IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and his neighbors say they’ve settled a dispute over a private road and the coach’s refusal to join a homeowner’s association. A trial was scheduled to start Tuesday in the dispute that pitted Iowa’s highest-paid public employee and his wife against the three other families who live on Saddle Club Road outside Iowa City.

Neighbors filed a lawsuit after the Ferentzes refused to join a homeowners’ association and ignored a $9,500 assessment for road repairs. Neighbors say the Ferentzes trespassed by erecting privacy fencing and landscaping in the shared easement and roadway. Homeowners’ association attorney Adam Tarr says his clients “look forward to working with the Ferentzes instead of against them.”

The Ferentzes’ attorney, Mark Roberts, says, “the neighbors will all be glad to resolve this matter without a trial.”

Despite many challenges in the ag industry, the new president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association says he looks forward to the opportunities ahead in 2018. Gregg Hora (HORE-uh) of Fort Dodge replaces the retiring president Curtis Meier, of Clarinda. Hora says this is an exciting era to be raising hogs in Iowa. “The pork industry has been changing with the times, modernizing our facilities, the way that we house our pigs, the efficiencies and the health status of what we do with our pigs in the barns,” Hora says. “Part of that in this structured change is worker safety and worker productivity. We have new technologies that we’re implementing on the farms.”

One of his primary objectives is making more improvements across the industry in the year ahead. “Some of our goals have to do with continued training and education of our members from the environmental perspective, what we do around our farms and what we do around our pig buildings,” Hora says. “The PQA or pork quality assurance and the trucker quality assurance or TQA are two important aspects that we do with all of our farm workers.”

Hora says it’s vital that pork producers are good neighbors in their communities, calling the pork industry the bedrock of rural Iowa. He says the state’s pork industry continues to have annual growth of two-to-three percent which he calls a job creator. We always talk about efficiencies as an important aspect but consistent improvement is another aspect,” Hora says. “Iowa Pork, along with a number of different ag organizations, continue to have leadership training programs where we’re talking about quality improvements.”

Hora is a contract grower with three finishing sites in Webster County. He finishes 25-thousand hogs per year and raises corn and soybeans on nearly 2,000 acres. He is also the president for the Webster County Pork Producers.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds is signalling she’s likely to approve Republican legislators’ plan to provide a one percent increase in general per pupil support of Iowa’s public school. That’s a roughly 32 million dollar boost — less than the 54 million dollar increase Reynolds recommended last month.

The governor says this decision won’t be the last on school funding. She says “I think we can make it work, but I think it’s part of a larger picture and I don’t think you can talk about it in isolation. That’s the problem with funding. I mean, it’s not just one little piece. There’s a lot of additional funding that will be appropriated to school districts all across the state.”

Republicans in the legislature are debating how much to forward to schools to help cover transportation costs, particularly rural schools with bus routes that cover large geographical areas. There’s also discussion among Republican lawmakers about extending the statewide one-cent sales tax that is set to expire in 2029. That money is used to finance school infrastructure, but schools say they’ve already used most of those taxes as collateral for building projects underway.

(Radio Iowa)

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

ROLLA, Mo. (AP) — Authorities in Iowa say one person has died and several others were hurt after dozens of vehicles collided along a snow-covered stretch of Interstate 35 near Ames. Up to 70 cars, buses and trucks were involved in the string of crashes, which forced the closure of I-35 in both directions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has given an Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star more time to prepare a defense against a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Chris Soules who appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Dancing With The Stars” faces trial after driving his pickup into the back of a farm tractor and killing a neighbor last April. Judge Andrea Dryer has waived a requirement that Soules’ trial must be held within a year of his arrest, allowing it to be scheduled past April.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a Denver woman to remain jailed in North Dakota while she awaits sentencing for shooting at law officers during protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Judge Daniel Hovland refused to grant a request by 38-year-old Red Fawn Fallis to be returned to a Fargo halfway house from which she went missing for an entire day last month. Fallis’ attorneys had argued that aside from the one slip-up, Fallis had been an “exemplary” resident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa caucuses will take place as planned despite snow that could complicate travel throughout the state. The state Republican and Democratic parties issued a joint statement Monday morning stating that officials realized the wintry weather would make it difficult for some to reach caucus sites. However, officials noted that after a review of state law and the party constitutions, there wasn’t a provision to postpone the caucuses due to weather. The meetings will start at 7 p.m. Monday.

Sheriff’s Deputies in Fremont County are investigating an incident of arson that took place in Sidney. Deputies were called to 901 Filmore Street at around 3:30-a.m., Monday, for a report of a structure fire. The structure was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no one lived there.

Sidney Fire and Rescue, Hamburg, Fire and Rescue, and Tabor Fire and Rescue responded to the call.  A Fire Fighter suffered minor injuries in the fire and was treated and released from a local hospital.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Department of Public Safety State Fire Marshal’s Division and a criminal investigation was initiated.  A preliminary investigation has determined the fire appears to be intentionally set and is currently being investigated as an arson.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office at 712-374-2424, or the Arson Hotline at 800-532-1459. A financial reward may be available to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the person or persons involved.

