(Radio Iowa) — Senator Chuck Grassley has asked the Justice Department to investigate high-profile attorney Michael Avenatti and a client who made allegations against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanagh.

Grassley says investigators should look into “a potential conspiracy” to make false statements to congress and obstruct his Judiciary Committee’s investigation of Kavanaugh. Grassley says there were “obvious, susequent contradictions” after Avenatti revealed a client’s allegations.

Avenatti tweeted that he’s ready to start the investigation immediately and Avenatti says it will — in his words — “get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies.”

(Radio Iowa Special feature) — This week, Radio Iowa’s Campaign Countdown has been providing snapshots of the statewide candidates Iowans will vote upon November 6th. An incumbent who’s been in the post for seven months faces two challengers in the race to be Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture for the next four years.

Iowa’s long-time State Ag Secretary Bill Northey resigned in March to take a job in the USDA. Governor Reynolds appointed Mike Naig to the post. Naig defeated four competitors at the GOP’s state convention in June to win the Republican nomination for ag secretary. “During this campaign I’ve laid out my vision for the future of agriculture and that is in attracting and inspiring the next generation of Iowans to consider careers in agriculture,” Naig told convention delegates. Naig is a native of the northwest Iowa community of Cylinder.

Tim Gannon, the Democratic Party’s nominee for state ag secretary, is a Mingo native who’s part of his family farming operation in Jasper County. “I’m running because I don’t want to see Iowa become a place where our big cities, our metro areas are doing really well, providing economy opportunity, but all our small towns and rural areas are struggling to keep up,” Gannon said at the Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention in June. Gannon worked for Tom Vilsack in the governor’s office and in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Libertarian Party’s nominee for state ag secretary is Rick Stewart. “We’ve got 82,000 farmers who know who to farm,” Stewart said on The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair. “What the secretary of agriculture needs to know is how to stop the government from telling the farmers how to do their job.” Stewart is a retired businessman from Cedar Rapids.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to make his first visit to Iowa since he acknowledged he’s considering seeking the 2020 Democratic nomination for president. Biden is planning to headline a rally in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday for in support of Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and Congress. The candidates include Abby Finkenauer, a House candidate who worked for Biden during his unsuccessful 2008 campaign for the presidential nomination.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Native American tribe plans to open a casino on the Iowa-Nebraska border next week, despite a pending legal challenge from both states. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Prairie Flower casino in Carter Lake will open at noon on Nov. 1. The Ponca Tribe announced the opening in a press release Thursday. The project’s first phase will include 9,500 square feet of space, 200 slot-style games and a full-service bar and snack bar.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa hospital is suing the insurance companies that oversee the Iowa Medicaid program claiming they have cost the small rural hospital thousands of dollars in patient revenue by refusing to fully reimburse the hospital for services provided to Medicaid-covered patients. Virginia Gay Hospital located in Vinton also alleges the ineffective appeals process set up by Amerigroup, UnitedHealthcare and AmeriHealth Caritas was “virtually a sham.”

BAGLEY, Iowa (AP) — A Guthrie County mother charged after her 11-month-old son drowned in a bathtub has pleaded not guilty. Court records show Seaira Briceno entered her pleas earlier this month to child endangerment. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says Briceno’s baby drowned Aug. 10 when she left him and his 2-year-old brother in the tub at their Bagley home. Briceno told investigators she left the boys for about five minutes, but deputies believe the children were left alone longer.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man has been given two years of probation for lying to Medicaid about care he provided for his father. The Telegraph Herald reports that 35-year-old Nicholas Brown also was recently sentenced to a two-year prison term, suspended, and told to pay more than $1,000 in damages to the Iowa Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Officials with the Iowa National Guard report funeral services for 19-year old Pfc. Matthew A. Cox, of Leon, will be held 10-a.m. Friday (Oct. 26th) at First Baptist Church (originally Urbandale), 3020 E. 38th Street, Des Moines.

Cox, a member of the 186th Military Police Company, Iowa Army National Guard based at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa, died while swimming at a Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB) beach on Tuesday, October 16th. Interment with full military honors will be at the Decatur Cemetery, 7th and Water Street, Decatur City, Iowa at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 27th.

PFC. Matthew Cox

Cox was born in Des Moines. Hewas active in the Civil Air Patrol, Des Moines Police Explores and farmed with his grandfather, Fred Cox, on the Cox family farm in Decatur County. He was also a member of the 1st Baptist Church, where he was involved in the children’s ministries.

Cox enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard on October 11, 2017 as a Military Police Soldier with the 186th MP Co. He deployed to Cuba in support of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) in July, 2018.

His awards include the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Native American tribe plans to open a casino on the Iowa-Nebraska border next week, despite a pending legal challenge from both states. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Prairie Flower casino in Carter Lake will open at noon on Nov. 1. The Ponca Tribe announced the opening in a press release Thursday.

The project’s first phase will include 9,500 square feet of space, 200 slot-style games and a full-service bar and snack bar. Officials from Iowa state government and Council Bluffs are suing federal officials who approved the project in an effort to stop the casino, which would compete with state-licensed casinos in Council Bluffs.

