(Radio Iowa) — A bill under consideration in the legislature would let county attorneys apply for professional weapons permits, so they could carry guns in most places where guns are banned. Assistant Polk County Attorney Bret Lucas helped draft the bill. He’s gotten death threats because of his work on criminal cases.

“Sure, some of those are idle threats. It’s venting, things like that, but every now and then you come across an individual that truly causes you concern,” he says. The bill, which has cleared a Senate subcommittee, would require county attorneys to undergo the same training and testing as others who have these permits.

Susan Cameron Daemon is the lobbyist for the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association. “For a professional permit, you do have to train every year and you have to qualify every year,” she says. “And We believe others that get that professional permit should be at the same standard.”

There are several other gun-related proposals under consideration at the statehouse, including a bill that would allow paramedics working with SWAT teams to apply for professional weapon permits. Another would prevent businesses from telling employees with a concealed weapons permit they can’t have a gun in their car or truck in the parking lot at their work site.

WASHINGTON (AP) – With all eyes on Democrats as they prepare to cast their ballots in Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is working to try to persuade Republican voters that they should turn out at their caucus sites, too. The push is complete with a presidential rally next week, GOP-led training sessions and a new video featuring the president’s daughter-in-law.

It makes clear that the campaign is trying to avoid the optics of empty Republican rooms on caucus night juxtaposed with Democratic gatherings brimming with enthusiastic voters and keep the focus on Trump.

STANTON, Iowa (AP) – The impeachment trial that got underway this week is happening at an inopportune time for all four senators in the Democratic primary. But it’s a particularly bad moment for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The three-term senator built her campaign on a strategy of a slow and steady build in Iowa.

Abigail Bessler daughter of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks to supporters during a campaign gathering Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, in Stanton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

She spent campaign funds conservatively all year, hoping a late surge would bring a strong showing in Iowa and catapult her to the top tier in New Hampshire and beyond. Now her absence from the campaign trail could blunt the gains from what Klobuchar described Wednesday as “quite a 48 hours.”

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) – Prosecutors say a man charged with vehicular homicide in a fatal November crash near Ankeny was speeding and talking on his cellphone at the time of the crash. Television station KCCI reports that 51-year-old Aaron Lehman, of Polk City, was driving a pickup truck 20 mph over the posted 55 mph speed limit when he rear-ended a car Nov. 25 on a highway north of Ankeny.

A passenger in the car, 55-year-old Tracy Gugger of Ankeny, died at the scene. Lehman has pleaded not guilty homicide by vehicle while driving recklessly. He is free on $10,000 bond and is set to appear in court Jan. 30.

(Audubon) — Hundreds of thousands of Iowans expected to make their voices heard on February 3rd. Election officials in Audubon County say there will be two caucus locations for the Democrat Caucus: Precinct 1 (basically Northern half of the county) is the Audubon Elementary School, 600 Tracy Street. Precinct 2 (basically Southern half, including Kimballton) is the Exira Event Center, 106 N Jefferson Street. The Republican Caucus will be held for Precinct 1, at the Audubon High School. Precinct 2 will meet at the Exira School.

Doors open at 6:00 and close at 7:00. No one is permitted into the building after 7:00. Anyone needing a ride to a caucus site is invited to visit the Audubon County Democrats Facebook page. Click on the Community tab and scroll to the application. Anyone willing to provide rides are also encouraged to visit this site to volunteer to pick up their neighbors who need rides. We encourage high school students to attend caucuses in their precincts.

