Cass County Domocratic Chair Sherry Toelle, Sunday, announced the winners of the American flag and the M&M Candy Jar on display at the Cass County Democratic Party’s fair booth. John Weppler won the flag, and Madison Loving won the candy jar. Both are from Atlantic. Congratulations to John Weppler and Madison Loving, from the Cass County Democratic Party!

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A severe June 30 hail storm that struck Sioux City has become big business for certain sectors of the local economy and drawn interest from outside contractors. The Sioux City Journal reports that auto body shops, insurance agencies, roofing companies and other auxiliary businesses have also seen benefits from the storm’s aftermath.

Some Sioux City neighborhoods reportedly experienced golf ball-sized hail. Some contractors say it’s the biggest influx of customers they’ve ever seen, and local insurance agents say they’ve been overwhelmed by calls.

Roofing contractor Charese Yanney says the hail storm may have been the most widespread since one that struck in June 1978.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is visiting Iowa on a tour to tout the importance of bringing more young people into farm-related professions.

Perdue stopped in Sheffield, Des Moines, Urbandale and Davenport over the weekend as part of a five-state tour. On Saturday, he delivered the keynote speech at the 2017 Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines.

Perdue also announced a new mentoring program for farmers. He says he wants to make it easier for families to get into the industry. A new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the nonprofit group SCORE will help aspiring farmers.

Perdue says future farmers need more access to capital, technology and information to join the industry, which he says will face greater demands in the next 30 years.

The Marine Corps has issued a correction to its story about a Marine from Iowa who died recently at Camp Pendleton, in California. The original story said the Marine died in a car crash. Officials now say the young Marina died after a tree fell on him at the Southern California base. Marine officials said Sunday that Lance Cpl. Cody Haley of Hardin, Iowa, died at the scene Friday.

Marine spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns said Haley was doing routine morning physical training when the tree fell. The 20-year-old Haley was assigned to the 1st Marine Division. He deployed with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in March 2016.

His awards include the National Defense Service medal, Global War on Terrorism Service medal, and the Sea Service Deployment ribbon. A Marine statement says the Corps is heartbroken about Haley’s death.

A collision between two ATV’s Saturday evening north of Moorhead, in northwest Iowa’s Monona County, resulted in one person being transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Iowa State Patrol reports a Honda 300-EX driven by 37-year old Dustin Michael Solberg, of Moorhead, was traveling south on Plum Avenue, following a Honda Four Trax 300, driven by 19-year old Derrick Lynn Steffen, of Modale.

The Patrol says Solberg was following Steffen too closely. When the front tires of his ATV made contact Steffens’ rear tires, Solberg over-corrected, causing the ATV to rollover. Solberg was transported to the hospital. There was no report on his condition.

The accident happened at around 5:38-p.m., Saturday.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:15 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — More than $3 million has been awarded to build a first-of-its-kind housing development for the chronically homeless in Iowa City. The Press-Citizen reports that the Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors recently awarded $2.7 million to Shelter House for the development, in addition to a $463,000 grant. The plan includes 24 one-bedroom apartments that will cater to the chronically homeless and frequent service users.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa are investigating after six people suffered opioid overdoses in Council Bluffs this week. The Daily Nonpareil reports that two men were treated for overdoses at separate Council Bluffs hospitals about half-an-hour apart Wednesday night. A day earlier, three people were found unconscious in a Council Bluffs gas station parking lot and another man found unresponsive at a nearby home. All have since been treated and released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating the fatal stabbing of a man at a Des Moines home and say a suspect has been charged. Des Moines police say in a news release that officers and medics were called to the home around 4 a.m. Saturday and found a man who had been fatally stabbed. Police say 49-year-old Shawn Eugene Davis was arrested and charged Saturday with first-degree murder in the stabbing death.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The identity of a baby killed in a Waterloo crash that also injured nine others has been released. The Courier reports that 7-month-old Liam Mwanje died Wednesday night when a minivan he and eight other people were in collided with a pickup truck at a Waterloo intersection. The baby was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police have not released details about whether restraints were in use at the time of the crash.

Police in Marshalltown are investigating a case in which a stolen truck plowed into doors of the Marshalltown Roundhouse at Marshalltown High School.

The Marshalltown Police Department got called to the scene at 4:15 Friday morning. A stolen pick up truck had crashed into the north doors of the Marshalltown Roundhouse, a facility that was refurbished just a year ago. There was no one in the vehicle. An investigation is underway. Buildings and grounds crews worked to secure the building as soon as they could.

No activities at the school were interfered with. Repairs are dependent upon the availability of glass and door frames.

(Radio Iowa)

Speakers at Saturday’s Iowa Ag Summit suggested there are opportunities and risks ahead as the Trump Administration renegotiates the North American Free Trade Agreement. Officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico will convene in Washington on August 16th to begin the first round of discussions. U-S Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue did not mention NAFTA directly during his keynote address at the Iowa Ag Summit, but he talked about it with reporters afterwards. “First of all, the principle is: ‘Do no harm.’ Overall, agriculture’s done very well under NAFTA and we hope to continue that,” Perdue said. “There are a few things that need to be addressed, certainly, with Canada and with Mexico.”

