DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The January trial for an Iowa farmer-turned-reality television star charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident last year has been rescheduled. Chris Soules who appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Dancing With The Stars” had been scheduled to face a jury trial on Jan. 18. On Monday, Judge Andrea Dryer approved his attorney’s motion to postpone. No new trial date has been set. Dryer has said it should begin before May 7. Soules lost a legal battle Friday in the felony case when Dryer denied his motion to dismiss the charge. He claims Iowa’s law requiring the surviving driver in a fatal accident to remain at the scene until police arrive is unconstitutional. Soules’ attorneys say he will appeal that ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Officials with Cass County Conservation say they’ve teamed up with the Atlantic’s Orscheln’s store to help feed the Trumpeter Swans at the Schildberg Recreation Area. You can buy a bag of Whole Cleaned Corn at the registers and Orscheln’s staff will put it aside for the Trumpeter Swans. Four bags fill the feeder, so the Conservation Department hopes you’ll help them fill that feeder from now until Jan 31st 2018!

A White House task force on rural America has released its recommendations and improving broadband access is a top priority. Ninety-six percent of city residents have access to high-speed connections, compared to just 61 percent of rural residents. President Trump addressed the disparity yesterday (Monday) during a speech at the American Farm Bureau convention in Nashville. Trump also spoke briefly about the North American Free Trade Agreement. “On NAFTA, I am working very hard to get a better deal for our country and for our farmers and for our manufacturers,” Trump said, to applause.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump called NAFTA a bad deal. The pact was opened to renegotiation this past August. American Farm Bureau Vice President Scott VanderWal says the Farm Bureau’s call for renewing NAFTA rather than scrapping it is well known to the Trump Administration. “They know very well that there are people nervous out there in farm country,” he said.

Representatives of the U.S., Canada and Mexico will resume NAFTA talks later this month.

(Radio Iowa)

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

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MANLY, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a 7-month-old girl who was being cared for at an in-home day care in northern Iowa. Manly police say in a news release that medics were sent to the home in Manly around 3 p.m. Dec. 28. They performed CPR on the baby, and she was taken to a Mason City hospital. Manly Police Chief Aaron Pals says the little girl was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Her name and those of her parents haven’t been released. Pals says state agencies are aiding the investigation. No arrest has been reported.

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

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The Creston Police Department reports two arrests took place Monday afternoon. At around 12:15-p.m., 18-year old Kimberlyn Albrechtsen, of Afton, was arrested at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. She was taken into custody on a Union County warrant for Simple Assault. Albrechtsen was subsequently released on a $300 bond.

And, at around 1:30-p.m., Monday, 26-year old Dalton Cormeny, of Murray, was arrested on an Adair County warrant for Failure to serve jail time. Cormeny was transferred to the custody of Adair County Deputies.

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) — A 32-year-year-old Forest City man faces two charges connected with the shooting of a school bus. No one was injured in Friday’s incident, when a bus window was shattered by a shot from a pellet gun. Authorities say Martin Tindall is charged with felony intimidation with a dangerous weapon and with misdemeanor criminal mischief. He’s due in court Friday. Court records say he told investigators that he’d shot toward the bus.

KJAN’s sister-station KNOD in Harlan reported on their social media page, Monday evening, that an accident involving a van occurred at Concerned, Inc., in Harlan that same evening. The van collided with the side of the building, but it wasn’t immediately clear if there were injuries. We’ll have more additional information when it becomes available.

Photo by KNOD staff

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) — Two more former Glenwood State Resource Center workers charged with mistreating residents have pleaded guilty. The Des Moines Register reports that 50-year-old Darrel Case pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of wanton neglect of a resident of a health care facility. His wife, 43-year-old Dana Case, pleaded guilty to one count. They’re scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 12.

Earlier this year 13 workers at the center quit or were fired over abuse allegations. An Iowa Department of Human Services investigation that found several clients were physically abused or subjected to verbal abuse or neglect. The center provides services for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.