Sixteen Iowans applied with the State Judicial Nominating Commission to fill the vacancy on the Iowa Court of Appeals that occurred when Judge Gayle Vogel retired on July 1, 2019.

The nominating commission met Monday, August 5, 2019 to interview the applicants for the vacancy. Following the interviews, the commission deliberated and selected a slate of three nominees from the group of applicants and delivered the slate to the Governor. The nominees selected are:

Tim Gartin, Ames

Myron Gookin, Fairfield

Julie Schumacher, Schleswig

The governor has thirty (30) days in which to appoint the new judge.

The 17-member commission is composed of, eight commissioners elected by lawyers licensed to practice law in Iowa, and nine commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate. The names of the commissioners are on the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commissions website.

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

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — A hospital in Marshalltown plans to close its obstetrics unit and women’s health clinic because of a drop in births at the facility. The Marshalltown Times-Republican reports UnityPoint Health announced Monday it would make the move in response to a 45 percent decrease in the number of births at the obstetrics unit. The closures will result in the loss of 32 jobs but UnityPoint says it’s trying to find work for displaced employees elsewhere in the organization.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa Republican lawmaker held a campaign fundraiser featuring U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley at a shooting range, despite calls to cancel the gun-centered event following weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. State Rep. Steve Holt blamed the shootings on “the loss of our value system brought about in part by idiotic far-left ideology that forced Biblical values from our schools, the media and the public square…”

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Democrat J.D. Scholten says he will make another run for an Iowa congressional seat held for 17 years by Republican Rep. Steve King. Scholten announced Monday he would again seek the Democratic nomination in the 4th Congressional District, made up of 39 counties covering much of northwest and central Iowa. Since winning the seat in 2002, King has been re-elected eight times, usually by margins of 20 to more than 30 percentage points until last November, when he beat Scholten by 3 points.

CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say two bodies were found in a rail car that had carried about 100 tons of steel from Mexico to south-central Iowa. The Daily Iowegian newspaper reports that Iowa Southern Railway workers discovered the bodies Friday when decoupling cars from an engine about 1.5 miles southeast of Centerville. Authorities think the two were killed by the tons of shifting steel that had been loaded in Monterrey, Mexico. It’s unclear when they got into the car. The pair have yet to be identified.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — A hospital in Marshalltown plans to close its obstetrics unit and women’s health clinic because of a drop in births at the facility. The Marshalltown Times-Republican reports UnityPoint Health announced Monday it would make the move in response to a 45 percent decrease in the number of births at the obstetrics unit.

As Jennifer Friedly, president of UnityPoint Health — Marshalltown put it, “There simply aren’t enough women choosing to deliver locally.” The closures will result in the loss of 32 jobs but UnityPoint says it’s trying to find work for displaced employees elsewhere in the organization.

The closure follows the June 2018 loss of the hospital’s catheterization lab and the November 2018 ending of its intensive care unit.

ATLANTIC- The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has awarded accreditation to the laboratory at Cass County Health System (CCHS) based on the results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP’s Accreditation Programs. CCHS Laboratory Director, Mitch Whiley, MLS (ASCP)CM was advised of this national recognition and congratulated for the excellence of the services being provided.

The CCHS Laboratory is one of more than 8,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide. The U.S. federal government recognizes the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program as being equal-to or more-stringent-than the government’s own inspection program. During the CAP accreditation process, designed to ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients, inspectors examine the laboratory’s records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years.

CAP inspectors also examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and record, and overall management.

The 2019 Governor’s Charity Steer Show at the Iowa State Fair marks the 37th consecutive year the beef industry has raised funds to help families who utilize the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Iowa. The show ring competition takes place Saturday, Aug. 10, at 4:00 p.m., in the Pioneer Livestock Pavilion at the Iowa State Fair.

Celebrities will accompany the young steer owners, leading cattle around the ring while vying for the championship designation, showmanship honors, and the People’s Choice award.  Among the southwest Iowa teens showing their steers:

Steer # 2 – Sponsor: Crawford County Cattlemen & Nor-AM Cold Storage
Celebrity & Title: Lt. Governor Adam Gregg
Steer Name: Richard
Steer Owner: Makia Smith, Charter Oak

Steer # 8 – Sponsor: Iowa Bankers Association
Celebrity & Title: Mike Pearson, Co-host of Ag News Daily Podcast and VP of Market Engagement, Zaner Group
Steer Name: Richard
Steer Owner: Kerrigan Mobley, Diagonal

Steer # 9 – Sponsor: Volunteer Boards of Iowa Ronald McDonald House Charities
Celebrity & Title: Marcia Morales, RMH Volunteer
Steer Name: Thanks-A-Million
Steer Owner: Eric Plagman, Cumberland

Immediately following the competition, the steers will be sold at auction with proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Iowa. Both the show ring event and the auction are open to the general public.

Since the Iowa Beef Industry Council and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association began the Governor’s Charity Steer Show in 1983, the effort has raised more than $3.5 million for the Des Moines, Iowa City and Sioux City Ronald McDonald House Charities. The houses provide a “home away from home” for families of seriously ill children being treated in area hospitals and have served nearly 47,000 families.

