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

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VINTON, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been accused of stealing nearly $296,000 from an eastern Iowa vehicle dealership where she’d worked for several years. Benton County court records show 56-year-old Kelly Banghart, of Vinton, pleaded not guilty to a theft charge earlier this month. Authorities say Ervin Motor Co. officials contacted Vinton police last month after finding suspicious transactions. A court document says she told an investigator that between May 2015 and August this year she used the company’s checking account to make unauthorized payments on her personal credit cards.

(Radio Iowa) — A new national Tap Water Database is now online that details water testing and contaminant information from nearly 50-thousand public utilities — including 11-hundred utilities in Iowa serving almost three-million people. Sydney Evans, a science analyst with Environmental Working Group, says the comprehensive consumer resource is user-friendly and it’s free. “If you go to the Tap Water Database, all you have to do is type in a zip code,” Evans says. “It’ll bring you a list of the utilities that serve that area, you can find yours and review all of the data that’s available on the page.”

Given all of Iowa’s agricultural activity, she says many Iowa water systems have trouble with nitrate contamination, which comes from things like farm fertilizers, manure and runoff. “The original legal limit was set at ten parts per million to protect from what’s called Blue Baby Syndrome,” Evans says, “but now we know that really low levels of nitrate can actually increase risk of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer and other reproductive outcomes at much lower levels.”

Switching to bottled water isn’t a good solution, as Evans says it often contains the same contaminants as tap water in addition to breakdown products from the plastic bottle itself. Plus, bottled water is more expensive. Evans recommends all homeowners consider investing in a home water filter. “On each system page at the bottom of the page, there is a table that shows which filter types work for which contaminants for your water specifically,” Evans says. “We want people to choose what’s best for them, not only for the contaminants that it can reduce or remove, but also the type of filter that’s going to work for your budget and your lifestyle.”

While a home filter system can help protect your family, she says better water quality overall will require action at local, state and federal levels. Evans says, “We also include recommended questions to ask your elected officials about water quality to start that conversation on a local level so we can start making changes, figure out what we need to do to strengthen these regulations and also support our water treatment systems and provide the resources and infrastructure that we need to get this better water quality.”

Evans recommends everyone give the database a look, as she says just because your community’s tap water gets a passing grade doesn’t mean it’s safe. Federal limits for new contaminants in tap water have not been updated in almost 20 years, according to Evans, while more than half of the contaminants detected in U.S. tap water have no federal regulatory limits at all.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say they plan to beef up security of the downtown skywalk system in the wake of an attack earlier this month on a man and his girlfriend. Station KCCI reports that the plan unveiled Tuesday includes updated security cameras. Sgt. Paul Parizek also says the department plans to assign more officers to ensure the skywalk system remains safe.
Tom Conley’s company provides security for the skywalk under contract to the skywalk association, and he says he welcomes additional support from the police department. Police say a 21-year-old man and his girlfriend were attacked Oct. 12 by 20 to 30 teens or young men in the skywalk near the Wellmark YMCA. The man was later hospitalized for treatment after being kicked and punched. The woman also was punched.

(Radio Iowa) — A new owner plans to reopen a meat processing facility in northwest Iowa. Oklahoma-based Lopez Foods — a family-owned business — bought the plant in Cherokee from Iowa Food Group, which closed the facility in April. Bill Anderson with Cherokee Area Economic Development says 40 people worked at Iowa Food Group before it closed.

“Our number one priority was taking care of those employees, taking care of that workforce and now with Lopez Foods moving into that facility we want to assist in helping them repopulate the facility with the workforce,” he says. Lopez Foods expects to reopen the plant in early spring. The plant was idle for four years before Iowa Food Group started it up again in January.

The plant dates back to 1965 when Wilson Foods opened it to slaughter beef and pork. Tyson Foods acquired it in 2001 and produced deli meats at the facility. “It had a long history of employing families throughtout our communities and other communities, quite frankly, outside of Cherokee County,” Anderson says.

About 400 people were working at the plant when Tyson closed it in 2014. Lopez Foods, the plant’s new owner, is a key supplier for restaurants and retailers, including McDonald’s and Walmart. The company’s plant in Oklahoma City produces frozen ground beef patties, partially cooked and fully-cooked sausage patties and sliced Canadian-style bacon.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Katie Peikes; additional reporting by Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 1.m. CDT

STUART, Iowa (AP) — A man wounded in a shootout with officers that also wounded two deputies has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says in a news release Tuesday that 52-year-old Randall Comly fired a gun at Guthrie County Deputy Kent Gries and Stuart Police Officer Tyler DeFrancisco on Thursday inside an apartment. Neither were shot. However, two deputies posted outside the apartment, Steven Henry and Jim Mink, were both shot. Investigators say they may have been hit by gunfire from fellow officers returning Comly’s gunfire.
Both Mink and Henry were released from the hospital Saturday morning. Comly was also wounded in the confrontation. He has since been released from the hospital and is being held in jail.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A nonprofit controlled by the former director of a popular annual Iowa bike ride is hosting a conference featuring the new competing event that he launched this month. The Iowa Festivals and Events Association, which lists former RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz as its president, is hosting its first conference in Coralville this week. Juskiewicz and his aides with a new event, Iowa’s Ride, are among the speakers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake University has announced receipt of a $5 million donation that will support the school’s athletics and help fund programs to benefit rural communities. The university said in a news release Tuesday that Former DuPont Pioneer president and Drake University trustee Paul Schickler and his wife, Claudia, made the donation. Of the gift, $2 million will go to renovate the school’s Knapp Center, where the Bulldogs’ basketball games are held.

SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for a child who was sexually assaulted by a teacher at an Iowa school have announced a $650,000 settlement paid by four school districts. Spirit Lake attorney John Sandy says the settlement was agreed to by the school boards of Sibley-Ocheyedan, Sioux City, Akron Westfield, and Mediapolis community schools. The lawsuit stemmed from the case of Kyle Ewinger, who was convicted earlier this year of sexually abusing student at Sibley-Ocheyedan.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Board members of an insurance program for Iowa’s municipal governments are rethinking their long-standing practice of holding public meetings at resorts in other states. Directors of the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool have faced criticism since The Associated Press reported last month that they have long held meetings once a year at getaway destinations in Florida and Michigan.

STUART, Iowa (AP) — A man wounded in an Iowa shootout with officers that also wounded two deputies has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a peace officer.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says in a news release Tuesday that 52-year-old Randall Comly fired a gun at Guthrie County Deputy Kent Gries and Stuart police officer Tyler DeFrancisco on Thursday inside an apartment. Neither were shot.

However, two deputies posted outside the apartment, Steven Henry and Jim Mink, were both shot. Investigators say they may have been hit by gunfire from fellow officers returning Comly’s gunfire. The shooting occurred in Stuart. Both Mink and Henry were released from the hospital Saturday morning. Comly was also wounded in the confrontation. He has since been released from the hospital and is being held in jail.

(KCRG-TV via Radio Iowa) — State representatives Joe Mitchell, a Republican from Mt. Pleasant and Democrat Ras Smith of Waterloo, plan to introduce a bill in the legislative in January that would allow college athletes to be paid. California’s governor has signed the first bill to do this, which would take effect in 2023. Former Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver Marvin McNutt, told K-C-R-G T-V-9 he supports this type of bill.

“The N-C-A-A makes a whole lot of money off of college athletes, and at this point in the day and age, they’ve got to turn some things around,” McNutt says. That could change for future Hawkeyes and for college athletes around the state. Representatives Mitchell told K-C-R-G T-V-9 the bill is still in the early stages.

“This is saying that if somebody’s going to use your name and your face and what you do on the field as advertising or promoting a brand, that you can get paid for that,” Mitchell says. The N-C-A-A which governs most college athletics, has said it is against such a measure, arguing that players receive other benefits like scholarships. Mitchell says it’s a free market issue.

“Specific individuals that bring a ton of value to the school and a lot of revenue to the school, they should be able to make money off their own names,” Mitchell says. “And it’s regardless of whether you’re in football or tennis or golf. They all have the same ability to do that.” Mitchell and Smith will look to add more co-sponsors to the bill before it moves to the subcommittee stage, but Mitchell hopes to at least get the conversation started. Until then, he believes Iowa schools will be at a disadvantage if more states pass similar laws.

McNutt thinks schools could even go a step further and set up a pension-type system for former players. The Hawkeyes’ all-time leader in career receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, says he wishes a law like this one was in place when he was at Iowa, believing he would’ve been one of the players to benefit from it. McNutt says athletes love school, but need to be compensated for what they do on the field.

“When they look at how much work these athletes are putting in on a weekly basis, they’ll be like, O-K, there’s some things we need to change,” McNutt says. The Iowa Board of Regents communications director said the board doesn’t have any comment on this proposal right now and is waiting until the bill is filed to see what exactly the proposal says.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Drake University has announced receipt of a $5 million donation that will support the school’s athletics and help fund programs to benefit rural communities. The university said in a news release Tuesday that former DuPont Pioneer president and Drake University trustee Paul Schickler and his wife, Claudia, made the donation.

Of the gift, $2 million will go to renovate the school’s Knapp Center, where the Bulldogs’ basketball games are held, and $1 million will go to the men’s basketball program. The other $2 million will go to “social, economic, development and conservation challenges facing rural America,” the news release says.

Drake’s Agricultural Law Center will head that effort. Details of the rural communities initiative will be announced at a later date.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A nonprofit controlled by the former director of a popular annual Iowa bike ride is hosting a conference that features the rival event that he launched this month. T.J. Juskiewicz was director of the ride known as RAGBRAI until he and his staff resigned from the Des Moines Register, which has operated and marketed the ride since the 1970s. They immediately launched Iowa’s Ride and scheduled it for the same week and format as RAGBRAI. The move has divided cyclists and is threatening the future of a cherished state tradition.

Business filings show Juskiewicz and his wife last year formed the Iowa Festivals and Events Association. That group, which lists Juskiewicz as president, is hosting its first conference Tuesday and Wednesday in Coralville for more than 100 festival planners. Iowa’s Ride is among the featured vendors.

Juskiewicz and his Iowa’s Ride staff are among the speakers at the conference, which he calls a great “networking opportunity.” He says the nonprofit hopes to break even on the conference and is temporarily sponsoring Iowa’s Ride until a foundation is set up.