DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The backyard of Iowa’s historic governor’s mansion is about to get a major facelift, with a new reflecting pool and vintage style greenhouse. Jeff Boeyink, a former chief of staff to Gov. Terry Branstad who heads up a fundraising effort for Terrace Hill, says both projects will be privately funded. He says the goal is to complete them by next summer, when Des Moines will host a meeting of the National Governor’s Association,

The project will convert a 1920s swimming pool that was filled in with sand and topsoil more than ten years ago into a decorative shallow reflecting pool. These improvements come after several years of work on the historic home. A new kitchen, updated restrooms and an energy-efficient heating and cooling system are among the recent updates.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Students at Iowa’s three public universities could see an unprecedented mid-year tuition hike, if the Iowa Board of Regents approves an increase for the upcoming spring semester. Late last year, the Iowa Board of Regents approved a freeze on tuition rates for the third consecutive year. But a regents spokesman tells Cedar Rapids television station KCRG a state funding shortfall could lead to the mid-year increase.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — A man on trial for first-degree murder in the 2013 stabbing death of his ex-girlfriend told a jury he was acting in self-defense. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 41-year-old Tyrone Washington Junior took the stand Friday and said Justina Smith pulled a knife on him on August 5th, 2013, in a park in Northwood.

CRYSTAL LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Biologists say a large algae bloom in north-central Iowa’s Crystal Lake has killed thousands of fish, which have washed up on the lake’s shores and created a putrid mess. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the fish were killed earlier this week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A lot north of downtown Des Moines that’s been vacant for years is expected to be the site of a new housing development. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that a $5 million project is planned for the lot at 6th Street and Forest Avenue. The designs for the three-story apartment building show layouts for 30-units of one- and two-bedroom housing.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Students at Iowa’s three public universities could see an unprecedented mid-year tuition hike, if the Iowa Board of Regents approves an increase for the upcoming spring semester. Late last year, the Iowa Board of Regents approved a freeze on tuition rates for the third consecutive year. But a regents spokesman says a state funding shortfall could lead to the mid-year increase.

Spokesman Josh Lehman tells Cedar Rapids television station KCRG that the board agreed to the tuition freeze this year with the understanding that their request for a 1.75 percent increase in state funding would be approved. But only a 1.25 percent increase was appropriated.

The regents are set to discuss raising tuition for the spring semester of the 2015-16 school year during an August meeting.

319 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2015 ...HOT AND HUMID SUNDAY AND MONDAY…

Counties in orange are included in the Heat Advisories for Sun. & Monday

MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO RISE INTO THE LOWER 90S BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S MONDAY. DEW POINTS ARE ANTICIPATED RANGE IN THE MIDDLE 70S BOTH DAYS…PLUS THE RECENT RAIN FROM SATURDAY MORNING SHOULD ADD TO THE HUMIDITY AND MAKE CONDITIONS EXTREMELY BALMY.

MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT- PAGE COUNTIES:HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM TO 8 PM CDT SUNDAY. HEAT INDICES WILL RANGE FROM 100 TO NEAR 110 DEGREES SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

COUNTIES: CRAWFORD-CARROLL-GREENE-BOONE-STORY-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-POLK- JASPER-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN-MARION-MAHASKA-ADAMS-UNION– CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE- APPANOOSE-DAVIS-

HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 7 PM CDT SUNDAY… HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY..

TEMPERATURE…ON SUNDAY…EXPECT MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES TO RISE INTO THE LOWER 90S AND DEW POINTS IN THE MIDDLE 70S. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL LEAD TO HEAT INDEX VALUES RANGING FROM 100 TO 105 DEGREES. MONDAY LOOKS TO BE EVEN HOTTER WITH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES RISING INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 90S AND HEAT INDEX VALUES RANGING FROM 103 TO 108. A FEW AREAS MAY APPROACH 110 DEGREE HEAT INDEX BY MONDAY AFTERNOON.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS…STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM…STAY OUT OF THE SUN…AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS. TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS…IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE…RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.

