(Radio Iowa) — Senate Republican have unveiled their proposed limitations if Iowa voters approve a constitutional amendment to automatically restore felon voting rights. The plan would still force those convicted of murder manslaughter or certain sex crimes to apply to the governor to get their voting rights restored and it would force paroled felons to pay ALL their restitution before they’d get the right to vote. Senator Dan Dawson is a Republican from Council Bluffs. “This is not a poll tax. It’s a murder tax. It’s a sexual assault tax. It’s a robbery tax,” he says. “…We’re not talking about people who randomly just got charged with felonies. We’re talking about persons who made an affirmative decision to go out and commit a serious crime.”

Opponents say linking voting rights to income is wrong. Currently, felons applying to the governor just have to show they’re keeping up with a payment plan to get their voting rights back. Heather Strachan with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Iowa says she’s survived abuse and disagrees with the approach Senate Republicans are proposing. Strachan says she feels safer if her abuser is participating in society and getting the treatment he needs. “As a survivor, I urge you not to exclude people from voting based on ideas of repayment and protection in my name,” she says.

Iowa is now the only state in the country that does not automatically give felons the right to vote once they’ve completed their sentences. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has been pushing the Senate since last year to pass her proposed constitutional amendment to automatically restore felon voting rights.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

Creston Police report the arrest on drug charges, of 19-year old Haley Zeigler, of Creston. Zeigler was taken into custody at her home a little before 9-a.m. Monday, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was released from the Union County Jail, on a $1,300 bond. And, just before 4-p.m. Monday, 29-year old Trevor Kinkade, of Creston, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear, on an original charge of Assault causing bodily injury or mental illness. Kinkade was being held in the Union County Jail, while awaiting a Bond Hearing.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – Two people have been found shot to death in Waterloo. Police say officers and medics called to the home around 11:20 p.m. Monday found the bodies. Autopsies are pending. Police haven’t released the names of the two nor any information about what let to the shootings. No arrests have been reported.

Police in Council Bluffs were dispatched a little after 3-a.m. today (Tuesday), to 154 Bennett Ave, the White Oak Station, in reference to the front window being broken. The business was closed, so there were not any employees working at the time. Officers were able to check the business and were unable to locate any suspects. Video was reviewed and it showed an unknown male, dressed in black with white shoes, had broken the window out with rocks to gain entry.(See the video surveillance picture below)

White Oak Station burglary suspect

After he entered the business, the suspect went behind the counter and took an unknown amount of tobacco products. He then left the business in an unknown direction. If you have any information on this suspect please contact the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867. Thank you for your assistance.

DENISON, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have identified a man who was killed when he was struck by a train in western Iowa. Police say an eastbound Union Pacific train struck the man on the tracks early Saturday morning at a crossing in Denison. He’s been identified as Kevin Russman, who lived in Dow City.

(Radio Iowa) — A convicted felon who was found with more than one dozen guns in northern Iowa town will spend nearly nine years in federal prison. Court records show 63-year-old Michael Strain was found guilty of two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm in October. Evidence showed that Strain was living in Elma, Iowa, in late 2010 and early 2011 and purchased ammunition and firearms accessories after being told he couldn’t legally buy a gun.

That led to an investigation where officers found thirteen guns at his home — including a sawed-off shotgun. Strain was convicted in Minnesota in 2001 for fleeing from police, and possessing a pipe bomb in his car that was parked near a courthouse while he attended a court hearing. He was sentenced to 105 months in prison and fined 12-thousand-500 dollars.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders’ and Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaigns have filed requests for a partial recanvass of the results of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses. In its Monday filing, the Sanders campaign cited “mathematical errors and inconsistencies” in more than two dozen caucus locations that it says would change the results if amended. The Iowa Democratic Party says the Buttigieg campaign requested a check on results in 66 precincts. Current results show Buttigieg with a razor-thin lead over Sanders in state delegate equivalents, and the party has awarded Buttigieg 14 delegates to Sanders’ 12. But the Sanders campaign believes correcting faulty math could swing the delegate allocation in Sanders’ favor.

