SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge says a northwest Iowa couple owe a lawyer $2.18 million more for representing them in talks that resulted in a $7.5 million settlement with Sioux City. The judge said in her lawsuit ruling filed Monday that attorney Stan Munger’s contingency fee contract with Chad and Rosanne Plante was “reasonable and valid.” The Sioux City Journal reports that Judge Nancy Whittenburg said Munger was entitled to receive 33 percent of the settlement the city paid the Plantes to resolve claims from a 2016 bus crash that caused serious injuries to Chad Plante.

The Plantes already authorized Munger to withdraw $380,000 from the settlement. He says they told him the contingency fee agreement “is against public policy.”

Two men from Creston were arrested on separate Union County warrants, Wednesday. 29-year old Anthony Alan Short II was arrested at the Union County LEC on a warrant for Failure to Appear on an original, Driving while license denied-suspended or revoked, charge. His cash-only bond was set at $300. And, 28-year old Alex Richard Cunningham was arrested on three warrants for Pretrial Release Violation. He was being held in the Union County Jail without bond, until seen by a magistrate.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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(Radio Iowa) — The House Judiciary Committee’s chairman called it a “rare moment.” Wednesday night, Republicans and Democrats on the committee unanimously embraced a plan from Governor Kim Reynolds on felon voting rights. The proposed constitutional amendment would automatically restore the right to vote to felons who’ve completed their sentences. Backers hope the proposed amendment could be presented to voters in 2022. Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton says House Republicans will meet soon to discuss how to legally define what sentence completion means. “Because I believe the voters should know what they’re voting for,” Kaufmann says.

Kaufmann says he’s interested in keeping felons who’ve done time for murder, rape or child sex abuse from voting. “I don’t think that certain classes of criminals should ever have the opportunity to get these rights back,” Kaufmann says. Other Republicans have discussed requiring felons to pay any restitution to their victims before they’d be allowed to vote.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowa lawmakers are considering proposals that would let nurse practitioners and physicians assistants as well as doctors recommend medical marijuana for patients suffering from chronic pain or other ailments. The plan that has emerged in the Iowa House also would increase the potency of the cannabis products now being sold legally in Iowa. Dane Schumann is a lobbyist for MedPharm Iowa, the company producing and selling cannabis products in Iowa — and he thanked lawmakers who’re suggesting the limit on the chemical T-H-C in those products should be increased. “It’s something we’ve been asking for and a discussion we’ve been having up here for a long time,” Schuman says.

Representative Jarad Klein of Keota says he’s seeking a compromise that can get broad approval in the legislature. “We’re never going to end up in a perfect place,” Klein says, “but we can continue to take steps to provide relief to sick Iowans.” Klein says lawmakers have gotten advice from medical experts about what level of the chemical T-H-C is most appropriate in cannabis oils, creams and pills. The House bill Klein has been working on is scheduled for debate in a committee today (Thursday). A similar bill cleared a Senate panel earlier this week.

Police in Red Oak say one person was injured during a collision Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of 2nd and Oak Streets. Authorities say a passenger in a 2007 Buick Lucerne, 92-year old Ruby Darlene Godfrey, of Emerson, said she felt disoriented after the collision. She was transported by Red Oak EMS to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital. The accident happened when the Buick, driven by 94-year old Donald Walter Godfrey, of Emerson, was struck broadside by a 2006 Jeep Liberty, driven by 16-year old Maci Jo Graber, of Red Oak.

Authorities say the accident occurred when Godfrey failed to stop or yield at the posted intersection. He was cited for Failure to Obey Stop sign and Yield the Right of Way. Neither driver was injured in the collision. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $12,000.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports three recent arrests. On Monday, Deputies arrested Patrick Farlow of Creston, and Gary Snyder, of Corning. Both were taken into custody on Adams County warrants for Failure to Appear. And, on Tuesday, Adams County Deputies arrested Joleen Most, of Corning, on charges of Criminal Mischief 2nd Degree, Disorderly Conduct, and Trespassing.

And, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office released details today (Thursday) about an incident that took place Feb. 16th. Authorities say at approximately 4:30-p.m. Adams County Deputies were dispatched to the area of John Street for a vehicle accident. The individuals that called the Sheriff’s Office advised that the driver of the vehicle failed to stop at numerous stop signs and nearly collided with numerous vehicles. The vehicle then collided into the ditch near 10th and John St. at a high rate of speed where it came to a stop. The caller then advised Adams County Dispatch that they had identified the driver as William Coleman. When the deputies arrived to the scene, the vehicle was unoccupied. Deputies contacted Coleman via phone; however Coleman refused to inform Deputies of his whereabouts or cooperate with the accident investigation.

Later in the evening, Adams County Deputies initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle that had a taillight out. It was then discovered that William Coleman was a passenger of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was Barbara Coleman. During the investigation, William Coleman continuously refused to cooperate with the previous accident investigation and refused to exit the vehicle. Both individuals refused to unlock the vehicle and eventually Barbara Coleman put the vehicle in drive in an attempt to leave. During that time, William Coleman struck an Adams County Deputy with his fist. After the assault, Adams County Deputies removed William Coleman from the vehicle and placed him under arrest.

