Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A county in southern Iowa will get disaster assistance to respond to severe weather, Gov. Terry Branstad issued a disaster proclamation for Union County. The county suffered damage after severe storms and rain on Sept. 9. Under the declaration, the county can use state resources to recover from the storm.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a man found dead at a Council Bluffs golf course pond. The body of Josey Janssen, 33, was found Friday at the Council Bluffs Country Club. The Iowa Medical Examiner’s Office and police said Janssen’s cause of death was accidental drowning.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A hearing has been scheduled for the man accused of killing a 5-year-old northern Iowa girl in 2005. The hearing is set Tuesday in Bremer County for Casey Frederiksen. He’s charged with first-degree murder in the June 2005 slaying of Evelyn Miller, whose body was found along the Cedar River. Frederiksen, 35, was charged in 2012 with the girl’s death. Authorities said Frederiksen was living with Evelyn’s mother in Floyd when the girl was killed.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Tuesday hearing has been scheduled for the man accused of killing a 5-year-old northern Iowa girl in 2005. Casey Frederiksen is charged with first-degree murder in the June 2005 slaying of Evelyn Miller, whose body was found along the Cedar River. Frederiksen, 35, was charged in 2012 with the girl’s death. Authorities said Frederiksen was living with Evelyn’s mother in Floyd when the girl was killed.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City woman faces child endangerment and neglect charges in connection to the April death of her infant son, according to authorities. Rebekah Williams-McCarthy, 24, was charged Friday in Woodbury County District Court with child endangerment resulting in the death of a child and neglect of a dependent person, according to the Sioux City Journal. She faces an additional two counts of neglect of a dependent person in connection with her two other children.

Williams-McCarthy is accused of depriving her two-month son, Leonard Williams, of food and health care. The child died at the end of April. Woodbury County Attorney Patrick Jennings said in a complaint and affidavit against Williams-McCarthy that an autopsy showed Leonard died of malnutrition and dehydration.

Court documents filed in the case say Williams-McCarthy failed to take the baby to doctor appointments and did not pick up vouchers for baby formula. They also say the apartment in which she lived with her children was not safe for them. Williams-McCarthy is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 22.

Leonard’s father, Michael Williams, 26, has pleaded not guilty to neglect of a dependent person in connection to the death. He carried the baby into a hospital before the child was pronounced dead.Jennings said in his complaint against Williams-McCarthy that she told an Iowa Department of Human Services worker that she knew Williams smoked marijuana in front of the children and had been feeding Leonard sugar water.

The Council Bluffs Police Department has released the name of the person who was found at the Council Bluffs Country Club Golf Course last week. The person has been identified as 33 year old Josie Lee Janssen of Council Bluffs. The state medical examiner found no indications of foul play in his death and believes he died of accidental drowning. Janssen had been reported missing by his family on September 3rd. Through the investigation by the Council Bluffs Police it was determined Janssen was last seen the late evening hours of August 29th in the area of 4-0-1 Veterans Memorial Highway walking toward his residence and may have attempted to take a different route.

(DES MOINES) – Governor Terry E. Branstad today (Monday) issued a proclamation of disaster emergency for Union County in response to recent severe weather. The Governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of severe weather and heavy rains on Sept. 9, 2014. In addition, the proclamation also activates the Iowa Individual Assistance Program for Union County.

The Iowa Individual Assistance Program provides grants of up to $5,000 for households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or a maximum annual income of $39,580, for a family of three. Grants are available for home or car repairs, replacement of clothing or food, and for the expense of temporary housing. Original receipts are required for those seeking reimbursement for actual expenses related to storm recovery.

The grant application and instructions are available on the Iowa Department of Human Services website http://dhs.iowa.gov/disaster-assistance-programs. Potential applicants have 45 days from the date of the proclamation to submit a claim.

Sheriff’s officials in Cass County say a truck driver from Nebraska was cited following an accident Saturday morning southwest of Atlantic.33-year old Tommy Jo Mannheim, of Bellevue, NE, was cited for Failure to Maintain Control, after the 2011 Freightliner straight truck he was driving went out of control on eastbound Highway 6 near Lansing Road.

photo bu KJAN’s Chris Parks.

The truck overturned onto the roadway during the crash, which happened at around 9:20-a.m. No injuries were reported. Damage to the truck was estimated at $7,000.

Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Atlantic Police along with deputies from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the scene.

Arraignment is set for Monday, Sept. 22nd, in the case of an Atlantic woman facing a multitude of charges in connection with scheme to make her 5-year old daughter appear to be sick with cancer, and solicit money for treatment never rendered.

30-year old Leatha Kaye Slauson is charged with: one count of drug distribution to a person under 18, two counts of child endangerment causing bodily injury, two counts of administering harmful substances, two counts of assault while committing a felony, two counts of domestic abuse and 10 counts of unlawful possession of prescription drugs, and one count of Theft in the 1st degree. Online records say the alleged offenses date back to September 2013.

In an arraignment hearing, the defendant hears the formal charges against them, and enters a plea in response. Slauson’s Pre-Trial Conference is still set for October 13th, while her trial is slated to begin November 12th, unless she pleads guilty to the charges, in which case a sentencing date would be set.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Even though Iowa’s economy is improving, the state’s birth rate isn’t keeping pace. Iowa Department of Public Health figures show the state’s birth rate for 2013 is up less than 1 percent over 2012, The Des Moines Register reported. The 2013 numbers are still nearly 5 percent lower than the birth rate in 2007, before the economy slumped. There were 39,013 babies born in 2013, compared with 38,686 in 2012 and 40,835 in 2007.

Similar numbers are being reported elsewhere in the country, which experts say is typical during recessions. People apparently have fewer babies because they’re less confident they can support growing families.

Birth rates tend to rebound eventually, but how long it will take is tough to pinpoint, said Gretchen Livingston of the Pew Research Center. The nation’s fertility rate, the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, was at an all-time low in 2013, though it was a bit higher in Iowa than the nation as a whole.

The decline in Iowa births includes a decrease in the number of babies born to teen mothers, which state public health officials say is a victory.  University of Iowa economics professor Alice Schoonbroodt suspects the birth rate will increase more soon, but she’s less confident than she was a year or two ago.  “The longer we go with no change, the more we’re led to believe it’s something permanent,” she said.