Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say a man charged with killing a sheriff’s deputy and wounding another while escaping from a western Iowa jail will plead guilty. The Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office says an attorney for Wesley Correa-Carmenaty informed officials of the change Wednesday. Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty was being taken to jail on May 1 when he grabbed one of the deputies’ guns, then shot them both and used the jail van to escape.

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Law enforcement officials have charged an Ames man in a May house fire at Guthrie Center that killed two young girls. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office said in a news conference Wednesday that 26-year-old Patrick Ryan Thompson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson. Investigators had already determined that arson caused the May 15 fire that killed 16-year-old Shakiah Cockerham and 12-year-old Melanie “Paige” Exline.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Utilities Board has voted to deregulate landline telephone service in the state, concluding that there’s enough competition now from cell phones, internet providers and other services to no longer justify forcing wired telephone companies to provide service everywhere. The deregulation frees traditional wired telephone providers from nearly all customer service requirements and service quality standards.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the founder of a Des Moines anti-violence organization has been accused of hurting a child in her care. Jail records say Calvetta Williams remained in custody Wednesday, charged with child endangerment causing injury. Williams said Saturday before her arrest that she would cooperate with investigators and that she plans to plead not guilty. Williams founded Mothers Against Violence in 2013.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Dodge Police Department, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are jointly working a missing persons case. Law Enforcement is looking for information on the whereabouts of Jessica Lyne Gomez (also known as Jessica Ebner) and Mackenzie Lee Knigge.

Gomez is from Fort Dodge and Knigge resided in Clare. The last contact with Gomez occurred sometime during the evening of 08/04/2017.  Knigge was last seen during the evening of 08/05/2017.

Gomez is a 26 year old white female with blue eyes. She is 5’4” tall and weighs approximately 195 pounds. Knigge is also a 26 year old white female with blue eyes. She is 5’6” tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds.    

Jessica Gomez

Mackenzie Knigge

A vehicle associated with this case is a 2006 silver Pontiac Montana with Indiana license plate 193 ETI. Anyone with any information related to Gomez and Knigge whereabouts, or the silver Pontiac Montana, is asked to call the Webster County Sheriff’s Office at 515-573-1410. Webster County Crime Stoppers can be contacted anonymously by calling 515-573-1444 (STOP), ONLINE AT WWW.WCCRIMESTOPPERS.COM OR BY TEXTING “LEC” and the tip to crimes (274637).    

Vehicle similar to one involved in this case (not the actual Montana van)

Cass County 4-H Clubs engaged in a friendly competition for a great cause during the recent Cass County Fair. Rising to a challenge from the County 4-H Youth Council, clubs decorated donation boxes which were placed on display in the Cass County Community Center during the Cass County Fair, from July 27-31, for club supporters to donate non-perishable foods, toiletries and other “high need” items. 13 clubs from across Cass County participated by decorating boxes. Challenge winners were decided based on number of items donated, with an added incentive from the Atlantic Hy Vee to match the donations collected by the winning club!

Items were tallied throughout the fair, with a total of 904 items being donated by the end of fair. The winning club was the Cowpokes 4-H Club with 182 items collected! After this donation was matched by Atlantic Hy Vee, the total amount collected was 1086 items. These donations were sorted according to needed items requested by pantries, and donated to the Atlantic Food Pantry, the Anita Food Pantry and the Lord’s Cupboard pantry in Griswold.

THANK YOU to all club members and community supporters who took part in this challenge!    (Press Release: ISU Extension/Cass County)

Members of the Cowpokes 4-H Club pose with some of the food they collected to win the 2017 Fair Food Pantry Challenge

Cass County 4-H Youth Council Members sorting some of the food donated during the Fair Food Pantry Challenge    

Full Table! Food collected by Cass County 4-H Clubs during the Fair Food Pantry Challenge is ready to be sorted and distributed to local food pantries.

GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Law enforcement officials have charged an Ames man in a May house fire at Guthrie Center that killed two young girls. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office said in a news conference Wednesday that 26-year-old Patrick Ryan Thompson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson. It was not clear whether he yet has an attorney.

Investigators had already determined that arson caused the May 15 fire that killed 16-year-old Shakiah Cockerham and 12-year-old Melanie “Paige” Exline and injured their uncle, 54-year-old William Long III, and grandmother, 74-year-old Shirley Exline.

Investigators say Thompson is the stepson and stepbrother of men charged in a sexual abuse case in which at least one of the girls was a victim.

Patrick Ryan Thompson

Cass County Auditor Sale Sunderman reports ballots for the September 12th, 2017 SCHOOL ELECTION for local school board directors are now available at the Cass County Auditor’s office. If you will be unable to go to the voting center on September 12th, you may vote by mail by sending a request for an absentee ballot to the Cass
County Auditor’s office. Alternatively, you may stop and vote at the County Auditor’s office during office hours: 8 a.m. thru 4:30 p.m., Monday thru Friday. Please note also, that the auditor’s office will be open until 5 p.m. on September 1st, 8th, and 11th and since the polls open at noon on September 12th, absentee voting will be available from 8 a.m. thru 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the 12th.

