DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey paid a weekend visit to Iowa, site of the first presidential caucuses. Cue the speculation. One of President Donald Trump’s best-known adversaries dined at a must-stop steakhouse for politicos and posed for a photo along a rural road with a neatly groomed field as a backdrop, as countless White House aspirants have before him.

However, it turns out, Comey was visiting his in-laws. With a new Twitter pseudonym — Reinhold Niebuhr — Comey revealed he was in Iowa with his wife Patrice, an Iowa native whose father was celebrating his 90th birthday.

The general manager of 801 Chophouse, Damon Murphy, said Comey and his party simply enjoyed their steak dinner. Trump fired Comey in May, roiling Washington.

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic attorneys general from 17 states are calling on Congress to abandon legislation backed by the National Rifle Association that would allow concealed-carry gun permits issued in one state to be valid in all states.

The top prosecutors from states including New York, Pennsylvania, Iowa and California sent a letter to congressional leaders on Sunday warning that federal reciprocity proposals would “lead to the death of police officers and civilians, the proliferation of gun traffickers, and acts of terrorism and other mass violence.”

The warning comes as the gun lobby continues to press for looser gun restrictions even in the weeks after an attack in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead.

A spokeswoman for the NRA’s lobbying arm says the measure remains the organization’s “top legislative priority.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has withdrawn its request with the Trump administration to opt out of the Affordable Care Act and redirect federal money toward lowering premiums for younger participants in a single state-run program.

The idea was designed to stabilize health care insurance in the state, making premium costs based on age in addition to income. Just one company — Minnesota-based Medica — plans to provide policies next year with an anticipated 58 percent increase in premiums.

Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state decided to pull its proposal because federal agencies signaled it would be weeks before they could provide details on the financial viability of the program.

Open enrollment for coverage next year under the law begins in nine days, and 72,000 people in Iowa buy their own policies.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Transportation officials are convinced that blue and white emergency lights on snow plows are effective at reducing crashes, and they’re going to seek a change in state law to permanently allow the lights.

KCRG-TV reports the department started a test project in 2015 to see if switching to blue and white lights would increase visibility and reduce crashes.

The agency found there were 29 crashes from October 2013 to April 2015 that involved vehicles rear-ending or side-swiping plows. After the blue and white lights were tested from October 2015 to April 2017, that number dropped to 10 crashes.

The agency is in its third year of testing and plans to ask lawmakers next session to change state law and make the new lights permanent every winter.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in Sioux City have released the name of three people who died when a car they were in plunged into the Missouri River. Sioux City police say in a news release Monday that those found in the car were 53-year-old Salomon Medina-Zavala, 43-year-old Angelica Gonzalez-Gonzalez and 16-year-old Vanessa Medina-Gonzalez.

The car entered the river Oct. 15 in Sioux City and was hoisted out Saturday. An autopsy by the Iowa State Medical Examiner determined all three occupants died of drowning.

Dangerous water conditions had hampered the search for the car. On Saturday, a diver battling a current in 20 feet of water found the car several hundred feet downstream from where it had gone in. The diver hooked the car to a winch so it could be brought to shore.

The Iowa Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (IAND) has awarded the Medallion Award to Emily Krengel, Registered/Licensed Dietician. The award was presented at the association’s annual meeting in Ames. Krengel has served as the Cass County Health System’s dietitian for 41 years and also served as the Director of Food Services for 30 of those years.

According to the IAND, the Medallion Award may be awarded to no more than one person each year. The purpose of the award is “to recognize a member of IAND who has demonstrated leadership above and beyond job requirements in either the association or employment and has made outstanding contributions to the diabetic profession.”

Emily Krengel (Left)

Selection criteria include being active in IAND as well as demonstrating leadership in national, state or district associations, being an outstanding mentor to younger professionals, and outstanding contributions to the profession.

Brett Altman, Cass County Health System CEO, said “Emily certainly meets those criteria as she lives out our mission of providing superior experiences to everyone that we are privileged to serve.” He added, “This award recognizes Emily’s leadership and the body of work she has done throughout her career [here] at Cass County Health System. While she has been a trailblazer in Cass County by reaching beyond the hospital walls, she has also earned the respect of her colleagues in this state and around the country.”

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Monday) released information about an accident that happened Saturday afternoon. Authorities say deputies responded just after 1-p.m. to a single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 eastbound at the 69.5-mile marker. The initial dispatch said the vehicle was on-fire. An investigation determined 35-year old John Tei, of Des Moines, was driving a 2004 Olds Alero westbound on I-80 when the vehicle went out of control, entered the median and flipped twice. No injuries were reported.

Damage to the vehicle is estimated at $5,000. Tei was cited with Failure to Maintain Control, Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance, and Operation of a vehicle without Registration Card or Plate. Later that day, at 7:16 p.m., Tei was arrested while walking at the 66 mile marker westbound. He was taken into custody on I-80 for Public Intoxication, brought to the Cass County Jail and released the following day on his own recognizance.

(Sheriff’s officials corrected the woman’s age in a later report to 29. NOT 48)

A traffic stop Sunday night in Page County resulted in the arrest of a Fremont County woman on drug and other charges. The traffic stop was conducted at around 9:05-p.m. about 4 miles north of Coin, on Hackberry Avenue. The driver and only occupant of the vehicle, 29-year old Laura Taylor Sheldon, of Sidney, IA, was arrested for: Possession of drug paraphernalia, a Simple misdemeanor; OWI 1st offense a Serious misdemeanor; and Possession with intent to deliver fifty kilograms or less of Marijuana a Class D felony.

Sheldon was transported to the Page County Jail where she later posted $6,300 bond and was released pending future court proceedings.