Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:00 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa corrections officials say all but three of Iowa’s 46 juveniles sentenced to life in prison without parole have been given new sentences with a chance for freedom. The Associated Press found after a 50-state examination of juvenile life sentence cases that in many states the chance at eventual release has been halting, inconsistent and often elusive. Iowa began resentencing juvenile lifers in 2012 after the U.S. Supreme Court concluded juvenile life prison sentences should be rare.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa has opened its newest and biggest residence hall to meet its student housing needs for the next few years. The Catlett Residence Hall officially opened Friday, in time to serve students for the fall semester. The 12-floor, 1,049-bed residence hall is named after world renowned sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett, a university graduate who was one of the nation’s first students to earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree

MCGREGOR, Iowa (AP) – A small city in northeast Iowa still shows the scars of a tornado that hit the community earlier this month, but businesses have reopened and visitors are shopping in local stores even as repairs continue. The Telegraph Herald reports that electric service has been restored to nearly all buildings in McGregor following the July 19 tornado that pummeled the city. The McGregor and Marquette Chamber of Commerce president estimates that at least 75 percent of businesses were operational this week.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Trees that suck up sunlight and groundwater at the expense of other plant life are creating new headaches throughout the Plains, including Nebraska, Iowa and the Dakotas. The eastern red cedar tree spreads rapidly, consuming huge areas of productive ranchland and threatening many of the area’s original prairies. Some landowners and conservationists are now working to try to address the problem.

Two people were injured during a collision between a motorcycle and a car Saturday afternoon, in central Iowa’s Warren County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 1999 Honda Trike driven by 69-year old Russell L. Greer, of Grinnell, was headed eastbound on Highway 92 at around 4:05-p.m., when he failed to stop for a 2005 Toyota Corolla driven by 38-year old Rongong Liang, of Ames.  Liang was stopped on Highway 92, waiting to make a left turn.

The Honda Trike struck the rear of the car and rolled onto Johnson Street. Russell Greer, and his passenger, 59-year old Tammi J. Greer, also of Grinnell, were transported by Mercy One helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. A report on their conditions was not immediately available.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa has opened its newest and biggest residence hall to meet its student housing needs for the next few years. The Catlett Residence Hall officially opened Friday, in time to serve students for the fall semester.

The 12-floor, 1,049-bed residence hall is named after world renowned sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett, a university graduate who was one of the nation’s first students to earn a Masters of Fine Arts degree.

Catlett came to Iowa City in the late 1930s. She lived off campus because university housing was unavailable to African Americans until the desegregation of Currier Hall in 1945. Catlett, who is black, was influenced by Grant Wood, the Iowa painter who urged students to portray the subjects they knew best.

Jackson Kimle, vice-president of Inland Sea, says Reicks View Farms of Lawler, Iowa, recently made an anchor investment in a proposed $50 million salmon aquaculture construction project slated to begin late this year or early 2018. Kimle says Reicks View Farms Investment brings Inland Sea-Harlan LLC closer to their equity capital goal although investment opportunities are still available for accredited investors.

He says the salmon raising facility, as proposed, will have a two-acre footprint in Harlan, chosen due to its readily available, low-cost utilities and water and excellent access to highway, interstate, and air transportation. The proposed facility will include a technologically advanced, highly automated recirculating grow-out tank system designed to capture economies of scale and world-class bio-security.

When fully operational, Inland Sea-Harlan expects to produce and harvest approximately 5.3 million pounds annually. Kimle says the company believes inland salmon production represents a significant opportunity because of its broad market appeal and supply constraints in both wild-catch and seaside aquaculture. Per capita, salmon consumption in the U.S. is second behind shrimp as the most consumed seafood and has the most upside potential.

The primary sources of salmon consumed in the U.S. are Norway, Scotland and Chile with most salmon consumed in the Midwest coming from approximately 4,500 to 6,500 miles away. Inland Seas-Harlan believes there is a global need to increase and shift salmon production to scalable, sustainable methods like those proposed by the company.

(KNOD/Harlan)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Iowans no longer have to retreat in a public place before using deadly force – that’s the result of a new gun law that took effect in the state this month. But it’s creating an abundance of concern and confusion.

Sheriff Dave Drew of Woodbury County says he’ll continue to enforce a no-guns-allowed policy at the county courthouse, even as the county supervisors insist the courthouse ban should no longer apply. Drew says he is complying with a June order from the Iowa Supreme Court, which limits the ability to carry weapons in justice centers. “I’m an officer of the court, I have been for the 36 years I’ve been doing this job, and I don’t have that luxury to tell the judge, ‘You know, I don’t agree with that,'” he says.     

Opponents of the law are worried that it may actually increase violence in the state.

Meanwhile, the Iowa Legislature has been criticized for the vagueness of the bill. Drew says he’s aware that by limiting where firearms can be carried, he’s opening himself up to lawsuits – but believes he’s on solid legal ground to win such a case.

The state law now says an Iowan can sue any city, county or township that passes a firearms ban if the individual believes they are adversely affected by it. And as county officials butt heads over how to interpret the new law, Drew says the disagreement in his county isn’t personal – just part of the nature of county business. “Each elected official, office holder, is autonomous, in that they don’t answer to the Board of Supervisors – but they answer to the public every four years,” he explains.

Elsewhere in the state, the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors has publicly stated that it will also abide by the state Supreme Court order, noting it will likely take a legal battle to ultimately resolve the issue.

(Iowa News Service)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Trees that suck up sunlight and groundwater at the expense of other prairie plant life are creating new headaches throughout the Plains, including Nebraska, western Iowa and the Dakotas.

