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

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(Radio Iowa) — This is National Farm Safety Week and an Iowa State University expert says tractor rides for kids are one cause of accidents that can be avoided. Professor Charles Schwab says tractors are a draw for kids — but they create dangerous situations. “When you have that extra individual on the tractor that really is not there serving a purpose, that creates a problem — you know it’s a distraction to the operator and puts that extra person at risk of being run over — because that’s usually what happens,” Schwab says.

The National Children’s Center estimates one child dies about every three days in an agriculture-related incident. He says it’s not any safer to give kids rides on lawn tractors and it is actually often more dangerous because of an increased danger of rolling over.  “That extra weight of that child impacts the overall balance of that tractor. Whereas a larger field tractor, the difference of that individual isn’t as much. The overturn possibilities or falling off it on a garden tractor are huge,” Schwab explains.

Schwab says adults need to be strong and avoid the desire of the kids to get into these dangerous situations. “Realize that as much as you’d like to share that time, that’s not the best way of doing it. And to keep a tradition of a strong and healthy family — don’t give that ride,” Schwab says. “Part of it is looking at other ways of engaging the individuals or young people in a connection.” He says you can still share the farm experience with the kids without putting them in danger. “It’s not just about the ride on the tractor — it’s about connecting with the people and the values of the individuals that are operating it. Find other ways of making that connection,” he says.

Schwab there are a variety of other farm accidents this time of year. “This past month we’ve already seen auger injuries, falls, tractor overturns and collisions. They start to peak this time around harvest,” Schwab says. He says everyone has the responsibility of helping farmers prevent accidents. “Realize that there’s going to be a lot more agricultural equipment out on the roadways and so we need to be aware. And as motor vehicle operators understand that they’ll be there and are slower than other vehicles,” Schwab says.

He says farmers must understand the dangers while they are out on the road too. “As agricultural equipment operators make sure that you keep engaged with what you are doing and signal your intent. And make sure all your reflective stickers and emblems and lights are all functioning,” Schwab says. This year’s national theme is “Shift Farm Safety Into High Gear.”

(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is predicting President Trump will announce new ethanol production guidelines this week. “I can’t say too much because we’re waiting to see the final wording,” Reynolds says. Reynolds flew to Washington, D.C. last Thursday for a meeting at the White House to discuss how to increase the federal ethanol production mandate. President Trump in August gave the green light to waivers so 31 oil refineries do not have to blend ethanol into gasoline. Trump has said he had to save those refineries “from certain closing” — but he’s promised a “giant package” will be unveiled to boost corn-based ethanol. Reynolds says she “feels really good” about last week’s White House meeting with Trump and farm-state senators. “If what we agreed on is what we see in writing, we’ll be supporting it and inviting him here to announce it,” Reynolds said.

The governor says the ethanol waivers granted to the oil industry erased any gains from President Trump’s June announcement that gasoline with a higher 15-percent blend of ethanol could be sold year-round. She says that message has been delivered. “It’s going to have a direct impact on our farmers and our communities and our economy in rural Iowa and, you know, we helped put him there and he said when he ran for office that he supported renewable fuels,” Reynolds said. “And it was a really good meeting.”

Reynolds made her comments at the Clay County Fair in Spencer during an interview with K-I-C-D Radio. The Des Moines Register is reporting the Siouxland Energy Cooperative in Sioux Center has quit producing ethanol — the second ethanol plant in Iowa to close down this fall.

EARLVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A trial is scheduled to begin today (Monday), for a man accused of using a corn rake to kill his wife in eastern Iowa. Court records say 43-year-old Todd Mullis has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. Authorities say he fatally attacked 39-year-old Amy Mullis in November at her farm northwest of Earlville. Authorities initially believed she’d been fatally injured in a fall. An autopsy showed she died after receiving injuries that included multiple stab wounds to her back with a corn rake.

The trial has been moved to Dubuque County from Delaware County. Mullis’ lawyer sought a new location, saying Mullis couldn’t get a fair trial in Delaware County, where his wife worked closely with law enforcement as a nurse.

A traffic stop in Fremont County early this (Monday) morning, resulted in a man being arrested on drug charges. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office K9 Unit conducted the traffic stop in Fremont County, as part of a narcotics investigation. Deputies arrested 26-year old Jeffery Cline Lewis, of Hamburg, for Possession with Intent to Deliver over 1/2 lb of methamphetamine and Failure to Affix a Tax Stamp. Lewis was being held at the Fremont County Jail on $30,000 bond.