But Perdue says “not all sectors have benefited equally” under the trade deal. “Our producers in south Florida, vegetables and fruits, have not done as well. Our pork, our dairy, our grain farmers have done relatively well under NAFTA,” Perdue says. “We want to make sure that we have a good, fair deal that’s enforced and we can live with maybe for another 20 years.”

Three Canadian officials spoke at the summit, too, and each talked about NAFTA. Fred Gorrell, the assistant deputy minister for agriculture in Canada, says Canada, the United States and Mexico are the “envy of the world” when it comes to the long-standing trade relationship.  “Not only do we trade with each other, we build things together,” Gorrell said.

Jean-Claude Poissant, Canada’s parliamentary secretary for agriculture, says trade drives the economies “on both sides of the border.”  “The government of Canada is committed to working with you to grow the Canada-U.S. relationship,” Poussant said. “…The main point I want to make is that the Canada-U.S. relationship is strong, stable and beneficial to both our great nations.”

The Iowa Ag Summit also covered issues like prospects for the next Farm Bill, but trade policy was at the forefront of the day-long event. Governor Kim Reynolds says “modernizing” NAFTA presents an opportunity for the state. “Our goal is to ensure Iowa’s high quality products continue to move across borders and around the world,” Reynolds said. Senator Chuck Grassley says re-negotiating the trade pact will be “more difficult” with Canada than with Mexico. “There are some areas, like Canadian dairy policy, that are going to be quite a challenge if we try to make changes in that area, but I think it’s legitimate that we try to do that,” Grassley said.

Randy Spronk, a past president of the National Pork Producers Council, notes Canada and Mexico bought more than two BILLION dollars worth of U.S. pork last year. “As a matter of fact, you add Mexico and Canada together — Mexico is number two and Canada is number four — that’s one third of our exports,” Spronk said. Senator Joni Ernst says in addition to NAFTA, the Trump Administration must establish new “bilateral” agreements now that the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership has been scrapped. “If we don’t pursue these trade agreements, I guarantee you that China will,” Ernst said. And that makes international trade a national security issue, according to Ernst.

Bruce Rastetter, the agribusinessman from Arlington who hosted and organized Saturday’s event, says open markets are critical to both farmers AND Iowa manufacturers. “One of the negative outcomes of NAFTA has been the loss of jobs in rural Iowa,” Rastetter told reporters. Rastetter announced the next Iowa Ag Summit will be on March 3rd of 2018 — and he plans to make it an annual event. “There’ll be an emphasis on trade, manufacturing and I think also in light of the need for improved water quality in agriculture, we’ll have an emphasis on that,” Rastetter said.

Panelists at THIS weekend’s ag summit discussed water quality, too. One panelist suggested federal crop subsidies should be limited to farmers who engage in conservation practices. Others discussed how to provide “accountability” and measure progress.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Kim Reynolds says the state does not need to engage in cash flow borrowing to cover the state’s financial obligations next March and April. “I want to just assure Iowans we have almost half a billion dollars in cash reserves. I don’t think this is a time when we need to be short-term borrowing, ” Reynolds says. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald has been arguing the state should borrow a lump sum in September, then it can be invested and earn interest until this spring. That’s when the state enters a lean period, waiting for Iowans to pay their income taxes while still making massive monthly school aid payments and meeting state payroll. Fitzgerald says the state “nearly drained” its cash reserves this past spring during that period.

Reynolds will use her authority to withdraw up to 50 MILLION dollars from the cash reserve THIS FALL to cover any red ink in the state budgeting year that ended June 30th. If the deficit is larger, state legislators will have to reconvene and vote to withdraw more. Reynolds says the accountants are still reviewing the books, waiting for state agencies to turn over any unspent funds and for bills owed to the state BEFORE June 30th to be paid.

“I want to just reassure all Iowans that our bills are being paid and have been paid and are being paid,” Reynolds says. “…We’re continuing to collect the facts. We’re doing the due diligence that we need to be doing so that we can make an informed decision on the procedures moving forward.”

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett is running against Reynolds in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary. He’s been criticizing Reynolds for the way she and former Governor Terry Branstad have been using the state’s cash reserves this year to cover on-going state expenses rather than make deeper cuts in the budget.

(Radio Iowa)

An unidentified, minor passenger in a semi died Friday, when the tractor-trailer went out of control and rolled over near the Iowa-Minnesota border. The Iowa State Patrol says the accident happened in Osceola County, northwest of Harris, IA, at around 12:10-p.m.

Officials say the semi, driven by 35-year old Joshua Hamrick, of Spencer, was southbound on Walnut Avenue, when a tire left the roadway. The trailer also left the road and began to slide into the ditch. The trailer slide around the side of the semi and began to roll, causing the semi to make a complete roll before it came to rest on the passenger side near the intersection of Walnut Ave. and 120th Street.

The juvenile passenger died at the scene. The semi was registered to Stahly Family Farms, out of Lake Park, Iowa.