WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley has had breakfast with the man whose nomination to the Supreme Court he has promised to block. The Iowa Republican dined with federal judge Merrick Garland Tuesday in the Capitol’s Senate Dining Room. Grassley evaded reporters afterward, and his office said it would release a statement on the meeting.  As usual, Garland said nothing to reporters.

Grassley has joined with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and most GOP senators in saying they won’t consider a replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia until the president elected this November nominates someone.  When he agreed to meet with Garland, Grassley said he would tell that to the judge. Democrats have relentlessly attacked Grassley for refusing to hold the usual hearings for the nominee.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.8MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Police in Creston arrested a Ringgold County woman Monday evening on an outstanding warrant out of Union County. 24-year old Megann Danielle Stewart, of Mt. Ayr, was arrested at around 7:40-p.m. in Creston. Stewart was being held without bond, in the Ringgold County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A lawsuit has been filed against the Iowa Utilities board for authorizing use of eminent domain to access land for the Bakken oil pipeline. The Des Moines Register reports that the lawsuit was filed Friday in Polk County on behalf of the Northwest Iowa Landowners Association and individual landowners.

The proposed 1,130-mile Dakota Access Pipeline planned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners would pass through North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa on its way to Illinois. The suit says Dakota Access does not qualify as a utility and should not have the ability to use eminent domain to build a pipeline.

Police and Sheriff’s Deputies in Red Oak responded to a report of shots, fired late Monday night. Authorities say one person was detained for questioning in connection with the incident which took place at around 11:42-p.m. in the vicinity of 1st and Joy Streets, in Red Oak.

According to the police report, the Montgomery County Communications Center received a call from a residence with regard to a man walking down the street, shooting a firearm. The caller indicated they thought the shots were directed toward a vehicle parked along the street, and possibly a house. The caller said also, the suspect took off in a northerly direction after the shots were fired.

Officers with the Red Oak Police Department arrived on the scene within minutes and established a perimeter. The Montgomery County K9 unit also arrived on the scene and began a track of the suspect. The scent led the K9 Unit to the area of 1st and Prospect Streets, where the dog lost contact with the scent.

Officers on the scene determined at least three shots had been fired into the hood of a 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo owned by Nakia Nicole Lamb, of Red Oak. Early reports indicated that a shot could also have been fired into a nearby residence, but no evidence to collaborate that statement could be found.

An investigation into the incident continues. Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene, including deputies from Cass, Fremont and Page Counties.

The U-S-D-A crop report released Monday showed high winds and frequent showers kept many Iowa farmers from getting the planting season underway. Iowa State University Extension Crops Specialist Joel DeJong works in northwest Iowa and says despite the cooler temperatures most of the signs are positive. “The soil conditions right now really look like for a lot of fields it’s pretty good. The soil moisture is at capacity right now, so it won’t take much to fill it back up,” DeJong says, “and the wet spots seem to be bigger than normal because of all that moisture in the soil — overall, pretty good.”

DeJong says the four-inch soil temperature was 35 on Saturday and up to 41 on Sunday, so it is moving in the right direction. “We like to have 50 degrees and warming if we are going to plant crops into good soil moisture conditions…so it looks like later in the week the weather might be pretty good,” DeJong says. He says the forecast right now for next week is looking good, but that could change.

Many farmers are still applying anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer. DeJong says conditions are still favorable, if farmers make certain they are applying that anhydrous ammonia at deep enough levels. “It looks like it’s sealing pretty well when it is out there. In the spring we want to put it six- and-a-half to seven inches deep or eight inches it’s trapping that gas in a smaller zone — and it looks like it’s working pretty well out there right now.

While some farmers in southern Iowa are into the fields, he says northern Iowa farmers may want to wait a few more days, even though research studies indicate better yields are obtained with early planted seed.  “I’m a little better about putting seed into cool ground that is warming up, better than putting seed into warm ground that cools off very rapidly due to a major storm system,” according to DeJong. “I don’t see that in the 10-day forecast — some rain maybe this coming weekend — But it doesn’t look like it is a real cold rain. So, if their conditions are set and everything is working in the field, later this week might be a good time to get started.”

He says each farmer can decide what they want to do, but there is no rush. DeJong says some farmers will start this week and others my choose to wait. “And that’s not a problem. A lot of producers can get their planting done in four or five days or maybe even less. Those who have a lot of days to plant, probably will get started,” DeJong says. He says as long as the crops get planted by May 5th, they should be okay. The U-S-D-A report shows west-central and southwest Iowa had the best conditions last week for working in the fields.

(Radio Iowa)

A Decorah man has been arrested after allegedly making threats that led to a “lock down” in all Decorah school district buildings on Monday. Decorah Police say 42-year-old Bruce Dean Divers, Junior has been charged with two counts of second degree harassment, a serious misdemeanor, and third degree harassment, a simple misdemeanor.

Police say Divers sent an email to Carrie Lee Elementary School on Saturday, expressing his displeasure with the content of some of the curriculum at the school. Police say on Monday, Divers posted information on Facebook threatening the welfare of two teachers. Police say the third degree harassment charge involves a third teacher.

(Radio Iowa)

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A former northwestern Iowa teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a student has been given probation time. A judge Monday sentenced 25-year-old Samantha Kohls to one year of probation. Kohls, a former Remsen-Union Community School teacher, has already lost her teaching license and must register as a sex offender. She previously pleaded guilty to lascivious conduct with a minor.

Arrest affidavits say Kohls had sex with a 17-year-old male student while she was a teacher at the school. The documents say the sexual encounters happened at her apartment in 2014. She was initially charged with two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee but Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond agreed to the reduced charge, saying jail time was not appropriate.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

A Des Moines lawyer who helped manage Chuck Grassley’s first U.S. Senate campaign and is considered a friend says it’s time for Grassley and Republican Senate leaders to “man up and vote” on a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Keith Uhl, a Republican who donated money to President Barack Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012, says if Grassley refuses to hold hearings on Obama’s supreme court nominee he’ll have to seriously consider whether he votes for Grassley again.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines lawyer who helped manage Chuck Grassley’s first U.S. Senate campaign and is considered a friend says it’s time for Grassley and Republican Senate leaders to “man up and vote” on a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Keith Uhl, a Republican who donated money to President Barack Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and 2012, says if Grassley refuses to hold hearings on Obama’s supreme court nominee he’ll have to seriously consider whether he votes for Grassley again.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man has been sentenced to five years in prison for crashing his truck into a backyard trampoline and killing a 6-year-old boy in Des Moines. Guadalupe Villa-Guzman had earlier pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Police say the man has a history of seizures and shouldn’t have been driving last June when his truck struck and killed Irving Aguilar Gonzalez.

DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — Security was stepped up Monday at schools in Decorah. Police say a lockdown was put in place after a person angry about a curriculum matter at Carrie Lee Elementary sent an email that raised the concern of school officials.