SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska woman has been accused of a fatal stabbing in Sioux City. The stabbing occurred early Sunday morning. Police have not released the victim’s name but said he or she died after being taken to a hospital. The suspect soon was arrested after officers stopped her car because it matched the description of a suspect vehicle.

The woman was taken into custody on a charge of first-degree murder. She’s been identified as 20-year-old Melissa Camargo Flores, of Dakota City, Nebraska. She’s also been treated for a stab wound.

Officials with the Shenandoah Police Department report 33-year old Kyle Chase, of Red Oak, was arrested Saturday, in a bean field north of Sportsmans Park. Chase faces charges that include interference with official acts and threats of terrorism. Chase was being held in the Page County Jail, on a $5,300 bond. No other details concerning his arrest were released over the weekend.

Immigrant populations are starting to fall in rural labor markets, according to an Iowa State University study commissioned by the National Pork Producers Council. I-S-U economist Chris Boessen, one of the study’s authors, says the pork industry is making gradual yet major shifts.  “In the last couple of decades, the hog industry has changed dramatically from operations using a lot of family labor, sometimes paid, sometimes unpaid family labor,” Boessen says. “That’s more or less gone away as we’ve intensified and gone to more of a high-tech, capitol-intensive, more-concentrated production.”

Boessen says the study shows the labor market has changed in Iowa and across the region. “You have a lot of growth, a lot of hiring in the hog industry, it needs a lot of workers,” Boessen says, “but at the same time in the last few years, the labor market’s really tightened up from 10% unemployment in 2009 to 4% and really below 4% in a lot of the main hog states here, especially in the Midwest.” The change in U-S immigration policy has contributed to a shortage of foreign ag workers, but Boessen says it’s more than just that. “We’re moving into a period now where we’re going to worry less about a wave of immigrants and worry more about how we’re going to manage a workforce where we have fewer immigrants,” Boessen says. “The immigrants who are here are aging and retiring and there’s lots of things happening in other countries, immigrant-sending countries. People are getting better educations, better economies, more opportunities.”

As conditions improve elsewhere, he says immigrants have less motivation to come to the U-S. N-P-P-C officials say in addition to this study, data compiled by U-S-D-A’s Economic Research Service shows a reduction in the foreign-born workforce prompted by a change in immigration policy would not be offset by native born workers and permanent residents. The council is backing Congressional legislation calling for an H-2-C visa to allow non-seasonal foreign ag workers to stay in the U-S for up to three years.

(Radio Iowa)

Members of the Elk Horn School District’s Board of Education will meet this evening (Monday), beginning at 6-p.m. in the Conference Room at the Elk Horn Building. During their session, a Public Hearing will be held with regard to the Budget, followed later on during the New Business part of their agenda, by discussion and action on the 2018-19 Budget.

Other discussion/action items include those related to: Transportation; Issuance of Bonds; Approving METC as telephone/internet provider; Approval of a late Open Enrollment request and 2018 Graduating Class (pending completion of all graduating requirements); and a Contract recommendation, followed by approval of hires, transfers, resignations, etc.

The CAM School Board is scheduled to meet 6:30 this (Monday) evening, in the CAM High School Media Center. The meeting opens with Public Hearings on the Proposed 2018-19 Certified Budget and School Calendar.

Following the hearings and discussion, the CAM School Board will receive a presentation with regard to the Lego League/Robotics and strength/condition program. Discussion/action items include: Open enrollment applications; Contracts; approval of the 2018-19 School Calendar and Certified Budget, as well as movement on the pay scale.

A single-vehicle, rollover accident Sunday night in southern Polk County claimed the life of a central Iowa man and resulted in injuries to a woman. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2003 Toyota Sequoia, driven by 41-year Aisha Rucker, of Des Moines, was traveling east on Highway 5 a little after 8-p.m. and crossing the bridge over Highway 28, when the SUV went out of control on the icy bridge deck.

The vehicle entered the south ditch and rolled several times, where it came to rest to rest in a gore between eastbound Highway 5 and the on-ramp to northbound 28. Aisha Rucker, who was wearing a seat belt, was transported by West Des Moines Ambulance to Methodist Hospital. Her passenger, 18-year old Malik Allen Rucker, of Des Moines, was transported by Norwalk Ambulance to Methodist, where he died from his injuries.

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

PLEASANT HILL, Iowa (AP) — With school shootings a regular occurrence, educators across the country are learning techniques to help victims survive by stemming blood loss. A Connecticut doctor who treated children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012 helped launch the effort, dubbed Stop the Bleed. The nonprofit program has spread to all 50 states, with more than 125,000 teachers, counselors and school administrators learning skills such as applying direct pressure, packing wounds and applying tourniquets.

