(Radio Iowa) — Abortion rights supporters rallied at the Iowa Capitol Tuesday, part of nationwide protests against new abortion restrictions in other states. Erin Davison-Rippey is state director for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “This is an attack on each and every single one of us,” Davison-Rippey said. ” It is an attack on anyone who might or can get pregnant and to anyone who stands alongside us.”

Alabama’s new law makes it a crime to perform an abortion, with a sentence of up to 99 years. Sarena Ramirez of Des Moines says “all women” are threatened by what’s happening. “In other countries, they have these laws, and women die because they can’t do what is right for their health care,” Ramirez said.

Legislators in states like Alabama hope their new laws spark a challenge of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal. Some hoped Iowa’s 2018 law could be a test case. It banned abortions as early as six weeks in a pregnancy, after a fetal heartbeat could be detected, but it was struck down by a district court judge in January.

Governor Reynolds decided recent IOWA Supreme Court rulings upholding abortion rights made a successful appeal impossible.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports one person died as the result of storms that stuck early this morning. The Sheriff’s Office received a cellular 911 telephone call reporting an injury and a possible fatality as the result of an unconfirmed tornado at a residence located at 1088 Elk Avenue in Adair County. The residence is approximately ½ mile southeast of the Adair City limits.

First Responders, including the Adair Fire Department, Adair Rescue and the Adair County Ambulance were dispatched. Upon their arrival, rescue personnel located 78 year-old Harold Brownlee, who had sustained serious injuries during the event. Harold Brownlee was flown by air ambulance to a Des Moines Hospital. First Responders also located 74 year-old Linda Lee Brownlee, who was deceased. Debris from the farmstead landed on I-80 at mile marker 77 and a semi was reported in the ditch at the same location.

In addition to the Brownlee residence, there were at least two additional residences and outbuildings at other locations which sustained damage. Law enforcement reported to KJAN that numerous power poles were down this morning across rural roads in eastern Cass County. A motorist drove over one of the power lines at around 4-a.m. on Glendale/Fairview Road, between 750th (Highway 148) and 760th Streets.

Building debris on Glendale Road southeast of Anita. (Photo courtesy Mike Kennon, Cass Co. EMA)

According to Cass County EMA Coordinator Mike Kennon, debris from a barn was scattered along Glendale Road, but as of 6:50-a.m., the road was passable. Kennon encourages residents who sustained storm damage to contact him at 254-1500.

The National Weather Service is expected to begin their assessment of the damage this morning.

ADAIR, Iowa (AP) — Authorities suspect a tornado destroyed a house and damaged other buildings on a farmstead in southwest Iowa’s Adair County. No injuries have been reported. The incident was reported around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, 2 miles east-southeast of Adair. The National Weather Service says debris from the farmstead landed on Interstate 80. The tornado sighting has not yet been confirmed.

Law enforcement reported to KJAN that numerous power poles were down this morning across rural roads in eastern Cass County. A motorist drove over one of the power lines at around 4-a.m. on Glendale/Fairview Road, between 750th (Highway 148) and 760th Streets.

(Radio Iowa) — Musicians from across the region will lend their talents to a benefit concert later this week, the proceeds from which will go to the victims of this spring’s Missouri River flooding. The Shamrock Theater in the southwest Iowa town of Imogene is hosting “Floodstock 2019” on Friday night. Singer-songwriter George McGargill of Imogene is helping to organize the event. “Some people have lost everything, you know, their house,” McGargill says. “It’s tough. And we could raise a million dollars and it wouldn’t be a drop in the bucket, but we’ll raise what we can and we’ll try to help out a little bit and if nothing else, they’ll know somebody cares.”

Another local musician, Rick Hillyard, says he’s seen the extent of the flood damage across the area in Nebraska, Missouri, and in southwest Iowa, especially in towns like Pacific Junction, or P-J. “We played in Plattsmouth at the Hop Yard and we had to drive through P.J. to get across the bridge and it’s devastating,” Hillyard says. “There’s nothing left there. It’s heartbreaking.”

