Severe storms that ripped through Nebraska Tuesday evening brought hail the size of baseballs, tornadoes and funnel clouds. When the storms entered Iowa, they caused damage to a machine shed and grain bin near Walnut, according to KETV. The National Weather Service says at around 4:30-p.m., marble-size hail was reported two-miles east/northeast of Yale, while penny-size hail was reported a few minutes later near Jamaica, in Guthrie County.

In northwest Iowa, the Pocahontas County community of Laurens saw golf ball-size hail fall at around 5:45-p.m., and half-dollar size hail fell twice, at around 5:30-and 5:54-p.m.  A spotter near Charter Oak reported marble size hail at around 7:40-p.m., and 45-mile to 50-mile per hour winds blew near Bayard, in Guthrie County, at around 8:40-p.m., along with pea size hail.  One-inch diameter (quarter-size) hail fell near Nevada (IA) at around 5:45-p.m., and ping-pong ball size hail fell near Napier, in Story County, at around 5:30-p.m. The same size hail was also reported to have occurred near Boone. Golf ball size hail was reported north of Madrid, a little after 5-p.m., as well. Other sites saw heavy rain cause minor street flooding, and in some places, hail covered the ground, making it look more like snow.

Another round of severe weather is possible late this afternoon into this evening, with large hail and damaging wind gusts being the greatest risks, though a tornado cannot be ruled out completely. Thunderstorms are expected to develop by later in the afternoon to our southwest over Kansas and then move northeast into the state. A localized heavy rainfall threat may develop, especially in areas that see repeated rounds of thunderstorm activity.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports 21-year old Amilee Mylie Squires, of Villisca, was arrested at around 10-p.m., Tuesday. Squires was taken into custody for Violation of Probation. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate have voted for what would be the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion policy if the governor signs it into law. After nine hours of debate, 51 Republicans in the House approved a bill that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, about the sixth week of a pregnancy. Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, acknowledges the bill is designed to challenge Roe v Wade, the decision that legalized abortion. “The science and technology have significantly advanced since 1973,” Lundgren said. “It is time for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the issue of life.”

Lundgren says the bill draws an important line.  “A heartbeat is that logical line that is now backed not only by what people understand as a recognizable sign of life, but by the advancement of science,” she said. Twelve hours after Lundgren’s remarks, Republican Senator Rick Bertrand of Sioux City celebrated as Republicans in the Iowa Senate were poised to pass the same bill at about 2:20 this (Wednesday) morning.

“My God, doesn’t it feel good when Republicans vote like Republicans?” Bertrand asked. “…My friends, today we will make history. Today we will begin this journey as Iowa becomes ground zero now, nationally, in the life movement and the starting line back to the Supreme Court.” Democrats like Senator Joe Bolkcom of Iowa City predicted the state will waste millions in court defending a law that’s been overturned in several other states. “This extreme bill is the new form of GOP coersion of Iowa women,” Bolkcom said. “It’s time for you to quit playing doctor.”

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, called the bill “anti-woman.”  “This is unconstitutional and this will not stand,” McCoy said. “….All you have done is disenfranchise more women, as if you need to give them one more reason to vote against you this fall.” Representative Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, says the bill “thrusts Iowa to the right side of history” in challenging Roe v Wade. “With this bill, we make Iowa one of the safest places for the baby in the womb in the entire nation,” Salmon said.

Representative Amy Nielsen of North Liberty is among the many House Democrats who spoke against the bill Tuesday evening, arguing it basically bans nearly all abortions in Iowa since few women realize they’re pregnant at week six.  “I and every woman in this state deserves to have someone stand up for them and say: ‘Your choice is worth saving,'” Nielsen said.

Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, a Democrat from Ames, says if the bill becomes law, women with the resources will travel to another state, like neighboring Illinois, to get an abortion.  “These restrictions do nothing to reduce or eliminate abortion,” Wessel-Kroeschell says, “but put roadblocks between a woman and her physician and making the best medical decision for her.”

And Wessel-Kroeschell suggested House Republicans passed the bill because they’d been “backed into a corner.”  “You see no way out of this legislative session until this bill passes,” Wessel-Kroeschell says. “The Senate is holding you hostage with their extreme agenda and you are willing to take this extreme vote, just to get out of here.”

A handful of Republican senators threatened to block progress on budget bills if the House failed to pass this bill. A spokeswoman for Governor Kim Reynolds says the governor is “100 percent pro-life,” but Reynolds “will not comment on any bill until she sees it in its final form.” The bill would allow abortions AFTER the sixth week of pregnancy in limited circumstances, such as a medical emergency, a fetal abnormality or if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. The bill also would ban selling or donating fetal tissue from abortions or still births for medical research.

(Radio Iowa)

Deputies in Fremont County, Monday, arrested a woman in connection with an assault that took place April 21st. Authorities says 50-year old Cynthia Devault, of Hamburg, was arrested for Willful Injury and Domestic Abuse 2^nd Offense. Additional charges are pending.