William Coleman was charged with Interference with Official Acts Causing an Injury, Leaving the Scene of an Accident, Operating a Vehicle without Insurance, Failure to Maintain Control and Failure to Obey a Stop sign. Barbara Coleman was also arrested and charged with Accessory after the Fact.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Storm Lake man has pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography. Federal prosecutors say 49-year-old James Gailey was convicted after pleading guilty on Monday to the single count. At his plea hearing in Sioux City, Gailey admitted that in October 2017 and January 2018, he received child pornography online. Prosecutors say the images included victims as young as infants and toddlers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Iowa have announced the indictments of six people suspected of having stolen various opioids from nursing homes where they had worked. The indictments were announced in a news release Wednesday. All are charged with acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception, and subterfuge.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa lawmaker is accusing the administration of Gov. Kim Reynolds and the director of the state’s human resources agency of “fostering a culture of secrecy in state government” for refusing to release information on the number of sexual harassment cases filed within state agencies in recent years. Democratic Rep. Amy Nielsen said she’s received a bureaucratic runaround in her attempts to get data on the number of cases from Department of Administrative Services Director Janet Phipps.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in north-central Iowa say a Fort Dodge police officer was found unresponsive in his squad car after handling a suspected opioid and had to be revived. The Fort Dodge Police Department has released police body camera video of the officer being pulled from the squad car on Sunday, placed on a gurney and loaded into the back of an ambulance. Police believe the substance the officer handled was a form of fentanyl, a powerful opioid that is fueling a national epidemic of fatal overdoses.

(Radio Iowa) — Casinos in Sioux City and Jefferson agreed to fines of 20-thousand dollars each at the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission meeting Tuesday for violations of rules. Iowa Racing and Gaming administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says the Hard Rock Casino in Sioux City agreed to a 20-thousand dollar fine after they experienced outages in security camera coverage between December of 2017 and August of 2018.

“Rules require different types of surveillance coverage for different areas. The particular situation at Hard Rock, there were multiple cameras that were down,” Ohorilko explains. “In some instances, that’s not necessarily a problem, and in other cases it could be.” Ohorilko says the large number of outages figured into the amount of the fine along with the lag in reporting the problem.

“It was a situation where it wasn’t immediately reported to the commission staff….a large part of compliance is about voluntary reporting,” he says. Hard Rock general manager Jim Franke, apologized to the commission. “As a company we do take great pride in how train our staff to follow the rules and regulations set forth by the I-R-G-C and to fully cooperate with I-R-G-C and D-C-I personnel,” Franke say. “Actions that negatively impact the culture of compliance are not and will not be tolerated.”

He says the supervisors knew the procedures and it was frustrating to find they were not followed. “During the same period of time when the cables were causing these camera failures, we experienced three other equipment malfunctions that were all reported and addressed appropriately. We have no indication why they would, and can’t understand why these weren’t disclosed in the same manner,” Franke says.

Franke says they have taken steps to ensure the surveillance video is handled properly. He says they have hired a surveillance manager with 22 years of experience who is respected and has a good working relationship with the I-R-G-C and the D-C-I. Franke says that manager has “re-established a culture of compliance through retraining of the Iowa administrative code, I-R-G-C rules and regulations, our system of internal controls, and our standard operating procedures.”

The fine against the Hard Rock could have been as high as 25-thousand dollars. The other violation involved the Wild Rose casino in Jefferson, which was fined 20-thousand dollars for allowing a minor onto the gambling floor in November. She gambled and was on the floor for 40 minutes before staff identified her. General manager Travis Dvorak spoke to the commission.

“We take responsible gaming seriously, we take underage gaming very seriously,” according to Dvorak. “In the three-and-a-half years that we’ve been operation, we’ve had one-point-six milion admissions — and this is our first and only violation of this nature.” He says they have worked with employees to ensure this doesn’t happen again. “We have taken this opportunity, I have readdressed and reemphasized this importance of this issue with our staff. We increased our training time for our security officers — we extended from a two week to a three-week period — and we are reemphasizing the importance of challenging our patrons when they walk in,” Dvorak says.

He says they are getting everyone at the facility involved. “We held meetings with our entire staff and we re-emphasized the need for all employees to be diligent and observant of all potential underage patrons. We also re-emphasized that is the responsibility of every employee to look for minors and to check identification,” Dvorak says.

The fines for underage gambling violations are based on the number of violations in a 365 day period, and increase with each violation.

(Radio Iowa) — Eight Republicans on a senate committee have endorsed a plan to send state grants to the parents of special needs students who want to enroll their children in a private rather than a public school. Republican Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale says “I think this is a big first step of empowering the parents to pick the best school, not defined by their zip code.” Republican Senator Jerry Behn from Boone would have preferred giving state grants to EVERY parent of a school-aged child in Iowa, but he says this set of students can be a proving ground.

“If you take some of the most difficult children to work with and start with that, if it works with that, it ought to be easy to move on,” Behn says. Two Republicans on the Senate Education Committee joined the five Democrats on the panel to oppose the bill. Senator Clair Celsi, a Democrat from Des Moines, says starting with the most fragile students who need the most help is wrong.

“Make no mistake, this is a fundamental rewriting of the way we do public education here in the state of Iowa,” Celsi says. Senator Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says the consolidation of rural schools will accelerate if parents are given state money to pay for private schooling. “We will wind up bleeding both students and dollars out of our smaller school districts,” Quirmbach said. Bill backers estimate there are about 60-thousand special needs students in Iowa.

Opponents say it would shift hundreds of millions of tax dollars from public to private schools if each of those students transferred. However, the bill does not require private schools to accept students with an individual education plan because of special circumstances, like a disability or behavior issues.