DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The leading Democrats vying for their party’s presidential nomination clashed Friday night in Des Moines, over the critical issue of health care while offering starkly contrasting visions for the nation’s ideological direction before thousands of cheering Iowa activists at a raucous event kicking off the three-month sprint to the first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Former Vice President Joe Biden opened the state Democratic Party’s marquee annual fundraiser, the Liberty and Justice Celebration, by swiping at the candidate who has largely caught him atop the Democratic primary polls, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, pledged generational change, trying to take up the mantle of another young, upstart candidate, Barack Obama, who pulled off a 2008 upset in Iowa on his way to the presidency. The jabs were relatively gentle but previewed arguments that are likely to increasingly dominate the race. Biden said he would overhaul health care nationwide without “increases in taxes for the middle class. None. None. None.” While not mentioning Warren by name, his pronouncement came hours after she unveiled a much-anticipated proposal to spend $20-plus trillion over the next decade on a “Medicare for All” universal health care plan that she vowed wouldn’t require a middle-class tax increase. Biden’s campaign had already panned that as requiring “mathematic gymnastics” to cover its huge costs.

The former vice president has promised not to “abandon” Obama’s signature health care law. The issue has created a stark policy divide between Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, both of whom back Medicare for All, and more moderate candidates like Biden and Buttigieg, who say the country isn’t ready to do away with private insurance. Biden also called for party unity and tried to cast himself as immediately able to rise to international challenges: “The next president is going to be commander in chief of a world in disarray. There’s going to be no time for on-the-job training.”

Taking the stage a short time later, Warren made an unwavering appeal for sweeping change, saying, “If the most we can promise is business as usual after Donald Trump, then we will lose.”
“It’s easy to give up on a big idea, but when we give up on a big idea, we give up on the people whose lives would be touched by that big idea,” she said. “Anyone who comes on this stage and tells you to dream small and give up early is not going to lead our party to victory.”

Bernie Sanders struck his familiar, defiant tone Friday night, telling the crowd, “We will pass, whether the insurance companies like it or not, Medicare for All.” In all, more than a dozen presidential candidates addressed 13,000-plus Democratic activists, party volunteers and campaign supporters at a basketball arena in downtown Des Moines. The event amounts to the largest gathering of Democrats in an early voting state — and was something of a dress rehearsal for the Feb. 3 caucuses. Candidates must now move beyond simply introducing themselves to voters and activists and focus on perfecting a grassroots strategy to ensure they mobilize strong support.

For White House hopefuls in the top tier, the event was a key test of momentum, while lagging contenders will face further questions about why they’re staying in the race. A New York Times/Siena College poll of likely caucusgoers released Friday found Warren, Sanders, Buttigieg and Biden bunched together at the top of the field in Iowa, though Biden and Warren have generally been co-front-runners elsewhere.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time’s on your side this weekend when daylight saving sunsets. Most of the United States bids adieu at 2 a.m. local time Sunday, when standard time returns, bringing an extra hour of sleep for one night. With the shift, it’ll be lighter earlier in the morning and darker earlier in the evening.

Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and most of Arizona don’t observe daylight saving time, so no need to change. Daylight saving time returns at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, March 8.

According to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 7 in 10 Americans prefer not to switch back-and-forth, but there’s no agreement on which time clocks ought to follow.

Police in Red Oak arrested a man on an assault charge, Friday night. 34-year old Anton Rynoldt Pfleger, of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 9:30-p.m. in the 500 block of Washington Avenue. He was charged with Domestic Abuse Assault/1st offense. Pfleger was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Top Democratic presidential candidates clashed over health care as they sought to stand out from the pack in Iowa at a raucous event kicking off the three-month sprint to the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Joe Biden opened the state Democratic Party’s marquee annual fundraiser Friday by swiping at the candidate who has largely caught him atop the Democratic primary polls, Elizabeth Warren. Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg sought to take up the mantle of another young, upstart candidate, Barack Obama.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Board of Corrections announced Friday that Jerry Larson will be the new warden at Anamosa State Penitentiary. The board unanimously voted Friday to appoint Larson to replace William Sperfslage, who was earlier this year named the state’s new deputy director of institutions. Larson has been the deputy warden at Newton Correctional Facility since 2016 and started his career at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility. He was a correctional officer there in 1999.

VINING, Iowa (AP) — Iowa environmental officials are investigating a manure spill that led to a fish kill in east-central Iowa. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said in a news release Friday that the fish kill was found on Wolf Creek about 2 miles northwest of Vining. Department staff say a manure applicator for Mayo Farm Inc. reported Thursday morning that a drag hose leaked about 2,600 gallons of manure during land application.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — A state board has approved post-traumatic stress disorder and intellectual disability with aggression to the number of medical conditions that can legally be treated by medical marijuana in Iowa but rejected two other conditions petitioners had requested. The Iowa Medical Cannabidiol Board voted Friday to not allow patients with opioid dependency and those with Alzheimer’s Disease to have legal access to medical marijuana.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office reports their Deputies were able to end a pursuit that began on Highway 92 & the US Highway 169 bypass, Friday, outside of Winterset. Authorities a caller had reported a careless driver on Highway 92. When a Deputy located the vehicle and attempted to stop it, the driver, later identified as 30-year old Adam Wilson, of Wisconsin, took off at a high rate of speed.

The chase went southbound on Highway 169, with two more deputies in pursuit. The incident ended in the 3000-block of Highway 169, just north of the Union Madison County line, after Wilson’s vehicle entered the ditch. The man was taken into custody and transported to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office before being turned over to jail staff.

Wilson was charged with “Eluding.” Additional charges are pending. The Madison County Sheriffs Office was assisted at the scene by the Winterset Police Department & Union County Sheriffs Office.