A state legislative panel has voted to block a rule that would’ve banned the use of lead shot by dove hunters. Tuesday’s action will allow hunters to use lead shot when the inaugural dove hunting season opens September 1st. Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, is not on the legislative committee but requested to testify before his colleagues. “This is nothing but an anti-hunting issue,” Baudler said. “I hope you’ll do the right thing and stop this rule from going into effect.” Baudler believes the Natural Resource Commission overstepped its authority when it approved the ban last month.

“We have a situation here in Iowa with the Department of Natural Resources…it appears, from the hunting community, to be very anti-hunting,” Baudler said. Other hunters testified that lead shot is toxic to wildlife and that using copper or steel ammunition is an easy alternative. Liz Garst of Coon Rapids is a former chair of the Natural Resource Commission.

“If we hunters persist in saying we’re exempt from the environmental problems of lead, we hunters are going to get a black mark in the public’s eye,” Garst said. She pointed to research that shows increasing lead poisoning in bald Eagles. But lawmakers say it’s up to Iowa Legislature to review the data and decide if the rule should stand. The legislature must now repeal the ban on lead shot during the next session, or it goes into effect for the 2012 dove hunting season.

(Radio Iowa)

Today was supposed to have been the first day of classes for the Corning Community School District, but at least some of the students will have an extra day to get psyched-up for school. Classes at the Corning High School will be delayed until Thursday, due to construction and construction-related inspections, slated for this morning. The Corning Junior High and Elementary will hold classes as planned for today, and, the buses will run as normal, with dismissal slated for 1-p.m.

Other area schools are also getting underway today, including classes in the Atlantic, CAM, EHK-Exira, Harlan, IKM-Manning, Red Oak & Walnut Community School Districts. AHST, Riverside & the Shenandoah Schools start tomorrow. Nodaway Valley doesn‘t start its school year until Monday, while Clarinda won‘t hold classes until next Tuesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa is ranked No. 2 among states where more than half of graduating high school students took the ACT college entrance exam. A report issued  Wednesday says 61 percent of Iowa’s 2011 high school graduates took the ACT, compared with 72 percent in Minnesota, the state with the highest ACT score. Iowa’s average composite score was 22.3 out of a possible 36. Minnesota’s average was 22.9. The national average was 21.1.  The ACT report says 31 percent of Iowa students who took the test reached benchmark scores that suggested they are ready for college. That’s up a percentage point from 2010. Nationally, 25 percent of this year’s graduates tested as college-ready.

Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say 41-year old William Delee Hardy, of Red Oak, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, on an assault charge. Hardy was taken into custody in the 23-hundred block of State Highway 48, on a charge of Simple Assault.

He was brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 cash bond.

Three members of the same Villisca family were arrested Tuesday evening on domestic assault charges. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year old David Alan Adsit, 43-year old Julie Anne Adsit, and a 16-year old male were arrested after authorities received a 9-1-1 call a little after 5-p.m., with regard to a domestic assault occurring at a residence on 170^th Street in Villisca.

David and Julie Adsit were held in the Montgomery County jail, pending a court appearance, while the juvenile was processed and released on juvenile referral.

The Iowa State Patrol reports two people were injured during a crash Monday afternoon north of Corning, in Adams County, including the County‘s Sheriff. 45-year old Alan Johannes, of Bridgewater, and 47-year old Gregory Carlson, of Corning, were transported by Adams County Rescue to Alegent Hospital in Corning, following the crash at around 4:45-p.m.

Officials say Sheriff Johannes was responding to a call while traveling eastbound on 200th Street as Carlson was traveling north on Kale Avenue. As the 2011 Ford F-150 pickup Johannes was driving topped a small hill, he saw Carlson’s 2008 Ford SUV entering the intersection. The Sheriff tried to stop, but his pickup slid on the gravel, and collided with the SUV.

Following the collision, both vehicles came to rest in a ditch. Johannes was treated for minor injuries at the hospital, and released. There was no word on Carlson’s condition.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a two-vehicle accident Monday, on the Hamburg Road. Officials say vehicles driven by 38-year old Shauna Dorine Holaday, of Massena, and 22-year old Brett Alan Westfall, of Adair, collided at the crest of a hill.

Holaday’s 2003 Kia Sedona sustained an estimated $6,000 damage, while the damage to Westfall’s 1999 Ford pickup was estimated at $5,000. The Sheriff’s Department says Westfall was cited for Driving Under Suspension, No Valid License, and Failure to Yield One Half of Roadway.

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) – A judge has set bond at $1 million for a woman charged with fatally shooting a man in her western Iowa home nearly a decade ago. Tracey Ann Richter-Roberts is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Dustin Wehde in December 2001. She was arrested last month in Omaha, Neb. and brought to Iowa, where she had been held without bond in the Sac County jail.

A bond hearing was held last week. Judge Gary McMinimee set her bond today (Tuesday). Richter-Roberts claimed she shot Wehde in self-defense after he and another man broke into her house in Early. No charges were brought against her at the time. The investigation was reopened in 2009. Authorities arrested Richter-Roberts after finding new evidence, which they have declined to describe.

Police in Atlantic report the arrest Monday, of 32-year old Tara Campbell, of Atlantic. Campbell was taken into custody on a charge of Illegal Possession of Prescription Drugs. Campbell was booked into the Cass County Jail and held, pending a court appearance.

And, an accident Monday afternoon at 7^th and Palm Streets caused $3,000 damage, but no one was injured. Officials say Suzanne Just, of Atlantic, was cited for failure to yield from a stop sign, after her vehicle struck a vehicle driven by Clayton Sheeder, of Elliott.

The accident happened at around 2:30-p.m., as Just was traveling north at the intersection of 7^th and Palm. According to Atlantic Police, when Just pulled away from the stop sign, she failed to see Sheeder’s approaching vehicle, due to vehicles parked near the intersection.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County report an Audubon man was arrested Monday evening. 26-year old Shawn Leroy Schmidt was charged with OWI, Driving Under Suspension and Having No Insurance. The charges were the result of a traffic stop on Highway 44.

Schmidt was released from custody after appearing before a magistrate, who also set the date for his preliminary hearing.