Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sampling the pork chop on a stick. Snapping a selfie with the butter cow. Taking questions about foreign policy from hecklers. For those who would be president, a visit to the Iowa State Fair may be the purest distillation of the campaign experience in the state that starts the voting in the race for the White House. The 10-day event starts Thursday and most of the 2016 hopefuls will pass through.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair says the opening acts for singer Meghan Trainor’s canceled grandstand performance will now be the main act for a free show. Fair organizers said Wednesday afternoon that Charlie Puth and Life of Dillon will perform August 22nd at the grandstand. The announcement comes one day after Trainor, the artist behind the hit “All About That Bass,” said she couldn’t complete her tour due to a vocal cord problem.

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Two people have died, including a 9-year-old boy, after an RV carrying a trailer struck an SUV in Warren County. The Des Moines Register reports 9-year-old Eric M. Fuller and 72-year-old Karla K. Handy, who were passengers in the SUV, died Wednesday morning.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The committee searching for the next University of Iowa president has recommended a slate of finalists to the Iowa Board of Regents. Committee chair and interim school president Jean Robillard said Wednesday the names of recommended finalists will remain confidential for now.

A report in the Omaha World-Herald says four Council Bluffs men were taken into custody Tuesday night in connection with a vandalism spree at a golfing facility in Council Bluffs. Sheriff’s officials told the paper the three 18-year old’s and one 19-year old were each booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail on a felony, suspicion of first-degree criminal mischief, charge. The arrest of Spencer Dolch, Andrew Ryan, Alberto Espinoza and Payton Hiffernan, followed an incident that took place Monday night, at the Bent Tree Golf Club.

Authorities said the young men walked off with all of the 18-hole course’s flag sticks and tore up 15 greens using a four-wheel-drive ATV. An area resident saw one of the 18-year-olds riding an ATV before the vandalism occurred. The resident contacted deputies, who questioned the teen and later arrested him and the others.

A man from Harrison County was arrested this week on a felony assault charge, after allegedly attempting to push his wife out of their rolling SUV, late last week. The Omaha World-Herald says according to court documents, the wife of a Logan man, 39-year old Shane Vanderlinden, told authorities on Monday, that the couple were traveling north on Interstate 29 late Friday night, en route to her parents’ home, when he started to beat her.

The woman told investigators Vanderlinden eventually pushed her out of their Land Rover on the exit ramp near Loveland, and she landed on the pavement. The vehicle was traveling at around 30-miles per hour at the time. An off-duty officer for the Logan Police Department stopped to help the woman, who was flown to the Nebraska Medical Center, where she was treated for skull fractures, bleeding on the brain, and numerous cuts and bruises.

Vanderlinden was charged with Attempted Murder. He also faces a felony charge of assault-willful injury and domestic aggravated assault. The man was arrested Tuesday and remained in the Pottawattamie County Jail Wednesday, on $50,000 bond.

The head of the Iowa Department of Human Services says he’s “not sure” there’s a need for more in-patient psychiatric bed space in Iowa for adults suffering from acute mental illnesses. Advocates for the mentally ill have raised concerns after the state-run Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant were closed June 30th. Chuck Palmer briefed the Iowa Council on Human Services late Wednesday morning.

Palmer said “The vast majority of people with mental illness will never have to be in in-patient treatment…and shouldn’t if we do a decent job.” Palmer is touting a “redesign” of the state’s public and private mental health care delivery system that was begun in 2011. Palmer says the goal is to have a wider range of services availble, closer to the patient’s home. “If you were to ask me today: ‘Palmer, do we need more psychiatric beds?’ I’d say: ‘I’m not sure.'”

He told  the council “I know we are developing more alternatives.” Palmer says there should be more attention paid to “specialized care” immediately after a mental illness is first diagnosed, and more “Where’s my greatest return on investment?” Palmer asked. “It’s to put in place those things that help defer higher cost services or, frankly, inpatient psychiatric services.”

He says today in Iowa there are more than 700 spaces for adult inpatient psychiatric care in 27 private hospitals and the two remaining state-run Mental Health. As of August 1st, Palmer and his staff have a new electronic system to track openings. Palmer says it will help hospitals track down an empty bed for a patient suffering from an acute mental illness, although some hospitals are having technical issues with the system today.

