DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State wildlife officials are urging central Iowa residents to be vigilant in safeguarding pets after a Des Moines couple reported their German shepherd mix dog was attacked by a coyote. Television station KCCI reports that the couple reported the attacked happened Thursday night less than a mile from the Drake University campus after they let their dog, Sildi, out in the backyard around dusk.

Within minutes, they heard what sounded like a dog fight, rushed outside and found Sildi and the coyote fighting. The coyote ran away when the couple came outside. The dog was treated for bite wounds to its face and head.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – A Dubuque man has been arrested in Minnesota on a vehicular homicide charge related to a fatal motorcycle crash in August. The Telegraph Herald reports that 40-year-old Shannon Katka was recently arrested in Albert Lea, Minnesota, on a warrant charging him with vehicular homicide while operating under the influence.

Police say Katka was driving the motorcycle the night of Aug. 29 in Dubuque when he lost control on a highway entrance ramp and crashed. His passenger, 43-year-old Shelly Brenke, was thrown from the bike and died at the scene. Police say Katka’s blood alcohol level above the legal limit to drive at the time of the crash.

LINCOLN, Neb (AP) – Four states along the Missouri River are joining forces to look for ways to avoid the kind of flooding that caused millions of dollars in damage last year. Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas are pooling their money to pay for half of a $400,000 study with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to measure how much water flows down the Missouri River. State officials hope to present a united front to federal officials to gain more influence over how the river is managed after devastating floods in 2011 and 2019.

Anita Fire and Rescue were called to the scene of a single-vehicle accident with entrapment this (Sunday) morning, northeast of Anita. The dispatch went out a little after 1-a.m. Officials at the time, said the accident happened at 760th Street and White Pole Road, on 760th.

It’s believed a man and a woman were in the vehicle, and that alcohol may have played a role in the accident, but a dispatcher at the Cass County Communications Center was not able to release any information or details about the crash when contacted early this (Sunday) morning.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:45 a.m. CST

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The ex treasurer of Anthon’s rescue squad in northwestern Iowa has been ordered to repay more than $83,000 she’s accused of misspending. The Sioux City Journal reported Friday that Kristine Roggatz was ordered by a judge Wednesday to make the payment to cover the nearly $77,000 she’s accused of taking from the group and another nearly $6,900 for the cost of an audit that discovered the malfeasance. The judgment was part of a lawsuit the city brought in 2017 against Roggatz after the town’s insurance carrier covered the losses.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Democratic presidential race in Iowa is heating up and more volatile than ever as the kickoff caucuses approach a week from Monday. Candidates raced back from a break in the impeachment trial in Washington. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts picked up a coveted endorsement from The Des Moines Register. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, showed renewed strength and predicted victory in the state. Joe Biden, collected an endorsement from the Sioux City Journal and got backing from another Iowa member of Congress. And Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, sought to position himself above the partisan fray.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Leaders in western Iowa say lingering floodwaters and damage from last year’s Missouri River flooding has led them to again cancel Loessfest. The Council Bluffs City Council said Friday in a news release that restoration work on Tom Hanafan River’s Edge Park, where the festival is held right across the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska, can’t begin until after the spring thaw. The council says there isn’t enough time between the thaw and the Memorial Day weekend event to get the work done. Last year, Loessfest was initially postponed to Labor Day weekend, then canceled altogether due to ongoing flooding.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An animal welfare group that gained access to an Iowa lawmaker’s hog farm has posted a video and photos online that show pigs suffering and even dying in what appear to be inhumane conditions. Members of California-based Direct Action Everywhere entered a hog farm owned by Iowa Sen. Ken Rozenboom last April through an unlocked door. Rozenboom says the farm was managed then by others who didn’t follow proper animal care protocols. He says his family is overseeing operations and properly caring for animals. Rozenboom managed a law passed last year that heightens trespass penalties for undercover operations on farms.