DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a woman whose body was found in a north Warren County home. She’s been identified as 25-year-old Mercedes Wathen, of Cambridge. Officers and medics were called to the home just south of Des Moines around 7:30 a.m. Monday.
An 18-year-old man has been taken into custody as a material witness. Online court records don’t show that he’s been charged. Authorities have not said how Wathen died but have characterized the case as a homicide.
An in-state softball contest in Iowa City today (Wednesday), will feature Iowa hosting Northern Iowa. The Panthers are 18-14 overall and coming off a Missouri Valley Conference series that saw them take two of three games from Missouri State. UNI coach Ryan Jacobs who says the Panthers will face an Iowa team that has gone up against a very challenging schedule. Iowa is 15-17 after dropping all three games of a weekend series at Maryland. The first pitch is set for 5-p.m.
Republican Congressman Steve King says he is “uneasy” about the Trump Administration’s moves on trade. “Where we are today is we’re in the beginnings of an all-out trade war,” King says, “and I hope and pray that it is not.” China slapped import duties on dozens of U.S. products Monday, including a 25 percent tariff on pork, as a response to President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. King says he had a “direct conversation” over the phone with Trump “several months ago” about the importance of trade, including the “complex negotiations” over the North American Free Trade Agreement. “I’m uneasy about where we have gone,” King said. “I would not have initiated any of this, actually. I’ve always been working towards the most stable trade situation we can have that’s going to allow us to increase our exports of agriculture and our exports of manufacturing.”
King says he hopes China concludes it needs the American market and the Trump Administration decides American consumers want cheap Chinese goods, but if neither side “backs off,” King says agriculture will be hurt “a lot.””This is an escalating thing that has the looks of how a trade war begins,” King says. And King predicts a trade war will lead to fewer family farms. “We’ve lost about half of our market value in our commodities from the peak about 10 years ago and that’s caused our producers to spend some of their equity down, especially our young guys that are trying to build that equity so they can sustain themselves through the hard times,” King said. “This is hurting them the most.”
King also says it’s ironic that since a Chinese company bought U.S.-based Smithfield Foods, pork processed in the U.S. by Smithfield will be charged the tariff.
(Radio Iowa)
China’s new tariffs on U-S goods took effect Monday and include pork imports, which could create significant financial trouble for Iowa producers. National Pork Producers Council spokesman Jim Monroe says last year China imported more than one-BILLION dollars worth of American pork. “China is a very important market for us,” Monroe says. “It’s the number-one pork-consuming nation in the world and our industry’s growth is coming from exports.” China’s tariffs are in response to the Trump administration imposing higher taxes on steel and aluminum. Iowa State University economist Wendong Zhang says pork had been slated for a possible second round of tariffs, but in the end, China did just one wave of 128 products — including pork. “I think what the Chinese government wants to do is send a clear message that they are willing to fight,” Zhang says, “and they’re willing to target agricultural products.”
Zhang says the U-S ag sector doesn’t have the political clout in China that it has here to push for exceptions or reductions to the tariffs. China is also upping its taxes on a long list of products, including wine, nuts and fruit, to as much as 25 percent. Financial analyst Russell Barton with UrnerBarry says the new pork tariffs announced by China add up quickly. He says existing import duties and value-added tax were 25 percent and the new duty added to that equals 50 percent. “That’s significant. That probably prohibits quite a bit of trade,” he says. But Barton says U-S pork producers might not see much of a difference in sales to China, with or without the new tariffs. He says China is not necessarily relying on U-S pork because their domestic supplies have grown and imports were likely to drop a bit regardless of the tariffs.
Barton says China relies on a lot of pork, but China accounted for only about seven percent of U.S. pork exports, totaling about one-point-five percent of the U-S pork supply. And, he says the European Union sells China more than double what U-S does. Barton says the U-S has seen slow expansion in other developing markets, and he’s encouraged by the recent trade agreement with South Korea. Barton says Mexico and Japan continue to be solid markets for U-S pork.
(Radio Iowa; Amy Mayer, Iowa Public Radio and the Brownfield Network both contributed to this story)
Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones will have the honor, this (Wednesday) evening, of swearing-in a new Police Officer.
The event takes place just after 5:30-p.m., during the Atlantic City Council meeting, and is with regard to Jeremy Seufert. He joined the Atlantic Police Force after the Department was down one officer due to a member having joined the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and Chief Dave Erickson began to look for a person to fill the spot. Seufert grew up in Atlantic. He’s a veteran of the armed forces and has a wife, Melissa. The couple has three kids, and live in Atlantic.
In other business, the Council will receive a presentation from a local auditing firm, with regard to the FY 2017 City of Atlantic Audit, which is conducted annually. City Administrator John Lund says “The results were good. Money is where it is supposed to be, ongoing practices shall continue as they always have to sustain the City as an organization and remain financially solvent.”
The Council will also act on an Order to close 6th Street, from Chestnut Street, west to the east side of the alley between Chestnut and Poplar, every Thursday evening from 4-until 7, for “Produce in the Park,” that begins May 31st and concludes Sept. 27th. The Council is also expected to act on passing a Resolution that approves the contracts and bonds with Carly Construction, for the 2018 Street Improvement Project.
