A judge in Missouri has sentenced a Cass County (Iowa) man to jail, in connection with a fatal boating accident at the Lake of the Ozarks. According to television station KY3, in Springfield, MO., Kelly Wise, of Atlantic (IA) will serve 30 days in jail before being placed on probation.

Investigators say Wise was driving a boat on the Lake of the Ozarks Osage Arm around 10 p.m, in June 2019, when his boat collided with another boat.

The crash killed race car driver Jason Russell of Eugene, Mo.  Russell raced at Lake Ozark Speedway. Four other people — including Wise’s wife — were injured in the crash.  Kelly Wise’ blood alcohol level tested at .184 (Twice the legal limit) at the time of the crash. He plead guilty in December to a charge of BWI (Boating While Intoxicated).

(Radio Iowa) – A bill designed to forbid ALL Iowa colleges and universities from enforcing mask mandates among students and staff while they are off campus has cleared its first hurdle in the Iowa House. Representative Joe Mitchell of Wayland says the bill has support among House Republicans. “I’m having college administrators tell me that, you know, somebody not wearing a face covering off campus is just as bad as a group of students drinking under age off campus or drug use,” Mitchell says. “…We don’t think that’s true. We don’t think that’s acceptable.”

Frank Chiodo is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He says if the pandemic continues, this kind of a law would force private colleges to hold classes online. “We’ve done our best to manage the unmanageable,” Chiodo said. “…Quite frankly, the easiest and simplest thing that we can do is encourage our students, our faculty to be safe and wear a mask. It’s a lot more economical than having to shut down a university.”

Representative Christina Bohannon, a Democrat from Iowa City, is a University of Iowa law professor. She says the bill is crazy because the greatest risk for catching Covid is in the community, not on campus. “To take away the one thing that the universities and colleges can do to keep us in person,” she says, “…it’s reckless, it’s irresponsible, it’s really unfair.” Representative Mitchell says being expelled or suspended for not wearing a mask off campus is a violation of a student’s rights. “We know, scientifically, that the students could be more affected by the flu than Covid, but we know for older people, obviously, Covid is a much more dangerous thing, so it’s about the faculty,” Mitchell says. “…In my district, we have people that have to go to work when they work at the grocery store, the manufacturing plant or the hospital in my district, and so then we’re saying that we’re going to put educators on this pedestal over every other worker.”

The University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa are asking for one change in the bill. The universities want to retain authority to require social distancing and mask wearing during university-sponsored activities and travel off-campus — especially for Hawkeye, Cyclone and Panther athletic teams that are trying to avoid Covid outbreaks, follow conference guidelines and keep competing.

A Red Oak man was arrested Tuesday afternoon, for failing to appear on a previous OWI charge. According to Red Oak Police, 40-year-old David Daniel Wells was taken into custody at around 1:00 p.m.  He was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on a $1,000 bond.

Also arrested Tuesday, was 49-year-old Terry Lee Williams, of Red Oak. He was taken into custody for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Williams’ bond at the Montgomery County Jail was set at $300.

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

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Police say the ex-boyfriend of an Illinois woman whose body was found at an arboretum in Iowa is charged with her death. Twenty-year-old Jennifer Lopez, of Galena, Illinois, was found dead Monday on the grounds of the Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. Her ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Richard Forsythe, of Galena, is charged with first-degree murder in her death. He is being held on $1 million bond in Galena awaiting extradition to Dubuque. No further information has been released.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A fifth person working at the Iowa Capitol has tested positive for coronavirus. Iowa House Chief Clerk Meghan Nelson says in a notification sent Tuesday that the individual was last in the building on Thursday. She says the person worked on the House side of the building and had worn a face covering at all times. Two cases were reported Saturday and Rep. Amy Nielsen of North Liberty confirmed she was one of them. That marks the first known case of an Iowa lawmaker contracting the virus during the session. She says she believes she was infected at the Capitol where Republican leaders do not require masks.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democrats in Nevada are making a play to bump Iowa and New Hampshire from their early spots on the presidential primary calendar. If the move is successful, it would upend decades of political tradition and give a more urban and racially diverse group of voters a greater say in picking the party’s nominee. The behind-the-scenes lobbying seeks to capitalize on the party’s discontent with Iowa’s and New Hampshire’s performances last year. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses devolved into a technological and logistical mess, leaving the winner unclear. New Hampshire’s first-in-the-state primary wound up a near tie between two candidates who ultimately lost, while the eventual nominee, now-President Joe Biden, came in fifth.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa conservation officials say four people in Linn and Buchanan counties have been convicted of dozens of wildlife violations. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Monday that a routine inspection of taxidermy operations led authorities to issue search warrants, leading to the arrest of Jason Webster, of Quasgueton, and Jeremiah Pillard, of Troy Mills. Webster was charged with more than 20 violations. Under a plea deal, Webster will pay $15,500 in civil damages plus criminal costs. Pillard pleaded guilty to illegal taking of animals and must pay $6,750 in civil damages and criminal fines. Two women from Quasgueton pleaded guilty to violations related to hunting tags and licenses.

