DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court is letting the 2018 appointment of an eastern Iowa district court judge by Gov. Kim Reynolds stand, ending a three-year controversy over whether Reynolds had missed the legal deadline for appointing the judge. The court concluded in a ruling Friday that since former Iowa Supreme Court Justice Mark Cady deferred to Reynolds, who claimed she verbally appointed Judge Jason Besler by the legal deadline, the court shouldn’t intervene.

Attorney Gary Dickey had challenged the appointment, saying Besler was improperly appointed and potentially should be removed. In making its ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court dismisses the case.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — A judge has rejected a motion to quash a subpoena seeking the bank records of a slain University of Iowa student. Prosecutors in the first-degree murder case against Cristhian Bahena Rivera made the motion, calling the subpoena by Behena Rivera’s lawyers for Mollie Tibbetts’ bank records a “fishing expedition.” Prosecutors accused defense attorneys of flouting the law by failing to notify prosecutors and the court of the subpoena until after it had already been served.

The Des Moines Register reports that the judge ruled the challenge was moot, as the subpoena had already been served and the bank provided no relevant information. Prosecutors say Rivera stabbed Tibbetts to death in 2018.

WELLSBURG, Iowa (AP) — (Updated) Authorities say a hazardous materials team was called to a fatal pileup on Interstate 20 in north-central Iowa that involved a semitrailer hauling sulfuric acid. The pileup happened Thursday afternoon near Wellsburg and involved 15 vehicles, including several semitrailers and a tanker carrying 5,000 gallons of sulfuric acid.

Officials say the Haz-Mat team was called to help contain a leak in the wreckage. The Iowa State Patrol says one person was killed in the crash, but had not released that person’s name or other details by late Friday morning. Authorities say at least two other people were injured in the pileup, which occurred as blizzard conditions swept the state. The injured include 66-year old Christopher Thomas Triplett, of Kahoka, MO, who was driving a Lincoln Navigator, and 25-year old Jacob Riley, of Keokuk, who was driving a 2017 Dodge Charger. Both men were wearing their seat belts.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, (as of 10-a.m. Friday), indicated there were 804 new, positive cases of COVID-19 in test results since 10-a.m. Thursday, for a pandemic total of 323,317. The IDPH said there had been 34 additional deaths recorded over the previous 24 hours, for a pandemic total of 5,067. In western and southwest Iowa, there was one additional death reported in each of Adair and Shelby Counties.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility data, Friday, show there are 43 current outbreaks among those facilities in Iowa. Those facilities account for 1,326 of Iowa’s positive cases, while 835 LTC patients have recovered from the virus. LTC deaths make up 2,071 of the State’s total number of deaths.

COVID-19 hospitalization levels are at their lowest in Iowa since September. There are now 348 patients hospitalized with the virus, down from 360 the previous day. There are 66 patients in ICU and 31 patients on ventilators. In RMCC Region 4 (Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa),  21 are hospitalized with COVID symptoms, seven are in an ICU, one person was admitted since Thursday, and four people are on a ventilator.

Iowa’s statewide positivity rate continues to decline. The 14-day positivity rate dropped from 9.3% to 9.1%. The 7-day average dropped from 7.4% to 7.1%. Only three of Iowa’s 99 counties now report a 14-day positivity rate greater than 15%. During the spike in November, more than 90 counties reported a rate higher than 15%. Page, Howard and Clarke counties report the highest rates in the state. Worth County reports a 3.7% rate.

The Health Dept. reports also, 289,737 doses of the vaccine have been administered. Of those doses, 141,541 persons have received their first, or initial dose, while 74,098 have received their second dose.  A total of 291,531 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

• Cass, 1,202 cases; {+5}; 46 deaths
• Adair, 718; {+1}; 25
• Adams, 311; {+1}; 3
• Audubon, 440 {+0}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,064 {+3}; 27
• Harrison County, 1,627; {+3}; 67
• Madison County, 1,331; {+9}; 13
• Mills County, 1,418; {+4}; 20
• Montgomery, 932; {+2}; 32
• Pottawattamie County, 9,439; {+21}; 130
• Shelby County, 1,109; {+3}; 31
• Union County,  1,156; {+3}; 29

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers, Friday (today), said “With the weekend weather forecast predicting accumulating snow on Saturday and Sunday and winter weather advisory the Clarinda Police Department would like to remind the citizens of Clarinda about the snow ordinance. The ordinance states that; no person shall park any motor vehicle or other apparatus upon any street of the city that will obstruct the removal of snow when there has been an accumulation of two (2) inches or more. Any vehicle left parked on any street in violation of this ordinance may be impounded, and the registered owner of the vehicle will be subject to a $30.00 parking fine, and payment of all applicable towing and storage fee before the vehicle is released.”