They’ll also act on passing a Resolution “Approving [a] Bond Purchase Agreement, Providing for the Issuance of General Obligation Corporate Purpose Bonds, Series 2018 and Providing for the Levy of Taxes to Pay the Same.” Action is needed on the matter as the City proceeds to borrow $2.68-million from the open market, with the promise to repay it over 20-years, through property taxes. And, the Atlantic City Council will hold the second reading of an ordinance that would essentially remove the north/south stop signs at 6th and Sunnyside Lane, in an effort to improve traffic flow, and considering the amount of traffic expected to be generated by the ethanol plant currently under construction.
Red Oak Police and officials with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office report three people have been arrested. At around 2:19-a.m. today (Wednesday), 27-year old Kirstin Lynn Wilwerding, of Red Oak, was arrested by Sheriff’s Deputies assisted by Red Oak Police. She was taken into custody for Violation of a No Contact Order. Wilwerding was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $2,000 cash only bond.
At around 9:20-p.m. Tuesday, Red Oak Police, assisted by Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies, arrested 59-year old Rodney Lynn Vanderhoof, of Red Oak, for Public Intoxication. Vanderhoof was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $300 bond.
And, at around 4-p.m. Tuesday, Red Oak Police arrested 56-year old Tony Joe Christensen, of Red Oak, after citizens reported he fell down twice in front of kids playing in a park. Christensen was located in the vicinity of 3rd and Joy Streets. He was taken into custody for Public Intoxication, with a preliminary breath test result of .222 (nearly 3 times over the legal limit).
CYNTHIA C. LANSMAN, 56, of Audubon, died March 23rd, at the Audubon County Memorial Hospital. A Celebration of Life Gathering for CYNTHIA C. LANSMAN will be held 5-p.m. Saturday, April 7th, at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon, with a Spiritual Meditation at 6-p.m.
Friends may call at the funeral home.
Burial will be at a later date.
CYNTHIA C. LANSMAN is survived by:
Her husband – Randy Lansman, of Audubon.
Her son – Nicholas Gorener, of Austin, TX.
Her parents – Robert (Josie) Clark, of Audubon.
Her brother – Eric (Joan) Clark, of Madison, WI.
Her step-children: Palle (Hege) Lansman, of Audubon; Torben (Neri) Lansman, of of San Luis, AZ, and Preben (Ashley) Lansman, of West Des Moines.
6 step-grandchildren, her in-laws, other relatives and friends.
The State Board of Regents office has released the proposed tuition rates for next year. The board will discuss proposed tuition increases of three-point-eight percent for the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and a two-point-eight percent increase at the University of Northern Iowa at their meeting next week in Council Bluffs.
Those increases will meet the promise of the board president who they would keep tuition rates for Iowa residents under four percent in the next academic year. The schools had talked this summer about tuition increases as high as seven percent after state funding was cut, and the board delayed setting rates two times as it waited to find out how much money they would get from the state.
The final vote on tuition rates would come in June.
(Radio Iowa)
Unofficial results from the Pottawattamie County Auditor’s Office show a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) referendum in Treynor, was defeated Tuesday by 134 NO votes (54%) compared to 114 votes in favor. The measure needed a simple majority in order to pass.
If it had been approved, the 10-year levy of 67 cents per thousand dollars valuation (or an increase of 34-cents per $1,000) would have been used to address a number of building needs in the district, including school safety, transportation and technology purchases. The revenues from the PPEL would have generated between $140,000-to-$160,000, and would have allowed Treynor to avoid using the district’s general fund to pay for projects.
The district currently operates with a five-year board-approved PPEL of 33 cents per thousand.
Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun hit consecutive homers off Dominic Leone with two out in the ninth, sending the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Leone retired the first two batters, but then lost Yelich on a 2-2 pitch before Braun whacked the next one for his fourth career game-ending homer. Dan Jennings picked up the victory with a perfect ninth.
DETROIT (AP) — Jakob Junis took a shutout into the eighth inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 for their first victory of the season. On a chilly, rainy day, the Tigers and Royals breezed through nine innings in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Jorge Soler drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly in the second.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have placed Jedd Gyorko on the 10-day disabled list and recalled prospect Harrison Bader from Triple-A. Gyorko was placed on the DL before a game against the Brewers. He left Monday’s game in the seventh inning with a strained right hamstring. Greg Garcia will fill in at third base.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Former Missouri State coach Paul Lusk will join the Creighton staff as an assistant coach. Coach Greg McDermott announced Lusk would replace Darian DeVries. DeVries was named head coach at Drake last week. Missouri State fired Lusk last month. He previous was an assistant at Purdue and Southern Illinois.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa guard Isaiah Moss is the second Hawkeyes sophomore to submit paperwork for early entry into the NBA draft. The process is designed to gauge professional interest. Moss joined Tyler Cook by announcing his plans. Moss has not hired an agent and has until May 30 to return to school or remain eligible for the draft.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, will host the USA Track and Field outdoor championships in 2019. Catch Des Moines, the city’s chamber of commerce, says the city has added the event to next year’s calendar. Drake is also hosting the national outdoor championships in June.
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