Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — An eight-member jury has been seated in Sioux City for a trial to decide whether a former top federal prosecutor in Iowa discriminated against one of her lawyers. Stephanie Rose, now a federal judge, was U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa at the time of the alleged discrimination against then-assistant U.S. Attorney Martha Fagg. Fagg has sued the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming Rose discriminated against her because of her mental and physical conditions.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A settlement has been approved that calls for the state of Iowa to pay $71,000 in a lawsuit filed by a former inmate who alleged sexual harassment at her prison job. The Iowa Appeal Board approved the settlement Monday involving 43-year-old Melissa Lee Renda. She will receive $25,000 and her attorney will get $46,000.

HAWARDEN, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa man has been sentenced to five years in prison for shooting at a vacuum salesperson in September. Fifty-year-old Samuel Harrison, of Hawarden, was charged with a felony of going armed with intent, and aggravated misdemeanors of aggravated assault and operating while intoxicated. Harrison gave the salesperson permission to enter his home but eventually told the person to leave. He said he shot his weapon to scare the salesperson, who was not injured.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A plan by Alliant Energy to reduce required energy efficiency goals for 2014 through 2018 has been approved by the Iowa Utilities Board. Alliant says energy efficiency programs will cost nearly $77 million in 2014 and nearly $82 million by 2018. On average that’s about 1.1 percent of annual sales. Environmental groups say the new goals are a reduction from the current goal of 1.3 percent of sales and represent less than half the efficiency progress possible.

The Cass County Civil Service Board will meet Tuesday afternoon in the Board Room at the Cass County Courthouse. On the agenda for their 2-p.m. meeting is action on identifying a list of 10 potential hires from a field of 18 applicants, and the certification of the Civil Service List to Sheriff Darby McLaren, followed by public input.

Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman reports the City of Villisca is under a Boil Water Order until further notice due to a water main break. The incident occurred Sunday. Anyone with questions is asked to call the Villisca City Hall at 712-826-2282

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Monday, released a report on recent arrests. Officials say two people were arrested last Friday (Nov. 29th). 44-year old Wade Michael Rich, of Anita, was arrested on a charge of OWI 2nd Offense. Rich was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on his own recognizance. And, 35-year old Kendra Gail Cruz, of Griswold, was arrested on charges of Disorderly Conduct and Interference with Official Acts. Cruz was taken to the Cass County Jail where she pled not guilty before the magistrate and was released the following day.

On Wednesday, November 26th, deputies in Cass County arrested 19-year old Lydia Renae Tobak, of Omaha, on a Cass County District Court warrant for Violation of Probation. Tobak was transported to the Cass County Jail where she is being held on $5000 bond.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office Monday released information about arrests deputies made over the past week. Last Friday 33-year old Peggy Sue Gurney, of Red Oak, was arrested following a traffic stop. Gurney was charged with Driving While Revoked. Her bond was set at $1,000.

On Nov. 28th, 26-year old Eric Ryan Young, of Omaha, was arrested on a charge of OWI/1st offense. His bond was set at $1,000. On Nov. 27th, 28-year old Keith James Charlier, of Blanchard, was arrested at the Mills County Sheriff’s Office on two-counts of Assault with a weapon. Bond was set at $4,000.

And, of Nov. 26th, 36-year old Matthew Clark Lippert, of  Glenwood, was arrested on a charge of Domestic Abuse with injuries (for which there is no bond), two-counts of Assault with Injuries, and Burglary in the 1st degree. Bond for the latter charges was set at $27,000.

(12-p.m. News)

Authorities in Corning, Monday, released additional information about a double drowning incident that took place Saturday in a farm pond near Prescott. During a press conference held the at Corning Fire Station, Emergency Management Director/Corning Fire Chief Donnie Willett and Adams County Sheriff Alan Johannes said they received a call from Tom and Lisa Frey, of Prescott, at around 5:34-p.m., with regard to their adopted, missing boys, ages eight and nine. The brothers had been playing on the family farm at 1623 Vanilla Avenue, when they failed to return to the home.

Corning Fire Chief/EMA Mgr. Donnie Willett (Left) & Adams County Sheriff Alan Johannes.

