Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says a small number of Iowans are going overboard by targeting her family with partisan sniping. “I’m the governor of everybody, so I want to make that clear,” Reynolds said, “but I’m probably talking about a very small, minute population.” Back on October 21st, Reynolds told a crowd that she and her fellow Republicans needed to “double-down” because of what she’s seen as she travels the state. “The liberals are unhinged and they are out for us,” Reynolds said last month.

During her weekly news conference yesterday in Ames, Reynolds was asked what incidents may have occurred to lead her to reach that conclusion. Reynolds says there’s more than one, but cited as an example negative comments on social media about two of her grandsons after she posted a photo of the boys. “I signed up for this. You can come at me all you want. I’m tough. I know what this job entails and I guess, in some sense, my family did, too, but not to that extent,” Reynolds said. “This is a six-year-old little boy and his brother, playing soccer on a football field and to me, that’s unhinged. That’s over-the-top and they don’t deserve it.” Reynolds says “all of us” should take steps to improve the political climate.

“There is no civil discourse left and it is really sad,” Reynolds says. “We ought to be able to talk about ideas. We ought to be able to debate ideas because that’s how you get to consensus and that’s how we move this country forward and that’s how we move this state forward. And we do a better job of it in Iowa. We do, but it is just so…vicious right now. I hope we can get back to having a discussion.”  Tess Seger, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Democratic Party, says it’s unfortunate the governor chose to the word “unhinged” to describe a “wide swath of Iowans” 11 days ago, but Seger says Democrats respect the office and “strongly condemn any threatening comments directed” at the governor’s family.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A monthly survey of business leaders suggests economic conditions continue to improve for nine Midwest and Plains states. A report released Wednesday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index rose to 58.8 in October from 58.2 in September. The August figure was 57.5. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says national and regional indices indicate the manufacturing sector is expanding at a very healthy pace.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:15 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of three private insurance companies that help run Iowa’s Medicaid program plans to withdraw in a month. The Iowa Department of Human Services announced Tuesday that AmeriHealth Caritas will end its Medicaid coverage at the end of November. The state agency also announced it would spend more money as part of new contracts with the remaining companies, Amerigroup and UnitedHealthcare. The move means about 215,000 Iowans will transfer to the remaining companies.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say slippery conditions from rain and snow likely caused a rock climber to fall to his death from the First Flatiron in Boulder. Carrie Haverfield, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, says investigators believe deteriorating weather conditions caused 31-year-old Erik Kleiber to fall about 430 feet from the iron-shaped rock formation Thursday. The Daily Camera reports it does not appear that the Boulder man was using any climbing equipment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The FBI credits a new computer algorithm for identifying more than 200 previously unknown bodies found in locations throughout the country since the 1970s. The new system is able to make matches from low-quality prints or even a single finger or thumb. The cases range from a Texas man found in the mid-1980s in Iowa to an 18-year-old runaway who was found shot to death in 1999 in Arizona. Many of those identified died in the desert after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S.

NEW VIENNA, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are blaming a manure runoff from a dairy farm for killing about 60,000 fish in eastern Iowa. The fish kill was reported Oct. 9 in two creeks in Dyersville. The farm is about 3 miles east of New Vienna. The Iowa Natural Resources Department has issued a notice of violation and is expected to seek restitution for the fish, including minnows, white suckers and creek chubs.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — One of three private insurance companies that help run Iowa’s Medicaid program plans to withdraw in a month.

The Iowa Department of Human Services announced Tuesday that AmeriHealth Caritas will end its Medicaid coverage at the end of November. The state agency also announced it would spend more money as part of new contracts with the remaining companies, Amerigroup and UnitedHealthcare.

DHS described the additional spending as a 3.3 percent rate increase, but officials did not provide more specifics. Department director Jerry Foxhoven says the extra spending will be funded through existing agency dollars.

The move means about 215,000 Iowans enrolled in the health care program for poor and disabled people will transfer to the remaining companies. DHS then plans to hire another company to offer coverage beginning next summer.