The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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(Updated 7:05 – No injuries)

Rescue crews from Cumberland and Wiota have been dispatched to a non- injury accident north of Cumberland. A motorist saw a vehicle in the east ditch off 690th south of Memphis Road. The call came in just before 7-a.m.

No other details are currently available.

A “nutrient exchange” — similar to the “carbon credits” considered a few years ago at the federal level — would be created in Iowa if legislation being developed by Republicans in the Iowa House becomes law. Republican Representative Chip Baltimore of Boone says it’s about sparking “collaboration” rather than confrontation to clean up the state’s surface water.

“At least in my conversations, there’s broad-based, very generic…interest in a nutrient exchange,” Baltimore says. “We’ve got some pilot projects that are out there that are working their way through, but I think having some formal recognition of the nutrient exchange may help move that process along.”

Here’s how a “nutrient exchange” works: a facility that has to get a state permit because it discharges pollution — places like a water treatment plant or a manufacturing facility — enters into a swap with a farmer. The end result? New financing for on-the-farm improvements to reduce nutrient run-off from cropland. Critics like Jessica Mazour of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement call it “pollution trading.”

“You can make it as complicated as you want, but basically…it does nothing, but just transfers pollution across our state.” States like Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio have established “nutrient exchanges.” Supporters say it’s a “market-based” way to address the nutrient and sediment loss from farms.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The second trial is scheduled to begin Monday of a Sioux City man charged with murder. The trial of 48-year-old Elias Wanatee is to be held in in Pottawattamie County District Court in Council Bluffs. A judge had granted Wanatee’s request for a change of venue, citing publicity. Wanatee’s first trial ended in a mistrial in December after jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.

Wanatee is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 17, 2016, stabbing death of 50-year-old Vernon Mace in Sioux City. There were no eyewitnesses, and police never found the weapon. Defense attorney Jason Dunn has suggested that Wanatee acted in self-defense.

Iowa’s opioid epidemic and how it is affecting children is the subject of legislation making its way through the Iowa House and Senate. Child welfare experts say Iowa’s child protection laws needs to be updated to address the abuse of legal drugs. Currently, if a baby is born showing signs of exposure to an illegal drug that has to be reported. The policies now focus heavily on methamphetamine, its manufacture, distribution, and use. Janee Harvey at the Department of Human Services
says that approach is outdated.

“These policies are being reformatted and changed to really recognize that there is a very big opioid epidemic,” Harvey says. The bill expands to cover legal drugs including painkillers and alcohol. Harvey says if it’s reported families can get help. “We would be going in to basically knock on the door and assess the family to see what services they need and be creating a corresponding plan of safe care for the caregiver and the child,” Harvey.

The legislation is the work of a task force on drug-endangered kids and also requires notification if an infant shows signs of withdrawal from a legal drug such as painkillers or alcohol.

(Radio Iowa)

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) – The DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in near the Iowa-Nebraska border will offer a limited number of turkey hunting permits this spring.

Archery turkey hunting will be allowed from April 17th though May 21 for people who obtain a free refuge hunting permit and hold a valid state hunting license. A special youth shotgun turkey hunt will be held on April 8-9, and a hunt for people with limited mobility will be held April 22-23.

The refuge is located north of Omaha, Nebraska, along on U.S. Highway 30 near Missouri Valley, Iowa. An entrance permit is required for all vehicles.
More details are available online at www.fws.gov/refuge/Desoto .

A traffic stop Sunday night in Adams County resulted in the arrest of two women from Nebraska on drug charges. Sheriff’s officials say 19-year old Tanaya McDowell was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance. 19-year old Abigail Elder was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Both women are from Lincoln, NE.

Elder was a passenger in the vehicle that was pulled over at around 9:35-p.m. Both women were being held in the Adams County Jail, with McDowell’s bond set at $1,000, and Elder’s bond set at $1,300.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say no injuries were reported following a collision Sunday morning west of Red Oak. Authorities say 41-year old Amy J. Long, of Macedonia, was eastbound on 200th Street at around 9:10-a.m., and slowed to make a left turn into a driveway. When 39-year old David L. Rayburn, of Emerson, attempted to pass the 2004 Ford Explorer Long was driving, his 2014 Dodge Dart collided with the SUV, causing about $7,000 damage altogether.

Long was cited for having an expired driver’s license. Rayburn was cited for unsafe passing.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:25 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Bills in the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature this session purport to enforce federal immigration laws, but academics say some proposals are redundant and could face legal challenges. Republicans dispute any suggestion that Iowa isn’t welcoming to immigrants, and emphasize that the measures ensure rules are followed.

HANLONTOWN, Iowa (AP) — An Oklahoma pipeline company says it will reimburse north-central Iowa agencies for expenses they incurred while responding to a diesel pipeline spill near Hanlontown last month. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that Magellan Midstream Partners is making the offer. Worth County Auditor Jackie Backhaus is tallying up local agencies’ expenses and plans to have the total ready by Monday.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — One person is hospitalized after being wounded in a shootout with Woodbury County Sheriff’s deputies in northwest Iowa. The Sheriff’s office says deputies were pursuing two suspects south of Sioux City around 3:30 a.m. Sunday before the shooting.

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — The DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge in near the Iowa-Nebraska border will offer a limited number of turkey hunting permits this spring. Archery turkey hunting will be allowed from April 17th though May 21 for people who obtain a free refuge hunting permit and hold a valid state hunting license.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — One person is hospitalized after being wounded in a shootout with Woodbury County Sheriff’s deputies in northwest Iowa. The Sheriff’s office says deputies were pursuing two suspects south of Sioux City around 3:30 a.m. Sunday before the shooting happened.

Authorities say the suspects started firing at deputies after the chase ended, and the deputies returned fire. One suspect was wounded and taken to a hospital, but the injuries are not expected to be life-threatening. The other suspect was arrested.

Authorities have not identified the suspects or said why they were being pursued initially.