Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Sheriff’s officials in Guthrie County are investigating a burglary that occurred south of the unincorporated town of Monteith in rural Guthrie County. A car and truck are believed to be involved in incident, where a shed was broken into, near 270th and Quail Ave. The shed owner is said to have had a security camera which may provide clues as to who the culprit was.

The sheriff’s office says it is also investigating a “situation” where a cow was butchered in its pasture near 320th and Ranch Trail north of Menlo. The incidents, authorities say, are possibly related. The crimes transpired on Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning.

The owner of the cow, Keith Partlow, of rural Menlo, posted pictures of the slaughtered animal on his Facebook page. He said someone shot his cow as she slept and cut off her head. The animal was gutted and cut in half before the rear half was dragged to a nearby road and dressed out, according to Partlow.

If you have any information about either incident, message the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office on their Facebook page, or call the sheriff’s office at 641-747-2214.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — State officials are moving ahead with two giant highway construction projects in northwest Iowa. The Sioux City Journal reports the Iowa Department of Transportation has received bids of nearly $127 million for widening projects on U.S. Highway 20 and Interstate 29. The bids are part of two long-sought projects.

One will pay for grading and paving of the Highway 20 expansion from Correctionville to Holstein, which is part of an expansion to four lanes from just east of Moville to Early.

The Interstate 29 project will replace seven bridges and complete other paving and grading work as part of a $400 million plan to widen the freeway to six lanes from near Sergeant Bluff to the South Dakota border.

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

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It’s the season of giving, but some only want to take. A financial advisor says Iowans can — and should — do more to protect themselves from identity theft, but often don’t bother. Mike Cetera, with the banking industry website Bankrate.com, says a new report shows 77-percent of Americans are afraid of identity theft, but many aren’t taking the actions needed to reduce the risks. Cetera says inexpensive “fixes” can help to prevent the crime.

“When you get a document in the mail, a bank statement, a credit card statement, anything with your Social Security number on it, when you’re done using that document, don’t just throw it in the trash, you need to shred it,” Cetera says. “This prevents anyone from picking it out of the trash. The good news is, our survey found that 72% of Americans are already doing this.”

A recent data breach involved the head of the C-I-A, whose personal email account was hacked, revealing a list of email addresses and Social Security numbers. As that case demonstrates, Cetera says it’s impossible to cover all of your bases. “There’s no way you can 100% protect yourself,” he says. “When you’re talking about things that are totally outside of your control like data breeches at corporations or governments, there’s literally nothing you can do to stop that.”

If you’re planning to use your smart phone, laptop or tablet at a coffee shop or some other public place, he says to never use an unsecured wi-fi network. Cetera says it’s a good idea to check your credit report at least twice a year.  “That’s going to show if someone has accessed your credit and is trying to open a credit line,” he says. “It used to be pretty difficult for the average consumer to get a hold of their credit score or their credit report, but it’s so easy now to get these things for free.”

Iowans can also help to protect themselves from I-D thieves by using different passwords for all of online accounts — and changing them frequently.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa State University Extension officials plan to host a series of meetings around the state in January for farmers trying to figure out how to deal with sliding commodity prices and rising production costs.  “With margins being as low or as negative as they are, we’re going to focus on that.” That’s I-S-U Extension agronomist Joel DeJong. The “Crop Advantage” meetings will offer advice on managing farm chemical applications.

“What are the odds of applying fertilizer based on different soil test levels?” DeJong asks rhetorically. “You know, it’s a biological system, so we’re all trying to figure the odds and the environment changes.” Farm income in 2015 is projected to fall to its lowest level in nine years and the U-S-D-A predicts farm income will fall even lower in 2016.

There is a 50 dollar registration fee for farmers who want to attend the “Crop Advantage” meetings next month and get advice from I-S-U economists, agronomists, entomologists and grain market analysts. I-S-U Extension will hold 14 meetings around the state during January. Locally, meetings will be held Jan. 19th, in Atlantic, and Jan. 28th, in Carroll. For other dates and sites, go to http://www.aep.iastate.edu/cas/

(Radio Iowa)

Volunteers with the Red Cross have been busy in recent weeks helping dozens of families across the state knocked out of their homes due to fires. The agency relies heavily on donations to provide those families with temporary housing and money for clothes and food. Kara Kelly is a spokesperson for the Greater Iowa American Red Cross.

“The reason the Red Cross is able to respond to disasters as frequently as we do, and mostly it’s home fires, is because of donations from the American people,” Kelly said. “In order to keep going, we’ll need donations to Red Cross Disaster Relief and the best way to do so is to go to RedCross.org or to call 1-800-RED-CROSS.” ‘Tis the season for year-end giving and Kelly is hoping Iowans will consider a tax-deductible donation to the Red Cross.

“Certainly, we are very busy around the holiday season and the winter months, so making sure we have the resources we need in order to respond is incredibly important,” Kelly said. Red Cross volunteers from Iowa are also sent to help victims of disasters around the country and world. In August, for example, Pat Burch of Norwalk — a retired nurse — traveled to Saipan in the aftermath of a typhoon. In September, four Red Cross volunteers from Iowa were in California to help those affected by a series of wildfires.

(Radio Iowa)

The 7:05-a.m. report from KJAN News Director, Ric Hanson.

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The state health department is reviewing information from the first year of a cooperative project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that surveys new mothers in Iowa. The state co-ordinator of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Survey or PRAMS, Sarah Mauch says it shows some mixed results when it comes to breastfeeding. “Quite honestly, Iowa is doing well at our breastfeeding initiation. What we struggle with — and what I think most states struggle with — is that continuation of breastfeeding. Only about half of our babies are still being breastfed at 12 weeks,” Mauch says.

She says the survey gives them some specific information on who is and who isn’t breastfeeding. “Our young and low-income moms are our least likely to continue breastfeeding,” Mauch says. “And so that’s an area that our department is very specifically looking at to see how we can increase support for moms to continue breastfeeding.” Part of the issue is the six to 12 week mark is when many mothers go back to work.

“How do we continue to support them in having access to a secure, clean space to pump or breastfeed. And what types of issues are they experiencing that causes them to stop breastfeeding,” Mauch says. Mauch says there are other issues that impact whether or not a mother breastfeeds her baby.

“Some of those are just not knowing much about breastfeeding because it is something that I think is still not extremely common in our culture to see,” Mauch says. Mauch says they will continue working to educate mothers about the health benefits of breastfeeding for babies.

(Radio Iowa)

The National Weather Service in Des Moines says a significant winter storm is expected to impact much of Iowa on Monday into early Tuesday. Officials say a  strong low pressure system will bring widespread precipitation in the form of a wintry mix to central and southern Iowa Monday morning before gradually switching to snow during the afternoon hours.

Ice accumulations greater than one quarter inch may occur before the precipitation switches to all snow. Heavy snowfall is possible especially west of Interstate 35 with accumulations greater than 6 inches possible. These conditions in addition to strong and gusty will lead to treacherous travel conditions Monday afternoon and night.

Stay tuned to KJAN for future updates regarding this potentially significant winter storm.