FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities are investigating after a fleeing suspect died after exchanging gunfire with deputies from the Webster County Sheriff’s office. After a domestic disturbance was reported Tuesday morning, deputies spotted the suspect’s vehicle and tried to stop it. But the Webster County Sheriff’s office says the suspect fired at officers as the chase continued just outside Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Officers fired back at the suspect’s vehicle, which came to rest in a field. The deceased suspect was found inside. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will investigate the incident.

Police in Red Oak, Tuesday, arrested 37-year old Jesse Donald Trost, of Red Oak, on charges that include Attempted 3rd Degree Burglary, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Contraband in a Correctional Facility, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Trespassing. Trost was taken into custody at around 9:50-p.m., in the 2100 block of Woodfield Drive, following a report of a possible burglary in progress. Officers arriving on the scene spoke with witnesses, who advised the suspect had fled on foot into a CRP field near the residence. With assistance from the Montgomery County K-9 Unit and Montgomery County Emergency Management, the suspect, identified as Trost, was taken into custody  and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $5,000.

Earlier in the day, Tuesday, Red Oak Police arrested a 17-year old male from Red Oak, on charges of eluding, Interference with Official Acts, Driving While Suspended, No Insurance, and Driving an Unregistered vehicle on the highway. The unidentified teen was arrested at around 2:45-p.m. near a residence off Highway 48, and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $2,000. He was subsequently transported to the Juvenile Detention Facility, in Council Bluffs. Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted in handling the incident.

(Radio Iowa) — The big screens for keeping score at the statehouse have been replaced.  The screens aren’t for football scores, but for the “score” that shows whether a bill has enough votes to pass. Lawmakers punch a button at their desk. The votes are recorded electronically, then the big screens mounted in the Iowa House and Senate show the vote tally — AND how each lawmaker voted.

Lawmakers have been using voting systems first installed in 2001. “The software was obsolete to the point where it couldn’t be upgraded anymore and the hardware was difficult to find parts for. We could still find them, but it was becoming more and more difficult, so we needed to do something.” Carmine Boal is the chief clerk in the Iowa House. She led the effort to buy the new system. On a few occasions in 2017, the old voting system crashed. Boal read the names of all 100 state representatives aloud, waiting for each to cast their vote by yelling “yes” or “no” — so her greatest fear was the 18-year-old system would crash for good.

“That was a nightmare that I had, so I’m very excited to have that pressure off my back,” Boal says, with a laugh. Legislative leaders approved spending about $1.2 million to buy the new voting systems and big screens for the House and Senate. The money is part of what was set aside to repair the capitol’s dome, but that project wrapped up under budget — with enough left over to buy new voting systems.

Charlie Smithson is the Secretary of the Senate — the person in charge of the voting machine in that chamber. “It was time to make sure that we could do the people’s business in an expeditious and open fashion,” Smithson says, “and that’s what this new system will do.” Video can be played on the new screens, but that’s not part of the plan. Lawmakers will start using them soon. The 2019 legislative session convenes on Monday, January 14th.

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

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa authorities are investigating after a fleeing suspect died after exchanging gunfire with deputies from the Webster County Sheriff’s office. After a domestic disturbance was reported Tuesday morning, deputies spotted the suspect’s vehicle and tried to stop it.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An 18-year-old Iowa man who was driving roughly 70 mph just before a fatal crash in a 35 mph zone last fall is now facing charges. The Des Moines Register reports that Charles Hunter Everman was charged last month with vehicular homicide and causing serious injury in connection with the Nov. 5 crash. Everman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A Feb. 11 trial start has been scheduled for a 19-year-old Muscatine man accused of stabbing to death his grandmother. Muscatine County court documents say Darian Lensgraf pleaded not guilty Friday to first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing 66-year-old Diana Lensgraf at her home early on Dec. 12.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A southeast Iowa couple convicted of locking their adopted 7-year-old son in their basement at night have filed appeals. Court records say Heidi Fiems, of Mediapolis, filed the appeal notice after her sentencing Friday. She and her husband, Justin, were sentenced to 180 days in jail but must serve only 60 days. Each was fined $625 and given two years of probation. The Hawk Eye reports that Heidi Fiems was tearful Friday as she described the “wrong choice” she and her husband made.

