(Radio Iowa) — During a speech in Ottumwa yesterday (Tuesday), former Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a significant policy priority. “I promise you, if I’m elected president, you’re going to see the single-most important thing that changes in America is we’re going to cure cancer,” Biden said, to cheers. Biden had been talking about the grieving process, but he did not directly mention his late son, Beau. Beau Biden died in 2015 from an aggressive form of brain cancer. As vice president, Biden led an Obama Administration effort to boost research into cancer causes and cures.

(Radio Iowa) — A western Iowa farmer invited to speak when President Trump visited a Council Bluffs ethanol plant yesterday (Tuesday) used the moment to make a plea on behalf of “corn country.” “Mr. President, you delivered on E15, but we have more work to do,” he said. “EPA’s oil refinery waivers threaten to undo your good works. I ask that you listen again because the pain that the ethanol and biodiesel industries have endured is holding back a farm economy that has further capacity to produce clean air and clean liquid fuels for this country.”

Kevin Ross is a sixth generation farmer from Minden. Trump complemented Ross for his speech, but did not directly address the E-P-A waivers that let big oil companies avoid adding ethanol to gasoline. Trump told the crowd the deal recently struck on immigration with Mexico includes a pledge to buy more U.S. ag commodities. “Mexico’s going to be doing a lot of buying, a lot of buying,” Trump said, to applause. “Within a year and a half, would say, you’ll be in the best position that you’ve been in in 15 years as farmers and you deserve it.”

Trump signed an executive order at the event in Council Bluffs. It directs federal agencies to streamline regulations that deal with agricultural biotechnology.

(Radio Iowa) — Interstate 35 in northern Iowa, near the Northwood exit, was closed for a couple of hours Tuesday afternoon as authorities negotiated with a motorist who’d been waving a gun at other vehicles. Officer Dana Knutson of the Iowa State Patrol says just before one o’clock, Minnesota State Patrol started pursing a car. “The subject was waving a gun at others. The pursuit crossed into Iowa and then stopped south of Highway 105. He refused to get out of the car and be taken into custody for a while. We had negotiators and tactical units involved in coming to a peaceful resolution.”

Both northbound and southbound Interstate-35 was closed as a precaution. “Just trying to limit exposure to innocent bystanders,” the trooper says. The man was taken into custody and is behind held in the Worth County jail awaiting arraignment on charges in Iowa. It is expected that he will face additional charges in Minnesota.

Both lanes of Interstate 80 westbound were blocked for at least one-half hour early this morning, as fire crews from Walnut and Marne worked to extinguish a semi tractor-trailer that was engulfed in flames. Marne fire was called to assist Walnut Fire on I-80 westbound at mile marker 48, at around 1:25-a.m.

Deputies from Cass and Pottawattamie Counties helped to block the entrance and exit ramp and reroute westbound traffic to Marne at Exit 51, then west and back north to the interstate. There were no reports of injuries, and no other details available early today.

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

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are unleashing the kind of verbal attacks that feel more appropriate for the final weeks before Election Day than a lazy summer day about 17 months before voters go to the polls. Biden says Trump is an “existential threat” to the nation. Trump suggests Biden is “weak mentally” and insists, “People don’t respect him.” Both men were campaigning in Iowa Tuesday, and Biden has one more event in the state Wednesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has lowered its estimate of this year’s corn crop to the lowest in four years, saying wet weather has delayed planting and reduced acres planted and the expected per-acre yield. Production was cut in a monthly report released Tuesday by 1.4 billion bushels to 13.7 billion bushels, the lowest since 2015.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A study shows Iowa leads the nation in the amount of human and animal waste it produces. Christopher Jones is a scientist at the University of Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that Jones’ study shows the state of 3.2 million people and total livestock population of nearly 110 million produces as much manure as a human population of 168 million. His study indicates pigs are responsible for driving the state to the top of the rankings.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental evaluation for an Iowa man charged in the deaths of his former girlfriend’s parents in Nebraska. Sioux City, Iowa, station KTIV reports that the Nebraska judge on Monday ordered the evaluation for 36-year-old Brindar Jangir to determine whether he is mentally fit enough to stand trial. Jangir was arrested in March in the shotgun deaths of 56-year-old Randal Grimes and 51-year-old Annette Grimes in Douglas, Nebraska.

(Radio Iowa) — The upcoming three months will be a prime time to look for — and find — a new job in Iowa, according to the latest employment outlook survey from Manpower Group. Kathy Joblinske, Manpower’s executive vice president for Iowa, says the national outlook for third quarter is very good and Iowa’s outlook is even better.

“Among the employers that were surveyed, 31% plan to hire more employees July through September of this year,” Joblinske says. “That number is offset by 3% that plan to reduce the payroll and 64% of employers are expecting to maintain current staff levels.” Iowa’s net employment outlook for the approaching quarter is 28-percent, ahead of the national outlook of 21-percent and well ahead of Iowa’s outlook last quarter of 16-percent.

Hiring prospects are very promising in most industries, Joblinske says, and a few are far above the rest. “When we look at this time of year, construction is expected to be up and, sure enough, that is one of the top industries that are anticipated for growth,” Joblinske says, “as well as durable goods manufacturing, non-durable goods manufacturing and then transportation and utilities.” Only the information technology category looks to be falling, slightly.

“They are forecasting some decreases in information, although there’s still a lot of IT jobs available,” Joblinske says. “There’s a lot of job opportunity out there and there are more jobs available than there are job seekers at this point.” There are double-digit outlooks in all 50 states for the quarter ahead, and Joblinske says it’s the strongest outlook in 13 years.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental evaluation for an Iowa man charged in the deaths of his former girlfriend’s parents in Nebraska. Sioux City, Iowa, station KTIV reports that the Nebraska judge on Monday ordered the evaluation for 36-year-old Brindar Jangir to determine whether he is mentally fit enough to stand trial.