Jeffrey Cline Lewis

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Tabor Police Department, Mills County Sheriff’s Office and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

The Red Oak Police Department reports a woman from Atlantic was arrested at around 5:45-a.m., Sunday, for OWI-drug related/1st offense. 30-year old Jennifer Rene Larson was transported to the Montgomery County Jail, and held on a $1,000 bond.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office report 29-year old Shelby Erin Belt, of Red Oak, was arrested Saturday, for OWI/1st offense. Belt was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More flooding is likely along the Missouri River after heavy rains and flooding upstream in South Dakota. The National Weather Service says some moderate flooding is likely this week along the river between Sioux City, Iowa, and Rulo, Nebraska. Some parts of South Dakota received as much as 7 inches of rain over two days. The Missouri River is expected to crest later this week after rising significantly.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than $8.5 million was wagered at 13 participating casinos in Iowa’s first month of sports betting. Ames station WOI reports that figures release by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission show the state reaped nearly $146,000 in tax revenue from the wagers on sports events. On Aug. 15, Iowa became the 11th in the nation and first in the Midwest to allow such wagering.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental competency evaluation for a woman accused of injuring an Iowa City police officer with BB gun fire. The woman herself was injured when the officer returned fire with his service weapon. Officer Michael Clark and 25-year-old Cierra Lewis were both hospitalized after the July 29 shootout as officers investigated a shoplifting report. Lewis’ attorney tells the Press-Citizen he doesn’t believe she is mentally fit enough to participate in her own defense.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a wounded homeless man, as well as the officer who shot him in a confrontation at a Des Moines homeless encampment. Des Moines police say 26-year-old Bryan Tyler Norris was shot Friday afternoon at the encampment in a wooded area near the Raccoon River. Police say officers were responding to complaints about the homeless camp when Norris armed himself with a knife, refused commands to drop and advanced on an officer. Police say Officer Trudy Paulson then shot him.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More flooding is likely along the Missouri River after heavy rains and flooding upstream in South Dakota. The National Weather Service says some moderate flooding is likely this week along the river between Sioux City, Iowa, and Rulo, Nebraska. Some parts of South Dakota received as much as 7 inches of rain over two days.

The Missouri River is expected to crest later this week after rising significantly. The floodwaters may even cover parts of Interstates 680 and 29 and force some road closures.
The flooding may be worse because several levees that were damaged by flooding in the spring haven’t been repaired yet.

In western Iowa, Pottawattamie County emergency manager Doug Reed says everyone living near the river should prepare now and monitor conditions this week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg would like to turn the fight for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination into a contest about generational change. But there’s one looming problem: He has yet to win over his own. His lack of any ample base of support, even among his fellow millennials, is a central challenge of the 37-year-old’s long shot bid to rise from mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to the nation’s highest office. He plays well across a broad spectrum of Democratic voters, but in small fragments that have left him an intriguing candidate stuck in single digits in national polls.

“You can put groups of candidates into corners. What corner do you put Pete Buttigieg in?” said J. Ann Selzer, longtime director of the Iowa Poll, produced by The Des Moines Register and its partners. “I think that the combination of characteristics that most define Buttigieg fit him rather uniquely. He appears to be a cluster of one.” As such, he needs to try to leverage that kind of appeal into votes against a field where candidates with clearer ideological positions, such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have more natural core constituencies.

There was hope for Buttigeig in a Register poll in June that showed his overall viability footprint — measuring Iowans listing him as their first or second choice, or merely considering him — closely trailed the survey’s top choices: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sanders and Warren. Biden does better among older voters; Sanders and Warren do better among younger ones. There is no consistent deviation among age groups for Buttigieg, Selzer said.

During Thursday’s presidential debate in Houston, Buttigieg tried to make a virtue of his youth while playing the adult in the room when his rivals bickered on stage. “This is why presidential debates are becoming unwatchable,” he said after Biden landed a verbal jab during a tense back-and-forth with Julian Castro, housing secretary under President Barack Obama. “This reminds everybody of what they cannot stand about Washington, scoring points against each other, poking at each other.”

Buttigieg’s debate moment recalled his increasingly pointed criticism of the Washington establishment during his summer blitz through Iowa. At a town hall-style event in August, he told a 13-year-old girl who was troubled by school shootings that it is “a failure of the generation that’s in charge.” It’s “one of the reasons I’m not waiting my turn,” the candidate said, drawing applause from the generationally mixed group.

Buttigieg came of age in the mass shooting era and serving in the country’s first post-9/11 war, but there’s no conclusive evidence that he is resonating more with younger voters. At the same time, Buttigieg doesn’t register the variances in support from different age groups that the older candidates do. A July poll by the Pew Research Center found that just 7% of Democratic primary voters nationally under the age of 30 supported Biden, compared with 41% of voters 65 and older. Sanders, on the other hand, drew 24% of his support from the younger group and just 4% from the older segment.

There’s been little reliable public polling in Iowa since Buttigieg broke through in July with his $25 million fundraising for the second Quarter. But evidence suggests opportunity for Buttigieg, who had risen to fourth behind the three older candidates in the Register’s June poll. Since that poll, Buttigieg reported the prodigious level of contributions, sent 100 staffers across Iowa, began spending $350,000 on digital advertising — some aimed at younger voters on the music app Spotify — and undertook an intricate peer-to-peer contact program in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Given his support across age groups, the personal outreach could yield the advantage of adding first-time caucus participants to the mix, which has proved pivotal in past competitive caucuses.