Anyone turning 18 before November 3rd may participate in the caucus. Those students not eligible to caucus may observe the process.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what caused a University of Iowa research drone to crash in a mobile home park near the Iowa City Municipal Airport. It came down Dec. 18 next to one of the homes, strewing shattered parts nearby but striking no one. The university reported that the 100-pound aircraft became unresponsive before crashing. The professor who was remotely operating it has declined to comment until the investigation is completed. The Gazette reported that the drone was bought for $300,000 in 2018. It has an 18-foot wingspan.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship report an insect that kills ash trees has been confirmed for the first time, in Audubon and Guthrie Counties. Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) larvae were collected from infested trees in rural Exira and Casey. The invasive, tree-killing pest has been found in 71 Iowa counties since 2010. EAB is a small, metallic-green beetle that attacks and kills ash tree species. In its larval stage, EAB bores beneath the bark disrupting the movement of water and nutrients within the tree.  Infested trees typically die within two to four years.

Ash trees infested with EAB might include canopy thinning, woodpecker damage, water sprouts from the trunk or main branches, serpentine (“S”-shaped)  galleries under the bark, vertical bark splitting and 1/8-inch D-shaped exit holes. Mike Kintner, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship EAB coordinator, says “Woodpeckers like to eat EAB larvae beneath the bark of ash trees. Despite it being winter, woodpecker damage is an indicator EAB may be lurking in a tree.” The adult beetle can spread naturally by flying short distances to area host trees; however, the more threatening long-distance spread is by human-assisted movement. Beneath the bark, larvae can unknowingly be transported in infested wood products such as firewood. People are encouraged to use locally-sourced firewood where they are going to burn it.

The entire state of Iowa is under quarantine for EAB. A federal quarantine, enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prohibits the movement of regulated articles such as living and dead material from ash trees and all hardwood firewood out of Iowa into non-quarantined areas of other states. At this calendar date, the window for all preventive treatments is closed. If a landowner is interested in protecting a valuable and healthy ash tree within 15 miles of a known infestation, he or she should have landscape and tree service companies bid on work, review the bids this winter and begin treating in spring 2020 (early April to mid-May).

To learn more about EAB and to view known locations in Iowa, please visit http://www.iowatreepests.com.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office says two people, including a juvenile, were injured during a single-vehicle accident Wednesday night, about two-miles southwest of Clarinda. Authorities report 19-year old Austin Tyler Laythe, of Villisca, was driving a 2006 Ford Ranger westbound in the 2700 block of 230th Street at around 9:15-p.m., when his pickup lost traction on the slush / snow covered roadway.

Laythe over corrected while trying to regain control of the vehicle, but it entered the north ditch and struck a fence post in the ditch before rolling onto it’s side coming to rest. Laythe and a juvenile female passenger were transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center by Clarinda Ambulance service for treatment of unknown injuries. Damage to the Ford Ranger was estimated at $8,000. No charges have been filed.

(Radio Iowa) — The forecast calls for plenty of snow to fly over the next few days, but thousands of Iowans will be thinking of sunny, summer days ahead as they attend one of the biggest one-day bicycling shows in the  “You’re going to see bikes, gear, destinations and events,” Wyatt says. “Really, people come there shopping for their summer. If you want to check out what the latest trail is, if you want to check out what the bike shops have as far as new gear to offer, this is the event for you.”

If you’re shopping for a new bike, whether it’s a traditional two-wheel road bike, recumbent, tandem or electric, Wyatt says there will easily be hundreds of options. “There’s a bike demo area,” Wyatt says. “We’ve got four or five vendors who will let you take a bike over and give it a short ride, right in front of the events center on the floor, so that’ll be pretty cool.”

There will be educational seminars to help riders get in touch with bike advocacy, a legal workshop, and new product launches at the event. While Iowa has hundreds of miles of paved trails, the expo features representatives from a host of “destination” bike rides in other states, including Minnesota and Kentucky. “There’s a lot of interest in the Iowa bicycling community,” Wyatt says. “Certainly, they see it as economic development that they can import to their states. We know that we’ve got to continue to develop that economic impact on bicycling here in Iowa.”

The Iowa Bike Expo is free and runs Saturday from 10 AM to 4:30 PM at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.
More info. at https://iowabikeexpo.com/

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

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