DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of 40 Iowa business leaders say they will work together to resolve federal immigration problems they say hurt worker recruitment efforts. The Iowa Compact on Immigration includes several chambers of commerce and development group leaders, including those from Ames, Burlington, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City and Muscatine. Greater Des Moines Partnership CEO Jay Byers on Monday noted immigration is a federal issue and argued states shouldn’t offer their own piecemeal solutions.

Iowa lawmakers are considering several proposals, including requiring that businesses use the federal E-Verify system to identify workers eligible for U.S. jobs. It’s often criticized as inaccurate. One of the group’s priorities is to create a system that accurately and reliably determines who is permitted to work. Byers says the message to Congress and the federal government is that temporary visa and agriculture guest worker programs don’t work and the U.S. lacks programs used by other countries to recruit workers and keep them.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are reopening both northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 35 between Ames and the Minnesota border but caution that driving conditions will remain poor. Officials first opened southbound lanes at midday Monday and then opened the northbound lanes at about 5 p.m. A roughly 100-mile stretch of the freeway closed Sunday north of Ames due to heavy snow and whiteout conditions.

The heavy snow Saturday into Sunday reached 15 inches (38.1 centimeters) high at Buffalo Center, with 11 inches at Ventura and 8 inches at Mason City. The cold weather has lingered as well. The National Weather Service issued wind chill advisories for northern Iowa, where it was minus 2 degrees  in Mason City early Monday.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office released details Monday on numerous recent arrests.

Virginia Katherine Raysbrook of Bellevue, WA, was booked into the Audubon County Jail on February 14th at approximately 4:00pm on an outstanding Audubon County arrest warrant for 13 counts of Violation of a No Contact Order.

(Radio Iowa) — The trip to a northeast Iowa hospital was anything but routine for a pregnant woman who went into labor early Sunday morning. The ambulance transporting the patient got stranded in near-blizzard conditions. With 50 mile-per-hour winds creating zero visibility around 3 AM Sunday, Fairbank firefighters were called out to rescue an ambulance, which got stuck in a snow drift near the Wapsipinicon River. According to a news release, fire crews used tractors and trucks with plows to get to the ambulance’s location.

Once there, they moved the patient to the Fairbank Fire Department’s ambulance and transported her to an area hospital. Firefighters then freed the stuck ambulance. Fairbank fire officials later reported that the woman was in good condition at the hospital.

The National Weather Service is calling this Winter season “Relentless,” especially when it comes to expected Wind Chill temperatures. Tuesday morning, wind chills across southern Iowa will range from -5 to -15 degrees, with -20 to -30 expected roughly north of Highway 30. By Sunday morning, the Wind Chill Index  (https://www.weather.gov/bou/windchill), or, how cold it feels with the air temperature and wind factored-in, is expected to be in the -27 degree range from I-80 south, to the lower to mid-minus 30 degree range from I-80 north all the way to northern Iowa, with -35 expected for Estherville and Mason City.

The wind chill index takes into account heat loss from the human body to its surroundings during cold and windy weather. Wind chill values near minus 25 degrees mean that frostbite is possible within 15 minutes.

Projected Wind Chill readings Sunday, March 3rd

The blizzard of 2019 is over, but Shelby County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Operations Director Jason Wickizer is still recommending motorists use caution on county secondary roads, as crews are actively working to clear them.  He says be prepared if you get stuck to stay with your vehicle and take care of yourself until help arrives, because it could be delayed. Wickizer says they did have to assist several stranded motorists over the weekend. He said a lot of people tried to “Power through” snowdrifts that were wider or deeper than they thought. Crews had to pick-up the stranded motorists until the plows could get out.

He said most of the incidents involved people who slid into a ditch or a snowbank and got stuck, but there were no injuries. Wickizer stressed persons wanting to know how the roads are, should call 5-1-1 or go to 511ia.org on the web. Those sources have the very latest information.  He says “We get a lot of people calling the 9-1-1 Center and the non-emergency number, wanting road reports. We want them to go to 5-1-1, because the plows, the Troopers, the Deputies, all feed information into that system. So that’s the most up-to-date information anybody is going to get on a road.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — An April sentencing has been scheduled for a former secretary at a central Iowa soil and water conservation district accused of embezzlement. Jasper County District Court records say 39-year-old Jessica Rutter, of Newton, pleaded guilty to a theft charge. Her sentencing is set for April 15. Her arrest followed a state audit in which auditors said Rutter acknowledged writing checks to herself that would typically double her pay from the Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District. Auditors found 23 unauthorized checks were issued between 2015 and 2017 that amounted to nearly $20,000.

Most area roads are  partially covered with ice. Ramp conditions could vary from the main roadway. Look out for icy bridges. Expect blowing snow. (See more at 511ia.org, or call 5-1-1)

Highway 83 Between US 59 (Avoca) and IA 173 (Marne). A lane is closed intermittently because of road maintenance activities. Until today at about 3:30PM CST.

Highway 6 Between US 59 (Oakland) and IA 48 (near Lewis). A lane is closed intermittently because of road maintenance activities. Until today at about 3:30PM CST.

I-80 westbound (west of Dexter) Between Exit 104: County Road P57 and Exit 100: County Roads P53 and F60 (Dexter). The right lane is blocked due to a crash.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Roman Catholic diocese in Iowa says it will release a list of 28 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors over the last century. The Diocese of Sioux City scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon to announce the list, which will then be posted on its website. For years, advocates for abuse victims have been urging the diocese to take that step.

The diocese publicly promised in November that it would finalize the list and make it public. The vow came in response to an investigation by The Associated Press that exposed a 32-year cover-up of a priest who had allegedly confessed to abusing more than 50 boys.

Diocese officials have met multiple times since then to review files and allegations dating back to its beginning in 1902.