Jangir was arrested in March near San Diego as he tried to re-enter the United States from Mexico. Jangir is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the March 23 shotgun deaths in Douglas, Nebraska, of 56-year-old Randal Grimes and 51-year-old Annette Grimes.

The affidavit says Randal and Annette Grimes were the parents of a woman Jangir was living with in Sioux City, Iowa, until she moved out March 12. The affidavit says she told officers Jangir threatened to kill her and her parents if she ever left him.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden spent Tuesday trading insults — sometimes almost simultaneously— as they stumped across Iowa in split-screen moments that could preview a ferocious fight ahead if the two face off for the presidency next year.

Biden’s name recognition and a sense among Democrats that he could beat Trump has helped him climb to the top of his party’s crowded presidential field. But Trump said Biden only gained in the polls because he went on the offensive against the president himself, and he linked the former vice president to 2016 foe Hillary Clinton.

“People don’t respect him,” Trump said after touring a renewable energy facility in Council Bluffs. “Even the people that he’s running against, they’re saying: ‘Where is he? What happened?'”

With a dose of exaggeration, the president added: “He makes his stance in Iowa once every two weeks and then he mentions my name 74 times in one speech. I don’t know. That reminds me of Crooked Hillary. She did the same thing.”

At almost the same moment in Mount Pleasant, Biden noted the attention he has been getting from Trump. Biden’s appearances from earlier in the day were playing on TV screens when Air Force One landed in Iowa.

“I guess he’s really fascinated by me,” said Biden, who mentioned Trump by name about a dozen times during his first two events in Iowa. “I find it fascinating.” He started to say more but then stopped himself, quipping: “My mother would say: ‘Joey, focus. Don’t descend. Stay up.'”

Pressed later by reporters about his repeated assurances that he wouldn’t openly criticize Trump while campaigning, Biden said, “By not talking about him personally — talking about where I disagree with him on the issues, why he’s doing such damage to the country — that’s totally different than attacking his character or lack thereof.”

Still, the back-and-forth laid bare the rising political stakes for each man, even with the election about 17 months away. Trump has zeroed in on Biden as a potential threat to his reelection chances and is testing themes to beat him back. Biden, meanwhile, is campaigning as a front-runner, relishing the one-on-one fight with Trump while making sure he doesn’t ignore the demands of the Democratic primary.

“I’d rather run against Biden than anybody,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn before flying to Iowa. “I think he’s the weakest mentally, and I like running against people that are weak mentally.”

Biden began the day in Ottumwa, the heart of Wapello County, a meat-packing and agricultural manufacturing center that Trump was the first Republican to carry since Dwight D. Eisenhower. It’s part of Biden’s dual track approach: campaigning for the caucuses while projecting himself as someone who can win in territory Trump snatched from Democrats in 2016, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

There, the former vice president hit Trump on the economy — an issue the president often promotes as his chief strength in a time of low unemployment.

“I hope his presence here will be a clarifying event because Iowa farmers have been crushed by his tariffs toward China,” Biden said. “It’s really easy to be tough when someone else absorbs the pain, farmers and manufacturers.”

Biden added that Trump “backed off his threat of tariffs to Mexico basically because he realized he was likely to lose” in manufacturing states such as Michigan and Ohio. He broadly branded Trump “an existential threat to this country” and said his behavior is beneath the office of the presidency.

For Trump, the power of incumbency was on display in this state dominated by agriculture interests. As the president toured a plant that produces and sells the corn-based fuel additive ethanol, he signed an executive order to “promote agricultural biotechnology.” He said the measure would help farmers by speeding up the scientific review of their innovative products and help get them to market faster.

“I fought very hard for ethanol, but you proved me right,” Trump said, adding that he fought “for the American farmer like no president has fought before.”

But he then again mocked Biden.

“He was some place in Iowa today,” the president said, “and he said my name so many times that people couldn’t stand it.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has lowered its estimate of this year’s corn crop to the lowest in four years, saying wet weather has delayed planting and reduced acres planted and the expected per-acre yield.

The expected production was cut in a monthly report released Tuesday by 1.4 billion bushels to 13.7 billion bushels, the lowest since 2015. While weather problems also have slowed soybean planting, the USDA didn’t change estimates since farmers have several more weeks to plant.

The USDA will release a report June 28 to provide updated farmer surveys more accurately reflecting the number of acres farmers planted. The USDA report also says disputes with China and other nations have reduced corn exports for the current-year crop by 100 million bushels and soybean exports by 75 million bushels.

GREENFIELD, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa DNR report the water level of Meadow Lake near Greenfield in Adair County will be lowered 3 feet starting June 14, to help improve the size of bluegills in the lake. The water will be released slowly over the next two weeks to avoid any downstream impacts.

A water level draw-down is a common fisheries management technique used to improve the size of panfish.  Meadow Lake has an abundance of 6-inch bluegills that lack the quality anglers are looking for.

“Crowding the fish into a smaller area makes them more susceptible to predation by largemouth bass and reduces the number of small bluegills,” said Bryan Hayes, fisheries management biologist. The reduced number will improve growth in the coming year. “A draw-down in 2016 had this effect and we had good bluegill fishing in 2017 and 2018,” Hayes noted.

The draw-down is expected to have minimal effect on public access to Meadow Lake.  The boat ramp will be usable and the lake will remain open during the draw-down.  Meadow Lake will be allowed to refill starting in September.

Meadow Lake is a 34 acre lake in the middle of the 317 acre Meadow Lake Fish and Wildlife Area located in the north central part of Adair County.  It has a maximum depth of 20 feet and an average depth of 7.3 feet.