DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Abortion-rights groups said Tuesday that they had filed a lawsuit challenging the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, an Iowa provision that bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, around the sixth week of pregnancy. The state’s attorney general said he would not defend the law, which was slated to take effect July 1. Democrat Tom Miller said he based his decision on a belief that the measure “would undermine rights and protections for women.” Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union are seeking an injunction that would put the law on hold during the lawsuit, a process that could take years.

Republicans want any legal challenge to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The law is the latest to test the legality of abortion restrictions. GOP lawmakers in Mississippi earlier this year passed a 15-week abortion ban. It was signed into law by Mississippi’s Republican governor and quickly put on hold after a court challenge. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed Iowa’s ban earlier this month, indicated she expected the measure to face litigation.

The law is evidence of the state’s conservative shift after the 2016 election, when Republicans gained control of the Legislature and the governor’s office for the first time in nearly 20 years. Last year, they approved a 20-week abortion ban and required women to wait three days before they could have an abortion. The waiting provision is on hold because of a separate lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
Iowa Republicans last year also gave up millions in federal dollars to create a state-funded family planning program that prohibits participation from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

The Harlan Police Department reports two, separate arrests. On Sunday, 31-year old Joseph Schuemann, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant. Schuemann was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and interference with official acts.

And, on May 10th, 33-year old Aaron Robert McCutcheon, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant following a traffic stop. McCutcheon was transported to the Shelby County Jail, where he was also charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A new state law gives county assessors authority to shift some of their official activity into the digital age. The legislation will allow property assessments and notices from a county assessor’s office to be sent via e-mail or text message. “Provided that the recipient authorizes that the notices be sent from the assessor’s office via electronic communications.” That’s Representative Greg Heartsill, a Republican from Columbia. County assessors have been sending paper notices via the mail of property tax assessments for homes, apartments and farms as well as commercial and industrial property. Assessors may continue to do use the U.S. Postal Service, but now have the option of shifting to deliver those documents electronically — IF the property owner prefers that method. Representative Amy Nielsen (NEEL-sun), a Democrat, is the former mayor of North Liberty.

“This is a really good, thought-out bill,” Nielsen said during House debate. “It will save our counties some money,” Nielsen said. County assessors determine the value of property every two years. County assessors do NOT collect property taxes, however. County treasurers do. According to the American Bankers Association, 40 percent of Americans manage their bank accounts electronically.

(Radio Iowa)

A new phase in the search for missing autistic teenager Jake Wilson is starting today (Tuesday) in La Porte City. An excavation company is bringing in heavy equipment to remove large debris in Wolf Creek near where it flows into the Cedar River. A $10,000 donation from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association is covering the cost the operation. Association president and former Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley presented the check to La Porte City Fire Rescue on Monday afternoon. “We don’t need any thanks, the gratitude goes the other way,” Hurley says. “There are such fine people in this community of La Porte and surrounding (area) that just keep at it and are persistent and they’re not going to give up. I don’t think we wanted to do anything but help them along that path.” The Black Hawk County Gaming Association distributes grants from gaming revenue. Hurley says the association’s board decided to make the emergency grant after La Porte City firefighters last week made a public request for donations to help defray the costs of the search.

“We care for one another and care about one another,” Hurley says. “That’s the true Iowans that we are and that’s the emotion that hit everybody last Wednesday night when we saw on the local news the story. It was instantaneous that this is what we’re going to do.” Hurley, his wife, and several members of the Gaming Association board were among the hundreds of the volunteers who combed the fields and woods around La Porte City during the initial days of the search. The 16-year-old Wilson went for a walk near Wolf Creek on the night of April 7th and didn’t return home. “This is a grant from the heart. There’s just no doubt about it,” Hurley says. “I was not surprised, but elated, at how quickly those board members came together as said: ‘Do it and do it as fast as we can.'” La Porte City Police Chief Chris Brecher says the donation is a tremendous help — and more dollars are coming in.

“You’re very thankful for the community that you live in, that there are some people willing to step in from the smallest donations to something as sizeable as this, with the 10,000,” Brecher says. Authorities are concentrating on a section of Wolf Creek near the Cedar River because dogs reacted like something might be in the water. “We have had some indications that the possibility is there,” Brecher says. “We’re not just searching this area for nothing. We definitely have reasons that we’ve been brought here.”

(Radio Iowa)

A traffic stop at around 7:20-p.m. Monday, in Mills County, led to the arrest of a man on drug and other charges. The Mills County K9 Unit stopped a vehicle on Mile Hill Lake Park. Upon investigation and searching the vehicle, drug paraphernalia and a .22-caliber handgun were found. The driver, 39-year old Jon Dawson Roberts, of Shenandoah, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Carrying weapons and Driving Under Suspension. He was transported to the Mills County Jail without further incident.