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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for causing recurring flooding that damaged farms and property in four Midwest states along the Missouri River. The ruling Tuesday in Washington says the government must compensate farmers, landowners and business owners for the flood damage in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. The damage has been estimated to exceed $300 million.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A legislative aide to the former Republican majority leader of the Iowa Senate is leaving his job, one day after his boss resigned for kissing a Statehouse lobbyist. Senior Senate Aide Ed Failor, who reported to Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, announced his resignation late Tuesday afternoon. Failor’s exit is effective immediately. Failor tells The Associated Press he didn’t want to be a “distraction” as Senate Republicans elect a new leader Wednesday to replace Dix.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ordered an Iowa youth basketball coach jailed on a federal child pornography charge until a detention hearing Thursday. Greg Stephen, until recently the co-director of the Iowa Barnstormers, was handcuffed and shackled during an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Cedar Rapids. Stephen was arrested by the FBI earlier in the day. Investigators say he confessed to secretly recording three adolescent players disrobing.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has denied the appeal for reinstatement of a former Polk County sheriff sergeant fired for insubordination and gender bias. The Des Moines Register reports says Polk County District Judge Paul Scott ruled Friday that former Sgt. Dan Charleston failed to show that a county commission wrongly affirmed Sheriff Bill McCarthy’s decision to fire Charleston last year. Charleston was accused of giving preferential treatment to male subordinates and of gender bias, and he was fired June 23.

Probation officers, assisted by Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies, searched a residence in Sidney Tuesday, and discovered several items of drug paraphernalia and suspected controlled substances. As a result, 29-year old James Hume, of Sidney, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance, (meth) 2nd offense, Possession of a Schedule IV controlled Substance 2nd Offense, Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drugs, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Hume was being held at the Fremont County Jail on $5,300 bond. Other charges are pending.

James Hume

FLOYD, Iowa (AP) — A northeast Iowa prosecutor says the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis man by officers was justified. Twenty-nine-year-old Jihad Merrick was killed the night of Jan. 17 alongside U.S. Highway 218 in Bremer County. Merrick’s car was stopped for speeding after he’d been reported pointing a gun at his own head at a Floyd truck stop. Deputies say that after the stop he got in and out of his vehicle with a handgun to his head.

Officers approached his car after he fired a shot inside it and then struggled to remove him. He was able to put the car in gear and accelerate. An officer fearful of being run over yelled for other officers to shoot, and two of them did. County Attorney Kasey Wedding said in a news release Tuesday the shooting was justified because of the threat Merrick posed.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Tuesday) released a report on an accident that happened March 6th, 2018, at 10:45 a.m.  The single-vehicle accident happened on White Pole Road, as a 2005 Toyota Rav4 owned and driven by 24-year old Kendal Leslie Arnold, of Elliott, was traveling southbound. The SUV hit a slick patch on the road, entered the west ditch, crashed through a fence,  and came to rest in a field. No injuries were reported. Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $1,000; damage to the fence is estimated at $250.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Tuesday), released a report on recent arrests. On Monday, (3/12), 21-year old Skyler James Svoboda, of Atlantic, was arrested on a warrant out of Story County. Svoboda was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day on $2,000 bond. Two people were arrested Sunday, in Cass County: 26-year old Jennifer Renee Avey, of Griswold, was arrested for Public Intoxication. Avey was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day after appearing before the magistrate; and 28-year old Cam Christopher Jahnke, of Lewis, was arrested Sunday, on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault 1st Offense. Janhnke was taken to the Cass County Jail and released later that day after appearing before the magistrate.

On Saturday, 35-year old Steven Micheal Scott Beck, of Carroll, was arrested on a Cass County District Court warrant for Failure to Appear. Beck remains held at the Cass County Jail on $2,000 bond. And, last Friday, 53-year old Donald Duane Worth, of Early, was arrested by Cass County Deputies for Assault on Persons in Certain Occupations, Public Intoxication, and Disorderly Conduct. Worth was taken to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.