Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (AP) — Officials at Tyson Pet Products say they hope to decide soon whether to expand operations in Independence and add more than 100 full-time jobs. The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board awarded tax incentives about a month ago for the proposed project, and the city of Independence gave its official backing of the plan on Monday night.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa drivers will be able to renew their driver’s licenses online under a bill signed into law by Governor Terry Branstad yesterday. It allows drivers between 18 and 72 to renew their driver’s licenses through the state Department of Transportation’s website without passing a vision test. The bill also extends the time licenses are valid from five years to eight years.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature has approved a $41 million compromise economic development budget. The House and Senate both easily approved the plan yesterday. The budget next goes to the governor.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa legislators have approved a compromise budget plan for the state justice system. Yesterday lawmakers in the state House and Senate approved $547 million in spending that largely goes to prisons and public safety. The budget plan is an increase over the spending in the current fiscal year. It is more than the $534 million proposed by the House and less than the $560 million pushed by the Senate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Geological Service says it will shut down three stream gauges in Iowa due to federal budget cuts. The agency announced Wednesday it would shut down the gauges on the West Fork Cedar River at Finchford, the Des Moines River at Humboldt and the East Fork 102 River at Bedford. The move was prompted by automatic federal spending cuts that have required reductions by most federal agencies.

The monitors are used to measure stream flows and warn of possible flooding. The USGS says the three gauges were chosen because their shutdown would have limited impacts on other organizations and were least likely to affect public safety.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports investigating a hit and run accident Wednesday (today) that occurred at Highway 34 and G Avenue west of Red Oak. The victim, Keyla McDougall was in her vehicle which was stationary at the northbound stop sign behind a semi tractor when the tractor and trailer began to back up, making contact with McDougall’s vehicle. The semi then went east bound on Highway 34. Damage to McDougall’s vehicle was estimated at $1,000. No injuries were reported.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a northwest Iowa man accused of killing his mother and kidnapping another woman has been moved to a courtroom nearly 50 miles away. A judge on Tuesday granted a change of venue request for 21-year-old Kirk Levin’s trial. It will be moved from Sac City in Sac County to Fort Dodge in Webster County. Levin’s attorney requested the change based on extensive media coverage in the county and surrounding counties.

The Sioux City Journal reports Levin’s trial is scheduled to begin on June 3. He is charged with first-degree murder and third-degree kidnapping. Prosecutors say Levin repeatedly stabbed Marilyn Schmitt in Early on Jan. 3, then kidnapped a 21-year-old woman. She later escaped. Levin had been released from prison days earlier after serving time for burglary.

Officials with Harlan Municipal Utilities say hot weather and high winds were responsible for the cause of electrical blinks and outages in Harlan on Tuesday. In a press release, HMU said a transmission line in the southern part of Harlan had excessive sag and the high winds caused the line to strike an adjacent line. The two hot lines kept touching causing the blinks.

HMU crews diagnosed the problem, isolated the line and rerouted power to avoid outages. HMU says crews made permanent repairs today to prevent the incident from happening again.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)