(Radio Iowa) — A Mason City man is in jail after authorities allegedly find more than a pound of methamphetamine in a storage unit. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Department says they executed a search warrant based on an ongoing investigation at two storage lockers at 630 6th Southwest in Mason City. Authorities allegedly found more than a pound of suspected meth with a street value of more than $20,000, as well as a large sum of money. 59-year-old Mark Hobbs was charged with possession of meth with the intent to deliver and failure to affix a drug tax stamp.

He’s currently being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $20,000 bond. Hobbs was arrested in April for allegedly stealing Ritchie Valens memorabilia during the Winter Dance Party in Clear Lake.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) — A former police officer accused of stealing painkillers from a southeastern Iowa veterinary clinic has been given five years of probation. Jefferson County District Court records say 31-year-old Ryan Mills was fined $1,000 and given a deferred judgment at his sentencing Friday. Under deferred judgments, convictions can to be removed from court records if the convicted fulfill their probation terms. Mills had pleaded guilty to burglary.

A criminal complaint says Mills was caught stealing 57 tablets of Tramadol from The Veterinary Clinic in Fairfield before business hours on Jan. 1. Later he admitted entering the clinic on several occasions to steal the opioids from a medicine cabinet. Tramadol is a controlled narcotic used to treat moderate to severe pain and is highly addictive.

Mills was a police officer in Fairfield.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a virus has killed hundreds of deer in south-central Iowa. The Iowa Natural Resources Department says the outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease is concentrated in and near Warren County. The disease is spread by female midges that feed on the dead animals. The disease causes high fever in deer. The cell membranes in their hearts, lungs and diaphragms weaken and burst. The department says the disease kills animals every year but not usually at the rate of this outbreak.

The disease outbreak remains active until rain disperses the deer, wind disperses the midges or a heavy frost kills them. Experts say epizootic hemorrhagic disease has not been shown to affect people.

(Radio Iowa) — The new edition of the Farmers’ Almanac predicts a freezing, frosty winter is ahead for Iowa and the rest of the Midwest. Sandi Duncan, the publication’s managing editor, says they’re calling for above-normal snowfall and below-normal temperatures.Duncan says, “We’re calling this winter a ‘polarcoaster’ winter because we think there’s going to be quite a few thrills and chills up and down the thermometer this winter.”

The Almanac is forecasting what it calls a “memorable” storm that will produce “hefty snows” for the region between January 20th and 23rd, followed by bitter cold as low as 40-below zero. “We’re looking at the coldest outbreak of the season to be at the end of January and the beginning of February,” Duncan says. “Overall, in your region we’re calling for a frigid and snowy winter.”  This past spring was lousy for many farmers in the region, with prolonged cold, wet weather and widespread flooding. The Almanac is predicting essentially a repeat for next spring. “We do see a very slow start to spring once again with chilly, wet conditions hanging on into April,” Duncan says. “The good news is, we also have a summer forecast, and we see scorching temperatures with not the greatest but near-normal precipitation. Hopefully, things will even out a little bit as summer continues to take hold in 2020.”

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service often put little stock in forecasts more than a few weeks out, but Duncan notes the Farmers’ Almanac has been predicting the weather for -longer- than the National Weather Service. The Almanac’s forecasts extend out from six to 16 months and they’re based on a formula established two centuries ago. “It was set on a bunch of rules that we’ve altered slightly but we still consider a lot of the rules that our founding editor in 1818, we still follow them,” Duncan says. “They are rules that talk about sunspot activity, tidal action, the Moon, the position of the planets. They apply them to different weather conditions and they’ve been doing a pretty good job for us.”

She says those who follow the publication’s long-range outlooks say they’re 80-to-85-percent accurate.

(Radio Iowa) — Former Governor Terry Branstad championed statewide standards that overrode local attempts to restrict where livestock confinements may be built, but his successor says she will NOT propose statewide standards for placement of wind turbines. The Madison County Board of Supervisors will hold a September 10th public hearing about a county-wide moratorium on construction of wind turbines.  “This is a local decision, so that’s exactly what they should be doing.”