Performers at Friday’s concert include McGargill, Hillyard, Omaha recording artist Jocelyn, and Jeff Slater and the Union County Band. Free will donations will be collected. For those who can’t attend, donations can also be left at any Bank Iowa location.

Drivers should exercise extreme caution this morning, if traveling on roads between the Cass and Adair County lines. Law enforcement reports several downed power lines, with multiple posts/poles sucked out of the ground. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the area at around 12:45-a.m.  One motorist drove over a downed power line on Glendale Road between 750th and 760th just before 4-a.m. The National Weather Service is sending a survey team to assess the damage and determine whether it was straight line winds or a possible tornado that caused the destruction.

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

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has delayed sentencing for former “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules for leaving the scene of a fatal 2017 accident. The decision comes after Judge Andrea Dryer ruled Tuesday that she will disregard letters from the deceased driver’s relatives. Dryer says the wife and sons of Iowa farmer Kenneth Mosher aren’t victims under state law because Soules was not convicted of causing Mosher’s death.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A southwest Iowa man has filed a free speech lawsuit against a sheriff’s deputy, his supervisor and the county after he was arrested for writing a social media post that profanely criticized the deputy. The ACLU of Iowa filed the lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Jon Richard Goldsmith, a Red Oak resident who saw an incident and then criticized a deputy, leading the sheriff’s department to charge Goldsmith with third-degree harassment, a misdemeanor. The charge was later dismissed

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Officials say Davenport’s public works department has spent more than $1 million on fighting floods this spring and that figure is expected to rise as the city prepares to hold back future deluges. A provisional flood barricade holding back the Mississippi River ruptured on April 30, sending floodwaters into downtown Davenport. The Quad-City Times reports that Davenport Public Works Director Nicole Gleason says the flooding put pressure on a department with numerous other obligations to manage.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fire-related death of a woman last year. The Sioux City Journal reports that 52-year-old Robert Mahoney was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years for first-degree arson and five years for involuntary manslaughter, with the sentences to be served one after the other. A jury convicted Mahoney in March of the counts for the death of 51-year-old Wanda Blake.

A traffic stop late Tuesday night in Adams County resulted in the arrest of a woman from Page County. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 40-year old Tabatha Culbertson, of Coin, was arrested at around 11:35-p.m., after the K9 Baxo was deployed and gave a positive indication to the odor of narcotics.

A search of Culbertson’s vehicle was performed, during which deputies located a container of marijuana. Culbertson was placed under arrest for Possession of a Controlled Substance. Her bond was set at $1,000.

Police in Red Oak, Tuesday afternoon, arrested 29-year old Dustin Ray Ahrens, of Red Oak. Ahrens was arrested at around 12:20-p.m. for Domestic Abuse Assault. He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held without bond, pending an appearance before a Magistrate Judge.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the fire-related death of a woman last year. The Sioux City Journal reports that 52-year-old Robert Mahoney was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years for first-degree arson and five years for involuntary manslaughter, with the sentences to be served one after the other. A jury convicted Mahoney in March of the counts for the death of 51-year-old Wanda Blake.

Blake died three weeks after Mahoney torched his Sioux City apartment on Feb. 4, 2018. Prosecutors say Mahoney was bored when he set a small fire using bug spray and a lighter. When the fire went out, Mahoney became angry and set a second fire, which blazed out of control and damaged several units at Central Apartments.

(Radio Iowa) — The 10 “Dressbarn” stories in Iowa are closing. The parent company that owns the budget clothing chain is shutting down all 650 Dressbarn stores in the United States. The company also owns Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant and said it will shift focus to more profitable brands. A woman in Connecticut opened the first Dress Barn in 1962.

There are Dressbarn stores in Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Dubuque, Sioux City, West Des Moines, Waterloo and Williamsburg. No word yet on when liquidation sales will begin.

The number of retail store closings so far in 2019 is now larger than the TOTAL number of brick-and-mortar stores that closed last year.