COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In the first full month of her presidential campaign, Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris is planning a tour of the nation’s four early-voting states. Harris’ schedule announced Tuesday includes two days each in South Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa and Nevada, states where support will be key to building momentum in a crowded 2020 Democratic field. The first-term senator from California will make her first visit to New Hampshire and then her first stop in Nevada since she officially declared her candidacy. She will be returning to Iowa and South Carolina, which she visited after launching her bid.

While the Harris campaign said specifics would be released later, the dates of her early-states tour are: South Carolina, Feb. 15-16; New Hampshire, Feb. 18-19; Iowa, Feb. 23-24; and Nevada, Feb. 28-March 1.
Harris, 54, announced her candidacy Jan. 21 during a national TV appearance, then appeared at an official kickoff rally Jan. 27 before thousands of people in downtown Oakland, California.
Harris’ campaign has already named Deidre DeJear as her campaign chair in Iowa and Will Dubbs as Iowa state director, signs of how the nascent campaign is growing in the state holding the first voting of the 2020 primary.

In New Hampshire, Harris has added Craig Brown as her campaign’s state director.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A jury has acquitted a 31-year-old man accused of punching to death a 2-year-old girl in Iowa County. Court records say Cody Stevenson was found not guilty Monday of first-degree murder. A criminal complaint said Stevenson struck the daughter of his live-in girlfriend three or four times in the abdomen on June 30, 2017, at a Williamsburg apartment. Authorities say the girl died three days later.

He testified Friday that he’d told authorities that he punched the girl but said so only to protect her mother. He says she punched her daughter. Court records don’t show the woman has been charged. The trial was moved to Cedar Rapids because of pretrial publicity.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, posted a report on arrests dating back to early January. Most recently:

• 41-year old Scottie Lynn Mitchell, of Exira, was arrested Monday morning (2/4), for Domestic Abuse 1st Offense. His arrest was the result of an investigation into an incident that occurred on January 26th. Mitchell appeared in front of the Magistrate and was released.
• 28-year old Blake Daniel Johannes, of Audubon, was arrested Friday morning, for Harassment in the 1st Degree. Johannes was released a short time later after appearing before the Magistrate.
• On Jan. 30th, 30-year old Jessica Lynn Pedrin, of Audubon, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for four counts of Violation of a No Contact Order. Pedrin was being held in the Audubon County Jail on a $1,200 bond.

Other arrests in January:

• Jan. 16th, 32-year old Robert Lee Crawley, of Hamlin, was arrested for Violation of a No Contact Order. He was released after appearing before the Magistrate.
• Jan. 7th, 30-year old Jay Robert Pedrin, of Audubon, was charged with six counts of Violation of a No Contact Order while being held in the Audubon County Jail on Burglary 2nd and Willful Injury/Domestic Abuse charges. He currently has a $35,800 bond.
• 31-year old Andrew Michael Templemeyer, of Storm Lake and 35-year old Brandon Michael Barringer, of Brayton, were arrested on outstanding warrants for two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Prescription Drug. The charges stem from a traffic stop that occurred on January 1st on Highway 71 near 335th Street. Both appeared before the Magistrate and were released.
• 30-year old Craig Brian Torgerson, of Foxboro, Wisconsin, was arrested January 6th, for OWI-1st Offense. The arrest was the result of a traffic stop that occurred on January 6th at the intersection of 345th & Lark Avenue.Torgerson posted a $1,000 bond the following morning and was released.
• 31-year old Allison Marie Martin, of Manning, was arrested January 1st, for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her arrest stemmed from a traffic stop that occurred on Highway 71 near 335th Street. Allison was cited and released on the charge, but an arrest warrant was later requested for her arrest for two counts of Unlawful Possession of a Prescription Drugs stemming from the same stop. Martin turned herself in on the warrant January 31st, and was released after appearing before the Magistrate later that morning.
• And, 43-year old Dale Langenfeld Jr., of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, turned himself in on an outstanding Audubon County warrant for Leaving the Scene of an Accident. The warrant stemmed from an accident that occurred on September 7th in the 200 block of Fairview Street in Exira. He posted a $300 bond and was released.

Red Oak Police, Monday night, arrested a woman on an assault charge after officers responded to a residence in the 1300 block of Sunnyslope Drive, for a physical domestic assault in progress. Officers separated both parties and arrested 26-year old Bailey Anne Bostwick, of Red Oak, for Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Bostwick was taken into custody at around 8:30-p.m. and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where she was being held without bond, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and key Republicans in the legislature met yesterday (Monday) and settled on a “per pupil” spending level for the 2019/2020 school year. They’ve agreed to boost general state support of public K-through-12 schools by a little more than two percent, slightly less than what Governor Reynolds recommended last month. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says the deal includes more money to offset transportation costs and address inequities in the state funding formula — for a total package of nearly 90 million more dollars to public schools.

“I think the most important thing when it comes to school funding is we promise an amount that we can actually fund,” Whitver says, “and this amount that we’re promising today is an amount that we’re very confident we’ll be able to fund in the future.”

The state’s education community had been lobbying for more. Melissa Peterson is a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association which represents 34-thousand Iowa teachers.  “While we appreciate that 2.06 percent is better than the rates that have been assigned that last couple of years,” she says, “we know that school districts in Iowa need at least three percent to keep up with the cost of inflation.”

Last year, the Republicans at the statehouse approved a one percent hike in per pupil state funding for the current school year. The previous year, the increase was one-point-one percent. Legislative leaders expect the G-O-P’s general school spending level for NEXT year to gain final approval in the House and Senate next week.