More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man accused of robbing a Le Mars bank has pleaded not guilty. Plymouth County District Court records say Phillip White entered written pleas Friday to charges of robbery and theft and conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit theft. His trial has not been scheduled. Prosecutors say White robbed Iowa State Bank in Le Mars on Dec. 12. A woman accused of driving the getaway vehicle, 35-year-old Karen Merrick , also has pleaded not guilty. She also is a Sioux City resident.

The Creston Police Department reports two arrests. At around 2:30-a.m. Saturday, 18-year old Corbin Loudermilk, of Creston, was arrested in the 200 block of E. Montgomery Street, on charges that include Disorderly Conduct, Interference with Official Acts, and two-counts of Harassment in the 1st Degree. Loudermilk was being held in the Union County Jail on a $4,300 bond. And, at around 11:40-a.m. Friday, 32-year old Anthony Keeler, of Creston, was arrested for Driving While Barred. Keeler was then cited and released from the scene of the traffic stop.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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A blaze near Coburg in Montgomery County caused extensive damage to a home, Saturday night. According to reports, the fire at 2635 Highway 48 (about seven-miles south of Red Oak), was called-in by a passing motorist at around 10:30-p.m. When firefighters arrived, flames were seen coming from the southeast corner of the first floor. They contained the flames to one room of the home. No injuries were reported. Authorities said the fire was apparently due to an electrical malfunction.

The Red Oak Fire Department received mutual aid from the Elliott, Stanton, and Essex Fire Departments. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Red Oak Police, MidAmerican Energy, Montgomery County Communications and the American Red Cross all assisted at the scene.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature is set to convene today (Monday) for the 2019 session with Republicans continuing to hold a majority of seats in the House and Senate. Leaders say property tax reform, privatized Medicaid funding, the method of choosing judges, and training more people for today’s workforce are among issues they’ll consider. The session may be defined by how willing Republican leaders are to push policies strongly supported by their conservative base. Further limits on abortion and expansion of gun rights also are likely issues, along with required budget bills.

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Kim Reynolds says she wants to be known as “the opportunity governor.” Kim Reynolds inherited a half-term as governor when Terry Branstad resigned in May of 2017. On Friday, she will take the oath of office for a full, four-year term as governor. Reynolds is relishing the gift of time voters gave her in November. “I don’t have, like, 17 months or a year to get something done,” Reynolds says. “We have four years to really be strategic and think about what we want to do.”

Reynolds says she has the time now to follow through on priorities like dramatically increasing the number of Iowams who have college degrees or technical training beyond high school. “Somebody asked me: ‘What do you want to be thought of, as the governor?’ And I said: ‘Well, hopefully the opportunity governor,” Reynolds said. “I do believe that we’re putting in place an environment that will help Iowans reach what they’re capable of doing and I think that just lifts the whole state up.” Reynolds has assembled a new leadership team within the governor’s office and she’s replacing some state agency administrators. And Reynolds aims to tackle the “antiquated technology” in state government.

“Technology, at any position that I’ve been in, that’s been something that really kind of energizes me and it’s just the future and government is always lacking when it comes to innovation and technology,” Reynolds says, “and so I think there’s a better way.” The governor jokes most state computers are running on COBOL — widely viewed as an out-dated computer language. Upgrades are expensive, but the governor says it’s something to start discussing.  “We collect a lot of data, it just doesn’t talk and we can’t use it in the manner that we should,” Reynolds says. “…It’s not about replacing people, but it’s making us better and more efficient and allowing us to do our jobs in a better manner.”

Part of Reynolds’ job, as governor, is to deliver the annual “Condition of the State” speech to legislators. That happens tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, starting at 10. Inauguration festivities are on Friday. She’ll take the oath of office on Friday morning. Open houses will follow at the governor’s mansion and the state capitol, then there will be TWO inaugural balls in Des Moines Friday night.

