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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An outspoken critic of Iowa’s Medicaid privatization process says he has been removed as a chairman of a state council that monitors the state’s shift to private management of its $5 billion Medicaid program. The Des Moines Register reports David Hudson says Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has dropped him from the Medical Assistance Advisory Council for apparently pushing back too hard against the privatization scheme.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A spokesman for a central Iowa nonprofit crime-stopper organization says the reward fund for a missing University of Iowa student has grown to more than $300,000 and is likely to continue climbing. Greg Willey, spokesman for Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa says the Mollie Tibbetts reward fund has reached $301,363 a record for the organization that was incorporated in 1982.

EDDYVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man died after a boat capsized on the Des Moines River in southern Iowa. Rescuers were sent to a spot on the southern end of Mahaska County around 7 p.m. Sunday to check a report about a capsized boat and people in the water. The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year-old Martin Almond was found unconscious in the river and that he was declared dead later at a hospital. He lived in Oskaloosa.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago man accused of trying to kill his estranged wife has been sentenced to 25 years in an Iowa prison. The Telegraph Herald reports that 51-year-old Clifford Smiley was sentenced Monday. Prosecutors say Smiley stabbed his estranged wife in a Dubuque store parking lot on April 1.

(Radio Iowa) — Templeton Rye Spirits held a grand opening for several new facilities today (Tuesday) that will help produce their rye whiskey on the east side of Templeton. Construction on the 35-thousand-square-foot distillery and 55-thousand-square-foot aging warehouse started in April of 2017.

Templeton Rye Co-Founder, Keith Kerkhoff, says he is proud to bring all parts of the whiskey-making process from the 1920s and 30s back to town. A renovated visitor center goes along with the production facilities to highlight the town’s past. Kerkhoff says the community was excited to step up and provide stories and artifacts from Templeton’s bootlegging days.

“We certainly want to thank them for their support. Very meticulous, very pride-driven people,” he says. Kerkhoff says that community involvement is one of the reasons for the investment in the plant. “I am really proud to be an heir of this community,” Kerkhoff says.

The project is also a significant investment in the community — with a total of 17 new jobs to the town and total employment of 28 people at their new location. The company spent 35 million dollars on the project and the distillery can now produce nearly 500-thousand proof gallons of rye whiskey per year, and up to 40-thousand barrels of the product can then be aged on site at the new warehouse State and county officials, local residents and whiskey lovers were in attendance to see the changes firsthand.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A spokesman for a central Iowa nonprofit says the reward fund for a missing University of Iowa student has grown to more than $300,000 and is likely to continue climbing. Greg Willey, spokesman for Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa, says the Mollie Tibbetts reward fund has reached $301,363, which is a record for the organization that was incorporated in 1982.

Willey says donations have come from more than 180 individuals and businesses from across the country. The fund has been established to help return Tibbetts to her family. The 20-year-old woman went missing on July 18 from her hometown of Brooklyn, about 70 miles east of Des Moines.

Officers from the FBI, state and local law enforcement agencies are working to find her. She was last seen jogging on the city streets in the town of 1,400.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer, Tuesday, issued a report on an accident involving a semi tractor-trailer that took place on Friday, Aug. 3rd. Palmer said Deputies were notified at around 11:20-a.m., about a semi tractor trailer blocking the road at 290th and Highway 71, about three-miles north of Braddyville, where the rig had been involved in a single motor vehicle accident.

When Deputies arrived, they found that 26-year old David L. Meyer, of Brule, NE. was operating a 1994 Peterbilt semi tractor attached to a 2000 semi tanker trailer hauling concrete powder for Transwood Logistics of Omaha, NE.

Meyer had missed the turn on Highway 71 and attempted to pull from a field drive onto 290th just west of the highway. Meyer did not swing wide enough for the semi trailer to stay in the field drive. The semi trailer dropped into the ditch and caused the rear tires of the semi tractor to lift into the air. This rendered the semi tractor trailer combination in-operable and blocked 290th street.