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal prosecutor who helped convict former Illinois Gov. George Ryan of corruption has been named the new director for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s nine-state region based out of Chicago. The agency that regulates the securities sector and enforces securities laws announced Joel R. Levin’s appointment in a Thursday statement. He’ll start next month and oversee hundreds of employees in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As the Iowa Legislature nears an unofficial target for adjournment, lawmakers still are working on key tasks such as approving a state budget and providing details on promised tax cuts. Republicans control both chambers and are working privately to come up with spending targets for this year’s state budget. Legislative leaders on Thursday indicated they are close on dollar figures.

RULO, Neb. (AP) — A Native American tribe has regained ownership of river bluffs, hardwood forest and tall grass prairie along the Missouri River through an agreement with the Nature Conservancy of Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reports that the conservancy recently transferred 160 acres (65 hectares) of Richardson County bluff land to the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. The tribe and the conservancy agreed to a conservation easement, which prevents development incompatible with the land’s ecological value.

Red Oak Police, Sunday afternoon, arrested 52-year old Julie Ann Biggerstaff, of Red Oak, on a felony drug charge. She was taken into custody at around 2:36-p.m. for Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver, which is a Class “B” felony. Authorities say they seized 22.88-grams of meth after Biggerstaff was pulled over, during a routine traffic stop. She was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending an appearance before a magistrate.

A fiery accident involving an SUV this (Sunday) morning in Fremont County, has resulted in a death. According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office emergency crews and law enforcement responded at around 4:30-a.m., to a single vehicle accident that happened in the 3800 block of Iowa Highway 2.

Upon arrival, they found a 2007 Jeep that exited the south side of the roadway and struck a tree. The vehicle was also fully engulfed in flames. One person was found deceased inside the vehicle after the fire was extinguished.

Authorities say an autopsy will be performed by the Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny. The identity of the victim and the cause of death will not be released until the autopsy is complete.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Shenandoah Police, along with Farragut and Shenandoah Rescue.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers are supposed to be rounding the last corner of the legislative session as an unofficial adjournment date approaches, but Republicans who control the Legislature haven’t finalized key steps including approving a state budget or explaining how they’ll deliver promised tax cuts. Republican leaders have been working privately to come up with spending targets that lawmakers will use to craft the next state budget. Legislative leaders indicated Thursday they were close on dollar figures.

It’s unclear how long lawmakers will remain at the Capitol. Their reimbursement for daily expenses ends April 17, and that’s traditionally the target for concluding the session. This year, many legislators are eager to hit the campaign trail for midterm elections. Rep. Chris Hall, a Sioux City Democrat and ranking member of the House’s top budget committee, worried key decisions could happen too quickly.

Lawmakers approved, after mid-year cuts, a roughly $7.2 billion budget for the spending year that ends in June. A budget forecasting panel recently predicted the state was on pace to have about $7.5 billion for the budget that begins July 1. What the Legislature will do with that anticipated increased revenue remains unclear.

Republicans have long promised changes to Iowa’s tax system, including tax cuts.
For people like Iowa State University senior Cody Smith, tax cuts make no sense. Gov. Reynolds approved more than $35 million in mid-year budget reductions last month. Last session, lawmakers approved about $118 million in cuts to the fiscal year 2017 budget. The state also borrowed $141 million from emergency funds last year.

The Iowa Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s three public universities, announced last week it would raise tuition because of declining state funding. Smith said the Legislature’s reduced funding makes higher education less affordable, leading many to leave Iowa for other opportunities.

Jason Bardsley, a state patrol trooper in western Iowa, said tight budgets already mean the state has as few as five officers on duty overnight. He said the state should work to replenish staffing levels. On Monday, lawmakers will hold a public hearing on Gov. Kim Reynolds’ plan to cut personal income taxes. The plan was announced in February but a final version still isn’t available. Reynolds and other Republicans also have said they would consider cutting corporate tax rates.

Amid the budget talk, local officials are closely watching Republican proposals to reduce or eliminate “backfill” payments to local governments. Those payments, which total $152 million a year, replace lost funding from the Legislature’s 2013 tax cuts for commercial and industrial property owners. Rep. Pat Grassley, a New Harford Republican who helped advance a bill to reduce backfill payments, said the issue isn’t tied to this year’s proposed tax cuts. But, Grassley said, the state can’t afford to keep funneling more money into local coffers.

Another possible thorn in state budget talks is an escalating dispute between the United States and China. The countries are in a back-and-forth over tariffs on products like soybeans, pork and ethanol. Reynolds indicated her staff was tracking the possible impact to Iowa’s budget priorities if the state’s agricultural industry faces a risk of significant losses.