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Iowa early News Headlines: Thursday, 9/15/16

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September 15th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys representing a union leader and several state lawmakers argued to the Iowa Supreme Court that Gov. Terry Branstad violated state law by closing two state mental health institutes last year. The lawyers told justices Wednesday that state law requires the continued operation of now-closed institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant as well as Cherokee and Independence facilities. They want the closed centers to reopen. Iowa’s solicitor general reiterated the governor’s veto authority.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa State University student is suing the school for allegedly mishandling the response to her sexual assault by another student in 2014. The 21-year-old woman alleges in the lawsuit that university officials discouraged her from reporting the assault, then took months to investigate and take action against her assailant. In the meantime, the university placed the two in the same housing complex during the next semester.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court must now decide whether to weigh in on a lawsuit that pits Des Moines Water Works against upstream farmers accused of contaminating rivers with nitrates from fertilizer. The justices heard arguments Wednesday in the case, which asks the court to decide whether agriculture drainage districts have immunity from lawsuits and whether the water utility can seek monetary damages.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Police have arrested a 34-year-old Dubuque man charged in Wisconsin with attempted murder and battery in the assault of another Dubuque man there three years ago. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department says Anthony Runde has been arrested in Iowa after being indicted in Wisconsin on suspicion of causing 30-year-old Joshua Milligan’s severe brain trauma. The sheriff’s office says the assault happened at a concert in Bridgeport, Wisconsin, in July 2013.