A head-on collision in Dallas County Tuesday night claimed the life of an adult female, and injured two others, including a child. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta driven by 53-year-old Stephen Joseph Wink, of Council Bluffs, was traveling south on Dallas County Road P-58, about one-mile south of Perry, at around 10:54-p.m., when the vehicle crossed into the northbound lane and struck a 2001 Toyota Echo passenger car, driven by 40-year-old Danyel Denise Hardisty, of Minburn.

Hardisty died at the scene. Her passenger, seven-year-old Javen Sorensen, of Minburn, and Stephen Wink, were injured and transported to hospitals in Des Moines by Dallas County EMS. Authorities say driver impairment is suspected as the cause of the crash, which remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa conservation officials say four people in Linn and Buchanan counties have been convicted of dozens of wildlife violations. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said Monday that a routine inspection of taxidermy operations led authorities to issue search warrants, leading to the arrest of Jason Webster, of Quasgueton, and Jeremiah Pillard, of Troy Mills. Webster was charged with more than 20 violations.

Under a plea deal, Webster will pay $15,500 in civil damages plus criminal costs. Pillard pleaded guilty to illegal taking of animals and must pay $6,750 in civil damages and criminal fines. Two women from Quasgueton pleaded guilty to violations related to hunting tags and licenses.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Democrats in Nevada are making a play to bump Iowa and New Hampshire from their early spots on the presidential primary calendar. If the move is successful, it would upend decades of political tradition and give a more urban and racially diverse group of voters a greater say in picking the party’s nominee. The behind-the-scenes lobbying seeks to capitalize on the party’s discontent with Iowa’s and New Hampshire’s performances last year. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses devolved into a technological and logistical mess, leaving the winner unclear.

New Hampshire’s first-in-the-state primary wound up a near tie between two candidates who ultimately lost, while the eventual nominee, now-President Joe Biden, came in fifth.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Police say the ex-boyfriend of an Illinois woman whose body was found at an arboretum in Iowa is charged with her death. Twenty-year-old Jennifer Lopez, of Galena, Illinois, was found dead Monday on the grounds of the Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Gardens.

Her ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Richard Forsythe, of Galena, is charged with first-degree murder in her death. He is being held on $1 million bond in Galena awaiting extradition to Dubuque. No further information has been released.

(Radio Iowa) Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack’s nomination to be U-S Ag Secretary is moving to the full Senate after an Ag Committee hearing today (Tuesday) on his second stint in the job.”It’s not lost on me ironically that this is Ground Hog Day and I realize that I am back again,” Vilsack says,”but I also realize that this is a fundamentally different time — I am a different person and it is a different department. And we have to recognize that.”

Vilsack in his opening statement said there are some key areas he has to address — including fixing what he says are inequalities, unfairness and discrimination in farm programs. “Where there is zero tolerance for discrimination, where programs actually open up opportunity for all who need help. And lift the burden of persistent poverty for those most in need,” according to Vilsack. He says openness and competitiveness in trade needs to be addressed.

“I think we want to provide advice and counsel and direction and efforts to try to look at additional free trade agreements,” he said. Vilsack says he will also have to address climate change and food insecurity. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst asked Vilsack how the president’s executive order that government vehicles should be electric will impact biofuels like ethanol produced in Iowa. Vilsack says there is room for both.

“I think we look for expanded opportunities in a variety of different ways. At the same time, I think we recognize that there will be more and more electric vehicles that will be utilitized in the country — and we also recognize that’s going to require energy — where does that energy come from,” Vilsack asked. “I think there are opportunities within rural America to promote rural renewable energy .” The Renewable Fuels Standard or R-F-S which sets the amount of renewable fuels required in the country expires in 2022. Ernst asked Vilsack about his support for continuing the measure.

“What will you do in your capacity to make sure we get this done. Get the renewal of the R-F-S done when we are facing near-unanimous support among Democrats when it comes to electric vehicles.” Ernst asked. Vilsack says he will talk with the president about the need for different types of vehicles.

“The reality is that General Motors and Ford and all of those other care companies, they are not going to stop producing cars with combustion engines, they are not going to stop that process,” according to Vilsack. “So we need an alternative fuel source in addition to, and to complement our efforts on the electric. I don’t see why we can’t have both over a long period of time. We are going to need both.” Vilsack served as U-S Ag Secretary for eight years in the Obama administration.

(Radio Iowa) – Especially during the wintertime, some Iowans like to feed the ducks and geese in parks and nearby ponds, but one expert implores — don’t. Orrin Jones, a waterfowl biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says when we toss bread and other treats to our feathered friends, it’s teaching them to become dependent on us.  “We want to encourage them to find food on their own,” Jones says. “These birds are migratory in nature and it’s very important that they go and distribute, and finding food is part of that migratory process.”

As we’ve all learned during the past pandemic year, sometimes being in close proximity to one another is a bad thing, and the same goes for birds, which will cluster around when there’s free food. Jones says, “It’s important not to concentrate them more than they would naturally from a disease prevention perspective.” One of the biggest problems with feeding ducks and geese is that, while well-intentioned, it could be a critical mistake for the health of the birds.

“They really need to find natural foods to get a wide range of items in their diet to satisfy their nutritional needs,” Jones says. “Human food is oftentimes detrimental and can even be dangerous to these birds so you might actually be harming them by feeding them.” Geese are quite plentiful in Iowa right now, particularly in urban communities, as there are several groups mingling at once, those that live here year-round and those that are migrating.