Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa have charged a man with kidnapping and abusing a 4-year-old girl. Council Bluffs police say officers were investigating a report of a missing child when 28-year-old Michael Brandstrom brought the girl to officers, saying he had found her outside and brought her into his apartment to keep her safe. But police say Brandstrom had kept the girl in his apartment for more than an hour without called authorities and that he had taken several nude photos of the girl.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department has announced the award of $36 million to buy conservation easements on Iowa agriculture land damaged by flooding this year. The funds are available through the flood plain easement component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices are accepting applications through Oct. 18.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Texas health and human services official has been named the new director of the Iowa Department of Human Services. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says Thursday she has appointed Kelly Kennedy Garcia to head the department that oversees the state’s Medicaid program, mental health centers and child welfare services. Former DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven was ousted from the job in June for reasons Reynolds has not fully disclosed. He’s filed a $2 million wrongful termination claim.

GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a pilot suffered minor injuries when his airplane crashed in a south-central Iowa cornfield. The Adair County Sheriff’s Office says a 911 caller reported Wednesday that a man had walked to the caller’s home, saying the small plane he’d been flying had gone down. First responders found the single-engine plane lying on its top about a mile northwest of Greenfield. The pilot was taken to a hospital and soon released. He’s been identified as 59-year-old Eric Chrystal, of Jefferson.

(NBC News via Radio Iowa) — Iowa Congressman Steve King says he drank from a toilet tank at a migrant detention center recently to show the water was safe for drinking. N-B-C News recorded King during a town hall yesterday (Wednesday) in Eagle Grove as he talked about touring detention facilities for asylum-seekers.

Still frame image from NBC video

“I actually went into that cell where it was reported they were advised they had to drink out of the toilet,” King said. “I took a drink out of there and it was actually pretty good, so I have a video tape and I smacked my lips.”

King told the crowd in Eagle Grove he hadn’t posted the video online, to help put complaints about conditions in the detention centers “in the rear view mirror.” But after N-B-C’s reporter posted King’s comments online, King tweeted out the video . He described the system this way in the audio recorded by N-B-C News:

“These toilets in these prisons are solid stainless steel. They’re built so that they are semi-indestructible by the inmates that are there,” King says. “And in the back, where the lid would be on our toilet, that’s also sealed and there’s a water fountain there and you push the button and the water comes out and you take a drink,” King said. “That’s how it is. It’s not drinking out of the toilet. It’s drinking out of the water fountain that’s integral with the back of the toilet.”

King says he believes a “language barrier” prevented those being held in the cells from understanding the words “potable water” printed on a sign above the tank. A Democrat in congress who visited the detention centers criticized King. She said migrants told her the guards directed them to drink out of the toilet because the water fountain was broken.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office said Thursday, Thomas R Harris has filed to run for the office of the Mayor for the City of Anita. Two other men are running for City Council seats in Anita: Kevin Littleton and Mark Harris.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department has announced the award of $36 million to buy conservation easements on Iowa agriculture land damaged by flooding this year. The funds are available through the flood plain easement component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices are accepting applications through Oct. 18.

Under the program, eligible applicants voluntarily agree to sell a permanent conservation easement to the federal government. Compensation is based on the value of the easement rights acquired based on rate caps and market analysis.

The easements may occur on public or private agricultural land and/or residential properties damaged by flooding. Applications will be prioritized by a statewide ranking. The conservation service will work with landowners to restore easements to their natural flood plain condition.

The Glenwood Police Department reports 36-year old Kristy Wilson, of Council Bluffs, was arrested today (Thursday). Wilson was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant. Her bond was set at $1,000.

There were two arrests Wednesday, in Glenwood: 18-year old Christopher Davis, of Omaha, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $1,300. And, 45-year old Brent Vernon, of Glenwood, was arrested Wednesday, for being a Fugitive From Justice. He was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says troopers seized 32 pounds of marijuana and other drugs in separate traffic stops on Interstate 80 at York and North Platte. The patrol says the first stop happened just before 8 a.m. Tuesday near North Platte when a pickup truck was pulled over for a suspected license plate violation. Troopers say a search of the truck turned up 14 pounds of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and different types of controlled pills. The truck driver, a 32-year-old man from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was arrested.

The second stop of a sport utility vehicle occurred Tuesday afternoon year York. Troopers say a search of the SUV yielded about 18 pounds of marijuana and 800 THC vape cartridges. Two people from Wisconsin in the SUV were arrested.

The Cass County Auditor’s Office reports Carmen Sorensen has filed to run for the Griswold City Council on November 5th.  There are 3 seats available for Griswold city council.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Texas health and human services official has been named the new director of the Iowa Department of Human Services. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says Thursday she appointed Kelly Kennedy Garcia to head the department that oversees the state’s Medicaid program, mental health centers and child welfare services. Garcia is now the deputy executive commissioner at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She oversees programs with more than 700 employees and a $1.4 billion budget.

Kelly Garcia

Iowa DHS has more than 4,000 employees and a $7 billion budget. Garcia previously managed the Texas Medicaid program and once served as a senior adviser to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. She will begin Nov. 1. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the Iowa Senate. Former DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven was ousted from the job in June for reasons Reynolds has not fully disclosed. Foxhoven claims it was because he questioned a pay arrangement for a staff member he thought might be illegal. He’s filed a $2 million wrongful termination claim.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports five arrests took place over the past week. Wednesday afternoon, 70-year old Stephen Craig Tasto, of Malvern, was arrested at the Cass County (NE) Jail on a Warrant 2nd Degree Theft. And, 26-year old Paul Eugene Whitmore, of Omaha, was arrested at the Pottawattamie County Jail on a warrant for two counts of Failure to Appear. This past Monday afternoon, 27-year old Brittney Marie Hunter, of Omaha, NE, was arrested for Possession of Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and four counts of Child Endangerment. Early Sunday morning, 40-year old Robert Matthew Justice, of Glenwood, was arrested for Driving While Barred.

On August 29th, 64-year old Robert Charles Carlson, of Omaha, was arrested at the Douglas County, NE., Jail,  on a warrant for Failure to Appear.

Mills County authorities said also, that on Aug. 30th, 48-year old Meril Naumowicz, of Tabor, was driving a 2018 Dodge eastbound on Highway 34 at around 2:05-p.m.  Mills county dispatch received multiple 911 calls about her vehicle being all over the road, and striking multiple cones in the construction zone. Before law enforcement could find the vehicle, it struck the guard rail at the 8-mile marker of Highway 34, and became disabled. Naumowicz was transported to Jennie Ed by Glenwood Rescue.

Last Saturday, 47-year old Timothy Rife, of Logan, was driving a 2016 Harley Davidson southbound on Highway 59 at around 1:53-a.m. As he approached the intersection with Kroon Avenue, Rife saw a herd of cattle were on the roadway. When he swerved to avoid hitting the cattle, his cycle toppled onto its side. Rife was transported to The University of Nebraska Medical Center, by Red oak Rescue.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials have unveiled a blue 300-pound bronze statue of a troll that now sits below the popular Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge spanning the Missouri River from Omaha to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Omar the Troll — short for Omaha Metro Area River — was introduced during a news conference Wednesday. The 4-foot troll with a toothy grin now greets visitors from atop a concrete cottage set up on a mulched area by one of the bridge’s pillars.

The sculpture is the brainchild of tourism group Visit Omaha and has been in the works for three years. The idea behind his creation is to keep visitors excited about the riverfront bridge. Deborah Ward with Visit Omaha tells the Omaha World-Herald that “every bridge needs a troll.”