DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Data shows the number of abortions performed annually in Iowa is declining. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of abortions decreased from nearly 5,400 to just over 4,420. That represents an 18.1 percent drop.

The Associated Press compiled the data based on information from the Iowa Department of Public Health. Data on abortion rates was collected from health departments in 45 U.S. states that keep such information on a comprehensive basis. It shows the annual number of abortions has declined substantially since 2010 in most states.

Penny Dickey with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland in Iowa says the decline is linked to better access to family planning services like contraception. Jenifer Bowen with Iowa Right to Life argues more pregnancy centers in Iowa are offering counseling services to women.

Residents in the Midwest are once again receiving text messages saying their “ATM/Card/Account is blocked! Please respond…” and a link is provided. It is an attempt by scammers to gain access to your personal information. DO NOT respond to this text message or access the website given. Delete the text message. If you have any questions about your account, call Wells Fargo directly or stop by your local branch.

As with previous attempts at this scam, even persons without a Wells Fargo account are being hit with the text message. It hit Atlantic twice in March, and across Shelby County last month. Various forms of the phishing scam have been in circulation since at least 2011.

A Red Oak man was arrested Saturday night on a charge of Public Intoxication. Police say 40-year old Troy Alan Myers was taken into custody at around 11:40-p.m. in the area of Broadway and Linden Avenues. His bond was set at $300.

About 15-hundred Republicans gathered near Boone, Saturday, to eat pulled pork for lunch and listen to seven Republican presidential hopefuls boast of their own records and roast President Obama, Hillary Clinton and, sometimes, one another. Senator Joni Ernst greeted the crowd shortly before two o’clock. “This is my first inaugural ‘Roast and Ride,'” Ernst said. “We do hope we will do this every year, so start lookig ahead at next year on your calendar and prepare, because I think it’s going to be twice as big next year.”

Ernst and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker — a likely, but not-yet-declared candidate — were at the front of a line of more than 300 motorcyclists who went a 45-minute road trip from Des Moines to Boone that ended at event site. During his turn on stage, Walker emphasized foreign policy, with a warning about “radical Islamic terrorism.”  “We need a president in this country who’s going to stand up and tell the American people what may be hard to say, that this threat isn’t like the Cold War where containment isn’t enough,” Walker said. “No instead, this is like a virus and if we don’t take it out, we’re in trouble.”

Newly-declared candidate Rick Perry organized his own fundraiser in Perry, Iowa, and motorcycle ride to Boone. When he spoke to the crowd, Perry emphasized his 15-year record as the governor of Texas. “This going to be a ‘show me, don’t tell me’ election,” Perry said, repeating a theme from his announcement speech this past week. “This is going to be one of those where we stand and say, ‘What have you done? Where have you led?'” Florida Senator Marco Rubio suggested both Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were the wrong choices for 2016. “If we keep promoting the same people, we will get the same result and the future will leave us behind,” Rubio said. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee criticized policies, including expanded trade, that he says have “shrunk the economy.”

“I don’t want to be president so I can create jobs in China,” Huckabee said. “I want to be president so we can create good jobs in America, for Americans. I’m not a globalist.” Former Hewlett-Packard C-E-O Carly Fiorina touted a recent FOX News poll that found 64 percent of voters would like to see Fiorina debate the Democratic Party’s likely presidential nominee.  “I think what we need to ask Hillary Clinton now is: ‘Mrs. Clinton, what else don’t we know?'” Fiorina said. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, suggested the Republican competitors would not be “tearing each other up” like the G-O-P candidates did in 2012.

“That was a big mistake. We’re going to do better,” Carson said. “We know who the enemy is and it is not us.” South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham spoke at length about the need to send troops back into the Middle East to defeat Islamic militants there and to make changes at home in Social Security and Medicare. “There’s no problem that can’t be fixed and there’s no way to fix these problems without sacrifice,” Graham said. “If you’re looking for an easy way ahead, I’m not your guy.” The event was held outdoors, on the Central Iowa Expo grounds near Boone where the Iowa Republican Party plans to hold its Iowa Straw Poll in August.

None of the candidates have committed to participating, however, and critics say it’s an event that should end. Congressman Steve King defended it during his speech Saturday. “We have about 10 announced candidates and another five or six waiting in the wings and so this process that happens here August 8 needs to happen,” King said. “And it needs to happen a couple more times maybe across the country. Maybe New Hampshire, if you’re out there listening. Maybe South Carolina, if you’re out there listening. The field does need to be narrowed. We don’t want to say no to anybody, but it needs to be narrowed.”

The next event which will attract a group of G-O-P candidates to the state is set for mid-July. The host organization is The Family Leader, a conservative Christian organization that had rented facilities in Ames for August, but moved their date into July once Iowa G-O-P leaders decided to once again hold their Straw Poll.

(Radio Iowa)