Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pork prices hit record highs this summer as farmers weren’t able to feed the demand — mostly because a virus had killed millions of their baby pigs. But there is good news for pork lovers in the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture production update, as it shows more piglets are surviving and producers are building up pork herds.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Motorists are being warned that part of Interstate 35 just south of Des Moines will be closing overnight for the next several days. Des Moines television station KCCI reports that the stretch will be closed starting at 6 p.m. today until 6 a.m. Monday. It’s expected to be closed again overnight Monday and Tuesday.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The former Argosy casino riverboat’s trip down the Missouri River has been hindered by electrical problems. The Sioux City Journal reports that the boat was forced to stop Friday just south of Nebraska City, Nebraska. The three-deck vessel, a replica of a 1920s-era paddlewheel boat, left its longtime dock in Sioux City on Tuesday.

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — Scott Community College in eastern Iowa saw its Friday classes and activities canceled when a contractor accidentally cut through a power line and caused an outage. College spokesman Alan Campbell tells the Quad-City Times that a contractor was digging trenches outside the entrance of the college when the line was cut around 10 a.m. Friday.

With yet another poll showing Iowa’s U.S. Senate race a virtual dead heat, the two candidates squared off in a high-stakes television debate Saturday night in Davenport.  The Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register “Iowa Poll” released late Saturday afternoon found Republican Joni Ernst had the support of 47 percent of those surveyed and Democrat Bruce Braley was one-point behind, at 46 percent. At the end of Saturday’s debate, Ernst accused Braley of having a “failed record.”

“I disagree almost completely with Congressman Braley and President Barack Obama on just about everything,” Ernst said. Braley attacked Ernst for saying the E-P-A should be eliminated and for suggesting privatizing Social Security might be an option for younger workers. “Senator Ernst is fond of saying things that sound good, but when you look at what they mean to Iowans, they don’t make Iowans better off,” Braley said. Ernst shot back. “When you talk about your words, behind closed doors at a fundraiser in Texas, you poked fun at Senator Grassley for being just a farmer without a law degree,” Ernst said, getting cheers and applause from her supporters in the audience at St. Ambrose University.

Braley countered by bringing up the Oklahoma billionaires who made their money in the oil industry. “You attended two secret donor meetings in California that were hosted by the Koch brothers. You called them ‘wonderful’ at that meeting,” Braley said, as Ernst laughed softly into her microphone. “You credited them with launching your senate campaign and these are the same Koch brothers who have seven different organizations attacking me right now in Iowa.” The two candidates agreed on one issue during the hour-long forum.

Neither would support an effort in congress to undo President Obama’s executive order which has granted temporary legal status to young adults who were illegally brought into the country when they were under the age of 16. They both said the U.S. must do more to stop Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria, but Ernst questioned Braley’s commitment to the effort.  “Just earlier this year in June after Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, was taken by ISIS he voted against funding any combat actions in Iraq and yet now he’s asking that congress come back to reconsider that. I’m not sure where to go with that and I know that he twice voted to defund our combat troops while they were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Ernst said.

Braley responded: “Senator Ernst knows that that’s just not true. What I voted for was to end a decade-long commitment of US troops and I made it very clear that I supported pay increases for those troops and was not going to de-fund them and Senator Ernst also knows that the vote she’s talking about was a bipartisan vote where Republicans and Democrats had concerns about who we were going to be helping and what threat we were going to be addressing.”

Saturday’s event was hosted by the Quad-City Times and K-W-Q-C T-V and held at St. Ambrose University in Davenport. The third and final debate between these two candidates is scheduled for Thursday in Sioux City.

(Radio Iowa)

An accident Saturday night in Red Oak resulted in the arrest of the vehicles’ driver on numerous charges. Police arrested 39-year old Jason Neal Beacham, of Red Oak at around 6-p.m., following an investigation into the theft and wreck of a vehicle.

Officers responding to a reported vehicle theft were advised enroute to the scene the vehicle, a 1994 GMC Sierra pickup, had crashed into a tree in the 400 block of west 2nd Avenue, and that the driver had fled on foot. He was taken into custody a short time later, and informed authorities his girlfriend put the pickup for sale in a local swap site, and he took the vehicle in an attempt to prevent it from being sold.

The pickup was totaled in the crash, with the loss estimated at $3,000. A fence that was struck during the crash and belonging to a Red Oak woman, was damaged as well. The loss was estimated at $150.

Beacham faces charges that include OWI/3rd offense, Careless Driving, No/or improper registration, No Insurance relating to an accident, and Driving While Suspended. He was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $5,000 bond.

The Red Oak Police Department is investigating a motor vehicle theft from the Bethlehem Lutheran Church parking lot in Red Oak. James Peterson of Red Oak informed police that he showed up for church at 2pm Saturday afternoon. He told officers that when he left the building around 2-50 his vehicle was missing. Peterson told officers he left the vehicle unlocked and the keys in the center console. The vehicle is a green 2007 Ford Escape with a license plate number of 1-3-7—R-Z-D and has a scratch on the rear right quarter panel.. Estimated loss listed at 18-thousand dollars.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The former Argosy casino riverboat’s trip down the Missouri River has been hindered by electrical problems. The Sioux City Journal reports that the boat was forced to stop Friday just south of Nebraska City, Nebraska.

The three-deck vessel, a replica of a 1920s-era paddlewheel boat, left its longtime dock in Sioux City, Iowa, on Tuesday. It’s bound for Wood River, Illinois — a 730-mile trip down the entire length of the Missouri, then briefly up the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

The riverboat also lost power on Tuesday, stalling near Sloan, Iowa. The riverboat was bought by Mike’s Inc., which operates a large shipyard at Wood River.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man who jumped in the Missouri River in August to try to escape police has been sentenced to prison for choking and trying to kidnap his estranged wife. Sioux City television station KTIV reports that 40-year old Chance Michaels was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison after pleading guilty to false imprisonment and two counts of domestic assault.

Police say Michaels choked his wife and forced her into his vehicle in early August. The vehicle soon suffered a flat tire, and police say he jumped into the river as officers arrived.

Some people on a boat helped pull Michaels from the river.