Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The opening of deer season this weekend will also mark the start of another round of testing for Chronic Wasting Disease (C-W-D).  The Department of Natural Resources will be particularly focused on a few select counties this year. The disease which is fatal to deer has not been found in 10 years of sampling of the wild deer population, but this year it was discovered in deer held at private hunting preserves in southern Iowa. D-N-R biologist Willy Suchy says they won’t be increasing the number of tests very much.

“Well, we have to keep the cost about the same, so we not going to take too many more. We sampled about 47-hundred last year. We’re going to do pretty much the same, we’re just going to shift some around to different areas to do our surveillance and to target where we think there’s the highest risk,” Suchy says. They will sample more heavily in Wapello, Davis, Pottawattamie and Cerro Gordo counties where the infected deer were found. Most samples of the deer tissue are obtained by wildlife staff.

A majority of the samples are taken received from hunters, but Suchy says they also take some sample from road-kill deer too. “And the most important thing is if anybody sees an animal that appears sick of emaciated, to contact one of our wildlife officers or wildlife biologists to get a sample,” according to Suchy.

The D-N-R has worked with the facilities to contain the infected deer, but Suchy can’t say if that has kept the disease from spreading to the wild population until the check the samples. The heaviest focus on samples in past years has been in northeast Iowa after cases of C-W-D were discovered in the border states of Wisconsin and Illinois.

The state has tested samples from over 42-thousand wild deer thus far and found not positive tests for C-W-D.

(Radio Iowa)

A central Iowa police officer and his K-9 partner have been honored with an award for a case that helped uncover a massive, nationwide drug operation. Urbandale Police Officer Shane Taylor and his German Shepherd, Sabre, were called to a weighing station along Interstate 80 in Dallas County on October 15, 2011. Officers were investigating what appeared to be a hidden floor in an enclosed trailer hauling a motorcycle. Sabre “alerted” on the odor of narcotics near the front of the trailer.

K-9 “Sabre”

“Once we were able to get the floor pulled up, there was a duffle bag containing $180,000 (in cash),” Taylor said. “It was from the sale of narcotics on the East Coast and they were transporting the money back to California.” The man who was hauling the trailer was arrested. About a week later, a truck hauling a horse trailer – also traveling from the East Coast to California – was pulled over near Atlantic. Taylor said that trailer also had a false floor, but nothing was found inside. A tracking device was placed on the trailer, which went back to California and then to Reno, Nevada.

“She was pulled over by a state trooper (in Reno) who was made aware of what was going on with this trailer,” Taylor said. “There was 250 pounds of marijuana – over $1 million dollars worth – in this trailer.” The driver of the truck was identified as the mother-in-law of the man who was arrested earlier in Iowa. Taylor said authorities discovered the family-run marijuana operation in California financed the purchase of a $600,000 home and nearly a dozen expensive vehicles. Officer Taylor and Sabre were recently awarded the “2012 Case of the Year” during an annual conference of the Heart of America Police Dog Association.

Authorities have rescued six injured and malnourished horses from a southwest Iowa property. According to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, the horses were being “significantly neglected” and were confined to a less than one-acre property in Lorimor, which is in Union County. The horses are now at what is called the “Rescue Ranch” in central Iowa. A “cruelty investigator” for the Animal Rescue League says the horses “had been living without food, shelter or veterinary care for an undetermined amount of time” and the animals “face a long road to recovery.”

Once they’re healthy, the horses will be available for adoption. There already are 13 horses available for adoption at the Animal Rescue League’s facility in Des Moines. In the past 12 months, the organization has been asked by law enforcement to care for two dozen horses.

(Radio Iowa)

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports three people were arrested Tuesday, on separate charges. At around 12:30-a.m., 21-year old Zachery Donaldson, of Glenwood, was arrested on a Possession of Drug Paraphernalia charge. His bond was set at $300. Later that day, 25-year old Shawn Patrick Nosekabel, Jr., of Malvern, was arrested on Main Street in Malvern, on a warrant for Failure to Appear on an OWI charge. His bond was set at $1,500. And, at around 8:30-p.m. Tuesday, 31-year old Toby Lynn Merritt, of  Glenwood, was taken into custody at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office, on a charge of Harassment in the 1^st degree. Bond was set at $1,000.

An Atlantic woman apparently is becoming familiar with Cass County Jail facilities. On Monday, Police in Atlantic arrested 33-year old Essex Mullins, on a charge of shoplifting (Theft in the 5th degree). She plead guilty to the charge that same day and was ordered by the court to repay her victim.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Mullins was arrested on charges of Interference with Official Acts, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and Disorderly Conduct. She was booked…again…into the Cass County Jail.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is ordering all flags in the state to be flown at half-staff from 5 p.m. Friday, November 30, to 8 a.m. on Monday, December 3, to honor 33-year old Sgt. Joseph A. Richardson, of Algona, who died while on patrol with the U.S. Army in Paktika province, Afghanistan, on November 16, 2012.

Sgt. Joseph Richardson

Sgt. Richardson’s funeral will be held Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Algona. Maj. Gen. Timothy Orr, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, will be in attendance to represent the Branstad/Reynolds administration.

The governor’s directive applies to all U.S. and state flags under the control of the state. H.R. 692, signed in 2007, requires federal government agencies in the state to comply with the governor’s executive order that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff in the event of the death of a member of the Armed Forces.

Flags will be at half-staff on the state Capitol building and on flag displays in the Capitol complex, and upon all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect.

Two men were arrested recently on separate warrants out of Audubon County. The Sheriff’s Department reports 27-year old Shane Austin Hill, of Harlan, was arrested Wednesday evening on an outstanding Audubon County warrant charging him with Failure to Appear (FTA) on a Contempt of Court charge associated with Possession of Methamphetamine. Hill was brought to the Audubon County Jail and held on $1,000 cash bond. Shelby County Sheriff’s officials assisted in conducting the arrest.

And, 35-year old Nathan Allen Hines, of Emmetsburg, was arrested this (Thursday) morning, after he turned himself-in to the Audubon County Jail. Hines was wanted on a warrant charging him with a Revocation of his Probation. Hines was on probation for Possession of Methamphetamine/3rd offense, and Possession of Marijuana/3rd offense, charges. He appeared before the magistrate and remains in jail on $7,500 bond.

SIDNEY, Iowa (AP) – An appeals court says a southwest Iowa city improperly removed one of its council members over allegations that he skipped too many meetings. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled today (Thursday), that City officials in Sidney did not provide proper notice of the charges against William Clark before removing him. The court says the city overstepped its authority.

Clark was elected in 2009 to a four-year term. The council voted 4-1 to remove him in 2010 after he missed several meetings, even after he was warned about lax attendance. The mayor also claimed Clark had committed misconduct at a local bar during a run-in with another council member’s son.

Clark’s attorney says his client will seek reinstatement to the council, but that could be tricky since someone else now holds the position.