CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A northeast Iowa man has been sent to federal prison for receiving child pornography. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Derek Clemens, of Evansdale, was given nine years and ordered to pay $3,000 restitution to a victim in one of the videos. Clemens must serve 10 years of supervised release after he leaves custody and register as a sex offender. He’d pleaded guilty. Authorities found child porn on a cellphone and a memory card for a tablet computer after Clemens was caught using the phone to photograph women using a restroom at an Elk Run Heights truck stop in October 2018.

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

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(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is headed to Washington,  D.C. to attend the signing of “phase one” of a trade deal with China. “It’s a really good first step for Iowa and for Iowa farmers,” Reynolds told Radio Iowa. Reynolds says she was invited by the Trump Administration to send a signal to Iowa farmers who were hit with flooding and harvest difficulties last year as well as trade disruptions over the past couple of years.

“Even though all of that, especially when it came to China, they appreciated that he took a hard line on that and really said: ‘No, we’re not going to do business as usual,'” Reynolds told Radio Iowa. “…By inviting me, it’s a thank you to the farmers for believing in him and sticking with him in some really tough times.”

The full details of the agreement haven’t been released, but the Trump administration has said China has agreed to purchase more U.S. agricultural products. China’s pig population dropped at least 40 percent last year due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever. Pork is the most-consumed meat in China and Governor Reynolds says Iowa’s pork industry has the capacity to boost China’s supply.

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund recently donated two,  eight-section book organizers to the Washington Elementary School Library, in Atlantic. Fund spokesperson and Trevor’s mom Melanie Petty, said “Reading was an important part of Trevor’s life and if we can help out our schools libraries to make reading more accessible and fun for children then that makes us happy!”

Pictured: Janice Dickerson & Grant Petty (Photo courtesy Melanie Petty)

All funds raised at the Annual TFred Memorial Golf Tournament are donated back to things that were important to Trevor.  Since losing Trevor in 2009 the Fund has been able to give back over $200,000.00 thanks to its supporters.  Petty says they “Are already in the beginning planning stages for the next tournament which will be held on August, 8th.” She adds, that they “Look forward to a great day of golf, fellowship and raising funds in his memory.”

(Radio Iowa) — A Dubuque man will spend more than eleven years in prison for randomly firing a pistol at a group that was holding a party. Sentencing documents say 34-year-old Norris Culver Junior fired several shots from a .45 caliber handgun at a duplex across from his house in May of last year. There were several people at the duplex — including three young kids — celebrating at a graduation party. Three of the bullets hit the duplex — but missed all of the graduation party people. Culver pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He has multiple felony convictions dating back to when he was 18. He was still on supervised release at the time of his Dubuque arrest for illegally transporting four aliens into Texas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A development group that wants to build a $225 million casino and hotel at the Des Moines airport says the project would help pay for a planned new terminal. Highview Development Group presented the plan to the Des Moines Airport Authority board on Tuesday. The complex would include a 350-room hotel connected to the airport by a skywalk. There also would be a fountain, rock garden, restaurant and wedding and banquet facilities.

The airport board tabled discussion of the proposal until its February meeting. Officials have been seeking $194 million from various sources to cover the $500 million airport project.

Officials with the City of Massena report the City is looking to support a child care center for the community and surrounding area, to fit the long-term child care needs. If you have an interest in, or a need for – child care in the Massena area, the City would like your information, as it moves forward with the process. That process includes a survey to determine child care needs. The survey is available online at camcougars.org, and on the City of Massena Facebook page.

Paper copies of the survey are available in Massena, at: the Massena City Hall; the Post Office; Massena C-Store; Economy Food Market; FNB Bank; and the CAM South Elementary School. Surveys are available in Cumberland, at City Hall and the Post Office. In Anita at the CAM North Elementary School, and Post Office….In Bridgewater, at the Bridgewater Cafe, and at the Post Office….in Fontanelle at the Library and Post Office, and at the Post Office in Corning.

You can also receive a paper copy of the child care survey in the mail, by contacting Principal Larry Hunt at 712-779-2212. Completed surveys must be submitted by Feb. 3rd, 2020.

Red Oak Police report the arrest at around 12:05-a.m. today (Wednesday), of 54-year old Jeffrey Allen Buell. The Red Oak man was taken into custody for Harassment in the 2nd Degree. Buell was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond. And, at around 6:12-p.m. Tuesday, Red Oak Police arrested 26-year old Lindsey Sue Rhodes, of Red Oak, on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear on an original charge of Driving While Intoxicated/1st offense, Rhodes was transferred to the Mills County Jail and held on $1,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates strained to keep Tuesday’s debate civil and substantive. They drew policy contrasts with each other on national security, health care and trade, but repeatedly shifted the focus back to their common opponent: President Donald Trump. The debate came three weeks before the Iowa caucuses and just as some candidates are preparing to leave the campaign trail to serve as jurors in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial. Months of campaigning have left Democrats with a crowded top tier, and it’s unclear if the debate helped any of the candidates break out of that pack.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov Kim Reynolds is asking lawmakers to consider increasing the state sales tax by 1 cent to fund increased spending on water quality, the environment and mental health care programs. To offset the tax increase she’s proposing an income tax cut of 10% and a property tax cut. Reynolds made the proposals in her annual Condition of the State address delivered to lawmakers Tuesday. Reynolds is again calling for a constitutional amendment to allow felons to vote upon completing their sentences and an amendment declaring there is no right to an abortion under the Iowa Constitution.

DES MOINES (AP) — There was a lot of pre-debate chatter about a coming fight between Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over Warren’s assertion that Sanders told her in 2018 that a woman couldn’t be elected president. Sanders denied it, Warren didn’t press it, and a substantive debate on a range of issues ensued. Still, after the debate, it appeared that Warren declined to shake Sanders’ hand. Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines was the final forum before the Iowa caucuses.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature has again denied press access to a liberal journalist whose blog is often critical of its policies, despite warnings from state and national groups that the restriction appears to be unconstitutional. The Iowa House and Senate informed Laura Belin, author of the Bleeding Heartland blog, that her applications for access during the session that began Monday have been rejected. The Iowa House told Belin that it does not credential journalists who are nontraditional while the Iowa Senate said it doesn’t consider Belin a member of the media. Belin says she’s considering her next steps, including an appeal or a lawsuit.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state panel has agreed to pay more than $400,000 after a judge found a worker at a southwest Iowa care center was the victim of disability discrimination. The State Appeal Board approved paying the court-ordered judgment against Glenwood Resource Center to Dorothy Hollinger.

She was a residential treatment worker at Glenwood, a center for people with intellectual disabilities. Hollinger had a knee injury made worse after a patient at the center kicked her in 2011. After an extended surgical leave she was fired in 2013 but recalled for job that paid less. A judge last year ordered the state to pay lost wages, emotional distress and attorney fees.