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Iowa early News Headlines: Monday, April 3rd 2017

News

April 3rd, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa union leaders approached this legislative session with apprehension but say they never envisioned lawmakers would approve such dramatic changes governing worker rights and pay. GOP legislators, with support from Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, tightened the workers’ compensation system, limited the scope of collective bargaining rights for public employee unions and banned local minimum wage increases. Republicans say the changes will spur business activity.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Prolonged protests in North Dakota have failed to stop the flow of oil through the Dakota Access pipeline, but they’ve provided inspiration for protests against pipelines around the country. Tactics used in North Dakota such as resistance camps, social media and online fundraising are now being used against pipeline projects in nearly a dozen states. Some people don’t think their efforts will pan out under the Trump administration, which strongly backs the fossil fuel industry.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say an Iowa man’s drowning in the Mississippi River might have been avoided if the 52-year-old had been wearing a life jacket. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports James Kenneth Freeman of Lansing, Iowa, drowned Friday after his fishing boat capsized and went under the dam gates near Genoa, Wisconsin.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating a shooting that injured five people in Des Moines early Sunday. Investigators found more than 40 shell casings and evidence of drug activity at the scene of the shooting near J&J Pizza.