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

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DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man has pleaded guilty to child endangerment for letting seven children live amid what police say was garbage, rotted food and feces on their home’s floor. Court records say 34-year-old Jermaine Watson also pleaded guilty to four drug counts. He’s scheduled to be sentenced July 18. The mother of the seven, 34-year-old Tiesha Martin, has pleaded not guilty to the same seven counts of child endangerment. Her trial is set to begin June 11. Authorities say Watson is the father of the youngest child.

The records say police and a social worker checking on the children at Martin’s residence Jan. 2 found the squalid conditions and say the children were sharing just one bedroom and bed. Martin has said officers lied about the conditions.

Police in Creston arrested two women Wednesday afternoon. At around 2:25-p.m., 23-year old Areale Gregory, of Creston, was arrested for Theft in the 4th Degree. She was later released from the Union County Jail on a $1,000 bond. And, at around 4:45-p.m., 31-year old Ashley Page, of Creston, was arrested at her home for Simple Domestic Assault. Page was being held in the Adams County Jail while awaiting a bond hearing.

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

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two people charged in last summer’s slaying of a Des Moines high school student are expected to change their pleas. Polk County District Court records say 19-year-old Daniel Lamay and 30-year-old Crystal Lee are due in court Wednesday for a plea hearing and sentencing. The records don’t say what charge or charges are involved. So far both have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
They and 20-year-old Malik Mandujano are accused in the Aug. 22 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Noah Campbell outside a Des Moines convenience store. Mandujano also has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He’s scheduled to begin trial July 16.

The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on Wednesday, of 36-year old Dirk Parrish, from Lenox. Parrish was taken into to custody in the 200 block of West Illinois Street in Lenox, and charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. He was being held at the Taylor County Jail on $25,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group of Democratic lawmakers has dropped a lawsuit against Gov. Kim Reynolds that challenged her use last year of emergency funds to balance Iowa’s state budget. Gary Dickey, an attorney for the legislators, announced the decision Wednesday, days before a hearing was scheduled to review a state motion to dismiss the case. Rep. Chris Hall of Sioux City filed the lawsuit in January against Reynolds and Department of Management Director David Roederer. Six other lawmakers later joined the suit as plaintiffs.

The lawsuit claimed Reynolds’ administration acted illegally last fall when it used $13 million from an economic emergency fund to balance a year-end budget shortfall. The suit said specific economic conditions weren’t met. Reynolds called the lawsuit political and said aspects of the law were outdated. The Republican-controlled Legislature changed the law retroactively last session, which Democrats argued showed guilt.

Dickey said the legislative change complicated the lawsuit’s future.

Just as temperatures start to climb and Iowans switch on their air conditioners, there’s a refreshing reminder of a cool summertime treat. Steven Cunningham, a spokesman for the U-S Postal Service in Omaha/Council Bluffs, says scented letters may soon be common again. “We are coming out with the first-ever scratch-and-sniff stamp,” Cunningham says, “which will add to the sweet smell of summer for letters of love, party invitations and other mailings for the Postal Service.”

Scratch & Sniff stamps (USPS photo)

The stamps depict 20 watercolor illustrations of frozen treats on a stick in an array of colors and tantalizing flavors — from kiwi to watermelon to strawberry. “Each stamp will depict two popsicles and there will be 10 stamps in the collection,” he says, “and they will all have the same scratch-and-sniff scent.” It’s still not clear exactly what the scent will depict, outside of the “sweet smell of summer.” The series of “Frozen Treats Forever” stamps will be unveiled next month. Cunningham says it’s becoming a tradition to release unusual stamps at least once a year. “Last year, we revealed the solar eclipse stamp,” Cunningham says. “You touch the stamp and it would change colors. This year, we decided to try something new and we’re going to go with the scratch-and-sniff and popsicles.”

The new stamps will be unveiled June 20th and should be in post offices across Iowa soon afterwards.

(Radio Iowa)

The leaders of the Department of Administrative Services and Iowa Workforce Development says they are putting on another push to hire veterans to fill state jobs. I-W-D Director Beth Townsend says it’s especially important now with the amount of jobs that need to be filled. “At I-W-D we are committed to helping veterans find jobs in Iowa because of our significant skills gap. We are also committed to hiring veterans within I-W-D,” Townsend says. “This issue is very personal to me because I moved to Iowa from active duty and it was a difficult transition. I was a fish out of water and I felt that my military experience actually was a hindrance to me.”

Townsend says it was tough to get employers to grasp what she as a veteran had to offer their company. “Like many veterans, I couldn’t get employers to look at my skill set as opposed to the experience I had on my resume,” Townsend explains. “It is important that as hiring managers we look beyond a list of jobs that have been held by veterans — and instead look at that skill set.” She says they are working with veterans to help them better showcase what they have to offer when they apply for a job. “On Home Base Iowa we have a tool that would help the veteran translate their military experience into more civilianized terms so they can describe it in a term that a hiring manager from a plant might recognize,” according to Townsend.

Department of Administrative Services director, Janet Phipps says they are trying to let managers know the importance of hiring veterans and what they bring to a position. “There’s is already a veterans hiring preference as far as a points system is concerned. What we’re just really wanting to highlight is that having veterans come into a civilian workforce is different — and as has been talked about, — sometimes the terminology doesn’t translate,” Phipps says. “We have our own acronyms in the state, the military has their own acronyms, and we just want to make sure that that translation gets done.”

Phipps is also a veteran. The two made their comments prior to a state workshop on hiring veterans.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A newspaper reports three women have accused a Democratic state senator running for Iowa governor of sexual misconduct that includes inappropriate touching. The women told The Des Moines Register in a story published online Wednesday that Sen. Nate Boulton of Des Moines touched them inappropriately during separate incidents. One woman told the newspaper Boulton grabbed her buttocks at a bar in 2015. Two other women told the Register he rubbed himself against them more than a decade ago.

Boulton released a statement apologizing to the women and adding he would not “disqualify what these women felt at the time or in hindsight.” He indicated he had no plans to drop out of the race. Boulton is in a six-way race for the Democratic nomination for governor. Early voting for the June 5 primary began May 7.