DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad made a rare public plea for lawmakers to approve his proposed overhaul of Iowa elementary and secondary schools. He spoke Monday night at a House hearing about the education plan and argued that student test scores have fallen and school reform is needed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The governor is defending Iowa’s new law that he signed Friday. The law makes it a crime to lie in order to gain access to a livestock operation to record animal abuse. Governor Terry Branstad says gaining access to property under false pretenses is a serious matter and property owners deserve protections.

MANCHESTER, Iowa (AP) — Delaware County supervisors will proceed with a $3 million bond to help fund the rebuilding of the Lake Delhi dam. The dam in northeast Iowa collapsed during flooding in 2010 and nearly drained the 9-mile lake that’s surrounded by private homes on the Maquoketa (muh-KOH’-kuh-tuh) River. A public hearing is scheduled for March 19.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a western Iowa man was electrocuted in a tree trimming accident. Police say 63-year-old Edward Peters who owned Peters Painting and Tree Trimming was leaning on a boom truck, while a worker in a bucket on the truck was cutting branches. The 50-foot boom touched an overhead power line and electricity traveled through the truck and Peters. The co-worker wasn’t injured.