” Award. The award is given to recognize the competence and activities of younger dietetic professionals in the Iowa Academy.

Elizabeth Olsen will be recognized at the annual Iowa Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Meeting in West Des Moines on Wednesday, November 13^th. Olsen is currently the Director of Cass County Public Health.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The last of the five people charged in a man’s fatal 2017 shooting during a Davenport robbery has been found guilty. The Quad-City Times reports that a jury on Friday found 36-year-old Christopher Dixon guilty of first-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in the Sept. 22, 2017, shooting that killed 20-year-old Brady Tumlinson and injured Tumlinson’s girlfriend.
Dixon faces a mandatory term of life in prison when he’s sentenced Nov. 27.

Two other men, 23-year-old Tristin Alderman and 22-year-old D’marithe Culbreath, were sentenced to life earlier this year. In December, 23-year-old Nakita Wiseman was sentenced to 35 years for his role. Last month, 20-year-old Darrell Williams was sentenced to 25 years.

Police say the men conspired to rob Tumlinson of drugs and money at the time of the shooting.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An attorney for the Army Corps of Engineers is asking a judge to sign off on the Corps’ conclusion that the Dakota Access oil pipeline doesn’t harm American Indian tribes. The Corps wants U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to rule in favor of its August 2018 finding that no more environmental study is needed on the $3.8 billion pipeline. The pipeline has been moving North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois for more than two years.

The Standing Rock Sioux want the pipeline shut down and more study done. The tribe fears an oil spill could contaminate the Missouri River. The Bismarck Tribune reports that a Justice Department attorney argues that the Corps “carefully and reasonably considered the environmental impacts” before it permitted the pipeline.

Pipeline developer Texas-based Energy Transfer says the line is safe.

NORTHWOOD, Iowa (AP) — The owner of a northern Iowa dog breeding operation has been found been guilty of animal neglect. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 66-year-old Barbara Kavars, of Manly, was found guilty Friday of 14 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect in connection with the operation of a puppy mill.

Prosecutors say Kavars was holding Samoyed dogs in inhumane conditions when officials raided her operation on Nov. 12 and took about 150 dogs. Court records say 17 dogs had fur matted by feces, skin conditions leading to fur loss, painful wounds, intestinal parasites and other maladies. One dog had to be euthanized.

Officials say the dogs’ kennels lacked food and had water containers filled with ice. Kavars denied wrongdoing and testified she fed and gave water to the dogs every day.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

AMES, Iowa (AP) — In the liberal strongholds of Des Moines’ west side and the Iowa State University campus in Ames, not once was South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg asked by voters recently about the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Buttigieg offered a nuanced view, suggesting that impeachment is a symptom of the deep divisions that would await a new president, who he argues will be tasked with uniting the country.

It’s not that the investigation into the president’s request for foreign help in his reelection effort is an afterthought for Democrats whose votes in Iowa will start the nominating process. Quite the opposite. Instead, it’s that the impeachment inquiry is so ingrained in the 2020 campaign that there’s little point in bringing it up. Democratic voters say they don’t expect that the president will be removed from office, so they are concentrating instead of selecting the strongest opponent to unseat him.To that end, Democratic voters appear to be marching more uniformly than their party’s candidates, who, as a group, have offered at times uneven responses to the prospect of an incumbent president facing impeachment while seeking reelection.

Questions to candidates about impeachment in early voting states have been often sporadic at best. There’s little point in trying to convince early primary and caucus audiences, it would seem. While polls show Americans overall divided over Trump’s impeachment and removal from office, Democrats are firmly in support of both the proceedings and the outcome.

Fully 89% of Democrats approve of the House of Representatives’ decision to conduct an impeachment inquiry, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Ninety-three percent think Trump has done things that are grounds for impeachment. A recent Quinnipiac poll, in addition to finding 9 in 10 Democrats expressing approval of the impeachment inquiry, found 85% of Democrats saying they think Trump should be impeached and removed from office.