(Radio Iowa) – The lead attorney involved in drawing the boundaries for Iowa’s congressional and legislative districts in 2001 and 2011 says there are huge unknowns surrounding this decade’s redistricting process. U.S. Census Bureau population data will be delivered weeks past the date when the Iowa Constitution says the new maps for Iowa House and Senate districts are to be approved by the legislature. Ed Cook is senior legal counsel for the Legislative Services Agency. “At this point, we don’t have any idea how legislative redistricting is going to be conducted,” Cook said.

Every 10 years, the boundaries of Iowa’s congressional districts as well as all 150 state legislative districts must be redrawn to reflect population changes recorded in the Census. That information will be delivered by September 30th. So, due to the constitutional deadline, the Iowa Supreme Court will be responsible for the process. “It’s ultimately up to the Supreme Court in regards to how that’s to be conducted once September 1 comes and goes,” Cook says.

The chief justice has declined to comment on how the court may proceed. Cook made HIS comments Monday during the first meeting of a temporary commission appointed to advise legislators on the redistricting process.

(Radio Iowa) – A key Republican says G-O-P legislators plan to give final approval tomorrow (Wednesday) to a bill that shortens Iowa’s early voting period and makes other election law changes. Republican Representative Bobby Kaufmann, of Wilton convened a public hearing last (Monday) night and announced that the bill will be slightly adjusted, to set up a 21-day period for absentee voting.  “It is really easy to vote absentee today under current law,” Kaufmann said, “and it will be really easy to vote absentee after this bill passes and is sent to the governor’s office Wednesday night.”

Gary Leffler of West Des Moines, a Trump supporter who testified during the public hearing, urged Iowa lawmakers to investigate allegations of election fraud in other states. “I was at the (U.S.) Capitol on January 6. What people are concerned about is this: voter integrity,” Leffler said. “…They’re trying to figure out: How in the world did this happen?” Janice Weiner, of Iowa City says just as Senator Joni Ernst won her election, President Biden won freely and fairly. “The remedy for the big lie of a stolen election is not to take an ax to election laws that work exceedingly well,” she said. “It’s simply to tell the truth.”

Emily Russell, a Drake University law student, was president of Wartburg College Republicans as an undergrad. “If we don’t start taking steps to increase public confidence in the integrity of our elections now, all of us will continue to live in a divided society,” she said. Election officials from four Iowa counties drove to Des Moines to urge legislators to make major changes in the bill. Rebecca Bissell, a Republican who is the Adams County Auditor, says due to Postal Service delays, the shorter window for mail-in voting will cause problems. “Smaller rural counties have a large elderly population who typically choose to vote absentee because of weather or health concerns,” Bissell said. “Why are we making it harder for them to vote?”

Auditors from Grundy, Woodbury and Sioux Counties also testified against the bill.

ANAMOSA – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections report two staff members were assaulted by an inmate at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, Monday morning. Officials say at around 7:55 a.m., a correctional officer was struck in the face with a closed-fist strike by an inmate. The officer was able to use pepper spray to bring the inmate under control, but the attacking inmate continued displaying aggressive behavior.

Additional staff arrived to assist in restraining the inmate, and one of the responding officers also received injury to his hand during the struggle, but they were successful in restraining the inmate.

Both injured officers were treated and released from the local hospital for minor injuries, and are recovering at home. The inmate did not suffer major injury during the incident.  The incident remains under investigation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:50 a.m. CST

