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

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• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 1 box fudge brownie mix
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup oil

Ganache:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 (12 oz.) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bundt pan.  Combine 1st 5 ingredients – whisk two minutes.  Bake 50-55 minutes.  Cool – remove from pan.

To make ganache:  Place cream in microwave bowl – heat about two minutes just to the boiling point.  Carefully pour in chocolate chips – whisk until smooth and shiny – about one minute.  Pour over cake.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A company has moved call center operations into Sioux City from a facility in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Mass Markets center just east of the Sioux Gateway Airport already has about 300 workers, up from the 150-175 employed in Dakota Dunes. Anthony Marlowe is CEO of Mass Markets’ parent company, MCI, and he says the new location has space for more than 500 call center seats and is looking to hire more workers.

MCI has around 2,000 employees and eight call centers in the U.S., with a ninth in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Creston Police Department says a man residing in the 500 block of W. Montgomery Street reported Monday, that sometime within the past three weeks, someone stole a set of keys from his vehicle, as it was parked in front of his home. The loss was estimated at $100.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports an additional suspect was arrested and charged Monday, in connection with an ongoing narcotics distribution investigation. 28-year old Jacob Thomsen, of New Market, was arrested in the 1100 block of Highway 2. He was wanted on an active Taylor County Warrant for a Controlled Substance Violation – Delivery of a Controlled Substance, a Class D Felony. Thomsen had an additional warrant for Failure to Appear on an Assault charge. He was being held at the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office on a $5,300 bond, with additional charges pending.

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) — The Des Moines City Council has delayed action on banning high-capacity magazines and trigger devices that can make guns even more deadly. The council voted Monday to put off action and to have city staffers work with the Iowa Legislature and other city and county governments to “form a consensus for statewide implementation of sound and effective regulations concerning firearm accessories.” Several gun owners attended the meeting to share their objections to the gun gear proposals.

The council voted in June to have ordinances prepared that would ban extended magazines that hold more bullets than is standard and trigger activators such as bump stocks. The devices have been used in high-profile attacks across the nation.

(Radio Iowa) — The Corning and Villisca School Districts have started a three-year process of studying reorganization, which will eventually lead to a public vote of merging the two schools into one district. Southwest Valley Superintendent Chris Fenster says the study was officially off and running after both school boards approved resolutions during their regular monthly meetings in May. The two schools are currently entering year six of whole grade sharing under the Southwest Valley moniker. “We had to file an application with the department of education that was due on July 1st, and we actually turned it in about the early parts of June,” Fenster says. “That had to include two joint resolutions, one from the Villisca board and one from the Corning board, showing they are both willing to study the reorganization process.”

Under the current sharing agreement, sixth through eighth graders attend Southwest Valley Middle School in Villisca, while Southwest Valley High School in Corning is home base for ninth through twelfth graders. Each district operates its own elementary school. Fenster says one of the things they are trying to do is let people know those four buildings would remain as is, with the district operating under one set of books. “We’re not closing buildings and we’re not closing school districts,” Fenster says. “We are coming together as one as the Southwest Valley School District. I know that’s some of the confusion out there right now that we’ll close buildings, and that’s just not the case at all. We’re keeping all buildings open and will be operating just as we have been for the last few years that we’ve been doing this whole grade sharing.”

Fenster says reorganization would come with some requirements from the state. “One thing we had to do is get a salary schedule that is the same, so both of our schools are getting paid on the same salary schedule,” according toFenster. “Our professional development had to be aligned and we’ve already done that part. And, our TLC — or Teacher Leadership Compensation plan — had to be the same. We have already had that done.” Fenster adds the study process involves establishing a number of committees for items such as transportation and facilities. “The facility committee will be the first we establish in the fall. That will study the facilities that we have here and the things we’ll need to improve as we move forward, and what a 10-year plan might look like for facilities.”

Reorganization requires a public vote in both districts–currently projected for 2021. If approved by a simple majority, the merger would take place beginning in the 2022-23 school year.

Police in Red Oak, Monday night, arrested 59-year old Allen Dale Jensen, of Red Oak, for Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree. Authorities say Jensen allegedly broke a solar yard light valued at $10, during a property dispute. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A jury has awarded a former Iowa workers’ compensation commissioner $1.5 million, concluding the state and former Gov. Terry Branstad discriminated against him because he’s gay and that a pay cut was retaliation for refusing to quit. Jurors in the civil trial found Monday that Chris Godfrey proved Branstad’s attempts to get him to quit and cut his pay in 2011 were discriminatory and deprived him of his rights.

BANCROFT, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two people found dead in Bancroft last week were homicide victims and that a third person also found there had killed himself. Officials on Monday identified the bodies found Friday in a home as 22-year-old Mason Alrik Cederwall, 30-year-old Amy Lynn Manna and 30-year-old Austin James Bernhard. The Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office determined Cederwall and Manna were shot to death and classified their deaths as homicides. Bernhard’s died was classified a suicide.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s Iowa senior adviser is departing his 2020 presidential campaign, leaving Booker without one of his top staffers in a key early voting state. Iowa senior adviser Joe O’Hern confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that he departed the campaign last week for personal reasons. O’Hern is widely known among Iowa’s political class as a seasoned organizer with a deep understanding of the caucus process. Booker’s campaign declined to comment on the departure.

HUDSON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two people were killed when the vehicle they were in crashed off a Black Hawk County road. The crash occurred a little before 9:30 a.m. Sunday just southwest of Hudson. Deputies sent to the scene found the vehicle in a field and noted that it appeared to have rolled several times. The driver and a passenger, both of Reinbeck, were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was identified as 33-year-old Kimberly Hoskins, and the passenger was identified as 32-year-old Tobi Vanhauen.