(Radio Iowa) — The 2019 Iowa legislative session starts this (Monday) morning, with Republicans in control of the debate agenda for the third consecutive year. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds was just elected to a full, four-year term and Republicans won a majority of seats in the Iowa House and Senate. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says the G-O-P accomplished a lot over the past two years and they must keep challenging the “status quo” on a variety of fronts. “Just because it’s been done a certain way for 20 or 30 or 40 years doesn’t mean it needs to be done the that way for the next 20 or 30 or 40 years,” Whitver says.

Three new Republican senators will be sworn into office today (Monday), so Republicans will occupy 32 of the 50 seats in the state senate. Republicans will hold 54 of the 100 seats in the HOUSE. A dozen Democrats and 10 Republicans will be sworn in as new members there. Republican House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake has appointed new committee leaders for the 2019 session. “So we’ve got fresh ideas aplenty and I think that’s a great thing for people to take fresh looks at things and bring that energy and innovation into the legislature,” Upmeyer told Radio Iowa, “so I’m excited.”

Todd Prichard of Charles City. the new House Minority Leader, says he and other Democrats consider increased state spending on public schools to be the big priority for 2019.  “We’ll be there to remind the legislature and the governor that if we are serious about building a workforce for the future economy, we need to invest in education,” Prichard says, “at all levels.” Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines anticipates more clashes over the private “managed care organizations” that are running the state’s Medicaid program.  “If we continue to see Iowans shoved to the back of the line, putting out of state corporations like the MCOs first…we will be loud and fierce in our opposition,” Petersen says.

The House and Senate will begin their day at 10 o’clock. A special committee will be appointed in the House to begin reviewing the challenge of a northeast Iowa legislative race. Democrat Kayla Koether of Decorah is asking that absentee ballots without a postmark that were mailed in time be counted. About a month ago, Republican Representative Michael Bergen of Dorchester was certified the winner in the race – by a nine-vote margin.

(Radio Iowa) — Two University of Iowa students, one of them from Harrison County, will be flying to far northern Norway for “rocket school” later this month, the only American students taking part in the prestigious program. David Miles, a U-I professor of physics and astronomy, says they’ll design, build, launch and recover a nine-foot-long, carbon fiber science rocket, all in less than a week.

“It’s quite an intense program,” Miles says. “Basically, they do all of the pieces of one of these experimental science missions where you launch a rocket and use the instruments on the rocket to study something, but instead of doing it in about three years, which is how long it would take us to do a research rocket, they do it in about four-and-a-half days.”

The two U-I students selected for the program are Emily Silich, of Epworth, and Danny Tallon of Mondamin. Miles says they’re prepared for the challenge, though it won’t be a cakewalk. It is, after all, rocket science. “It’s very broad,” Miles says. “It’s intended as an introduction and the students are well-supported in the things they have to do, never the less, there’s a lot of tasks that have to happen and everything has to be ready when you press the button to launch, because you don’t get a second try on a rocket. It’s a pretty busy week for the students.”

It’s difficult to recruit students to pursue careers in space-related fields, according to Miles, but it’s a promising, rewarding avenue. “For some of them, that might be continuing on to graduate school, doing research, working for NASA, working for a university,” Miles says. “It also might be working for an aerospace company or any of the related high-technology engineering, mathematics and science disciplines you need to participate in a space-active workforce.”

Silich and Tallon, both U-I physics majors, will be in Norway for the course January 21-25. The students’ trip is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. This is the 6th year for the Canada-Norway Student Sounding Rocket (CaNoRock) exchange program. It’s a partnership among higher-education institutions and space agencies in Canada and Norway — and Iowa. Miles is a native of Canada who took part in the rocket school as a graduate student at the University of Alberta. After joining the U-I faculty in 2017, he lobbied to get the Iowa City institution included.

An extensive investigation into the delivery of Morphine and other prescription medications in Fremont County, resulted in the arrest Sunday night, of a man from Nebraska. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports 26-year old Spencer Wesley Ham, of Bellevue, NE., was taken into custody at around 9:30-p.m., after he was found to be in possession of numerous Morphine and hydromorphone pills.

Spencer Ham, of NE

Ham was transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center where he was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of prescription medication and two counts of failure to affix tax stamp. His cash bond was set at $12,000.