BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) – A man arrested in May in connection with the death of his 3-year-old daughter in southwest Iowa has officially been charged with first-degree murder. The Taylor County Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that the charge was added against 25-year-old Charles Hall on July 2nd.

Hall and his girlfriend, 25-year-old April Clair, were both arrested in late May on charges of child endangerment in connection with the death of Janyiah King. Authorities responded to a 911 call at a residence in Bedford on May 22nd. Janyiah was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead. A full autopsy is pending but her death has been ruled a homicide.

Joni Ernst is downplaying talk that she might be her party’s next vice presidential nominee. During a conference call with Iowa reporters Thursday morning, Ernst was asked if she would “entertain” the V-P spot on the G-O-P’s 2016 ticket. “The next ticket I anticipate running on will be the 2020 election for United States Senate again in Iowa,” Ernst said. “I very much enjoy serving Iowans and I’m going to put their priorities first.”

Ernst was elected last November and took the oath of office about seven months ago. She laughs off the kind of praise that has spawned talk of her moving up the political ladder. “Well, thank you. Did my mother pay you to say that?” Ernst asked, laughing.

Ernst hosted an event a month ago in Boone that drew seven of the G-O-P presidential candidates, but she does not plan to endorse a candidate before Iowa’s Caucuses.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Republican Joni Ernst, the only female combat veteran serving in the U.S. Senate, predicts the senate will easily confirm President Obama’s choice to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a key military advisor to the president. General Joseph Dunford Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Ernst is a member of that panel.

“He has been a service chief for a number of years. I have met with him on many occasions,” Ernst says. “We have discussed action all around the globe including what we see going on in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, of course the tension between Russia and Ukraine.” General Dunford, a Marine who is the son of a Marine, earned the nickname “Fightin’ Joe” from his troops after he jumped into a fire fight in Iraq.

“I think he’s going to do a fine job. I think he’s going to have a unanimous confirmation in the senate,” Ernst says. “I admire him greatly and respect his service.” The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the highest ranking officer in the U.S. military and a direct advisor to the president. The chairman meets with leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and National Guard to craft U.S. military strategy.

(Radio Iowa)

The driver of a vehicle involved in a collision at around Noon Thursday in Red Oak, reportedly complained of pain and was possibly injured, but did not request transport to the hospital. According to Red Oak Police, the accident happened at the intersection of N. 2nd and E. Coolbaugh Streets, when 65-year old Bonnie Husa, of Stanton, stopped her vehicle, but then proceeded into the intersection and struck a car driven by 85-year old Henry Elliott, of Red Oak. Elliott complained of pain afterward, but both drivers refused medical treatment.

Husa received a written warning for Failure to Obey a Stop Sign. Damage from the crash amounted to $10,000. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by the Red Oak Fire Department.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa lawmaker says he doesn’t regret telling a science teacher to “quit whining” in an email exchange over the state’s public education funding. Republican Senator David Johnson of Ocheyeden tells the Sioux City Journal that his initial response to Vaughn Gross, a teacher at Waterloo West High School, was fueled by the lawmaker being “fooled” when responding to other messages sent on social media.

OSAGE, Iowa (AP) — Police say an Iowa man has been arrested after leading authorities on a car chase into Minnesota that reached speeds of up to 130 miles per hour The Osage Police Department says 24-year-old Brandon Anderson of St. Ansgar was arrested after he failed to follow instructions for a traffic stop Tuesday night in Mitchell County in northern Iowa. Anderson is accused of leading officers on a high-speed chase that went into Mower County in nearby Minnesota. Spike strips were deployed to stop his car.

BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) — A man arrested in May in connection with the death of his 3-year-old daughter in southwest Iowa has been charged with first-degree murder. The Taylor County Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that the charge was added against 25-year-old Charles Hall on July 2nd.

SILVIS, Illinois (AP) — Justin Thomas and Nicholas Thompson were tied for the lead at 8 under par in Thursday’s opening round of the John Deere Classic, while Jordan Spieth languished far behind. Thomas and Thompson each shot a 63 at the TPC Deere Run in Illinois.

Twelve Iowa organizations and businesses will receive Environmental Excellence awards from Gov. Terry E. Branstad this summer. The awards are the premier environmental honors in Iowa. Among the winners is the Guthrie Center Community Schools, in Guthrie Center. The district will receive Special Recognition for Habitat Restoration and Environment Education.

The Governor said “The vision and initiatives undertaken by the award recipients to benefit Iowa’s citizens both economically and environmentally are recognized and celebrated through these awards. They showcase the commitment being made to make Iowa a better state now and into the future.”

Branstad will present awards to the recipients at a recognition ceremony at 3 p.m. Aug. 4th in the Capitol Rotunda, located at 1007 East Grand Avenue in Des Moines. The public is invited to attend.

For more information about the Governor’s Iowa Environmental Excellence Awards, go to www.iowadnr.gov/eeawards.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The state auditor’s office says a former doctor for University of Iowa Health Care improperly billed insurers and diverted nearly $1.9 million in collections into his personal bank accounts. The office said in a news release Thursday that the university had requested a special investigation into actions by Dr. Brian Adams. He worked in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation from December 1992 until resigning last August.

Online court records don’t show any charges against Adams. The auditor’s office filed copies of its report with law enforcement, including Johnson County prosecutors.

We hear reports on Iowa’s corn and soybean crops from the U-S-D-A every week, but one thing we don’t hear updated often is the condition of Iowa’s -sweet- corn crop. Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says so far, so good. “We’ve seen just a little sweet corn coming around and we’ll see a lot more in the next several weeks,” Northey says. “I’m hearing there’s a really good crop out there and it’s a great time of year for sweet corn.”

Northey said the condition of the sweet corn crop varies in different areas of Iowa. “We have some parts of the state that have gotten too much water,” he says, “so in those cases, if the sweet corn was in a low area and got too much water, that may be either hard to harvest or may even be such that it just drowned out pieces of that sweet corn or set it back.” Favorable reports have come from many sections of the state, especially northwest and north-central Iowa.

Northey says the first locally-grown corn started appearing around the 4th of July weekend and vendors are ready to sell the golden ears. “It’s a great time to pick up sweet corn at farmers markets,” Northey says. “There’s a lot of local sweet corn that’ll be sold in our grocery stores and of course, we have a series of festivals around that are centered on sweet corn, from now until almost Labor Day.”

Some of the bigger sweet corn festivals in the state include those in Adel on August 9th, West Point on August 13th and Des Moines on August 29th.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – The three giant Gateway Arches that for 35 years told travelers that they were in Sioux City have come crashing down. Each 40-foot-tall, 36-ton structure was pushed over on Wednesday after dirt was dug from the base beneath them. Now they’re no longer in the way of a new Nebraska Street exit to be built as part of the ongoing Interstate 29 project.

The estimated $165,000 cost of moving and installing the arches elsewhere in the city ruled out proposals to save them. Joanne Grueskin led the community drive to build the arches in 1980, and she says they helped spur development of the Anderson Dance Pavilion and the riverfront bike trails. She says the arches well-served their purpose.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Sioux City officials say some people who have paid parking tickets have still gotten city notices that they haven’t, so the city has stopped sending all notices until the problem is resolved. The Sioux City Journal reports that the city sends notices to people if their tickets aren’t paid within 15 days of the tickets being issued. The notices say that if the tickets aren’t paid within 30 days of their issuance, extra $5 charges will be added to the tickets.

The city usually sends 100-150 notices on Fridays. Last week 240 notices were sent.
No program problems have been found so far with the computer system that keeps track of parking tickets.