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

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo woman has been charged with murder in the house fire deaths of a mother and her son. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports police on Monday charged 41-year-old Denise Susanna O’Brien with two counts of first-degree murder. The charges stem from an April 22 house fire that killed Ashley Smith and her 9-year-old son, Jaykwon Sallis. Court records show a restraining order barred O’Brien from going to the house, where she was involved in a dispute with a resident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair has set a record for attendance at the annual 11-day event in Des Moines. Fair officials say an estimated 1,130,260 people attended the fair that ended Sunday. That topped the previous record set in 2017 by 189 people. Attendance was a bit behind the 2017 mark but moved ahead thanks to pleasant weather over the weekend. The fair also set a record for Grandstand concert attendance, with the biggest draw being the 15,775 people who attend a Thomas Rhett concert on Aug. 15.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — Racers and others have been answering the call from an 11-year-old Iowa boy who wants auto racing stickers to cover his casket after he dies from leukemia. Caleb Hammond’s uncle, Chris Playle, told The Des Moines Register that his family brought him home to Oskaloosa after determining that the painful hospital treatments he’d been undergoing weren’t working and other options offered little hope. He says the stickers pouring in from social media appeals have helped keep everyone’s spirits up.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair has set a record for attendance at the annual 11-day event in Des Moines. Fair officials say an estimated 1,130,260 people attended the fair that ended Sunday. That topped the previous record set in 2017 by 189 people.

Attendance was a bit behind the 2017 mark but moved ahead thanks to pleasant weather over the weekend. The fair also set a record for Grandstand concert attendance, with the biggest draw being the 15,775 people who attend a Thomas Rhett concert on Aug. 15.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors, Monday, approved the ordering of playground equipment for the west side of the Schildberg Recreation Area (SRA), near the Shelter House. Parks & Rec Director Seth Staashelm said part of the next step in the development of the SRA is the inclusion of playground equipment. Miracle Recreation Equipment of Monett, MO., is having a sale on playground equipment, according to Staashelm.

Atlantic Parks & Rec Board meeting, 8-20-18

The equipment he was looking at has a 65-to 75 capacity for the younger kids and costs $16, 899, which is in-line with the Parks Department’s budget of $25,000. It will include a slide, monkey bars, balance beam-type steps, pull-up bars, swing sets and two-to three spring-type rides (with animal characters, etc,). A formed plastic rock climbing wall had been considered, but its cost and the risk of having it be vandalized by spray painters made it less appealing to the Board and Staashelm, for that matter. The price tag allows for the installation of required rubberized-type fall material that protects against injuries.

He said also, an Eagle Scout Boat, Joseph Barkley, of Omaha, was planning to construct a kayak launch project for the boat ramp area near the wastewater treatment plant in Atlantic. But those plans had to be scrubbed because they had apparently never been given permission by the DNR to place a launch near the river. Still, the Scout constructed parking lot signage and refurbished a picnic table. The signs were hand-made, and include access points to the East Nishnabotna River.

Staashelm said work is still being planned for the Sunnyside Park entrance sign, which he said “Will be large,” once it’s finished. He said they are “So getting close to (finally) getting started on [the project]. They’re working with Central Western Fabricators for the metal arch that will be 14-feet tall for truck clearance. Landscaping and other features will be added soon thereafter.

(DES MOINES) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds received word today (Monday) that President Donald Trump approved her request for a Presidential Disaster Declaration for 30 counties impacted by flooding and severe weather from June 6-July 2, 2018.

The counties included in the declaration are: Adair, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Clay, Dallas, Delaware, Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Hamilton, Hancock, Howard, Humboldt, Kossuth, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Sioux, Story, Warren, Webster, Winnebago, Winneshiek and Wright.

The declaration will provide federal funding to the included counties under the Public Assistance Program. A Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Public Assistance puts into motion long-term federal recovery programs, some of which are partially matched by state programs, and designed to help public entities and select non-profits.

Public Assistance funds may be used for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities and may include debris removal, emergency protective measures, repair of damaged public property, loans needed by communities for essential government functions and grants for public schools. Damage assessments in the seven declared counties showed an estimated $16 million worth of damage that could be eligible under the Public Assistance Program.

The governor also received notification that the Presidential Disaster Declaration includes funding to conduct hazard mitigation activities for the entire state. With this funding, Iowa will be able to minimize the impact of future disasters by taking steps to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural hazards.

The governor requested the declaration on Aug. 1st.

(Radio Iowa) — The Internal Revenue Service is again asking you to make sure the right amount of taxes are being taken out of your paycheck. I-R-S spokesman, Chris Miller, says it’s important to look at the numbers now. “Time is running out for taxpayers to do a paycheck checkup. To check their withholding yet this year — to make sure the right amount of tax is being withheld from their paycheck for their particular situation,” Miller says.

Miller says if you find a problem, there are still a few months to adjust your withholding amount to fix it. Doing a paycheck checkup now is going to help those taxpayers avoid a potential unwelcome surprise at tax time,” according to Miller. “And that could be an unexpected tax bill and a penalty. Or it could be a refund that’s unnecessarily large.” He says it’s better for you to not get a big refund, because you can use that money throughout the year. Miller says they made an earlier push for everyone to check their withholding after the new tax law went into effect.

“The new tax law will change the way many of us calculate our taxes. And it also has changed the amount of tax our employers are withholding from our paychecks,” Miller explains. He says those with more complicated tax returns are the ones who most need to check their withholding. Miller says that includes two-income households, those with two or more jobs at a time, those who have had a job only part of the year, those who claim the child tax credit or itemize deductions in 2017 are all some who may see differences. Miller says they know that many people haven’t looked at their withholding since the tax law changed. He says it is easy to do.

“Just go to our website I-R-S-dot-gov (www.irs.gov) and click on the link to do a paycheck checkup, or search for the withholding calculator,” Miller says. “You will need last year’s tax return, and a copy of your most recent pay stub.” Miller says there are still several months left to allow you to adjust your withholding and make up for any imbalance. But he says if you wait — you could run out of time to make a correction that would make a difference.