The Chief says the parking ban remains in in effect until the snow ceases to fall and the streets have been plowed from curb to curb.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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WEST DES MOINES, Iowa –  An Atlantic woman was one of 106 lucky persons to win a $200 gift card for meat, during the “Fill your freezer” contest sponsored by the Iowa Farm Bureau and Fareway. Sheryl Buroughs won the Atlantic Fareway contest. She joins other winners from around western Iowa including (participating store/winner):

• Carroll – Nancy Lemker
• Clarinda – Jackie Meier
• Council Bluffs – Renee Anderson
• Creston – Karen Jones
• Denison – Shari Clausen
• Greenfield – Kim Bakerink
• Harlan – Sharon Gross
• Red Oak – Kaitlin Suchting
• Shenandoah – Jeremy Christiansen
• Winterset – Heidi Bindel.

The month-long contest was part of Iowa Farm Bureau Federation’s (IFBF) Real Farmers. Real Food. Real Meat. initiative, which showcases the nutritional benefits of meat and the innovation of Iowa livestock farmers who raise it.

(Radio Iowa) – Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne is sponsoring legislation that would exempt some unemployment benefits from income taxes.

The bill would waive federal income taxes on the first 10-thousand-two-hundred dollars of unemployment benefits someone received in 2020. Axne says a lot of people covered by unemployment insurance often don’t realize they have to pay taxes if they receive benefits.

In addition to traditional unemployment benefits managed by states, the federal government created two other unemployment programs during the pandemic and the bill covers all three forms of unemployment. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate. Axne says she hopes the proposal is added to the pandemic relief package that President Biden is negotiating on with congress.

Axne says it that route doesn’t work, the bill should get a hearing soon in the House Ways and Means Committee. The 10-thousand-two-hundred dollars cited in Axne’s bill is equal to the extra six-hundred dollars congress provided in weekly unemployment benefits last year — during a 17-week period.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — A snowy section of Interstate 80 was closed Thursday afternoon in central Iowa after a massive crash involving roughly 40 vehicles. Iowa authorities closed the eastbound lanes of the interstate west of Newton after the chain-reaction crash happened shortly before noon. The Iowa State Patrol said two troopers were in the middle of assisting with several multi-car crashes in the area when the larger pileup happened. Iowa Transportation Department spokeswoman Andrea Henry said several serious injuries have been reported in the crash but no deaths. Officials are urging drivers to stay off the roads across most of eastern Iowa because they were mostly covered with snow Thursday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa continues to have the third-worst coronavirus vaccination rate per capita in the nation as the state reached a milestone Thursday of more than 5,000 people killed by the virus. Gov. Kim Reynolds says she is working on improving vaccination efforts. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Iowa has 6,315 people per 100,000 given the first vaccine dose. That is worse than all other states except Idaho and Missouri. Public health officials reported 58 additional deaths on Thursday, increasing the state total to 5,033 since the beginning of the pandemic nearly a year ago.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Attorney General’s Office says the state will receive nearly $4.7 million over five years as part of a multistate settlement with a firm that worked with opioid manufacturers to promote addictive painkillers. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said Thursday that the settlement will be used to address problems caused by opioids, including paying for substance abuse treatment services for Iowans. Iowa is part of a coalition of 53 attorneys general who collectively won $573 million in a settlement with McKinsey & Company, one of the world’s largest consulting firms. The settlement will be split among 47 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has announced its new special agent in charge of its Omaha Division that covers all of five Upper Plains states. The agency named Justin King as the division head overseeing the division’s 11 offices, according to a news release sent Thursday. King began his new duties on Monday, replacing Richard Salter Jr., who retired from the DEA in January. King’s territory includes Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and a handful of counties in western parts of Wisconsin and Illinois. King is a 19-year veteran of the agency and comes to the Omaha Division after serving three years as assistant special agent in charge of the Little Rock District Office.

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (AP) — A teen wanted in connection with the fatal shooting at a mall in eastern Wisconsin has been arrested in Iowa. The Grand Chute Police Department announced U.S. Marshals arrested 17-year-old Dezman Ellis on Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Ellis’ arrest comes days after authorities say he fatally shot 19-year-old Jovanni Frausto of Neenah and wounded another person inside the Fox River Mall outside Appleton. Outagamie County prosecutors say the shooting Sunday came after the two began arguing over a girl who was with Ellis. The shooting forced crowds of people to shelter in place inside the mall. Outagamie County prosecutors filed charges of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety against Ellis on Tuesday.