Willett said the parents discovered a hole in the ice and called 9-1-1. Numerous emergency crews were notified, including Adams County Fire & Rescue, the Corning, Prescott and Creston Fire and Rescue Departments, Deputies with the Union County Sheriff’s Office, and Union County Rescue, the Iowa State Patrol and the Midwest Regional Dive Team. But it was a dive team from the Creston Fire Department equipped with ice water recovery gear, who found the boys. Some of the boys’ clothing was found on top of the ice near the hole in the center of the pond.

The hole was located about 20-yards from shore. The body of one of the boys was found under the ice. The other body was found about 20-minutes later. Willett said the ice near the shore was about 2 ½ inches thick, but near the center, where the boys fell in, it was so thin you could punch a whole in it with your fist. The water at the point where they fell in was about 10-to 12-feet. Resuscitation efforts began immediately, and the boys were flown from the scene by helicopter to a trauma center.

Sheriff Johannes had some advice for anyone thinking about venturing onto the ice at this time of year. Make sure the ice is thick enough. In order for it to be strong enough to support a person, there should be a number of days of below freezing temperatures that will enable the ice to form a thick layer.

Powers Funeral Home in Creston has identified the boys as Nate and T-J Frey. Funeral arrangements are currently pending. The boys’ father owns the Creston Livestock Auction. The family has requested privacy from the public and the media.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrests of two North Dakota residents on theft and forgery charges on November 27th.  25-year-old Nicolas Olson and 28-year-old Kristina Schrupp both of Fargo, North Dakota were arrested and charged with Theft 5th Degree and 9 counts of Forgery.  Both were transported to the Cass County Jail and booked in and held.  The Atlantic Police Department was assisted by the Iowa State Patrol.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Car and truck dealers are planning to fight a possible fee increase suggested by the Iowa Department of Transportation.  The Des Moines Register reports that the department has suggested increasing the fee to 6 percent for vehicle registrations. The current 5 percent fee is applied every time a customer buys a new or used car or truck.

The DOT says the higher fee would keep pace with the state’s current 6 percent sales tax. It would generate an estimated $60 million more each year for road construction projects. Iowa does not impose a sales tax on car and truck purchases.

The Iowa Automobile Dealer Association’s 13-member board has voted unanimously to lobby lawmakers against the increase. The associated represents about 400 Iowa dealers.

A survey of college students in Iowa and four other states finds them more distracted in class than in years past due to smart phones and tablets. Barney McCoy, a journalism professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, says the poll found the typical college student plays with their digital device 11 times a day and of those times, they’re checking text messages 86-percent of the time. “Websurfing was 38%,” McCoy says, while 67-percent were emailing and 66-percent were doing social networking.

Eight-percent admitted to playing games on their phones in class. The survey found 80-percent of students surveyed admitted their use of smart phones, tablets and laptops interferes with their learning. McCoy says he was surprised by one response as to how digital devices were being used while lectures were underway. “This is a generational issue, checking the time, 79%,” McCoy says. “I didn’t think about that until I realized a lot of my students don’t wear watches. They look at their smart phones to check the time.”

Ninety-percent of students surveyed admitted they weren’t paying attention in class because of texting or emailing. The study found students who were distracted often missed instructions and more than one-fourth said they lost grade points because of their digital habits. Still, McCoy says, students refuse to part with their gadgets.  “They expect to be connected at all times, including in the classroom,” he says. “They want to be able to use these devices to check their email or to do a text message if they feel like what’s taking place in the classroom might be boring them.”

In recent years, McCoy noticed more students were looking at their cell phones than their text books, so he undertook the multi-state study. With more than eight in ten students texting, he says, that’s clearly the biggest trouble spot. “We’re talking about conversations that are coming from beyond the walls of these classrooms now and they demand that you reply,” McCoy says. “They’re really conversations that are taking place, instead of just the distraction of being bored and maybe reading the newspaper instead of listening to what the instructor is talking about.”

Because they’re conversations, he says digital devices prove to be a bigger distraction than anything else. Nearly 800 students were surveyed at: Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa; the University of Nebraska at Lincoln; the University of Nebraska at Omaha; the University of North Carolina; the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi.

(Radio Iowa)