The Creston Police Department reports a hit and run was solved on Tuesday morning. Officers were called to the scene of an accident on Montgomery Street in Creston at 8:00am. It was discovered that a legally parked 2008 Ford Fusion was on the north side of Montgomery Street facing west when it was side swiped by another vehicle. Damage to the other vehicle that left the scene left tracks on the road that officers followed to its location. The other vehicle was found to be a 2006 Ford Explorer driven by 33-year-old Heather Anne McNichols of Creston. McNichols told officers that she thought she had hit the curb. She was determined to be at fault for the accident which caused $2,000 to the parked Fusion and $1,500 to the Explorer. No injuries were reported.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An 18-year-old Iowa man who was driving roughly 70 mph just before a fatal crash in a 35 mph zone last fall is now facing charges. The Des Moines Register reports that Charles Hunter Everman was charged last month with vehicular homicide and causing serious injury in connection with the Nov. 5 crash. Everman has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors say data from Everman’s 2012 Toyota Highlander showed he was driving between 68 mph and 72 mph shortly before the crash that killed 38-year-old Samantha Jo Kriegel in another car. Two passengers in Everman’s vehicle were also hurt.

While the court case is pending, Everman has been released on a $15,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa) — A second round begins today (Tuesday) for the remaining Missouri and Big Sioux rivers paddlefish licenses. The D-N-R fisheries expert for the area, Chris Larson says the paddlefish population is doing okay. “It’s pretty stable…it’s interesting, we look at our Iowa waters and think the paddlefish are here year-round, they really are not. They do long distance migrations,” Larson says. He says they’ve been able to get some good records on the paddlefish migration.

“We’ve been doing some monitoring on paddlefish over the last seven or eight years. We put jaw tags in them that has an identifiable number, and they we release them back into the water. And they’ve been caught up by Yankton at the dam…they’ve been caught also on the Mississippi River down by the state of Tennessee. So you see the hundreds and hundreds of miles these fish will traverse,” Larson says. The paddlefish season started up again in 2015 after being closed on the Missouri and Big Sioux because of declining populations. He says the fish have done well in the border rivers along Iowa, despite a lot of constantly changing conditions.

“In the greatest scheme of things we’d like to see the population increasing, but we’re really missing the habitat that those fish need to really increase in numbers,” Larson explains. “So, they’ve kind of figured out a way to survive in a highly-modified river and their population is pretty stable in the confines of that habitat.” Larson says they also take surveys of those who buy licenses.

“From what we’ve found, most people make four to five trips. They’re out there for three or four hours and on average about 25 to 30 percent actually harvest a fish. It’s not that they didn’t snag them — closer to 40 to 45 percent actually snag one — but they have to release it because it is not legal size,” Larson says. You can purchase a tag from January 1st through January 7th. A resident license sells for 25 dollars and 50 cents and a nonresident license is 49 dollars. You must also have a valid Iowa fishing license.

The season opens February second and runs through the April 30th. You can find out more about the paddlefish season by going to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website at: www.iowadnr.gov.

(Radio Iowa) — More than 14-hundred (1,400) Iowans earned extra money in 2018 by sharing their homes through Airbnb. According to the hospitality service company, Iowa Airbnb hosts brought in $9.3 million in supplemental income last year by welcoming around 98,000 guests. The typical Airbnb host in Iowa earned $3,700 in 2018. The company also reports the state of Iowa collected $900,000 through a new tax agreement.

(Radio Iowa) — As you’re formulating New Year’s resolutions, a year-end report from Iowa’s top public health official finds obesity among adult Iowans spiked in the past year, putting the state among the worst four states for obesity rates. Gerd Clabaugh, director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says in recent years, it seemed like adult obesity rates were beginning to level off.

“A year ago when I was here I shared this chart with you and I was looking at 2015 and 2016 at that point and I was saying, ‘I hope we’ve turned the corner and I hope we can bend the curve’,” Clabaugh says. However, the adult obesity rate jumped from 32-percent in 2016 to over 36-percent in 2017, the steepest increase in over a decade. It’s a very unfortunate trend, he says, as obesity can lead to a host of other health troubles. Clabaugh says they’re working to formulate a plan.

“We have to be focusing on kids for the long term,” he says. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to ignore the adults and we’re beginning to think internally about what more we can do to focus the resources of the agency around adults’ physical activity and nutrition as well.” Reports show obesity is a problem in virtually every town in Iowa and every income and social sector. Obesity drives an estimated $149 billion annually in health care spending, and another $66 billion in lowered economic productivity. Also, one in three young adults is ineligible for military service, due to being overweight, posing a national security vulnerability.

(with Thanks to Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

Audubon Police Chief Matt Starmer reports the arrest on Monday, of 45-year old Danielle Delrey Frasier, of Audubon. Frasier was arrested on a warrant for Probation Violation and was being held at the Audubon County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond.