EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) — Officials say the water tower in the Waterloo suburb of Evansdale is functioning again after a suspected ice blockage melted. Officials also lifted the boil order after tests showed Thursday that the water was safe for consumption. Residents and businesses lost water service for a time Monday, regaining it at lower pressure when well water was redirected into the system, bypassing the tower.

Water plant and system manager Mike Ellison suspects that ice had blocked a standpipe. Mayor Doug Faas says the rising temperature let the tower cure itself. The National Weather Service says the temperature at the Waterloo airport got down to 20 below zero (minus 29 Celsius) Monday morning.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — With Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games offering huge jackpots, some winners will also soon face enormous tax bills. Lowered federal income tax rates offer some relief, as the top rate would drop from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. But in most states, those changes are offset by limits on deducting state tax from federal taxes.

As Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Tax Policy Center, puts it, “The new tax bill will not give any benefit to most lottery winners.” There are exceptions, as 10 states don’t tax lottery winnings. But in the others, the newly rich won’t get much of a break. The jackpot in tonight’s (Friday night’s) Mega Millions drawing is $445 million. The Powerball game’s top prize has reached $550 million for Saturday night’s drawing.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Police say a man suspected of threatening a Sioux City resident and trying to break into the victim’s house had to be rescued from a window well in the home.

Television station KCAU reports that police were called to the house after 1 a.m. Thursday and arrested 51-year-old Levin Nichols on a charge of attempted burglary. Police say Nichols had threatened to kill a resident of the home, then kicked out a basement window to the bedroom of the person he had threatened. Police say when he tried to enter through the broken window, he became stuck in the window well.

Police say Nichols was still stuck when officers arrived, and firefighters had to remove him. He’s being held in the Woodbury County Jail on $52,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — With Powerball and Mega Millions lottery games offering huge jackpots, some winners will face enormous tax bills. Lowered federal income tax rates offer some relief, as the top rate would drop from 39.6 percent to 37 percent. But in most states, that is offset by new limits on deducting state taxes from federal taxes. There are exceptions, as 10 states don’t tax lottery winnings. Friday’s Mega Millions game has a $445 million jackpot. The Powerball game’s top prize Saturday is $550 million.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Arizona man who was arrested, transported cross-country and jailed for a robbery that he didn’t commit filed a lawsuit against the Iowa county and prosecutor responsible for charging him. Joseph McBride spent two months in custody after authorities arrested in Phoenix in August. McBride was among three people charged for a home invasion in his former hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, even though he had proof he was far away. Investigators never spoke with him before his arrest.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds says she followed the law when she tapped emergency funds last year to offset a budget shortfall. Reynolds said “yes” to reporters Thursday when asked if she followed the law in transferring $13 million from a reserve fund. Democratic Rep. Chris Hall claims in a lawsuit the Republican governor illegally transferred the money because certain conditions weren’t met. Reynolds says the suit is politically motivated. She spoke at a legislative forum hosted by The Associated Press.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a Dubuque man accused of stabbing to death his girlfriend is scheduled to begin Monday. Court records say 25-year-old Fontae Buelow has pleaded not guilty to charges of cocaine possession and first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing 21-year-old Samantha Link on March 31 at a home in Dubuque. He’s told officers she assaulted him as they argued on March 31 and then stabbed herself in the stomach.

One person was injured and charges are pending, in connection with an accident that occurred just before 8-a.m. Thursday, in Page County. Sheriff’s officials say the accident happened at the intersection of 2nd Street and Highway 71, in Shambaugh. The investigation determined 16-year old Jozey K McCoy, of Shambaugh, was driving a 2003 Chevy Cavalier eastbound on 2nd Street, and had pulled onto Highway 71 to turn north on 71. 37-year old Casey L Riedel, of Bedford, was driving a 2001 Ford Taurus southbound on Highway 71, just north of the intersection with 2nd Street.

McCoy said that she didn’t see Riedel when she pulled onto Highway 71. Riedel said that she saw McCoy, applied the brakes, and tried to steer to the shoulder, but McCoy and Riedel’s vehicle’s side swiped each other, causing disabling damage to both vehicles.

McCoy was uninjured.  Riedel was transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center by Clarinda Ambulance Service with undisclosed injuries. Charges are pending at this time. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Clarinda Fire Department, Clarinda Police Department, and the Clarinda Ambulance service.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker issued a statement Thursday afternoon, saying his department has received additional complaints about a slight variation of a phone scam we told you about last Friday. Danker says during the scam, someone calls stating that they are a Deputy and will tell you that there is a warrant for your arrest and unless you buy gift or I Tunes cards, then give them the information on the back, they will have a Deputy come arrest you.

The Sheriff says “Please do not fall for the scam, do not give the callers personal information and especially do not give them access to any money in any way. We urge anyone with questions to call their local law enforcement agency.”

Last week, Danker said the Pott. County Communications Center and the Sheriff’s Office had received multiple calls from citizens, who reported they had been contacted by a person who said they were with the Sheriff’s Department, and that a resident had missed a court appearance. The caller said that unless the resident paid a fine, a Deputy would come to their residence and arrest them.

Danker says the Sheriff’s Office will NEVER call you and demand any type of payment for a fine or warrant, in lieu of arrest.

Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart stores, announced Thursday they will be closing more than 100 more stores, including two in Iowa. One is located in Red Oak, the other in Urbandale, leaving the store in Council Bluffs as the only Kmart in the area.  According to officials in Red Oak, about 30-people working at the Kmart Store there will lose their jobs. A total of 64 Kmart locations and 39 Sears stores are affected, nationwide, including the Sears store in Waterloo. Sears stores in Atlantic, Carroll and Clarinda are not affected. The closings are scheduled to occur between early March and April of this year, with liquidation sales at some stores set to begin as early at January 12th.

The announcement comes after Sears Holdings announced the closing of 45 Kmart stores and and 18 Sears stores after the 2017 holiday shopping season. The company announced in early November that closures would affect employees in 26 states, and that the stores would remain open until late January 2018. Prior to that, Sears Holdings had announced closures at 308 Kmart and Sears stores, with Sears CEO Eddie Lampert saying, “This is part of a strategy both to address losses from unprofitable stores and to reduce the square footage of other stores because many of them are simply too big for our current needs.”

In a statement regarding the current closures, Sears Holding said, “We will continue to close some unprofitable stores as we transform our business model so that our physical store footprint and our digital capabilities match the needs and preferences of our members.” Sears did not say how many of its employees would be impacted by the latest round of store closings, but they said most of those lost would be part-time positions.

The legislature’s top Republican today said the governor may have followed the “spirit” but “perhaps not” the letter of the law when balancing last year’s state budget. Governor Kim Reynolds answered “yes” today when asked if she had followed the “letter of the law.”  “I feel that we operated within the intent of the law,” Reynolds said this morning. “The statute is outdated.”

This fall, Reynolds used 13-million dollars from the state’s Economic Emergency Fund to erase a deficit and close the books on the last state budget. A Democrat in the legislature filed a lawsuit this week, arguing the governor’s move was illegal and she should have called legislators back into special session this fall to fix the budget. House Democratic Leader Mark Smith of Marshalltown did not file the lawsuit, but he says Reynolds put legislators of both parties “in a box” by acting on her own.

“The governor should not be above the law here,” Smith says. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake, the top Republican in the legislature, says the House and Senate will consider updating the law about withdrawals from the state’s economic emergency fund.

“I do believe that Governor Reynolds was entirely complying with the spirit of the law,” Upmeyer says. “…It was, perhaps, not the letter of the law, so we will be happy to change that.” Legislative leaders and Governor Reynolds spoke today (Thursday) during a forum organized by the Associated Press. Reynolds called the lawsuit “election year grandstanding.”

“The statute is outdated and the legislature has the opportunity to come in and update it and I would think that’s what they want to do instead of filing a costly lawsuit,” Reynolds says. The 2018 state legislative session begins on Monday. Governor Reynolds will provide details on some of her policy proposals Tuesday when she delivers the annual “Condition of the State” address to legislators.

(Radio Iowa)

Despite the brutal cold weather and a sharp increase in demand from farmers and homeowners, liquid propane prices are -not- bounding in Iowa, according to Paul Ovrom, an ag marketer at the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

“The average price for the state right now is coming out at $1.49 a gallon,” Ovrom says. “That is just two cents higher than a week prior to that.” While two pennies a gallon is a very small rise, he says it’s typical to see price spikes during the wintertime.

“The cold snap that we’re having hasn’t influenced the prices too much yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that changes within the next week or two,” Ovrom says. “Sometimes there’s a lag in the pricing.” Propane prices are up substantially from a year ago, about 27-percent higher. Ovrom says several factors may be coming into play. Ovrum says L-P prices often bounce between October and March as that’s when much of the product is exported to nations like China.

“Propane is tied to crude oil,” Ovrom says. “Crude oil production, a byproduct of that is propane and as crude oil prices go up or fluctuate, that impacts the price of propane.” Even with the cold weather, he does not expect the record demand Iowa saw in 2013 when then-Governor Terry Branstad declared an energy emergency as propane prices averaged as high as $4.71 a gallon.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for hitting and killing an Omaha street crew worker nearly a year ago has been sentenced to 14 days in jail and two years’ probation.

Alan Solarana was sentenced Thursday in Douglas County Court after pleading guilty in September to misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in the Jan. 23 accident that killed 48-year-old Salvatore Fidone III, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Police have said Fidone was standing on the driver’s side of a city truck as he and others prepared to fill potholes when a car driven by Solarana drifted from a northbound lane and hit him.

Investigators said Solarana was not speeding on under the influence at the time of the crash.