DOW CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have charged a Crawford County woman with murder in the shooting death of her boyfriend. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office says deputies were called about 9:15 p.m. Sunday to a home in Dow City to check on a resident. When they arrived they found 46-year-old Jeremy Frank unresponsive and bleeding. Frank was taken to a hospital in Denison, where he was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound. Investigators charged 44-year-old Beth Guzman, of Dow City, with first-degree murder. She was identified as Frank’s live-in girlfriend.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government announced Monday that it will support the ethanol industry in a lawsuit over biofuel waivers granted to oil refineries under President Donald Trump’s administration. The Environmental Protection Agency said it is reversing course and will support a January 2020 decision by the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a lawsuit filed by the Renewable Fuels Association and farm groups. The lawsuit is headed to arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. The move by the EPA comes roughly a month after President Joe Biden took office.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 22-year-old Iowa City has been charged with first-degree murder in a fatal shooting during a robbery. Sammy Hamed was charged Monday in the Feb. 12 death of 19-year-old Quincy Russom, of Iowa City. Russom as found shot to death after officers responded to a call that someone had been killed during a robbery. A police complaint alleges Hamed was present in the apartment during the shooting, which occurred 30 minutes before emergency responders were called. The complaint says when Hamed was stopped several hours later, he had Russom’s cellphone and other possessions, as well as a gun police said was used in the shooting.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Ames police say they have issued an arrest warrant charging a man with murder in the death of a woman whose body was found Saturday night in an apartment. Police found the body of 37-year-old Ranea K. Bell of Ames on Saturday night in an apartment. On Monday, investigators issued a warrant charging Richard G. Fleck, 33, with first-degree murder. Police said they believe Fleck is in the Kansas City, Missouri, area but noted he also has ties to communities in Texas and Mississippi.

A Hastings man was arrested on Monday by Red Oak Police on Theft charges. 40-year-old John Robert Washburn of Hastings was arrested at 6:52 p.m. at 106 West Coolbaugh Street in Red Oak on charges of Theft 3rd Degree and Theft 5th Degree. Those charges stem from an investigation of a theft that occurred in the 1600 block of North Broadway Street in Red Oak. Washburn was booked in to the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government announced Monday that it will support the ethanol industry in a lawsuit over biofuel waivers granted to oil refineries under President Donald Trump’s administration. The Environmental Protection Agency said it is reversing course and will support a January 2020 decision by the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a lawsuit filed by the Renewable Fuels Association and farm groups.

The lawsuit is headed to arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring. The move by the EPA comes roughly a month after President Joe Biden took office.

Ethanol tanks

A case of road rage and reckless driving resulted in a collision at around 8:42-a.m. Monday, in Creston.  According to Creston Police, a 1999 Honda Accord driven by 38-year old Cody Lee Witt, of Story City, was driving in an erratic manner on Townline Road, near Bunn-O-Matic, and trying to speak with 56-year old Christine Larkin, of Creston, who was driving a 2001 Buick LeSabre. Authorities said the pair had been in a relationship.

Police said Witt was driving recklessly when he swerved off the road and continued back on the road in a reckless manner, before his car hit the Buick. The Buick was traveling westbound at the time of the collision. Police say the Honda backed northbound in a reckless manner. Witt was cited for reckless driving. No injuries were reported. Damage from the collision totaled $2,000.

(Radio Iowa) – It’s taken months, but the long-predicted La Nina weather pattern seems to have taken hold, impacting much of the nation’s climate — and the effects may linger through spring. After Iowa’s prolonged, bitter cold weather during most of February, climatologist and drought specialist Becky Bollinger says the March temperatures should follow a La Nina pattern and be warmer.

“Most of the country is showing a leaning towards more likely to have warmer-than-average conditions,” Bollinger says. The weekly U-S Drought Monitor shows wide sections of Iowa are abnormally dry, while much of western Iowa is under moderate to severe drought, with portions of northwest Iowa considered in extreme drought. Bollinger says the regions that are in drought now will likely stay that way.

“Areas that have been dry, unfortunately, have an enhanced chance of continuing to be drier than average into March,” she says. Bollinger says the outlook for March, April and May are likely to follow the same pattern. “We see most of the region showing increased chances of above-average temperatures through the spring,” she says. Bollinger says the climate outlooks predict the La Nina will fade to neutral conditions by summer.

A La Nina occurs when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures cool below normal, which then has a wide-ranging impact on North American weather.

The Atlantic School District’s Board of Education will hold a Special Meeting 6-p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24th, at the High School Media Center. On the agenda is discussion with regard to a Public Hearing for the Certified Budget, and the 1:1 Computer Plan.

Action items on the Board’s agenda include:

• The High School HVAC Replacement Project
• Approving the resignations of Chemistry/Physics Teacher James Todd, as well as HS 1:1 Paraeducator Rebecca Drake.
• The Board will also act on Open Enrollment Applications and
• 2021-22/2022-23 Master Contracts with the Atlantic Education and Employee Associations.

Following regular business, the Atlantic School Board will enter into a closed session to conduct Superintendent Steve Barber’s annual evaluation.