Separate crashes on snow covered roads in two Iowa counties resulted in four deaths and numerous other injuries. The Iowa State Patrol reports one person died and two others were injured in eastern Iowa’s Cedar County, Monday afternoon.

The Patrol reports 21-year old Josephina Mae Buffington, of Fairfax, died at the scene of a 19 vehicle pile-up on Interstate 80 in Poweshiek County. Due to road and weather conditions, three vehicles were on the shoulder of the road at the westbound 190 mile marker, with one vehicle, a 2014 Econoline van, on the inside median shoulder and the second vehicle one the outside. A 2011 Freightliner semi driven by 31-year old Daniel James Mahoney, failed to stop in-time to avoid to avoid a collision with the vehicle on the inside median shoulder. Multiple other vehicles failed to stop or take evasive action, and collided with the original vehicles. An unknown, female driver of the van and an unknown passenger were injured. Both were transported to the Grinnell Hospital Emergency Room.

The Patrol says a 2010 Pontiac G6 struck a 2003 Toyota Corolla in the westbound lane of Interstate 80 westbound near Durant, at around 1:40-p.m. The driver of the Pontiac exited their vehicle and was standing in front the car, when a 2017 Ford Escape went out of control and hit the Pontiac, pushing it into the driver of that vehicle. The names of the victims in the crash had not been identified as of late Monday evening. The accident remains under investigation. The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by Tipton Ambulance, and Durant Fire/Rescue.

An accident in northeast Iowa’s Winneshiek County left two teenagers dead and four others injured. The Patrol says the accident happened at around 8:30-a.m. on County Road W-40, about one-half mile south of 173rd Avenue. A 1999 Oldsmobile Alero driven by 17-year old Avery Arneson, of Decorah, was traveling north on W-40, while a 2008 Ford F-150 was traveling southbound.

The Oldsmobile went out of control, crossed the center line and slid sideways before being struck on the passenger side by the pickup. Arneson, and his passenger, 13-year old Aden Arneson died from their injuries. Three other teens in the car were injured: 14-year old Alexander Arneson, 14-year old James Arneson, and 15-year old Jack Arneson. The passengers were all from Decorah.

The driver of the pickup, 15-year old Gage Dahlberg, of Decorah, was also hurt. All of the injured were transported by ambulance to the Winneshiek Hospital, except Alexander Arneson, who was taken to the Gundersen Hospital. All the occupants were wearing their seat belts.

AMES, IA (AP) — Authorities in Iowa say one person has died and several others were hurt after dozens of vehicles collided along a snow-covered stretch of Interstate 35 near Ames.

Up to 70 cars, buses and trucks were involved in the string of crashes, which forced the closure of I-35 in both directions. Story County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Barry Thomas tells The Des Moines Register he couldn’t see from one end of the wrecks to the other.

Thomas says one person was killed and from three to five people were injured. Authorities didn’t release the names of those killed or hurt.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Creston man on Sunday night. At 9:49pm Deputies responded to a call of a person walking on Highway 34 at the 34 mile marker. 27-year-old Brian Caron of Creston was found to be intoxicated. He was arrested and charged with Public Intoxication. He was taken to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond.

A third-grader from the George-Little Rock School District in northwest Iowa, was the victim of a house fire Sunday. Riley Meyer perished in the blaze that took place a little after midnight on February 4th. According to reports, the fire broke out at the home of Heather Wilkerson.

George Fire Chief Bill Sprock says it took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze. He says crews from six communities helped battle the flames. Their effort was hampered by cold temperatures that caused water from the trucks to repeatedly freeze.

The George-Little Rock School District has set-up a GoFundMe page to help the family cover Riley Meyer’s funeral expenses. https://www.gofundme.com/riley-meyer-funeral-expenses

Atlantic Rising, formerly known as Young Professionals of Atlantic, hosted a Trivia Night at The Venue Saturday, February 3rd. Atlantic Rising raised funds for the Christmas Box Program that was previously organized by the Atlantic Jaycees. Thirteen teams were registered. With combined earnings from raffle tickets and mulligans on top of registration fees, the organization was able to raise $2,244 that will go toward The Christmas Box program this year.

Chamber Programs Director Ashley Hayes said “The event was a success and a great way to kick-off Atlantic Rising’s new beginning. There was a lot of buzz throughout the night about what we were doing and people already planning for next year’s Trivia Night.” She said also, “We plan to make this a yearly fundraiser.”

Teams were encouraged to create a theme and come dressed up or decorate their table in their theme. There were a few teams that took advantage of this opportunity and the team theme winners had a superhero theme. They were awarded movie passes and concession tickets for their creativity. The Trivia Night consisted of three sections with two to three rounds each; each round had a theme. Emcees for the night were Atlantic Rising members, Ann and John McCurdy, who had costumes for each round. At the end of the night, the winning team was a group out of the Griswold area. They kindly donated their $200 winnings back to Atlantic Rising and The Christmas Box program.

Another purpose for the night was to announce changes made to the young professionals’ organization and share what Atlantic Rising has in store for members this year. Attendees were encouraged to sign up that night. Several that attended took advantage of this opportunity to be more involved in the community. For more information on Atlantic Rising and to sign up, contact Ashley Hayes at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712-243-3017 or visit www.atlanticiowa.com.