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Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., 3/8/17

News

March 8th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House has approved a sweeping gun bill that includes a stand-your-ground provision and allows citizens to sue local governments that impose weapons restrictions. The Republican-controlled chamber voted 58-39 Tuesday along mostly party lines. The bill now heads to the GOP-majority Senate, where it has support. The legislation would allow people to use deadly force anywhere if they believe such force was necessary to avoid injury or risk to one’s life or safety.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — The National Weather Service in Davenport has confirmed three injuries and 80 homes damaged in Muscatine from a tornado that traveled nearly two miles as a line of severe storms moved across the state. The EF2 tornado struck at around 10 p.m. Monday with peak winds of 115 miles per hour.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa U.S. Rep. Steve King says he believes President Donald Trump’s assertion that his phones were tapped and called for an investigation. Trump on Saturday tweeted that President Barack Obama “had my wires tapped’ in Trump Tower, though he didn’t offer any proof. King told the Sioux City Journal Monday that those denials don’t “necessarily prove that there wasn’t a rogue intel operation going on that wasn’t encumbered by, or just decided not to be encumbered by, the legalities.”

HANLONTOWN, Iowa (AP) — An Oklahoma-based company has blamed an errant excavator for damaging a pipeline in northern Iowa that spilled nearly 47,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Magellan Midstream Partners said Tuesday that the excavator apparently didn’t check with regulators about the location of underground utilities, as required by Iowa law. Authorities say the leaking fuel was discovered during a snowstorm on Jan. 25 near Hanlontown in Worth County.