The eastern red cedar tree spreads so quickly that it catches many landowners off-guard, consuming huge areas of productive ranchland and threatening many of the area’s original prairies.

At one point in Nebraska, the trees expanded at a pace of nearly 40,000 acres a year Some landowners have formed burn associations to clear the trees. John Ortmann, a rangeland ecologist in Ord, Nebraska, says the problem will worsen without proper land management techniques, including controlled burns to keep the trees in check.

The Cass County Fair still has two full days of activities for your family to enjoy. Here’s a look at today’s (Sunday’s) line-up of events:

• 7:30-a.m.: Swine Show
• 10-a.m.: Poultry Show& 4-H Exhibits open; Doyle Chainsaw Artistry (10-am to 1-p.m.)
• Noon until 4-p.m.: Decorator’s Showcase
• 2:30-p.m. Pedal Tractor Pull
• 3-p.m. to 3:30-p.m: Feeder Calf Weigh-in; 3-until 5-p.m.: Doyle Chainsaw Artistry
• 4:30-p.m.: County Fair Church Service
• 5:30-p.m.: Cow/Calf Show
• 6:00-p.m.: Feeder Calf Show
• 6:30-p.m.: Horse Fun Show
• 7:00-p.m.: Dance/Gymnastics & a Comedian

The Fair continues for one more full day, on Monday, and concludes Tuesday morning with the Livestock Sale beginning at 8-a.m.  Take time today to visit your Cass County Fair, where it doesn’t cost you a thing to park, see the exhibits or enjoy the rides and shows.

Officials with the Atlantic Community School District (ACSD) say they will continue to utilize the “rollover” online registration process for the 2017-18 School Year using JMC, the district’s student information system. The online portal for registration will open Tuesday, August 1st. If your student or students attended ACSD last school year (2016-17) and were still in attendance on the last day of school, you need to follow 6 steps to verify registration information and pay student fees (The steps are shown below). Student fees will need to be paid by Friday, October 6, 2017.

Students who are new to the school district and are planning to enroll for the 2017-18 school year will need to register for school at our school buildings. During this time, if administration is available we will be more than happy to give new students tours of their new school. Information about the six quick steps for “Rollover online registration, as well as other information about the district and contact numbers, is listed below. Parents can also access school registration forms by visiting the district’s webpage, www.atlanticiaschools.org.

The 6 Quick Steps for “Rollover” Online Registration.

Log onto Parent Portal
Click on Register for School and Start/Continue Registration Process
View Tuition/Fees In Parent Portal
Set Up Alert Configuration in Parent Portal
Pay Fees and Lunch on RevTrak

Other information is available on the district’s webpage as well, including: Free and Reduced Forms, Physical Forms, Transportation Request (rural only), Yearbook Order, Handbook, Parent Portal Information, and much more).

If you don’t have access to the internet/online, please feel free to stop at your child’s school. The office will be more than happy to assist you in anyway. Should you have any questions regarding school registration or the payment of school fees, please contact the schools at the numbers below.

Washington Elementary School: Pre-K – 3rd grade, 712-243-5234; Stacey Hornung, Principal. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Schuler Elementary School: Grades 4-5; 712-243-1370; James Northwick, Principal. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Atlantic Middle School: Grades 6-8, 712-243-1330; Josh Rasmussen, Principal. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Atlantic High School: Grades 9-12, 712-243-5358; Heather McKay, Principal. Matt Alexander, Asst Principal/Activities Director. Hours: 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

Transportation – All Grades: Phone: 712-243-3374; Dave Eckles, Supervisor

Food Service – All Grades: Phone: 712- 243-5369; DeeAnn Schreiner, Supervisor

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:15 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for a former Iowa Senate Republican caucus aide awarded $2.2 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit this month have filed a motion seeking an independent investigation into the caucus office’s workplace culture. The Des Moines Register reports attorneys for Kirsten Anderson filed the motion Thursday. It accuses GOP party leaders of doing nothing to curb an ongoing toxic environment at the statehouse.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a Des Moines man shot and killed in the city’s River Bend neighborhood, as well as two people arrested in the case. Police say 23-year-old Jeffrey Sifrido Mercado died following the Friday afternoon shooting. Police say two other men, 19-year-old Miguel Angel Lorenzo-Baltazar and 22-year-old Anthony Garcia, both of Des Moines, were arrested Friday and have been charged with first-degree murder.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City police are investigating a shooting that left one man injured. The shooting happened late Friday night. Police were called to Sandusky Drive for a report of a fight. When officers arrived, they found a man bleeding from a gunshot wound. The man was taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Police say an initial investigation revealed the man may have been robbed at gunpoint.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former union president in northwest Iowa has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $95,000 from the organization. The Sioux City Journal reports that 53-year-old Curtis Lang was sentenced in federal court in Sioux City on Friday. Prosecutors say Lang took the money from 2005 through 2015 while serving as president of the United Dairy Workers, which represents employees of Wells Enterprises in Le Mars, Iowa.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former union president in northwest Iowa has been sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling more than $95,000 from the organization. The Sioux City Journal reports that 53-year-old Curtis Lang was sentenced in federal court in Sioux City on Friday. Lang pleaded guilty to the single count in May.

Prosecutors say Lang took the money from 2005 through 2015 while serving as president of the United Dairy Workers, which represents employees of Wells Enterprises in Le Mars, Iowa. Investigators say he used the stolen money to purchase gift cards that he used to buy a motorcycle, take vacations and go out to eat, among other expenditures.