DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa utilities regulators have approved a permit for 346 miles of crude oil pipeline to be built under Iowa farmland. Over the objection of thousands of Iowa residents, the Iowa Utilities Board voted unanimously Thursday to let Texas-based company Dakota Access begin the so-called Bakken pipeline project. The board also will allow Dakota Access the ability to force hundreds of unwilling landowners into easements using eminent domain laws. That is expected to bring lawsuits.

The $3.78 billion pipeline will carry about a half-million barrels of oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois. Iowa was the only state that had not yet approved a permit for the project, which will stretch across 18 Iowa counties and 1,300 parcels of land. The project drew 3,700 letters of protest.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers announced today (Thursday), that the Clarinda Police Department has officially switched to an auto-attendant telephone system. The change went into effect at 1-p.m. (Thursday). Brother says it was necessitated by the City of Clarinda’s 911 Dispatch Center closure and all operations being turned over to Page County.

Brothers says “We appreciate your cooperation as we switch to this new system. It is very user friendly and state of the art. If you have any questions or concerns about the system, feel free to contact [him].”

A man walking along Highway 25 in Adams County Wednesday afternoon, ended-up being arrested on a drug charge. The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports 32-year old Kyle Eugene Gile, of Lenox, was arrested for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Gile was being held on $300 bond in the Adams County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A proposal to pay for water quality initiatives in Iowa and a bill that would expand access to medical marijuana are among several measures in the Iowa Legislature expected to survive a deadline for bills to advance this session.

The “second funnel” deadline Friday meant an uncertain future for state oversight of Medicaid privatization and unregulated boarding schools, though Democratic leaders vowed to revive those measures by adding them to a budget bill. Some lawmakers have been skeptical of Gov. Terry Branstad’s plan to pay for water quality initiatives through a 1-cent sales tax for school infrastructure. Branstad says it will create new funding for both issues.

The Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-majority Senate also announced a compromise Thursday on tax measures, but they remain apart on K-12 education spending.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Leaders of the Iowa Legislature say they’ve agreed on some budget issues for the upcoming fiscal year involving tax credit measures. Leaders for the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-majority Senate announced the development Thursday through the introduction of legislation. The bill includes a retroactive tax measure that would cut $95 million in state revenue from the current fiscal year but provide a tax break for some Iowa residents and businesses. House leaders have criticized Democratic lawmakers for weeks for not initially supporting the measure, known as tax coupling.

The measure also details a manufacturing tax exemption that is expected to cut revenue for the fiscal year that begins in July. Additional information wasn’t immediately available. Lawmakers didn’t explain how they would cover the revenue reductions.