Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:10 a.m. CDT

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris told Iowa voters that they can help refute questions about her electability if they support her in the caucuses. On the campus of Iowa State University, Harris said Sunday that Iowans have the ability to show the country what can be, even if people have never seen it before. Harris’ visit to Ames on Sunday marked her first to Iowa since announcing plans to recommit her focus on the state.

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Construction has begun in south-central Iowa on a $13.5 million, 50,000 square-foot facility to train utility linemen in several Midwest states. The Des Moines Register reports the Missouri Valley Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training Program is building the facility in Indianola. It will be the primary training center for Missouri Valley contract linemen, traffic-signal and substation technicians from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Last month’s closing of the obstetrics unit at Unity Point Hospital in Marshalltown was only the most recent in Iowa. The Iowa Public Health Department says nearly three dozen Iowa community hospitals have stopped delivering babies in the past two decades, and eight stopped last year _ the most yet in one year. Hansen Family Hospital CEO Doug Morse told Iowa Public Radio that the increased expense of labor and delivery care led officials to end deliveries at the Iowa Falls facility in November.

VINTON, Iowa (AP) — A Vinton man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for firing at officers sent to check on his welfare. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that 44-year-old Lyle Fowler Jr. was sentenced last week in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to assault on officers and interference with official acts. In a separate case, Fowler pleaded guilty to two charges of disseminating obscene materials to a minor and was given a deferred 10-year prison sentence.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office reports two separate Theft arrests last week. Last Thursday (10/3), 53-year old Michelle Ann Carey, of Adair, was arrested by Adair Police at the Kum & Go in Adair, for allegedly taking root beer and dog treats valued at less than $200. She was charged with Theft in the 5th Degree.

The Sheriff’s report indicated the manager of the store had caught Carey on camera allegedly stealing items on other occasions, and wanted to catch her in the act. Carey was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $100 cash only bond.

A man from Las Vegas, Nevada, was arrested Oct. 1st in Adair, for Theft in the 5th and Open Container, after allegedly taking food and drink valued at less than $200 from the Casey’s General Store, in Adair. The items, an energy drink and four sticks of beef jerky, and a half-full open container of beer, were found in 31-year old Brandon Scott Terrell‘s vehicle. Terrell was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $300 cash or surety bond.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation report Interstate 29 between Exit 61: I-680; County Road G37 (near Crescent) and Exit 71: I-680 (1 mile south of the Missouri Valley area), is closed because of flooding. The road is expected to remain closed until about 6-p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8th.

IDOT cameras showed the surging Missouri River waters once again overtaking the pavement as IDOT crews worked to shut down the traffic.

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer, Sunday, issued a report on arrests. On Sept. 28th, 31-year old Allison Martin, of Audubon, was arrested for Theft in the 5th Degree.

On Sept. 23rd, 32-year old Jeremy John Holzwart, of Audubon, was arrested and charged with Domestic Abuse – First Offense.

And on Sept. 10th, 30-year old Levi Alroy Kluver, of Audubon, was arrested after Audubon Police conducted a search warrant. Kluver was charged with Possession of Marijuana – 3rd or subsequent offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

A motorcyclist from Council Bluffs was transported by Red Oak Rescue to the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, Saturday night, after he ran a stop sign, and struck an SUV broadside. The accident happened at around 11:30-p.m., Saturday. Authorities say a 2005 Yamaha driven by 27-year old Johnathan Tyler McAlpin was traveling southbound on Miller Avenue, when he collided with a 2015 Subaru Forester that was traveling eastbound on Corning Street.

McAlpin suffered possible/unknown serious injuries. The driver of the SUV, 52-year old Daniel Roy Lukehart, of Red Oak, was not injured. Damage from the collision amounted to $12,500. McAlpin was cited for Having no valid driver’s license, failure to provide proof of insurance, and failure to obey a stop sign. Red Oak Police were assisted at the scene by Red Oak Fire and EMS, and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

National Fire Prevention week takes place from Sunday, Oct. 6th through Saturday, Oct. 12th. The theme is “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape!” Locally the Atlantic Fire Department will kick-off the activities beginning Sunday, with their annual free-will Fireman’s Donation Breakfast. The event takes place at the fire station on West 7th Street (Highway 6), in Atlantic. Atlantic Fire Dept. Captain Tom Cappel says they’re serving-up some great food…Pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon. In addition if you ask, you can get a tour of the fire station.

There’s also juice and coffee, and a fly-in by Midwest Med-Air will take place sometime between 9-and 10-a.m. Your donation helps the Fire Dept. purchases batteries for smoke detectors and the purchase of detectors for homes that don’t have them. Cappel says smoke detectors are especially important in older homes, or those with additions. Those additions have spaces where electrical and other fires can smolder unnoticed unless picked-up through a smoke detector’s sensors.

Other activities coming up this next week, involve firefighters educating children in local schools on fire safety and the importance of functioning smoke detectors. Cappel says their fire prevention efforts this past year, may have helped reduce the number of calls for service, where fires are concerned. Fire Prevention Week culminates next Saturday, Oct. 12th, with the Atlantic Fireman’s Parade that begins at 6-p.m. He said the Oscar Meyer Weiner-Mobile will be in the parade, and also at the Atlantic Hy-Vee from 2-to 5-p.m., prior to the parade.

