STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa woman has been convicted of charges she pretended to be a nurse to obtain prescription drugs to sell. Police say 30-year-old Kayleen Leedahl, of Royal, pleaded guilty to three counts of felony obtaining or attempting to obtain a prescription drug by deceit. Court documents say she will also pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor counts of the same charge.

Police and court documents state Leedahl posed as a nurse over a nearly four month period in 2013. The Sioux City Journal reports Leedahl will be sentenced to 10 years in prison as part of her plea agreement. A sentencing hearing has been set for March 30.

The Glenwood Police Department reports the arrest today (Tuesday), of 53-year old Debra Decair. The Glenwood woman was arrested on a Mills County warrant for OWI 1st offense. Authorities say her bond was set at $1000.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa State researcher plans to test genetically modified bananas on a group of students at the university, though some people have expressed concerns about the nature of the study.
Wendy White, a food science professor leading the study, will put 12 women on a diet including regular bananas and bananas infused with a gene to aid Vitamin A production. They’ll follow the diet for four days during three study periods.

The Des Moines Register reports volunteers will also undergo blood tests to gage how their bodies react. Participants will be paid $900. White says the ultimate goal of the study is to help increase Vitamin A consumption in Africa. Dave Schubert, a California scientist, says he’s concerned about feeding the modified fruit to humans before an animal trial.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – An eastern Iowa man battling terminal cancer has died amid his fight to grow medicinal marijuana for his personal use. Dottie Mackenzie confirmed Tuesday that her 49-year-old son Benton Mackenzie died early Monday at his Long Grove, Iowa, home.

Benton Mackenzie had been growing marijuana to create medicinal oil he could both consume and apply to his tumors. He and his wife, Loretta Mackenzie, were convicted in 2014 for conspiring to grow marijuana. The trial garnered national attention.

The Quad-City Times reports the entire family has faced prosecution, including his parents who received misdemeanor counts for hosting a drug house. Those charges were eventually dropped. Dottie MacKenzie says she has found peace with the situation and her son’s death.

Governor Terry Branstad has presented what he calls a “plan of action” to lawmakers today. Branstad delivered the annual “Condition of the State” message to legislators, with a “Together We Can” theme. Working together “matters” — Branstad said — since any bill must win approval in the Republican-led Iowa House and the Democraztically-led Iowa Senate before it reaches Branstad’s desk. Many of the governor’s priorities are hold-overs from previous years, with a few some tweaks.

Branstad’s proposes a new five-million dollar competitive grant program for communities or private sector companies that extend broadband service in rural Iowa. Ae he outlined during the campaign season, Branstad proposes a new “IowaNEXT” program for “quality of life” projects and a new public-private partnership to manage state workforce development programs.

The governor says it’s “common sense” for legislators to finally pass an anti-bullying bill, after similar proposals faltered in each of the last two years, and he’s calling for longer sentences and electronic monitoring of “habitual” domestic abusers. Branstad also released his budget plan today, outlining seven-point-three-BILLION dollars in state spending. That’s between four and five percent bigger than the current year’s budget.

Branstad did not fully embrace the Regents plan to provide more state money to the public universities so in-state tuition can remain the same for a third straight year. He recommends Iowa’s public school districts get about 50 million dollars more in general state aid for the next academic year. That’s an increase of one-and-three-quarters of a percent.

(Radio Iowa)