Each of the 25 steers are owned by Iowa youth who have cared for the animals and participated in other shows with them. The youth prepare the animals for the show and assist a celebrity in the show ring. Sponsors reimburse the youth for the cost of the animal and choose the celebrity.

Thirty-nine Iowa communities will soon be a little bit greener thanks to $105,000 in tree-planting grants from Alliant Energy and Trees Forever’s Branching Out partnership. Communities applied for grants up to $5,000 to fund new trees that will add beauty and save energy. Many of the planting projects will also help replace trees destroyed by the emerald ash borer or by storms – including in Marshalltown, where the 2018 tornado devastated many of the city’s trees.

In southwest Iowa, the City of Creston received $5,000 for plantings at the hospital, school, McKinley Park and fairground buildings. The City of Greenfield received $3,828 to replace trees lost to windstorm last year, and street trees.

In addition to the funds, communities also receive tree-planning support from Trees Forever. A tree expert helps communities select the best species for their area and then assists in creating a care and maintenance plan to make sure the new trees have long and healthy lives.

This is the 29th year that Alliant Energy and Trees Forever have partnered to offer the Branching Out tree-planting program. Several communities planted their trees this spring, with many more plantings planned for the fall. To learn more about the program, visit alliantenergy.com/branchingout.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports an Adair man, 28-year old Bryan Dean Schultz, was arrested at around 9-p.m. Friday, on warrants charging him with Kidnapping in the 3rd Degree, Harassment in the 1st Degree, and Domestic Assault with a Weapon/1st offense. Schultz was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $65,000 cash-only bond. Additional details are currently not available.

At around 3:30-a.m. July 30th, 29-year old Rachael Ellen Ragan, of Greenfield, was arrested by Greenfield Police, for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd offense. Authorities say she hit and scratched on the head and neck, 28-year old Matthew Meads, of Greenfield. The incident took place during a verbal argument between the couple that turned physical.

Meads, who was arrested for Assault with bodily injury, said Ragan flicked cigarette ashes on him, so he spit at her. That’s when she allegedly hit and pushed him several times in the face, neck and chest. Ragan told Police she was spit on, pushed to the ground and held down by Meads. She claimed that while he held her down, he stood on her foot, causing scratch marks and bruising. Ragan and Meads were transported to the Adair County Jail and later released on $1,000 cash or surety bonds, each.

On July 29th, 57-year old Joseph Alvin Hahn, of Adair, was arrested by Adair County Sheriff’s Deputies. Hahn was taken into custody on an Adair County warrant for Gathering Where Controlled Substances are Used, and Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense. He was being held on a $7,000 cash or surety bond in the Adair County Jail.

And, on July 28th, 52-year old Henrik Leonard Rater, of Casey, was arrested on a warrant for a Controlled Substance Violation. He was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $25,000 cash or surety bond.

(Radio Iowa) — The Libertarian Party of Iowa and one of its 2018 candidates have filed a lawsuit challenging a recent change in Iowa election law. Jake Porter of Council Bluffs, last year’s Libertarian candidate for governor,  says it will likely reduce the number of third party candidates who run for office.

“Voters should ultimately have options on the ballot and it goes against our democratic process to deny them options and that’s what this does.” Since 1953, third party candidates have had until mid-August to submit the paperwork necessary to get their names on the General Election Ballot. The new state law that goes into effect for the 2020 election moves the deadline up five months, to mid-March. Porter says it increases the advantages Democrats and Republicans already have.

“I think it was done as part of what I call ‘The Incumbent Protection Act,'” Porter says. “A lot of times they don’t like challenges and I think that was probably why it was put in there.” Porter says if the law stands and there’s more than one candidate vying for an office, some candidates who file papers in mid-March won’t get their party’s endorsement at summertime conventions.

“The Libertarian Party of Iowa and the Green Party — all their candidates would have to file at the same time that the Republicans and Democrats do,” Porter says. “Now, if we had a primary, that would make sense, but since we don’t, that means we cannot get on the ballot later on like it’s always been done.”

The lawsuit has been filed in federal court. There’s been no comment on the lawsuit yet from Governor Reynolds or Republicans who hold the majorities in the Iowa House and Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa Republican lawmaker says he’s holding a campaign fundraiser featuring U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley at a shooting range despite calls for him to cancel the gun-centered event following weekend mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.

State Rep. Steve Holt says his Sweet Freedom Celebration in Denison remains scheduled Monday night. Holt posted on his campaign Facebook page Sunday that “mental deviants have killed innocent people in El Paso and Dayton” and he offered his prayers. A writer responded that gun safety legislation was needed more than prayers.

Holt then noted his support for the Second Amendment. He blamed the shootings on “the loss of our value system brought about in part by idiotic far-left ideology that forced Biblical values from our schools, the media and the public square…”

Grassley’s staff didn’t immediately verify whether he would attend the event.

A man from Lenox was arrested today (Monday), in Montgomery County. 21-year old Benjamin P. Moreno was taken into custody on a warrant for Violation of Probation, on an original OWI/1st offense charge. Moreno was processed at the Montgomery County Jail, and released after posting bond.