Governor Kim Reynolds says permits for wind turbine towers are issued by local, not state officials. “This is something that local governments will be deciding,” Reynolds says. “They’re the ones that grant them and can make the decision not to.”

The Madison County Board of Health claims wind turbines can cause nausea and headaches for people who live in nearby homes. Wind industry officials say there are no scientific studies that make those conclusions. Reynolds says Madison County officials have the authority to follow through on rules barring wind turbines from within a mile-and-a-half of a home. “Right now, the way that it’s set up, it’s a local decision,” Reynolds says, “so that’s the current procedures, the statute that they’re operating under.”

After five Iowa counties passed local ordinances raising the minimum wage locally, Governor Terry Branstad signed a state law overriding those local decisions. Branstad also touted statewide curriculum standards for Iowa’s public schools.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 1:40 a.m. CDT

TUSCUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A 62-year-old Iowa man has been charged with a misdemeanor after a June boat crash killed a Missouri man. Miller County Prosecutor Ben Winfrey charged Kelly Wise, of Atlantic, Iowa, on Monday with misdemeanor boating while intoxicated after a June crash on the Lake of the Ozarks killed 39-year-old Jason Russell, of Eugene, Missouri. Four other people were injured in the crash.

JEFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Several Midwestern states are joining together to try to identify bottlenecks along the Missouri River that can cause waters to back up and worsen flooding in certain areas. Dru Buntin, the deputy director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, says the state is joining with Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska to submit a study proposal Tuesday to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. That comes after two rounds of devastating flooding this year in the Midwest.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Lawyers are withdrawing a subpoena that sought the interview notes of an Iowa journalist who wrote a book about a lottery insider who rigged jackpots in several states. Perry Beeman received the subpoena last week from lawyers for Larry Dawson, an Iowa jackpot winner who contends that the rigging reduced his prize by millions of dollars. However, a lawyer for Dawson said Tuesday that he decided to withdraw the subpoena after speaking with Beeman.

(Radio Iowa) –Manchester Police have made an arrest in connection to the vandalism at Oakland Cemetery. Police arrested 26-year old Malachi Montes of Manchester Sunday on a felony charge of first-degree criminal mischief. Police had received a report of vandalism at Oakland Cemetery on August 16th.

Officers discovered 25 headstones that were moved or tipped over and four headstones that were broken. Montes confessed to the vandalism and told police he was extremely intoxicated and under the influence of prescription medications at the time of the incident.

The vandalism caused an estimated 24-thousand dollars in damages. Montes is in custody at the Delaware County Jail on other unrelated charges.

The City of Atlantic’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Tuesday evening, voted 4-to nothing, to approve a site plan for a Scooter’s Coffee kiosk on East 7th Street. Three Commissioners were absent from the meeting.

Their vote came after about 20-minutes of discussion with Scooter’s Construction Manager Dan Forsland, who explained the traffic flow would be manageable using the current “pork chop,” or Y entrance/exit to the U-S Cellular, Verizon and McDonald’s properties. The angled island separating the drive is owned by the City of Atlantic.

Mayor Dave Jones said the City would work to make improvements to the island, including lane markers and extra signs if needed, to help with traffic flow. After the meeting, Forsland said on behalf Scooter’s, “We’re excited. I think there is tremendous opportunity here in Atlantic. We’re excited to be a part of Atlantic.”

He was expecting to submit the drawings to the City and obtain a building permit, with hopes of opening before or shortly after Thanksgiving.

TUSCUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A 62-year-old Atlantic man has been charged with a misdemeanor after a June boat crash killed another man. Miller County Prosecutor Ben Winfrey charged Kelly Wise, Monday with misdemeanor boating while intoxicated after a June crash on the Lake of the Ozarks killed 39-year-old Jason Russell, of Eugene, Missouri. Four other people were injured in the crash.

A probable cause statement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol says Wise’s boat collided with the boat Russell was riding in late on June 29. Wise reportedly said he didn’t see the other boat coming until the last second.

ABC17 reports tests found Wise had a blood alcohol content at .184 percent. Wise posted $1,000 cash bond Tuesday. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 11.