**The names of those persons running for positions on area school boards in Cass County were announced, and posted on-line on the News page at kjan.com, on Aug. 4th. The polls open at Noon and close at 8-p.m. Sept. 12th

VOTING CENTERS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTIONS are as follows:

ATLANTIC COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT of Cass, Audubon and Pottawattamie counties. Election is “AT LARGE” meaning that all residents of the entire school district may vote for all school offices and public measures. If you are not sure where you vote in the SCHOOL ELECTION (which may differ from that of other elections), please call the office of the Cass County Election Commissioner (County Auditor): 243-4570.
NOTE: ONLY TWO VOTING CENTERS WILL BE USED FOR THIS ELECTION:

• VOTING CENTER 1: Voters living in Wards 1, 4 and 5 of the City of Atlantic will vote at HERITAGE HOUSE, 1200 Brook Ridge Circle in Atlantic.
• VOTING CENTER 2: Voters living in the remainder of the Atlantic Community School District, being those voters residing in Audubon and Pottawattamie counties; Bear Grove, Benton, Brighton, Cass, Franklin, Grove, Pymosa and Washington townships of Cass County; the City of Marne; the City of Wiota; and Wards 2 and 3 of the City of Atlantic will vote at the ATLANTIC PUBLIC LIBRARY (507 Poplar), Atlantic, Iowa.

CAM COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT of Cass, Adams, Adair and Audubon counties. Election is “AT LARGE” meaning that all residents of the entire school district may vote for all school offices and public measures. NOTE: THREE VOTING CENTERS WILL BE USED FOR THIS ELECTION:

• ANITA VOTING CENTER: Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District residing in Grant, Benton, Franklin or Lincoln Township in Cass County or in Adair County or Audubon County will vote at the ANITA COMMUNITY CENTER (805 Main St).
• CUMBERLAND VOTING CENTER: Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District residing in Union, Bear Grove, Noble or Edna Township in Cass County or in Adams County will vote at the CUMBERLAND
  COMMUNITY BLDG (200 W 2nd, Cumberland).
• MASSENA VOTING CENTER: Voters residing in that portion of the CAM Community School District residing in Massena or Victoria Township in Cass County or in Adams County will vote at the MASSENA PUBLIC LIBRARY in
  Massena (122 Main St).

GRISWOLD COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT of Cass, Pottawattamie, Adams and Montgomery counties. Election is both “AT LARGE” and “BY DISTRICT” meaning that all residents of the entire school district may vote for the AT LARGE school offices. However, only LOCAL SCHOOL DIRECTOR districts 3 and 4 will be voting for the respective local district school office. NOTE: THREE VOTING CENTERS WILL BE USED FOR THIS ELECTION.

ALL FOUR (4) LOCAL DISTRICTS will be voting for the AT LARGE seats public measures; HOWEVER the OFFICE OF LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT DIRECTOR FOR DISTRICT 3 (votes at Elliott Voting Center) and DISTRICT 4 (votes at Griswold Voting Center) WILL APPEAR ONLY ON THE BALLOT FOR THE RESPECTIVE DISTRICT:

• LEWIS VOTING CENTER, Voters residing in Griswold Director District 1, will vote at the LEWIS LIBRARY (412 West Main St).
• ELLIOTT VOTING CENTER: Voters residing in Griswold Director District 3 will vote at the ELLIOTT COMMUNITY BUILDING (403 Main St, Elliott).
• GRISWOLD VOTING CENTER: Voters residing in Griswold Director Districts 2 and 4 will vote at the GRISWOLD COMMUNITY BUILDING (601 2nd St, Griswold).

If you do not know in which district you reside, check your voter registration card or contact the Cass County Auditor.

A U-S District Court Judge in Council Bluffs, today (Wednesday), sentenced 55-year old Ronald Lance Hulme, of Council Bluffs, to 110 months in prison for distribution of methamphetamine. In addition to the slightly more than nine years behind bars, Hulme will serve five years of supervised release following his imprisonment.

On April 3rd, 2017, Hulme pleaded guilty to the charge and admitted he distributed methamphetamine in the Southern District of Iowa during the summer of 2016. The charge resulted from a drug trafficking investigation by law enforcement in Council Bluffs.

Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, Council Bluffs Police Department and United States Marshals Service conducted the investigation. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

A traffic stop Tuesday night in Fremont County resulted in the arrest of a Montgomery County man. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports the Fremont County K9 Unit stopped a vehicle in the 1900 block of Highway 59. An occupant of the vehicle, 23-year old Diego Miguel Juaquin, of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/2nd offense, and other, traffic offenses. He was brought to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center and held on a $1,000 bond.

The man charged in the shootings of two Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputies on May 1st during an escape attempt, will plead guilty next week at the courthouse in Council Bluffs. KETV in Omaha reports lawyers for 24-year old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty will appear with him at a plea hearing 9:30-a.m. Tuesday, the same day his trial was set to have begun. Correa-Carmenaty will remain in custody in the Woodbury County Jail until the hearing.

KETV reports there has been no plea bargain offered in this case, no charges dismissed and no charges are being amended. Correa-Carmenaty was charge with first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery, one count of intimidation with a weapon, two counts of felon with a firearm and one count of escape.

Deputy Mark Burbridge died from a gunshot wound he suffered during the escape attempt. Deputy Patrick Morgan was injured during the incident at the Pott. County Jail garagae, but has since been released from the hospital.

In a statement, Pott. County Sheriff Danker said, in essence, that he was pleased the decision was made to have a plea entered in the case, and it makes it easier for everyone to continue to have Correa-Carmenaty remain in the Woodburg County Jail while his case makes its way through the court system.

Police in Stuart responded today (Wednesday) to Menlo, following the alleged, attempted abduction of a young girl. The alleged suspect was driving a white SUV, possibly a Chevy Tahoe, with rust and dark tinted windows. Authorities ask residents in the area to report any suspicious vehicles to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office at 641-747-2214.

The Sac County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying the person or persons responsible for the killing of a bull. The animal was found dead Tuesday morning by its owner, in a pasture near 205th and Perkins Avenue. A spent shell casing to a .243 rifle and shotgun shells were found near the scene.

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to contact the Sac County Sheriff’s Office at 712-662-7127