UNDATED (AP) — On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, there was still no winner of last week’s Iowa caucuses. Final results of the Democratic caucus were released late Sunday, after the Iowa Democratic Party made a series of corrections to its tally. That’s not the end of the count, however, as Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg exercised their right Monday to ask the state party to take another look at its reporting of the results. Amid the delays in getting the data and after observing irregularities in the results, The Associated Press says it cannot declare a winner in the first event to decide the Democratic nominee.

CLIVE, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa governor and U.S. agriculture secretary has claimed a $150,000 Powerball prize. Tom Vilsack picked up winnings Monday at the Iowa Lottery’s headquarters in Clive. His ticket matched the Jan. 22 Powerball number and four of the remaining five numbers. He just missed out on the estimated $347 million jackpot. He’d bought the ticket at a grocery store in Waukee, a Des Moines suburb where he and his wife live. He’s now president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. He told lottery officials his church and his children will share in his winnings.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Deere & Co. plans to lay off 105 more workers in Dubuque. The company told workers Friday at the John Deere Dubuque Works that the layoffs will take effect April 6. It would be the third round of layoffs at the plant in the past few months. In October the company said more than 110 workers would be laid off by Nov. 18. In December the company announced that nearly 60 workers would be laid off effective Jan. 6.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill introduced in the Iowa House would forbid most Iowa school districts, cities and counties from banning guns in public buildings. Gun bans could only be enforced in public buildings that screen the public at entry points and have armed security officers inside. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, is a key advocate for the bill.

“I happen to believe that ‘gun free zones’ is an invitation to crazy people, an invitation to sick people because nobody that has ever done a mass shooting has ever obeyed the law,” Hotl says, “because it is illegal to kill people.” A gun ban makes a public place a “shooting gallery” according to Holt.

“How does anybody believe a sign is going to stop a sick individual who has decided to murder innocent people?” Holt asked. “What it will do is stop law-abiding citizens from carrying their firearms into that situation, so this is — as far as I’m concerned — about the health and safety of all Iowans.” Scott Peterson, interim executive director of Iowans for Gun Safety, says it takes training to assess an active shooter situation.

“Law enforcement and military…if there’s a shooting or a hot situation, the last thing they want is for people to start pulling out guns and shooting,” he says. Seventeen-year-old Ellie Miglin, a student at Des Moines Roosevelt High School, says because of school shootings, her generation supports enhancing rather than relaxing gun regulations.

“Why aren’t we doing more to reflect on how our society has changed?” she asks. Miglin and Peterson spoke at a statehouse event arranged by the “We Can End Gun Violence Iowa Coalition.”

Authorities in Council Bluffs and Omaha are on the lookout for a white male about 20-to 30+ years of age, who was involved in armed robbery incidents Monday afternoon. Council Bluffs Police say Tractor Supply Company (329 Veterans Memorial Hwy) employees reported a theft of merchandise (with the suspect seen in the picture below).

Tractor Supply robbery suspect

The suspect attempted to flee the store and enter a gray Dodge Ram pickup. Employees attempted to stop the male suspect when he displayed a handgun. The suspect fled the scene in the pickup truck southbound on Piute Street. As officers were responding, a report of a carjacking at Heartland Christian School was received. The adult male victim was told by the suspect that he had gotten jumped and needed a ride. The victim stated that he couldn’t because he was picking up his children. The suspect then displayed a handgun and fled in the victim’s 2008 Chevy Suburban.

The Suburban was located fleeing westbound on Veterans Highway at S. 24th, then north on 24th Street to I‐80 Westbound. Officers caught up to the Suburban and initiated a pursuit when the driver refused to stop. Officers continued to pursue the vehicle to the area of South 10th Street, where they lost sight of the Suburban. The driver had abandoned the vehicle at 2740 S. 9th Street.

Omaha Police assisted in searching for the suspect with helicopter “Able 1,” and K9 units. The suspect remains at large as of the latest report. He is to be considered armed and dangerous. If you see the suspect, call Council Bluffs Crime Stoppers at 1-712-328-STOP. None of the victims were injured during the robberies.