Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has designated three Iowa counties as natural disaster areas due to severe drought. The USDA says in a statement released Tuesday farmers in Lee, Monroe and Wapello counties who suffered losses due to drought may be eligible for Farm Service Agency emergency loans to meet various recovery needs including replacing equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation or refinance certain debts. Farmers in 11 other Iowa counties also are eligible.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa is challenging city ordinances that prevent homeless people from asking for money in public places saying the local laws are unconstitutional. The ACLU of Iowa says it sent on Tuesday formal demand letters to Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Grimes insisting that they repeal their bans on panhandling. It’s part of a larger effort with other organizations to notify cities in 12 states that such ordinances are unconstitutional.

WOODWARD, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa school district official accused of embezzling nearly $217,000 over the course of several years has been arrested on first-degree theft charges. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says 35-year-old Melissa Lee Lantz turned herself in Tuesday at the Dallas County Jail and later was released on bond. The arrest follows a state audit that found that Lantz had cut herself 101 unauthorized checks over a five-year period.

VINTON, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa couple who kept hundreds of animals in and outside their home have been given two years of probation for child endangerment. Benton County court records say 36-year-old Marshall Galkowski and 38-year-old Barbara Galkowski pleaded guilty. Among the probation terms are limits on how many animals they can have in their Vinton home: fish, one dog, two cats and up to an additional six small animals inside the residence in a properly maintained cage.

WOODWARD, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa school district official was arrested Tuesday on theft charges for allegedly embezzling nearly $217,000 over the course of several years. 35-year old Melissa Lee Lantz, who resigned as the Woodward-Granger Community School District’s business manager shortly after being placed on administrative leave last August, was arrested on first-degree theft charges at the Dallas County Jail, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a statement. She later posted bond and was released.

The arrest follows a state audit that found more than $270,000 in improper and unsupported disbursements by the district over five years, including 101 checks that Lantz issued to herself on top of her authorized paychecks. Those additional checks, which weren’t approved by the school board, ranged from $315 to $6,500, according to the auditors, who forwarded their findings to the authorities.

District officials who were concerned about Lantz’s actions requested the audit.
Auditors said it was impossible to determine whether more payroll checks were improperly issued, because time sheets before June 15, 2013, were not available. It also wasn’t possible to determine whether all district collections were properly deposited, because sufficient records were not available, the report said.

In addition to the $217,000 in unauthorized checks, the audit found improper disbursements including nearly $12,000 in health and dental insurance premiums that were paid for people after they had stopped working for the district and $14 for excess mileage in a reimbursement check issued to Lantz.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two people were arrested on drug charges Monday afternoon in the area of 221st Street and Highway 34. 24-year old Elizabeth Carrie Lynn Heinrich, of Council Bluffs was arrested for OWI/1st offense. Henirch, and a passenger in her vehicle, 25-year old Austin Charles Harmon, of Crescent, were also both charged with Possession of Controlled Substance, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Interference with Official Acts. Heinrich’s bond was set at $4,600, while Harmon was being held on a $3,600 bond.

Monday evening, 33-year old Robyn Leigh Salmons, of Glenwood, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a warrant for Failure to Appear. Bond was set at $1,000. And, 25-year old Patrick Allen Eggerling, of Avoca, was arrested Monday night for Driving Under Suspension, with bond set at $300.

Cass County Deputy Auditor Sheri Karns, Tuesday, said another candidate has filed nomination papers for a non-partisan office. Richard Hoffman, an incumbent, filed his papers to run for the second position as Union Township Trustee. He joins fellow incumbent Daryl Schrier on the ballot in November.

There is still one open position to fill in Cass County, and that is a seat on the Soil and Water Conservation Board. Candidates have until 5-p.m. Wednesday to submit their completed nomination forms to the County Auditor’s Office.

The Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest of 27-year-old Cody Keen Blystone of Red Oak on a valid Red Oak PD Warrant for Unauthorized Use of a Credit Card. Blystone was arrested at the Mills County Jail on Tuesday at 11:14am and transported to the Montgomery County Jail where he was held on $2,000 cash bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa is challenging city ordinances that prevent homeless people from asking for money in public places saying the local laws are unconstitutional. The ACLU of Iowa says it sent on Tuesday formal demand letters to Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Grimes insisting that they repeal their bans on panhandling. ACLU of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen says it’s part of a larger effort with other organizations to notify cities in 12 states that such ordinances are unconstitutional.

The ACLU says a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision set a new standard for protected speech resulting in more than 25 city anti-panhandling ordinances being declared unconstitutional. At least 31 cities repealed ordinances.