The Adams County Fair Queen was crowned during a ceremony Friday evening, in Corning. Chris Nelson, with the Adams County Extension Service reports 18-year old Nichole Bashor, the daughter of Terry and Mary Bashor, of Corning, was awarded the title and honors.

First runner-up was 18 year old Mikayla Moore, the daughter of Corey and Deana Moore, also of Corning. Second runner-up was 16-year old Molly Oglesbee, the daughter of Josh Ogglesbee and Becky Oglesbee, of Corning.

The Adams County Fair continues its run through July 15th. Find out more at http://www.myadamscountyfair.net/

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer reports two, recent arrests. On Thursday, 48-year old Timothy Duane Smith, of Audubon, was arrested Driving While Suspended and No Insurance. Smith was released after posting bond. And on July 2nd, 21 year old Dylan Michael Jager, of Elk Horn, was arrested in Audubon for Disorderly Conduct. Jager was released on promise to appear later, in court.

w/ Chris Parks

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Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush will be in Iowa this coming week, attending meet-and-greet events Monday at Morningside College in Sioux City, before heading to Ames to speak at the Story County GOP dinner. On Tuesday, the former Governor from Florida will attend a meet-and-greet at the Barley’s Pub, in Council Bluffs (114 W. Broadway), beginning at Noon.

Bush’s campaign reported Thursday that it raised $11.4 million in just six days. That’s likely at least twice as much as his next closest Republican competitor.Yet Bush has no direct control over 90 percent of the money. The total includes $103 million raised by a super PAC. And by law, the super PAC can’t take direction from Bush’s Miami-based campaign. The two operations have limits on how they can communicate. The system was designed by Bush’s most trusted advisers. It’s a strategy untested in modern politics.

Volunteers with treatment-resistant high blood pressure are needed for a medical trial that’s being done at a hospital in central Iowa, one of only seven medical centers in the country chosen for the study. Dr. Magdi Ghali, of the Iowa Heart Center at Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines, says a small metal device is implanted in the carotid artery in the neck, a key place where the body regulates blood pressure.

Dr. Ghali says, “This device sits there and increases the sensitivity of the nerve endings to the pressure that’s happening inside the artery, allowing the brain to receive the correct signal and then lower the blood pressure.” Despite advances, Ghali says a growing number of patients in Iowa with high blood pressure suffer from drug resistance and they have few options once they’ve failed multiple medications. The trial is designed only for patients with treatment-resistant high blood pressure, also known as resistant hypertension.

“The patients who qualify are people who are on three blood pressure medications and their blood pressure is remaining higher than 160/90,” Ghali says. “If that’s the case, we would evaluate the patient to make sure there’s not a secondary cause and then they would have a couple of weeks of keeping a diary of the blood pressure to make sure they’re exactly the right patient for the study.” Hypertension can significantly increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure, so controlling it is vitally important, he says. For more information about the trial, call (515) 633-3845.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Congressman Steve King is trying to get the U.S. House to pass a resolution that says States “may refuse” to recognize or license same-sex marriages, although such non-binding resolutions do not have the force of law. King’s resolution is his latest response to last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

“We’re in a place where the Supreme Court has put themselves above the law, above the Constitution and above the will of the people,” King says. Most Republicans in congress have publicly expressed opposition to the court’s ruling, so the resolution would likely pass, although House leaders have not indicated it’s a priority for debate. King’s House Resolution embraces what he calls the “traditional definition of marriage” as a “union between one man and one woman.”

“The domestic life of America has been dramatically transformed by the order of the Supreme Court,” King says. King calls the court’s same-sex marriage opinion a “blatant act of judicial activism” that has “perverted” the word marriage. “And they will impose it on the rest of the country because they’re the ‘enlightened five’ of nine in black robes,” King says. “Well, the Supreme Court has had a terrible record on dealing with large domestic issues.”

King cites the court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision which ruled African Americans weren’t citizens and the federal government had no authority to restrict or regulate slavery and the 1962 decision that ruled mandatory prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. Earlier this year, before the court’s ruling on same-sex marriage last month, King tried to get congress to pass legislation that would forbid the federal courts from deciding such cases, but that legislation stalled.

(Radio Iowa)