(Radio Iowa) — A small group of Iowa House members and hunting enthusiasts are debating whether to increase the number of licenses for out-of-state deer hunters. Under current law, six-thousand deer hunting licenses are available for residents of OTHER states.

Representative Dean Fisher, a Republican from Montour, says expanding deer hunting opportunities would be good for Iowa’s economy. “As a landowner, I’ve got deer — including big bucks — running through my barnyard all the time and where I live, it’s just overpopulated,” Fisher says. “Instead of just keeping the number the same, adding to the licenses is what I would favor.”

Fisher’s on a House SUB-committee that’s embracing the idea of offering 15-hundred MORE deer hunting licenses to out-of-staters — and setting aside 500 of those licenses for hunters who’ve signed up with an Iowa-based hunting guide. The Iowa Bow Hunters Association opposes the move. Bob Haney is president of the group.

“What we have in Iowa is unique. It’s known worldwide when you talk about white-tailed deer, the quality of the herd that is managed by the DNR and enjoyed by the residents of Iowa is second-to-none. We’re all for maintaining that same similar kind of structure,” he says. “We also understand people want to come here. There’s a reason they want to come here. They don’t enjoy what we have in their home states.”

Eric Goranson, a LOBBYIST for the Iowa Bow Hunters Association, says Iowa hunters should be the priority — and it’s getting harder and harder for Iowans who live in urban areas to find places to hunt.  “If we don’t take care of them and give them access and keep them in mind during these conversations, our conversations 10-12 years from now are going to be very different,” Goranson says. “It’s going to be: ‘How do we get hunting back in Iowa again?'”

Jim Obradovich, a lobbyist for the Iowa Conservation Alliance, says other hunting-related proposals under consideration could complicate the system even more. “You look at it like one of those Jenga games and you can periodically pull one or two of those pieces out, but sometimes you pull the wrong piece out and the whole thing collapses,” Obradovich says.

There’s a deadline this week for all of these kinds of policy discussions. Most bills must be endorsed by a House or Senate committee by this Friday to stay eligible for consideration.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jefferson City News Tribune) — A former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who was driving a boat when an Iowa man fell out and drowned has dismissed three lawsuits he filed over losing his law enforcement license. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office says Anthony Piercy voluntarily dismissed lawsuits against the patrol, the state Department of Public Safety and the department’s director. He will receive more than $200,000 in back pay and for agreeing not to be reinstated to the patrol or to protest his peace officer’s license being revoked.

Brandon Ellingson, of Clive, Iowa, died in May 2014 at the Lake of the Ozarks after he fell out of a boat while handcuffed after Piercy arrested him.

(Update 9:32-a.m.) An apartment building in Clarinda was struck by an SUV Friday night. The Clarinda Police Department reports 39-year old Matthew Cain Hollingsworth, of Clarinda, was driving a 2001 Toyota Sequoia southbound on 20th Street, when the vehicle left the road at the apex of a curve and continued south through the grounds of the Clarhaven Foster Manor at 402 Willow Street. The vehicle then traveled about 60 feet before crashing through the apartment building into apartment #39. The SUV came to rest with all four tires inside the bedroom.The crash happened at around 8:50-p.m.

Photos courtesy the Clarinda PD

Officers found Hollingsworth was sitting on the west side of apartment #39, suffering from minor injuries. He was transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center. Damage to the building was estimated at $50,000. The SUV sustained about $10,000 damage.

REMBRANDT, Iowa (AP) — The body of an employee killed in a barn collapse has been recovered from the wreckage in northwest Iowa. A structural failure early Friday morning at the Rembrandt Foods facility just east of Rembrandt caused a catastrophic collapse of equipment inside the building. Buena Vista County authorities say a search for the employee was suspended at 6 p.m. because of safety concerns for the people trying to find the worker. The search resumed Saturday, and the worker’s body was recovered around 2 p.m. The worker’s name and other details about the accident haven’t been released.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors are set to meet 9-a.m. Tuesday in their Boardroom at the Courthouse, in Atlantic. During their session, the Board will set the date for a Public Hearing on the Maximum Property Tax Asking (per Iowa Code 331.433A). They are also expected to approve the appointment of a non-resident member to the Lewis Public Library Board of Trustees. Auditor Dale Sunderman says trustees are appointed by the Mayor with approval of the city council or County Board of Supervisors. And, the Board will act on the appointment of additional members to the Cass County Local Foods Policy Council.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors, Tuesday morning, will act to approve a Class-C Liquor License application for the Griswold Golf & Country Club, and authorizing a supervisors to sign a new 28-E (cost sharing) agreement to be part of the Southwest Iowa Mental Health and Disability Services Region. They’ll also receive regularly scheduled reports (as available), from the County Engineer, Mental Health/General Relief Coordinator and County Attorney.