DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has named Republican attorney Adam Gregg as her administration’s No. 2 leader while seeking to avoid a lawsuit over whether she has the power to name a new lieutenant governor.

Democratic Attorney General Tom Miller advised this month that the Iowa Constitution would not give Reynolds the power to name a new lieutenant governor after she succeeded Gov. Terry Branstad. Miller’s opinion angered Reynolds, who had indicated she might appoint a new lieutenant even if it risked a legal challenge.

Reynolds said Thursday that Gregg would be the “acting lieutenant governor.” Gregg will collect the lieutenant governor’s salary of $103,000 but not be in the line of succession. That means Senate President Jack Whitver would become governor if Reynolds leaves office before January 2019.

A Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy on assignment serving a civil paper, arrested a man Wednesday evening on warrants related to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry. The Deputy was in the 700 block of Mynster Street in Council Bluffs, when he saw 21-year old Adrian Cory Lee Rollins, of Council Bluffs, walk past him. The Deputy knew Rollins had active warrants for his arrest, which was confirmed through dispatch. Rollins was taken into custody at around 5:30-p.m. on felony warrants for Sex Offender Registry Violation/2nd offense, and Sex Offender Area/Activity Violation-2nd offense.

And, a Nebraska man currently held in the Pottawattamie County Jail, was served with a warrant out of Nebraska, for being a Fugitive from Justice. 47-year old Gary Walker, of Omaha, was served with the warrant and then returned to the custody of jail staff.

Officials with the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System senior leadership report a Veterans’ Town Hall meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., May 31st at the American Legion, South Omaha Melting Pot Post 331, 4830 South 31st Street, Omaha, Neb. The town hall is to gain open and honest feedback from veterans, their family members and other community members.

Senior leadership and other subject-matter experts from the local VA health system will be present to improve communication with and hear directly from veterans and their families. VA also welcomes input from congressional stakeholders, veteran service organizations, non-governmental organizations and other community partners at the meeting.

Following the town hall, representatives from various VA programs will be available to provide assistance to veterans who may not be enrolled in the health care system. B. Don Burman, director, VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, says “Caring for Veterans is a calling, and our first commitment is to provide veterans and their families the timely, quality care and benefits they have earned and deserve through their service to our nation.”

For more information, contact Will Ackerman at 402-995-4719.

A recent report in U-S-A Today warns of the dangers of a new type of pest called the “seed tick,” but Iowa State University entomologist Donald Lewis says technically, the story is wrong. “It is not a different species of tick,” Lewis says. “It’s certainly not something new, I’ve used the phrase seed tick for the last 40 years. It’s not a new phrase, it’s not a new pest. It just gets used by the general public to mean something teeny tiny that I think was a tick.”

Lewis says there’s no need to be particularly concerned about this insect. “All species of ticks can have the term ‘seed tick’ applied to their larval stage,” he says. “It simply means the beginning stage of any kind of tick.”

Lewis says when the so-called seed ticks mature, they can carry many types of illnesses including Lyme disease. He is not predicting a particularly bad tick season. He admits they do grow well in humid and wet conditions with a good food source like small mammals. If a mature tick of any kind does become attached, the recommended way to remove it is with tweezers.

(Radio Iowa w/Thanks to Pat Blank, Iowa Public Radio)

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

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Donald Trump has scheduled a visit to Iowa – his first as president of the United States. His campaign website says a rally is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. June 1 at the Cedar Rapids Convention Complex. People are invited to register for up to two tickets each.

Trump’s last visit to Iowa occurred in Des Moines during his “Thank You” tour as president-elect in December. Trump won Iowa’s six electoral votes in November.

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

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NEVADA, Iowa (AP) – A former Iowa fire academy administrator has been given two years’ probation for falsifying test scores that were used to improperly certify thousands of firefighters.

Former Fire Services Training Bureau certification manager John McPhee also was sentenced Wednesday in Story County District Court to a suspended prison sentence of five years. He was fined $750 and ordered to serve 100 hours of community service. He had pleaded guilty to felony misconduct in office after making a deal with prosecutors.

McPhee was arrested in January, when the Iowa Department of Public Safety announced that 1,706 firefighters and emergency personnel had been awarded nationally recognized certifications despite failing written exams. The total found eventually reached 2,445. Authorities say McPhee assigned passing scores to exams without checking or correcting them for years.

If you are thinking of camping this Memorial Day weekend, but haven’t reserved a spot at a state park yet, finding one could be tough. Iowa D-N-R spokesperson Julie Sparks. “The best thing I can say is for people to go in and look on our reservation site. If they’ve got a favorite park and want to check it out, you’ll be able to tell right away if there are spots available,” Sparks says.

If you do find a site — it’s likely you won’t have electricity. “Nearly all of the sites that are left open are non-electric sites, our standard non-electric sites. When our window for the holidays open, people are right on it and get those electric sites reserved as soon as they can,” Sparks says.

The window she refers too is a three-month lead time when you can start reserving a site for each holiday. Not every site is reserved ahead of time. She says there are 25 percent or more of the campsites in each park that are walk-in status, that you can try to get. “However, on a special holiday weekend like this, people are coming in a day or two early.”

The weather has been cool this year, but the forecast calls for some warmer weather. Sparks says those who have reserved site way ahead of time adjust to the conditions.
“Iowans are tough and they are willing to brave those cooler temperatures,” Sparks says.

Iowa has more than 47-hundred state park campsites.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Des Moines Water Works plans to double the size of the nitrate removal facility that treats drinking water from the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. The Des Moines Register reports the utility’s board this week approved an $800,000 design contract. The utility expects to spend $15 million on the project, and officials say the new equipment and the cost to operate it will require bigger future rate increases.

The utility had sued three northern Iowa counties, accusing them of allowing agricultural drainage districts to send nitrate pollution into the rivers. The lawsuit sought damages for the money the utility has spent to remove the nitrates.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit March 17, saying Iowa’s water quality problems were an issue for the Iowa Legislature.