DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 50 Iowa sex offenders have permits to carry guns in public thanks to a two-year-old law that makes it harder for sheriffs to deny permits. The Des Moines Register reports law enforcement officials and some state lawmakers are worried about armed sex offenders. Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar says he worries about sex offenders having guns because many of them use intimidation to get what they want and a gun could help that.

Most of the sex offenders who have obtained gun permits in Iowa were convicted of misdemeanors like lascivious conduct with a minor. Ronald Hahn Jr. says he doesn’t pose a threat to public safety and he uses guns for hunting, so why should his indecent exposure conviction keep him from getting a gun permit?

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Boxes were stacked in the corner of the Iowa Senate chambers on Thursday, but lawmakers are nowhere near ready to pack up. Still, the legislative session will look different starting Monday. May 3 was the last day for much of the temporary staff and the student pages who work in the Legislature, as well as the final day of expense payments for lawmakers.

Most of the 150 legislators will report to work early next week. But if negotiations drag out then numbers will likely dwindle to a smaller group of party leaders and those working on negotiating committees. The Republicans who control the House and Democrats who rule the Senate are still trying to find resolution on major issues like education funding, property tax reductions and low-income health care.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A deadline is approaching for owners who want to recognize their generational farms in Iowa.  Owners have until June 1 to apply for the century and heritage farm program. It recognizes families that have owned their farms for 100 years and 150 years.  Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says the program highlights the state’s deep history and strong agricultural heritage.

There are various ways to request an application, including from the agriculture department’s website. A ceremony to recognize participants will be held at the Iowa State Fair in August.

More than 17,000 farms across Iowa have been recognized as century farms since 1976. More than 580 farms have been recognized as heritage farms since 2006.  Last year, 345 century farms and 69 heritage farms were recognized.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied a final funding request from the University of Iowa to help replace its flood-damaged museum. The Museum of Art’s lower level mechanical and electrical systems were damaged during the Iowa City’s 2008 flood. Officials estimate there’s about $4 million worth of damage.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge will review a recording of a Des Moines school board meeting about a former superintendent to determine if the meeting was illegally closed. The board had invoked a law that says meetings can be closed to evaluate the competency of an individual to prevent injury to that person’s reputation.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man accused of shooting a Sioux City police officer has been captured in Texas. Jamal Dean was arrested without incident during a traffic stop in Riviera, Texas. Police believe he was headed to the border between the United States and Mexico.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Nearly 200 people have attended the funeral of one of two abducted Iowa cousins whose remains were later found. Elizabeth Collins was laid to rest in a wooden casket inside a burial vault painted pink. Elizabeth’s mother, Heather Collins, says the service offers closure for her daughter’s three siblings.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An official with the U.S.-led international military coalition says the five troops killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan were all Americans. Capt. Luca Carniel confirmed that the troops killed on Saturday were U.S. service members.  The coalition did not disclose the location of the blast.

However, Javeed Faisal, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said a coalition patrol hit the roadside bomb in Maiwand district of the province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.  With the deaths, 47 members of the coalition have been killed so far this year – including 32 Americans.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – It’s unclear whether a law requiring gender balance on boards and commissions is getting more women involved in local government, but some officials question the need for the law.  Iowa is the only state that requires gender balance of state and local boards and commissions. Legislators who backed the law in 2009 say it pushes officials to give women the encouragement they need to seek public office.

The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University found 49 percent of all county boards and commissions are gender balanced. The group is studying results for city governments.

In the small northeast Iowa city of Calmar, Mayor Cory Meyer says it’s hard enough to find volunteers to fill unpaid, time-consuming positions. He pays little attention to the law.

The latest area News from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson…

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The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says a Union County man was arrested early this (Saturday) morning after authorities investigated a report of a car in the ditch near the 54 mile marker off of Highway 34. Deputies determined the driver, 43-year old Timothy Coleman, of Creston, was intoxicated. He was taken into custody at around 1:15-a.m. on an OWI charge.  Coleman was being held in the Adams County Jail pending an initial court appearance or the posting of bond.

A man suspected of opening fire and wounding a Sioux City Police officer following a traffic stop on Monday, has been captured in Texas. According to Sioux City TV station KCAU,  21-year old Jamal Dean was taken into custody early this (Saturday) morning in Texas, by United States Marshals.  Dean was being held on an arrest warrant for Attempted Murder in connection with the April 29 shooting of Sioux City Police Officer Kevin McCormick.

McCormick stopped a car that Dean was a passenger in when Dean allegedly stepped out of the car and fired on the officer. One of the bullets crashed through McCormick’s windshield and hit him in the head. The officer was treated at an area hospital and has since been released. Sioux City Police Chief Doug Young says after realizing he was shot, Officer McCormick still called in a description of the suspect.

Dean fled the area after the shooting and was the subject of a search that spanned from Omaha to Denver and beyond. Officials say several agencies worked closely together to ensure the suspect was found. Dean is suspected of being involved in several other shootings. He also was wanted on a warrant out for his arrest for burglarizing a Sioux City home with his brother Levon, who was arrested Monday night while they were searching for Jamal. Court records indicate after Levon and Jamal broke into the home, Jamal hit the home’s owner on the head with the butt of a .22 rifle, splitting the victim’s head open. The same weapon is believed to have been used in Monday’s shooting of officer McCormick.

Authorities in Harrison County say a woman from Missouri Valley died Friday morning from injuries she suffered during in a single-vehicle crash near Logan. 39-year old Amy Hardy, died at Alegent Health Community Memorial Hospital in Missouri Valley, following the crash that resulted in her being ejected from her 2002 Ford Taurus when it left the road and hit a tree. The accident happened about two-miles west of Logan on 260th Street.

According to the sheriff’s department, Hardy was traveling west on 260th, when her car’s tires dropped off the edge of the roadway. The woman over-corrected and lost control of her car, which entered the north ditch before striking a large tree. The accident scene was discovered a little after 9-a.m. Friday, but authorities aren’t sure when it actually took place. An investigation into the crash continues.