Nebraska joined the lawsuit because Carter Lake directly borders the state. Nebraska’s constitution bans casino gambling.

UPDATE 8:28-p.m.: Jerry Payne was located near 35th and Broadway. He was struck by a motor vehicle at that location and suffered minor injuries. He was being evaluated at a local hospital. Authorities thank everyone for their help.

The Council Bluffs Police Department is requesting the public’s help in locating a missing adult, possibly endangered. Jerry Payne, 66 years old, has dementia and was last seen at his residence at 901 N 35th St Apt #P2 around 2 p.m. His family has not seen him since then and they are concerned for his safety. Jerry is 5’6” tall, 200 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a long sleeve dark blue shirt, blue jeans, and grey shoes. Jerry smokes cigarettes and walks with a limp. If he is located or if anyone has seen him, please call our communications center at (712)328-5737.

Jerry Payne

(Radio Iowa) — A legislative committee has taken the unusual step of giving immediate approval to new rules for how workplace misconduct complaints are to be handled in state government. Iowa Department of Administrative Services director Janet Phipps began drafting these changes a month ago — after an independent report was issued about sexual harassment allegations against the former director of a state agency who was fired by the governor in March. “Why the rush? Because this was an important issue and we had an horrific incident and there were recommendations in the Weinhart Report that I took very seriously,” Phipps told reporters late this morning. “We wanted people to feel comfortable in making complaints and I felt there needed to be an immediacy in getting this done.”

The Weinhart law firm’s report indicated the state’s employee handbook was unclear and employees could fear a complaint about harassment from a boss would be handled by the accused harasser. The new rules make it clear the Iowa Department of Administrative Services will handle all complaints made by state employees, unless the person makes their complaint directly to the governor’s office. Matty Smith of the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault says the rules lack clarity on how and when the agency will conduct an investigation. “From our perspective, this whole process has seemed rushed,” Smith says. “We have heard from far too many survivors and victims who have had experienced with ineffective processes. It’s really, really important that we get this right.” Daniel Zeno, the policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, says the new rules are a “step backwards.” “There should be more meat on the bones in these rules,” Zeno says.

The NEW rules, which go into effect today, were approved unanimously by a hastily convened legislative committee. Nine of the 10 members of the panel joined the meeting by phone. Senator Mark Chelgren, who convened the group, used the word “unusual” a few times to describe the situation. “I’d like to thank everyone for coming in on such short notice, for calling in on such short notice,” Chelgren said.

Advocates for openness in state government say they’re reviewing sections of the rules which say complaints and all records related to complaints are confidential and may only be released to the public by court order. The director of the Administrative Services Agency told reporters today that’s current practice.

BAGLEY, Iowa (AP) — A 25-year-old Guthrie County mother charged after her 11-month-old son drowned in a bathtub has pleaded not guilty. Court records show Seaira Briceno entered her pleas earlier this month to one felony and one misdemeanor count of child endangerment. The records don’t show that a trial has been set.

The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office says Briceno’s baby drowned Aug. 10 when she left him and his 2-year-old brother in the tub at their Bagley home. Briceno told investigators she left the boys for about five minutes, but deputies believe the children were left alone longer.

Briceno was already facing a child endangerment charge from April. Authorities say she was driving under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana while her older son was in the vehicle.

A Nebraska man was sentenced to to nearly five-years in prison Wednesday, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The 57-month sentence for 34-year old Christopher Coleman, of Omaha, was handed down in US District Court in Council Bluffs, by United States District Court Senior Judge James E. Gritzner.  Coleman was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release to follow his prison term.

On May 24th, Coleman plead guilty to the charge that was the result of an incident that took place December 14th, 2017, at Harrah’s Casino in Council Bluffs. On that date, Casino Security responded to an SUV that was stopped on a roadway on casino property. Agents approached the SUV and found it was occupied by two individuals, Coleman and a female juvenile. It was determined the juvenile had been reported as a runaway from Omaha, resulting in her being taken into protective custody. The juvenile advised law enforcement there was a handgun in the SUV and Coleman had hidden it before the officers arrived.

A routine criminal history check confirmed Coleman was prohibited from possessing a firearm based on a 2013 felony conviction. Law enforcement re-contacted Coleman and located a HiPoint 9 mm handgun in the SUV.

The case was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations, Iowa State Patrol, Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Deputies in Page County responded to a single-vehicle accident Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office reports a 2011 United Parcel Service (UPS) Workhorse utility truck driven by 47-year old Brad Duane Ross, of Clarinda, was traveling north on F Avenue at around 3:55-p.m. about two-miles north of Northboro, when the vehicle drove over a rough spot in the road and went out of control. The truck entered the east ditch,  where it struck a metal tube before impacting a field entrance and started to roll onto its passenger side across the road. The truck finally came to rest on the passenger side, facing northwest in both lanes of travel, blocking the road. No injuries were reported. 

Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $10,000. No citations were issued. The Page County Sheriff’s office was assisted at the scene by Coin Fire and Rescue.