Line-up for parade participants starts at 4-p.m., near 2nd Street and Sunnyside Lane and proceeding to Poplar Street before turning right and south to 6th Street. From there, the participants will make their way to Chestnut Street and north to 2nd Street, where the parade ends.

Midwest Med-Air will be landing in-town at around 5-p.m., next Saturday, Oct. 12th. There are also three well-known marching bands, bagpipes and more.

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Construction has begun in south-central Iowa on a $13.5 million, 50,000 square-foot facility to train power pole linemen in several Midwest states.

The Des Moines Register reports that the Missouri Valley Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training Program is building the facility in an industrial park in Indianola. Construction is expected to be complete in the fall of 2020.

Program director Robbie Foxen says the one-story building will sit on 46 acres, and a pole yard for high voltage power lines and training structures will be spread across the grounds. It will be the primary training center for Missouri Valley contract linemen, traffic signal technicians and substation technicians from Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The program already has five training centers in the seven states it serves. Foxen says the new facility is being built in Indianola because it is centrally located. More than 1,000 workers are expected to pass through the new center annually.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Last month’s closing of the obstetrics unit at the Marshalltown hospital was only the most recent in Iowa’s rural communities, which has forced some expectant mothers to skimp on prenatal care and undergo frantic trips when labor commences.

Since 2000, 34 of Iowa’s 118 community hospitals have closed their birthing units, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. There have been two so far this year, down from eight closures last year — the most in a single year.

Most of those closures have happened at smaller facilities than the 49-bed Marshalltown hospital.
Iowa’s aging population is a key reason for these closures, Dr. Stephen Hunter, vice chairman of obstetrics at the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics in Iowa City, told Iowa Public Radio .

“Some rural counties have lost as many as 40 percent of their population in the last three decades,” Hunter said. “That’s a lot of people gone, unfortunately. That leaves a system that’s not adequate for those that remain in those counties.”

Hunter said the state is also facing a severe shortage of OB/GYNs and family practice doctors who practice obstetrics. And, he said, Medicaid reimbursements are so low for obstetrics that hospitals can’t support the service.

According to figures from the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Medicaid reimbursed it about one-third of what commercial insurance plans did for services such as ultrasounds and deliveries last year.
Competition from bigger hospitals in bigger cities presents a business challenge, too.

“There simply aren’t enough women choosing to deliver locally,” UnityPoint Health President Jenni Friedly said. “This is a problem that has been going on for a long time. . There are enough women becoming pregnant, but they are going elsewhere to deliver. It’s clear OB/GYN patients are already selecting Ames and Des Moines for their care.”

Stephanie Trusty, a nurse who tracks birthing trends for the state, told the Marshalltown Times-Republican that “some of these birthing units are beautiful. They’re like a four-star hotel.” But does the loss of birthing units at the smaller hospitals and consolidation of birthing services affect health outcomes? A 2017 University of Minnesota study said the loss of labor and delivery units in smaller, more remote counties is linked with a decrease in prenatal care and increase in out-of-hospital and preterm births.

The Iowa Public Health Department and the University of Iowa are keeping watch for any such problems, but so far have not seen any sizable incidence, Trusty said. Hansen Family Hospital CEO Doug Morse in Iowa Falls told Iowa Public Radio that hospital officials decided labor and delivery care were too expensive to continue in the aging, rural community with a declining birth rate.

After three months of public meetings, Morse said, hospital officials opted to use half the money they would save to turn the unit into a mental health program for seniors. “It really did become fairly clear that people recognize that this wasn’t necessarily … delivering babies isn’t necessarily a service that matches an elderly population,” he said.

The closing of the birth unit at the Iowa Falls hospital forced Jessica Sheridan to change her plans to have her baby born there, just five minutes from her home. She established relationships with doctors in Ames, an hour away, where her daughter was delivered in mid-December. “We were lucky. It was nice weather,” Sheridan said.

VINTON, Iowa (AP) — A Vinton man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for firing at officers sent to check on his welfare.

Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that 44-year-old Lyle Fowler Jr. was sentenced last week in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to assault on officers and interference with official acts. In a separate case, Fowler pleaded guilty to two charges of disseminating obscene materials to a minor and was given a deferred 10-year prison sentence. In the sex case, prosecutors say Fowler sent sexually explicit pictures to two teenage girls via his cellphone.

In the assault case, Fowler shot toward officers sent to check his welfare on Sept. 7, 2018. The two officers fired back, but no one was wounded in the exchange.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines are investigating the death of a man, calling the death suspicious. Police responded to a report of a fight at a Des Moines home around 1 a.m. Saturday. Police say arriving officers found a man injured at the home. The man, who has not yet been identified, was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. Police did not immediately offer details of what type of injuries the man suffered.

Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said in a news release that the circumstances of the death are suspicious and that detectives are investigating. He said there is no suspected threat to the community stemming from the death.

No arrests have been reported.