(Radio Iowa) — While parts of Iowa had record high temperatures in the low 90s on Thursday, forecasters say cooler, wetter weather will likely dominate much of the rest of the month and well into June. During a National Weather Service briefing, climatologist Martha Shulski (SHUL-skee) says heavy rain will spread across Iowa and much of the Northern Plains next week, raising the critical risk of renewed flooding. “The prediction is in the three-to-five inch range, so a pretty active pattern,” Shulski says. “These forecasts have been pretty consistent which gives you some higher confidence in the forecast actually verifying. Certainly, it’s something to look out for in terms of impacts over the next week.”

In spite of a few scattered hot and humid days, Iowa’s weather has been much cooler than normal this spring and forecasters anticipate that pattern will remain. “Continued higher probability for below-normal temperatures for a swath in the central U.S.,” Shulski says. “This is combined with the increased probability of wetter-than-normal conditions for June.”

Thanks to the El Nino, it’s possible the cool, wet weather will last well into summer, as will the risk of more flooding, as the ground remains saturated in many parts of the state.

(FORT DODGE) – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections report 25-year old Roy Dylan Sanchez, who was convicted of Theft in the 1st Degree and other crimes in Webster County, failed to report back to the Fort Dodge Residential Center as required, Friday, and his GPS tracker had been removed without authorization.

Sanchez is an Hispanic male, height 6’2″, and weighs 182 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on April 9, 2019.  Persons with information on Sanchez’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Sanchez

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

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa say a fourth person has been charged in the robbery death of a Council Bluffs man. Council Bluffs police say in a news release that 25-year-old Ryan McDonald, of Glenwood, was arrested around 3:30 a.m. Friday on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the January death of 38-year-old Adam Angeroth. Police did not release any information explaining McDonald’s suspected role in the killing.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a 2017 law that removed bargaining rights for many state employees. In cases filed by the Iowa State Education Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the court ruled 4-3 on Friday that the law withstands constitutional challenges. Both decisions were written by Justice Thomas Waterman, an appointee of former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who supported the new law.

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock waited until May to declare his candidacy for president, but he’s wasting no time getting to the point. Bullock launched his first full day of campaigning Friday in Newton, Iowa, a town where union manufacturing jobs have vanished in the past 15 years. In doing so, he is underscoring his argument that his party can win in 2020 only if they show voters, especially in Middle America, that Democrats understand their economic concerns.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate remained at 2.4% in April for the 10th month in a row. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday the jobless rate held steady, where it has been since July 2018. Iowa has the nation’s third-lowest rate, behind Vermont and North Dakota, and tied with New Hampshire. The number of Iowa residents with jobs in April climbed by 4,600 to 1.67 million. The number of unemployed residents dropped to 40,400. Iowa’s figure compares to a national unemployment rate of 3.6% in April.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate remained at 2.4% in April for the 10th month in a row. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday the jobless rate held steady, where it has been since July 2018.

Iowa has the nation’s third-lowest rate, behind only Vermont and North Dakota, and tied with New Hampshire. The number of Iowa residents with jobs in April increased by 4,600 to 1.67 million. The number of unemployed residents dropped to 40,400.

Iowa’s figure compares to a national unemployment rate of 3.6% in April.

Red Oak Police have arrested 43-year old Jason Neal Beacham, of Red Oak, on a felony assault charge. Beacham was taken into custody at around 10:15-a.m. today (Friday), for Domestic Abuse Assault/3rd or Subsequent offense.

Since he had two prior convictions for Domestic Abuse Assault, the penalty was enhanced to a Class-D Felony. Beachum was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in western Iowa say a fourth person has been charged in the robbery death of a Council Bluffs man.

Ryan McDonald

Council Bluffs police say in a news release that 25-year-old Ryan McDonald, of Glenwood, was arrested around 3:30 a.m. Friday (Today) on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the January death of 38-year-old Adam Angeroth. Police did not release any information explaining McDonald’s suspected role in the killing.

Prosecutors have also charged three people from Omaha in the killing, including a 16-year-old boy charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Angeroth’s body was found in his apartment on Jan. 24. Police have still not release details of his death, including how he was killed.

(COUNCIL BLUFFS) – The Iowa Department of Corrections reports 27-year old Kevon Andre Moss, who was convicted of Assault while Participating in a Felony in Pottawattamie County, failed to report back to the Council Bluffs Residential Correctional Facility as required this (Friday) morning.  Moss is a black male, height 5’8″, and weighs 188 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on April 16, 2019.

Kevon Moss

Persons with information on Moss’s whereabouts should contact local police. (You can see his picture in this same story on the News page at kjan.com.)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines man accused of killing his cousin has been ruled mentally competent to stand trial. The Des Moines Register reports that 30-year-old Sean Foster pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of first-degree murder. Foster is accused of killing 50-year-old Albert Barron III in December. The two were roommates.

A court document says a judge previously ruled that Foster suffered from a mental disorder that prevented him from understanding the charges against him. The trial is scheduled to begin July 15.

The Glenwood Police Department reports 53-year old Leslie Hamilton, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday, for Driving While Revoked. She has since posted bond and was released. And, 36-year old Jeremiah KIng, of Glenwood, was arrested Thursday for OWI/1st offense. He has also posted bond.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A teen searching for arrowheads in southern Iowa found something much bigger: the prehistoric jawbone of a mastodon. The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the 30-inch bone belonged to a juvenile mastodon, an elephant-like animal believed to have roamed Iowa some 34,000 years ago. Officials with the University of Iowa Paleontology Repository, which now has possession of the bone found last week, say the mastodon might have stood around 7-feet tall.

The farmers who donated the jaw and related bones to the repository did so anonymously, saying they didn’t want to encourage people to trespass on their property looking for fossils.
There likely are more fossils on the land, as the owners found other mastodon remains there decades ago.