DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate in June remained unchanged from the previous month at 4.6 percent. A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows the rate remained the same despite the state adding 6,500 jobs. It’s still an improvement from the same period last year, when Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.3 percent and the state had 24,800 less jobs.

The Des Moines Register reports the industries of construction, leisure and hospitality added 2,600 jobs in June. Professional and business services also added 1,900 jobs in the same period. Education, health services and government each lost 1,700 jobs in June.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol is praising a trooper who responded to a house fire while he was driving Governor Terry Branstad. The patrol said yesterday that trooper Greg Steffen was driving Branstad to Des Moines after an event Wednesday in Eddyville, when they passed through Monroe on Highway 163. Steffen noticed black smoke, couldn’t tell where it was coming from and decided to investigate, eventually finding a house engulfed in flames. An elderly resident had escaped the fire with multiple burns.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad is seeking a presidential disaster declaration for 10 Iowa counties that were hit by severe storms and flooding in June. Branstad says he signed a letter yesterday for President Barack Obama seeking the declaration for the counties of Allamakee, Benton, Buchanan, Butler, Cedar, Clayton, Delaware, Howard, Jones and Winneshiek.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican Senators and potential presidential candidates Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas are set to address evangelical pastors today in Des Moines. The 50-year-old Paul is the son of retired Texas Congressman Ron Paul who finished third in Iowa’s 2012 caucuses.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Matt Chapman had an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Team USA a 2-1 victory over Cuba last night in an international exhibition. The matchup in Des Moines was the opener of a five-game series between Cuba and a team of American college stars.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a Council Bluffs woman who allegedly abused her special needs stepson and deprived him of food and bathroom facilities, has posted bond and was released from jail.  46-year old Rebecca S. Beyer posted 10-percent (or ($10,000) of her $100,000 bond. Her trial is set for Sept. 17th.

The woman was placed on pre-trial release, and was ordered to have no contact with the victim, Joshua Gorda, whose father, 41-year old James Beyer Jr., and Beyer’s son, 23-year old Ryan Matthew Smith, are also accused in the case.

Beyer, Jr., posted bond on July 3rd, and has entered a written plea of not guilty to charges of kidnapping in the 1st degree, and felony willful injury. Smith also posted bond on Thursday, and has plead not guilty to a charge of kidnapping in the 1st degree.

A teenager from Hancock was crowned Queen of the East Pottawattamie County Fair, Thursday evening, in Avoca. 17-year old Sophie Kock moves on to represent East Pott. at the Iowa State Fair, which runs from August 8th through the 18th, in Des Moines.

18-year old Breanna Kixmiller, of Walnut, earned the first runner-up honors, with 17-year old Hannah Constable, of Shelby, being named second runner-up. 17-year old Brittany Kay won the title of Miss Congeniality, while 16-year old Jessica Butcher won the Miss Leadership award. Both Constable and Kay are from Avoca.

And, with the exception of Kixmiller, who will be a senior this fall at the Atlantic High School, each of the other girls attend the AHST High School in Avoca,

In an update to our earlier story about a car-versus-pedestrian accident in Atlantic, Thursday, the Iowa State Patrol early this (Friday) morning, revealed additional information about the incident. Officials say 34-year old Jennifer Kay Lower, of Atlantic, was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital by Medivac Ambulance, before being flown by medical helicopter to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

An investigation determined a 2006 Ford Mustang, driven by 52-year old Clark Alvin Carns, of Fontanelle, was traveling east in the left lane of Highway 6 just after 2:20-p.m., when Lower attempted to cross the Highway, at the intersection with Whitney Street (Highway 71).

The Patrol says charges resulting from the accident, are pending completion of an investigation.