When the semi trailer dropped into the ditch, damage was done to the tube under the drive. The tube is owned by Darrin Sunderman of rural Clarinda. Damage to the Semi tractor / trailer is estimated at $10,000. Damage is estimated at $500 to the tube.

No injuries were reported.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will meet Wednesday in the High School Media Center. They’ll begin at 4-p.m. with a Work Session, to discuss a Board Self-Assessment Tool, Strategic Plan, and Board Goals. No action will be taken during the Work Session. Afterward, the Board will move into a regular session, during which they will hear a special presentation with regard to the Spanish Club Costa Rica Trip, and a preliminary report from District Finance Director Sarah Sheeder, with regard to finances pertaining to the 2017-18 School Year. And, the Board will act on approving a contract with American Tower with regard to a Verizon Tower on District property. The original lease allows the lessee to contract with a third-party in a sublease. The Tri-Party Contract will provide the District an additional $300 per month income. Currently, it receives about $1,200 per month for the lease of the cell tower.

In other business, the Atlantic School Board will act on the following resignations:

• Brandon Krause – Middle School Paraprofessional; Head Boy’s Freshman Basketball Coach; Assistant Girls/Boys Tennis Coach; Asst. Freshman Football Coach.
• Gaylord Schelling – Head Baseball Coach.
• Dan Vargason – JV girls Basketball Coach.
• Heather Burg and Lori Hayes – Food service.
• Carolyn Hanson and Emma Lee – Schuler Elem. Paraprofessionals.

Contracts and/or Letters of Assignment set to be discussed and acted upon, include those for:

• Derek Hall – Asst. Freshman Football Coach
• Hilary Zimmerline – 8th Grade Volleyball Coach
• Jessica Mendez – Food service (from 5 hours/day to 4)
• Tonna Hoover – Food services (from 2.75 hours/day to 4 hours/day)
• Jodi Woodward – from Cafeteria Asst. to Head Cook
• Cindy Nichols – Asst. High School Music Director
• Haley Wright and Susannah O’Dette- Washington Elem. Para’s
• Christina Simonton – Preschool para
• Heather Sager and Lori Hayes – Schuler Elem para’s.
• Kourtnie Beschorner and Ashley Bollinger- Schuler Elem. Para Level 3’s

Greenfield—Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, along with Ray “Bubba” Sorensen, of Greenfield, will host a fundraiser for the Sorensen For Iowa campaign.  Visitors are welcome to enjoy dessert at The Corner, on the square in Greenfield on Wednesday, August 8th, beginning at 6:00p.m.  Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II (R-Greenfield) filed for the Iowa House District 20 race in early spring and won the primary election on June 5th. Iowa District 20, is currently represented by Clel Baudler who recently announced his retirement. The district includes the counties of Adair, Guthrie, and portions of Dallas and Cass.

In a statement, Sorensen said “My priorities are to work for the district by providing reliable constituent services and giving the people a voice in our legislative process. As a small business owner and lifelong resident of the district, I can be an advocate for rural Iowa with a common-sense approach.” Bubba is a life-long resident of Adair County where in Greenfield he operates his business, Sorensen Studios, with his wife Maria. They are the parents of two children. A graduate of Bridgewater-Fontanelle (now Nodaway Valley), he was active in sports and showing cattle in 4H. Engaged in local, state, and national politics, Sorensen served as an intern for former Iowa State Senator JoAnn Johnson and clerked for former Representative Steve Olson.

Sorensen is well known for painting the Freedom Rock® just south of Interstate 80 near Menlo, Iowa. Painting the original Freedom Rock® each year as a volunteer effort, he is now commissioned to paint the smaller Freedom Rocks® in every county in Iowa. He currently has seventy-four of the county Freedom Rocks® completed.

Red Oak Police said today (Tuesday), 45-year old Jarrett David Dunn, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 7:45-a.m. today (Tuesday), on a felony Burglary in the 2nd Degree charge (a Class-A felony). Dunn was taken into custody in the 200 block of E. Corning Street and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $10,000.