The Mental Health Institute in Mount Pleasant provided inpatient services to patients with the dual diagnosis of substance abuse and a mental illness, while the M-H-I in Clarinda provided care for frail elderly patients who had a mental illness. Three of those patients have died after being transferred to private facilities. Palmer extended his condolences to the families, but he told the council he’s not sure the state should be in the business of providing geriatric care to mentally ill patients.

Members of the Council on Human Services praised Palmer’s work and said it was too bad all the news about the mental health redesign has been negative and few have focused on the “really positive” big picture.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) said late Wednesday night, that the former President of the LeClaire Firefighter’s Association was arrested Wednesday on a Theft charge, following an investigation into a string of suspicious financial transactions discovered within a bank account held by the northeast Iowa group. Shawn Ream faces a charge of 2nd Degree Theft in connection with the alleged crime. Ream was being held in the Scott County Jail.

An investigation into his alleged activities began Tuesday, when the Le Claire Police Department requested assistance from the DPS and DCI’s Major Crime Unit.

Police in Council Bluffs arrested a 49-year old man following a more than 2  and a 1/2 hour standoff, Wednesday night. Authorities say Carl Galvan was taken into custody at around 10:50-p.m. after surrendering peacefully. He was brought to Mercy Hospital and put on a Police Hold. No injuries were reported.

The stand-off began after Council Bluffs Police were called to 802 Avenue H at around 8:10-p.m., in reference to a barricaded male who wanted to harm himself.

Carl Galvan

Upon arrival, Officers established communications with the man, who was identified as Galvan. Galvan was wanted on valid warrants through Pottawattamie County for Domestic Abuse. He advised Officers he had barricaded the door, was armed with a butcher knife and he did not intend to cooperate.

Uniform Officers set up a perimeter and established communications with Galvan until Council Bluffs Police Negotiators and the Emergency Services Team arrived on scene. After Police Negotiators were advised Galvan was exiting the residence and intended to surrender, the Emergency Services Team took him into custody. Only minor damage occurred to a window and a door, during the incident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair says the opening acts for singer Meghan Trainor’s canceled grandstand performance will now be the main act for a free show. Fair organizers said Wednesday afternoon that Charlie Puth and Life of Dillon will perform Aug. 22 at the grandstand. The announcement comes one day after Trainor, the artist behind the hit “All About That Bass,” said she couldn’t complete her tour due to a vocal cord problem.

More than 8,500 tickets had been sold for Trainor’s show and they will be refunded. Organizers did not provide additional information about the decision to make the revamped performance free.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reported Wednesday, the arrest on Tuesday of 22-year old Daylan Gene Kleen, of Walnut. Kleen was taken into custody on a charge of Driving While Barred. He was released later that day on his own recognizance.

And on Sunday, 24-year old Callyn Scott Vincent Pollock,  of Anita, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Failure to Appear and a charge of Driving While Revoked (Serious). Pollock was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released on his own recognizance, Monday.

A collision between a motor home and an SUV in southern Iowa’s Warren County Wednesday morning claimed the lives of two people, including a boy from Ringgold County. The Iowa State Patrol says 9-year old Eric M. Fuller, of Kellerton, and 72-year old Karen K. Handy, of Indianola, died in the crash that happened just before 9-a.m., at the intersection of Warren County road G-76 and Highway 69.

Eric Fuller was a passenger in a 2000 GMC Jimmy driven by 47-year old Kimberly R. Fuller, also of Kellerton. Also injured in the crash was 10-year old Lillian J. Fuller, of Kellerton, and Rodney M. Shoup, of Moore, OK. Kimberly and Lillian Fuller were transported by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, where the woman was last reported to be in critical condition and the child in serious condition.  Authorities say Shoup did not require hospitalization.

The Patrol says a 2005 Freightliner Motorhome driven by 54-year old Keith F-C Hutton, of Newcastle, OK, was traveling west on G-76 and ran the stop sign before hitting the SUV which was traveling north on Highway 69. After the impact, both vehicles continued westbound before coming to rest on the road. The accident remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Four school districts in southeast Iowa have filed a lawsuit against an Indiana company, claiming that tablet devices sold to the districts are faulty. The Des Moines Register reports the lawsuit was filed by attorneys representing the Albia Community School District, the Keokuk Community School District, the Van Buren School District and the West Burlington Independent School District.

The districts say they bought nearly 3,000 tablets from CurriculumLoft, a Columbus, Indiana-based software company, in 2013. The tablets were designed for students to complete homework, tests and other classroom activities. The lawsuit claims the tablets have technology glitches, are slow and have low battery life. District administrators say the company has refused to give refunds.