A Des Moines couple with clipboards was across the street from the Iowa State Fair’s Grand Avenue entrance Sunday afternoon, collecting signatures on petitions. “Donald Trump would hurt our country in certain ways and Hillary Clinton hurts our country in other ways. I think we need a person of integrity who listens to both sides and isn’t going to be partisan and values those who are struggling.” Kate and Dylan Jones are part of a last-minute effort to get independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin’s name on Iowa’s General Election ballots.

“This whole two-party system is actually pretty antiquated, this idea that, ‘Oh, you have to vote for a Democrat or you have to vote for a Republican,'” Jones says. “We want people to know that you can actually vote for who you believe, that you’re still free in this country to do that, and the next three months, we just want to use our voice as much as we possibly can, because we don’t want to look back and say: ‘I wish I had done more.'”

Evan McMullin will qualify for the Iowa ballot if his supporters collect the signatures of at least 15-hundred registered Iowa voters. The signatures have to come from at least 10 counties and must be submitted to Iowa’s Secretary of State by this Friday. That’s why the crowd streaming into the State Fair was a prime target, since people come from across the state to attend. “I’ve been getting flooded by friends who say: ‘Hey, we are interested. We can’t make it to the fair today, but we want to come,'” Kate Jones says. The couple and others plan to be on the sidewalks outside the fairgrounds this week until they get the petition signatures they need.

Kate and Dylan attended the Iowa Republican Party’s Caucuses on February 1st and both supported Marco Rubio. They want to vote “for” someone in November, but neither can vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. “We would really like someone who is presidential,” Dylan Jones says. “We’ve been a little disappointed with how the Republican Party really has handled themselves throughout this whole election process, some of the things Donald Trump has said and a lot of the hate-filled rhetoric.”

The Jones’s say they want to “vote their conscience” and they’re worried about Trump’s anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. “We need compassionate leaders and the ability to articulate that refugees are not ISIS. They are people who’ve gone through trauma and don’t have a lot of resources when they come here and we need to be their neighbors,” Kate Jones said.

Kate Jones is 33 years old and works as a graphic designer. Her husband is 30 and works as a landscape architect.

(Radio Iowa)

w/Chris Parks.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is moving forward with initiatives aimed at improving children’s mental health and well-being, but officials say they won’t be able to estimate the potential cost of the effort until it’s developed more fully.

The Iowa Department of Human Services and other state agencies have been working together to formally tackle components of a long-term goal to change how children in Iowa access services related to their mental health and well-being. Officials contend services can be more effective if the two issues are addressed together.

State officials began soliciting outside work this month to help develop children’s mental health crisis services. Additional bidding will be available soon for so-called learning labs that could help improve children’s well-being.

The Iowa Legislature approved at least $300,000 last session toward the planning efforts.

Police in Red Oak arrested 18-year old Dakota Lynn Girouex, of Red Oak, at around 4:15-a.m. today (Sunday), for Driving While Suspended. The woman was also charged with not having SR-22 Insurance. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond.

The operator of a dirt bike riding illegally on the highway, was pulled over near the intersection of Highway 34 and 48 Saturday evening in Red Oak, and arrested for Driving While Suspended, with three withdrawals in effect. Red Oak Police arrested 21-year old Spencer Edward Zarek, of Red Oak, at around 6-p.m. and brought to the Montgomery County Jail, where his bond was set at $300,

The City of Atlantic’s Personnel and Finance Committee will meet Tuesday evening in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall, to conduct interviews with candidates who have expressed an interest in filling the At Large seat vacated by former Councilman Bob Cord. Cord resigned from his seat July 20th. The meeting begins at 5:30-p.m.

Cord had announced his intentions to resign back in March. During Tuesday’s meeting, the Personnel and Finance Committee will go into a closed session to separately interview Ed Angell, Gerald Brink, Roger Carter, and any remaining applicants. The Committee will forward its report from those interviews and a recommendation to the Council, on who it feels would be best suited for the position. The City Council, on Wednesday, will then act on an Order approving the recommended candidate for appointment to the At Large seat. Once filled, members of the public will have 14-days following the Council’s decision, to request a Special Election.

Following Tuesday’s closed-session interviews, the Committee will return to an open session for a report on legal feedback with regard to proposed changes to the Personnel Policy. The Committee will also discuss the staffing, budget and operating needs of the Parks and Recreation Department, and receive a report from Atlantic Mayor Dave Jones and City Administrator John Lund, with regard to Sewer Connection Fees.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:25 a.m. CDT

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) — A Bettendorf man has been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing a child younger than 12 over a three-year period. The Quad-City Times reports that 21-year-old Joshua Daniel Morales pleaded guilty in June to three counts of lascivious acts with a child. Morales was sentenced Thursday to up to 10 years in prison on each count. The sentences will run back-to-back.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Eldridge man has entered an Alford plea in the case of a February car crash that left his backseat passenger dead. The Quad-City Times reports 19-year-old Bret Matthew Schaefbauer entered the plead Friday to a felony count of vehicular homicide. He faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Oct. 6. Investigators say Schaefbauer was driving early the morning of Feb. 7 when he went he crashed, killing 18-year-old Mitchell Hayes.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for fondling a 14-year-old girl last year. The Sioux City Journal reports that 27-year-old Federico Jimenez-Hernandez was sentenced Thursday after he pleaded guilty in Woodbury County District Court to one count of third-degree sexual abuse. Court documents say Jimenez-Hernandez fondled the girl after entering her room while she was sleeping.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A small plane has crashed at a Des Moines street intersection near the airport, but no one was seriously injured. The Des Moines Register reports that the crash happened at the intersection of Southwest 56th Street and Park Avenue around 10 a.m. Saturday just after taking off from Des Moines International Airport. Officials say the pilot and three passengers, all members of same family, made it out of the prop plane before it was engulfed in flames.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports a man from Florida was arrested early Sunday morning on weapon-related charges, following an incident at the County Line Bar, on the west side of Shenandoah. While deputies were on the way to a disturbance at the bar, they were notified the suspect, 26-year old Tipton Leigh Brock, of Milton, FL., had retrieved a firearm and started shooting.

After they arrived, deputies placed Brock under arrest for Terroristic Threats, Reckless use of a firearm, and for Going Armed with Intent.

Tipton Brock

Brock was transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center, where he was being held on a $10,300 cash bond. No injuries were reported.

Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted during the incident by deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office, and Shenandoah Police.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Sioux City’s long-planned viaduct over railroad tracks could be in jeopardy after a federal agency rejected a request for nearly $15 million in funding. The Sioux City Journal reports the U.S. Department of Transportation denied the bid for a $14.8 million grant that would have covered nearly three-quarters of the estimated $20.7 million project.

Officials have long supported the viaduct, which they say would eliminate lengthy delays by motorists waiting for trains and could spur more growth in an industrial area bordering the Floyd River. City Manager Bob Padmore says the project is “pretty cost-prohibitive” without federal funding.

Economic development department Director Marty Dougherty says the city will seek federal money for the viaduct next year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A small plane has crashed at a Des Moines street intersection near the airport, but no one was seriously injured. The Des Moines Register reports the crash happened at the intersection of Southwest 56th Street and Park Avenue around 10 a.m. Saturday just after taking off from Des Moines International Airport. Officials say the pilot and three passengers, all members of same family, made it out of the prop plane before it was engulfed in flames.

Officials say the pilot experienced some type of mechanical malfunction and was able to deploy a parachute, which helped slow the plane. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says Park Avenue will be closed until Sunday as emergency crews investigate. Officials did not release the names of the pilot or passengers.