Devault

Officials say Deputies were called to a home in Hamburg on April 21st, following a report of a man having possibly been stabbed.  Deputies determined that Devault had stabbed the man during an argument, and fled the scene prior to law enforcement arrival.  The unidentified male subject was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Devault is being held on $7,000 bond at the Fremont County Jail.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Tuesday by Deputies with the Fremont County K9 Unit, resulted in the arrest of two men on drug charges. The vehicle was pulled over for speeding, near the intersection of 380^th Ave and Hwy 2 near Farragut, Iowa.

McCart

Vanatta

During the traffic stop, a K9 was deployed and indicated to the presence of controlled substances in the vehicle.  A subsequent search uncovered marijuana and a loaded handgun concealed inside the vehicle. The driver, 20-year old Brandon Vanatta, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance, (marijuana.)  A passenger, 20-year old Anthony McCart, was placed under arrest for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Carrying a Loaded Weapon. Both men are from Thurman.

Vanatta was being held on a $1,000 bond, while McCart was being held on a $2,300 bond at the Fremont County Jail.  Two minors in the vehicle were released to the custody of their parents.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers have paved the way for the nation’s most restrictive abortion legislation in the country. The Republican-majority Iowa Senate fast-tracked a vote early Wednesday morning on a so-called “heartbeat” bill that seeks to ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. The GOP-controlled Iowa House approved the bill hours earlier.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has appointed her 78-year-old father to a six-year term on a panel that vets and recommends candidates for open judgeships. Reynolds on Tuesday announced that she had appointed Charles Strawn of Saint Charles to the District 5A Judicial Nomination Commission, among two dozen other appointments to similar commissions. The governor’s announcement didn’t mention that Strawn is her father, but press secretary Brenna Smith confirmed the relationship.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police in eastern Iowa have announced an arrest in the killing of a woman pulled from a burning garage. Cedar Rapids police say they have arrested 38-year-old Timothy Wesley Evans in the death of 38-year-old Gina Frederiksen. Police said Tuesday in a news release that investigators believe Evans broke into the detached garage, assaulted Frederiksen and then set fire to the garage.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has amended his annual personal financial disclosure to list several private companies that were left off his initial filing. The Associated Press reported last month that a company Pate formed in 2016 recently spent $2 million purchasing a strip mall and developing a Cedar Rapids storage business. Yet he didn’t name the company when asked to list his outside businesses. Pate’s amended filing names that company and three others that weren’t on his earlier form.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Legislators in the Republican-controlled Iowa House have begun debate on a so-called “heartbeat” bill that seeks to ban most abortions in the state. Lawmakers are expected to debate for hours Wednesday over the legislation, which would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That’s usually around six weeks of pregnancy.

The measure would need a final vote in the GOP-led Senate before it can be sent to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who hasn’t said whether she’d sign it into law. If enacted, the legislation would almost certainly be challenged over whether it violates U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Mississippi passed a law earlier this year that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That legislation is considered the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, but it’s on hold amid litigation.

Officials with the Council Bluffs Police Department have released additional information with regard to an officer involved shooting that took place a little after 3-a.m. Tuesday (Today). Authorities say a preliminary review of the available evidence and information has been completed by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber and the Council Bluffs Police Department.

As a result of that review Council Bluffs detectives have obtained felony arrest warrants for 28-year old Clifton A. Wade, whose last known address was in Bondurant. Wade was still being treated at a local hospital for non‐life‐threatening injuries (including lacerations to his face and a gunshot wound to the arm) suffered during a collision with two Council Bluffs Police cruisers and from being shot by a Council Bluffs Police Officer following the collisions. Upon his medical release, he will be turned over to Nebraska authorities on warrants for two-counts of Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer, and felony Eluding.

Wade has not yet been booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail. All the officers involved made it home safely. The officer who fired the shots that injured Wade has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation runs its course. The other four officers have been cleared to return to duty. Their names will not be released until sometime later this week.

Wade was arrested and transported to the hospital following a chase that started near a construction site. The pursuit began on South 11th Street in Council Bluffs and ended on Interstate 29 southbound.

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports two men were arrested on warrants, recently. Vandewater says on April 26^th, Greenfield Police arrested 29-year-old Brian Keith Cunningham, of Greenfield. He was taken into custody on a warrant for Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order, and on two warrants for Violation of Probation. Cunningham was being held in the Adair County Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bond.

And, Deputies in Adair County arrested 34-year-old Joshua Ray Derry, of Fontanelle, April 22^nd, on a Union County Warrant for Violation of Probation. Derry posted a $2,000 cash or surety bond. Adair County Deputies also arrested 18-year-old Koy Alan Brandt, of Greenfield, on April 28^th for Possession of Marijuana. He was held in the jail on a $1,000 cash or surety bond. 18-year old Jesse Christopher Christensen, of Fontanelle, was arrested April 27^th in Adair County, for OWI 1^st Offense and Driving While License Denied/Revoked for OWI. He was being held on a $1,000 cash or surety bond.

And, 61-year old Barbara Ann Davis, of Dexter, was cited in Adair County on April 25^th, for Operating While Intoxicated 1^st Offense. She was released on the citation.