IOWA CITY –The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 59-year old Larry Gene Nugent, who had been serving a 5-year maximum sentence out of Woodbury County for the crime of Operating Vehicle While Intoxicated, was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, July 6, 2019. He died at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinic due to chronic illness. Nugent His sentence began on September 5, 2018.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A presidential campaign event focused on Native American issues is being planned in Sioux City, Iowa, next month. Several groups are working together to plan the forum on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20.

O.J. Semans of the voting rights group Four Directions says it would be a mistake for candidates to ignore Native American voters. The Sioux City Journal reports that organizers are working to get firm commitments from candidates to attend.

The event is named in honor of activist Frank LaMere, who died last month after battling cancer. He was a Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska member who fought for a variety of causes. He lived in South Sioux City, Nebraska.

Agents and crime scene personnel with the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) are investigating an early (Sunday) morning shooting in the Decatur County City of Leon. At around at 3:08 a.m., an officer with the Leon Police Department conducted a traffic stop in the 300 block of NW 3rd Street.

During the traffic stop, the driver of the vehicle, a male in is 50’s, sprayed the Leon officer with a chemical agent. In response, the officer fired his weapon, striking the driver. The driver was provided medical attention at the scene. He was then airlifted to Des Moines hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

The Leon officer is on paid administrative leave. The name of the involved officer nor the name of the driver are being released at this time. Authorities say additional information will be released as appropriate.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IDA GROVE, Iowa (AP) — A man Iowa authorities say was intoxicated when his vehicle crashed into another, killing three people, now faces felony charges. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that 21-year-old Ryan Daniel Childers, of Odebolt, was charged last week with three counts of vehicular homicide when driving under the influence and one count of serious injury by vehicle. Authorities say Childers was driving a pickup truck the wrong way on Highway 59 when he hit a car head-on, killing three men in it.

ROCK FALLS, Iowa (AP) — The remains of a missing Illinois man have been found in a northern Iowa campground pond. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the body of 48-year-old Larry Eugene Howlett, of Sandwich, Illinois, was found Friday evening in the Camp of the Woods pond at Rock Falls. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office say Howlett was last seen the night of June 1 near his camper along the Shell Rock River.

IOWA FALLS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a north-central Iowa couple have been killed in a crash at an intersection near Iowa Falls. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that 63-year-old Kevin Barz and his wife, 49-year-old Julia Barz, of Hampton, were pronounced dead at the scene of the Friday night crash at the intersection of U.S. Highway 65 and a county road. Three teens in a pickup truck that collided with the Barz’s vehicle were injured.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City woman charged with vehicular homicide in Nebraska has pleaded not guilty to driving drunk in Sioux City the same night as the traffic fatality. The Sioux City Journal reports that 19-year-old Maria Gonzalez-Diego entered a written plea Friday to second-offense operating while intoxicated and driving while her license was revoked. In northeastern Nebraska’s Dakota County, Gonzalez-Diego is charged in the June 24 death of 62-year-old Antonia Lopez De Ramirez.