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

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Officials say a northwest Iowa jury will resume considering its verdict Thursday in the murder trial of a Nebraska man accused of killing his estranged wife. Twenty-nine-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he killed 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence.

The case went to the jury Wednesday morning. Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man. Defense attorney Mike Williams said in his closing arguments that there’s no doubt Morales killed the woman but said Morales “is guilty of voluntary manslaughter, not murder.”

The Cass and Adair County Farm Bureaus are partnering with other ag organizations to put on Ag Adventure at the July 4th celebration in Massena. A highlight of the Ag Adventure is the Iowa State University “Conservation Station,” an engaging learning center that educates persons of all ages about the importance of clean water and healthy soil.

Visitors to the Conservation Station can partake in free, fun, hands-on activities and demonstrations. You can play the watershed game and learn how water flows in a watershed, as well as how all Iowans can make a difference for water quality. There’s a rainfall simulator, that shows how water can run off or infiltrate into surfaces, both in agriculture and urban environments. The water runoff and subsurface drainage is collected in jars to show how different land management choices can impact water and soil movement.

The Conservation Station is sponsored by the Water Rocks! and Learning Farms programs. The Station is one of just 10 stations that make up this year’s Ag Adventure, which allows attendees to meet local farmers and learn about agriculture through hands-on experiences. The event was successfully hosted last year in Greenfield, and moves to Massena this year.

The site will open immediately after the 4-p.m. 4th of July parade in Massena and remain open until 7-p.m. Many of the popular stations will feature live animals. Participants will be treated to home-made ice cream, once they’ve completed the adventure.

For more information, check out “Who’s your IA Farmer” on Facebook, or contact the Adair or Cass County Farm Bureau offices.

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

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – A jury has convicted an Ames woman of voluntary manslaughter for killing her husband. The Story County jury returned the verdict Wednesday against 36-year-old Candace Cummings in the second day of deliberations. Cummings was charged with first-degree murder for killing 36-year-old Harland “Jesse” Cummings. Prosecutors say she shot him as he slept.

Her sentencing is scheduled for July 17. Candace Cummings told investigators she killed her husband because of stress in their marriage and the years of abuse she’d suffered at his hands.

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) regional directors will hold traveling office hours throughout the month of July in all 99 counties in Iowa. Representatives from Senator Ernst’s office will be available in counties throughout the state to assist Iowans with problems or questions about eligibility involving issues like Social Security, veterans’ benefits, military affairs, passports, immigration issues, and other federal programs. The Senator herself will NOT be at the traveling office hours.

If you are unable to attend the traveling office hours and are seeking assistance with federal agencies, please visit Ernst.Senate.Gov to contact one of her offices or submit a casework request.

Locally, Ernst’s traveling office will be held in the following counties, dates/times/places…

Adair County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, Adair County Courthouse Jury Room (400 Public Square, Greenfield, IA)

Adams County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM, Corning Public Library (603 9th Street, Corning, IA)

Audubon County: Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM, Audubon Public Library (401 North Park Place, Audubon, IA)

Cass County: Thursday, July 13, 2017, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM, Atlantic Public Library Community Room (507 Poplar Street, Atlantic, IA)

Guthrie County: Wednesday, July 5, 2017, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Guthrie County Courthouse Public Meeting Room (200 North 5th Street, Guthrie Center, IA)

Montgomery County: Thursday, July 13, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 pm, Montgomery County Extension Office Suite #2 (400 Bridge Street, Red Oak, IA)

Pottawattamie County: Thursday, July 20, 2017, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, Walnut City Hall (229 Antique City Drive, Walnut, IA).

Shelby County: Tuesday, July 25, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Harlan Public Library (718 Court Street, Harlan, IA)

A complete list of all upcoming dates can be found here:https://www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/traveling-office-hours

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities have been searching for the driver of a car that crashed into a family burial site that sits in the middle of a West Des Moines roundabout. The Des Moines Register reports police were dispatched to Huston Cemetery around 3:30 a.m. Saturday. The driver had abandoned the car, which had damaged the fence, landscaping and some headstones before coming to rest.

Huston Cemetery is named for James B. Huston, patriarch of one of the first families to settle in Dallas County. The city website says the first two people buried there were former slave girls with the last name of Harper who “died on their way to freedom.”

The once rural site has been overtaken by West Des Moines’ expansion. The city now owns the parcel.

A coin collection lost to a Sioux City man for 47 years is back with its owner thanks to the Iowa Treasure Hunt. The collection started by John Potash and his father was turned over to the state treasurer’s office as unclaimed property in the form of safe deposit box contents almost 15 years ago. That was after the original bank changed owners and no rent had been paid on the deposit box for some years. Potash found the lost property by searching the state treasurer’s website,

Potash says he had given up on ever finding the coin collection, until one night when he couldn’t sleep and he went to the Iowa Treasure Hunt website and found his name a couple of times. “And it said ‘contents of safe deposit box’ and I got excited,” Potash says, “not so much for the monetary value — this is like reuniting with my father.”

Potash’s own son Elliot was also on the list and received a check for previously unclaimed funds totaling 398 dollars. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald says many other Iowans can find cash and items waiting for them if they check the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt website.

Fitzgerald says everyone should check their name because there are thousands of dollars that could be returned to people. More than 33 million dollars in unclaimed property is turned over to the treasurer’s department each year. Fitzgerald says the state is able to return about 60 per cent of it by getting a name and address from residents. The website is GreatIowaTreasureHunt.gov.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa State University has lost a second appeal of a federal free speech lawsuit over administrators’ decision to prevent a marijuana advocacy group from printing a T-shirt showing the university logo and a marijuana leaf. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that ISU administrators including President Steven Leath violated First Amendment rights of two students who were top officers of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws.

WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Students attending Southeastern Community College next year will pay more to do so. The Hawk Eye reports that the college’s board of trustees voted Monday to raise tuition and fees in lieu of cutting programs or faculty to deal with state budget cuts. Students will pay $6 more per credit hour, bringing the cost to $176 per credit hour for resident students and $181 for nonresident students.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Cedar Rapids police and Linn County deputies are investigating five break-ins at bars over the past 10 days. The Cedar Rapids Police Department tells Cedar Rapids television station KCRG that the burglaries began on June 5. Police say thieves are specifically targeting those bars that have gaming systems and vending machines.

DELHI, Iowa (AP) — Officials say the water in Lake Delhi has returned to the level it was before the dam broke in July 2010. The refilling began nearly a year ago. The lake on the Maquoketa (muh-KOH’-kih-tuh) River emptied when heavy rain caused the previous dam to fail.

Update 9:47-p.m., June 14th from Chief Brothers: “Missing Juvenile Bryant Fuller has been located. Thanks to all for their assistance”.

Since just before 1-p.m. Wednesday, Clarinda Police had been requesting the public’s assistance in locating a missing juvenile, 16-year old Bryant K. Fuller.

Missing Clarinda teen