(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he supports the troop buildup on the U-S border with Mexico as a caravan of several thousand Central American migrants approaches. Initially, 800 active duty soldiers were going to be dispatched to the border. Now, the number is over five-thousand troops, combined with another two-thousand-plus National Guard members who were already assigned there. “One of the definitions of a sovereign nation is protecting its borders and, quite frankly, arresting 1,000 people every day, sometimes 1,700, to send them back because they entered the country illegally, we’re not doing a very good job of protecting our borders,” Grassley says. “We should protect our borders.”

More than 73-hundred troops should be at the border before Election Day, which is reportedly more American soldiers than are now deployed in Iraq and Syria combined. Grassley says the U-S would welcome these people — if they’d follow the rules. “Let’s say there’s 5,000 in this caravan. That’s a spit in the ocean compared to the million people that we take in every year legally,” Grassley says. “Why don’t they go back to their country and go to our embassies and try to enter our country legally?”

Grassley says he wouldn’t want anyone who’s already in the U-S legally to be “displaced,” but he believes there’s plenty of room — and opportunity — here for these migrants, should they choose to enter legally. “With our birth rate down the way it is and with seven-million jobs that we have vacant that we can’t find workers for, we could obviously use workers,” Grassley says. “We need them because we need people paying into the Social Security system and Medicare. More taxpayers is what we need.”

The troops are being deployed to three main staging areas in Texas, California and Mexico for what’s being called Operation Faithful Patriot. The armed troops include medical personnel, aviation units and engineering battalions, with one report saying they’re hauling 22 miles worth of barbed wire.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal investigators say a broken rail caused the fiery 2017 derailment in northwest Iowa that released 322,000 gallons of ethanol. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled Tuesday that Union Pacific’s maintenance was inadequate before the March 2017 derailment near Graettinger, Iowa, and Federal Railroad Administration inspectors didn’t do enough to identify flaws in the track.

No injuries were reported in connection with the derailment in a rural area about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines. Five of the 20 derailed tankers plunged into Jack Creek. The NTSB says the train in this derailment was carrying ethanol for export that had not been denatured by adding chemicals. The agency wants to study whether it’s safer to transport ethanol before it is denatured.

ELKADER, Iowa (AP) — A jury says a northeast Iowa school district must pay $1.2 million in damages to the family of a motorcyclist killed in a fatal collision with a school bus. The Telegraph Herald reports that the Clayton County jury on Monday found the Clayton Ridge School District at fault. Authorities say 50-year-old Ronald Kephart, of Garnavillo, died after his motorcycle ran into the side of the bus as it turned left on Sept. 1, 2016, near Guttenberg. The driver was cited for failure to yield. None of the students on the bus was injured.

Kephart’s wife told the newspaper the verdict disappointed her, calling it “a slap in the face.” Amy Kephart says she realizes “no amount of money is going to be able to bring him back, but he did a lot for the family emotionally, financially, everything.”

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports three arrests took place last week. On Oct. 24th, 46-year old Bobby Glenn Agan, III, of Stuart, was arrested in Stuart on a Polk County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. Agan was being held in the Adair County Jail until he can make an initial appearance on the Polk County warrant. 18-year old Timothy Dethlef Asmus, of Audubon, was arrested Oct. 24th, on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear for fingerprinting. He was released later that same evening on a $100 cash bond.

And, on Oct. 23rd, 27-year old Heather Linn Armstrong, of Adel, was picked up by Polk County Deputies and transferred to the Adair County Jail, where she was being held on an Adair County felony warrant for Violation of Probation. Her cash bond was set at $5,000.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office has released a report on recent arrests and incidents. Authorities say:

On Oct. 23rd:

• 29-year old Justin Kyle Patton, of Atlantic, was arrested on charges of Possession of Marijuana 2nd Offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Patton was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $1,000 bond;
• 30-year old Jay Robert Edwin Pedrin, of Audubon, was arrested on an Atlantic Police Department felony warrant for Conspiracy to Commit a Nonforcible Felony. Pedrin was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on $5,000 bond;
• and, Cass County Deputies responded Oct. 23rd at around 12:05-a.m., to a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 at Exit 57. Officials say a 2013 Ram Tradesman owned and driven by 61-year old Sherry K. Brock, of Omaha, was westbound on I-80 when the vehicle left the roadway and entered the gore area of the exit ramp. Brock suffered minor injuries during the incident. Damage to the vehicle was estimated at $3,000. No citations were issued.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a Creston resident reported Monday morning, that sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, someone took the front weights off of two John Deere tractors. The weights were values at around $2,800. You may recall, last week, a Union County resident reported someone unbolted and stole front end weights off of a John Deere 4055 tractor. They were valued at $1,400

The Sheriff’s Office said also, 35-year old John Richard Lee, of Lorimor, was arrested Monday afternoon in Lorimor, on two Union County warrants for Theft 5^th degree and Theft 4^th degree. Lee was being held in the Union County Jail on $1,300 bond.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Federal authorities have accused a northern Iowa nurse of stealing prescription drugs and violating federal patient confidentiality laws. U.S. District Court records say 32-year-old Samantha Rogers is charged with obtaining and attempting to obtain controlled substances by fraud, deception and subterfuge; criminal violations of privacy law; and aiding and abetting.

A criminal complaint says Rogers, of Mason City, is a registered nurse and occupational therapist and that the incidents occurred in Cerro Gordo County. Authorities say Rogers stole medications from co-workers. Authorities also say Rogers accessed medical records to find patient addresses and then would show up at their homes, posing as a public health worker who was recovering unused medications.