SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Fire department officials in Sioux City say they’re investigating what started a small fire at a feed plant.  KTIV-TV reports someone called authorities early Tuesday and reported seeing smoke near the Hubbard Feeds, Inc. plant in Sioux City.

Assistant Fire Chief Brad Robinson says crews found a small, smoldering fire had broken out in the facility’s cooling tower down in the basement.  Robinson says the fire was extinguished and damage was confined to one cooling box of feed pellets.

A man from Shelby County was arrested early Saturday morning in Audubon County, on an OWI/2nd offense charge. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year old Jared Timm Schmidt, of Irwin, was arrested at around 2:30-a.m. following a traffic stop in the 2500 block of Highway 71. Schmidt was brought to the Audubon County Jail and later released after appearing before a magistrate.

The governor’s STEM Advisory Council will highlight the accomplishments of the effort this Thursday at the capitol building in Des Moines, but gave a preview at the governor’s news conference Monday. The focus on STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, began in 2011 and advisory council co-chair, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, says the Scale-Up programs have been key. “Getting those high-quality programs in the hands of students, and these 10 outstanding STEM programs, I am happy to say are reaching over 117-thousand students in the State of Iowa,” according to Reynolds.

The legislature appropriated five-point-two million dollars for STEM programs in 2014-2015, and that is supplemented with support from other sources. “Scale Up programs I am happy to say are in more than 90-percent of the 338 school districts across the state of Iowa, as well as many non-public schools and out-of-school settings,” Reynolds says. ” And our goal is to be in 100-percent of the districts, and we hope to do that relatively soon.” The executive director of the STEM Advisory Council, Jeff Weld, is also an associate biology professor at the University of Northern Iowa.

“We’ve been at this for three-and-a-half years and I think we’re beginning to see the impact of our affect. We have a wonderful uptick in the number post-secondary community college and four-year college majors in the STEM fields that we are seeing lately,” Weld says. “We’re seeing wonderful evidence of public support and awareness of the STEM cause for our state. We are seeing an encouraging rise in the number of teachers earning math and science teaching endorsements.” STEM information shows a 13-percent increase in the number of teachers in Iowa with one teaching endorsement in science or math.

“Last year the Board of Educational examiners approved a new STEM endorsement. So, unlike your and my school experiences where we took math and we took science, kids of our not-to-distant future will be able to take STEM classes by teachers trained and prepared to teach interdisciplinary active, community-based, problem-solving approaches to learning,” Weld says. Displays touting the work of the STEM Council will be set up in the capitol rotunda Thursday.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad says he’s not ready to take a stand on raising the speed limit to 75 miles-an-hour on rural interstate highways. “I want to look at the impact that would have on public safety and fatalities on our roads,” Branstad says. Seven Republican Senators have introduced a bill that would raise the limit on some stretches of roadway above the current 70 miles-an-hour maximum. “I know a number of western states have done that, but I would want to get more information before making a decision on that,” Governor Branstad says.

The Republican governor also says he is waiting to see any final legislation before determining if he would sign off on reducing the penalties for possession of marijuana. A bill to reduce the sentences of first-time offenders for possessing trace amounts of marijuana is working its way through the Senate and supporters say it would help address racial disparities in Iowa’s prison system.

Branstad, a Republican, says he wants to see the final legislation, and says it’s one part of the effort to deal with the racial disparity issue. “We have been working with the African-American community to address the concern about the disproportionate number of African-Americans who are in the corrections system,” Branstad says. “I think our parole board has made great progress also in reducing the disparity and we have been able to increase paroles at the same time reduce recidivism. So, I am really encouraged about the collaboration between the parole board and corrections in addressing this issue.” Branstad made his comments at his weekly meeting with reporters.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

ATLANTIC – An air release valve on a forced wastewater main is leaking approximately 100 gallons per day of wastewater into the East Nishnabotna River from under the bridge at West 6th Street, west of Atlantic. The DNR says due to the location of the leak, city staff cannot access the leak to repair it, so the city’s engineer has been contacted to determine how to stop wastewater bypass. The leak bypasses wastewater only when the lift station pumps are operating-about one hour per day. Due to the river flow, the amount of wastewater reaching the river is diluted enough so that it is not effecting the environment. However, the DNR will monitor the situation until the leak is stopped.

SIDNEY, Iowa (AP) — A southwest Iowa man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2009 death of his girlfriend. The Omaha World-Herald reports 34-year-old Brian Davis, of Omaha, was convicted Monday in connection to the July 18, 2009 death of Holly Durben. The conviction follows a trial earlier this month.

MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport man accused of stealing prescription drugs from a disabled man nearly two years ago has been arrested. Police charged 31-year-old Steve Scotton with first-degree burglary. According to a police report, an arrest warrant was issued in December after Scotton entered the man’s Maquoketa home in April 2013 in search of prescription drugs. Authorities say the man retrieved a gun during the burglary and accidentally shot himself in the abdomen. Scotton was not injured in the scuffle.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Senate Democrats say they plan to introduce legislation this session that would allow for the production and distribution of medical marijuana in Iowa. The bill would create a program that monitors the production and distribution of medical marijuana. It’s similar to legislation last session that failed to garner enough support. Bolkcom says he expects resistance this year in the Republican-controlled House.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate committee has approved a bill that would expand public preschool for 4-year-olds in Iowa. The bill would provide extra funding for school districts that expand preschool programs. It now moves to the full Senate for consideration. A similar bill failed to win full legislative approval last year.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — A kindergarten teacher at a suburban Des Moines elementary school has been accused of drinking beer in her classroom. Police say 40-year-old Jennifer L. Rich, of West Des Moines, was arrested Friday at East Elementary School in Ankeny after testing positively on an initial breathalyzer test. She was charged with public intoxication and child endangerment.

Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Natural resources say an air release valve on a forced wastewater main is leaking approximately 100 gallons per day of wastewater into the East Nishnabotna River from under the bridge at West 6th Street, west of Atlantic. In a Press Release late Monday evening, officials said due to the location of the leak, city staff cannot access the leak to repair it, so the city’s engineer has been contacted to determine how to stop this wastewater bypass.

The leak bypasses wastewater only when the lift station pumps are operating-about one hour per day.

Due to the river flow, the amount of wastewater reaching the river is diluted enough so that it is not effecting the environment. However, the DNR will monitor the situation until the leak is stopped.