SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Sioux City man accused of firing at a Woodbury County sheriff’s deputy has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. The Sioux City Journal reports that 24-year-old Melvin Spencer entered the plea Friday before in Woodbury County District Court. His trial has been set for May 9.

Authorities say a deputy had tried to pull over a vehicle carrying Spencer around 3:30 a.m. Feb. 26. The chase ended when the vehicle stopped south of the Sioux Gateway Airport. Authorities say Spencer opened fire at the deputy, who shot back.

Another man in the vehicle was injured during the shootout and hospitalized. The deputy and Spencer weren’t injured. Authorities say Spencer fled on foot, but was caught a few hours later.

The Iowa legislature has voted to narrow the window for Iowans to file lawsuits about construction complaints. Under current law, Iowans have 15 years to take legal action after discovering construction defects in their home or business. The bill that has cleared both the House and Senate would give homeowners a decade to file a lawsuit over serious flaws in construction. Commercial property owners would have an eight year window for these kind of lawsuits that aren’t about injuries to people, but alleged faults in the construction. Representative Kevin Koester, a Republican from Ankeny, says Iowa is out of step with every other state and contractors here have to pay more for insurance.

“This bill is good for our state,” Koester says. “It will reduce costs. Over time that’ll have a calming effect also on premiums. Over time, there will be lower cost, actually, of that kind of insurance.” Koester says the bill aligns with the G-O-P’s pledge to reduce regulations. “Protection and regulation come with a cost,” Koester says. “Homebuilders inform us that 25 percent of the cost of new home construction is strictly from the cost of regulation on building that home.”

Representative Mary Wolfe, a Democrat from Clinton, says the bill helps negligent contractors who do things like use shoddy materials. “Taking away protections from everyday Iowans who are just trying to buy a house that will last them the rest of their lives,” Wolfe said.

Representative Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the narrower time frame for lawsuits about construction faults may prevent homeowners from getting compensated for defects like black mold that often appear long after construction. “Your average, every day person is getting completely rolled on this,” Meyer said.

The bill advanced out of the Iowa Senate with the votes of all the Republicans and a couple of Democrats. It was a party-line vote when the bill cleared the House earlier this week. It’s now headed to Governor Branstad for his consideration. Former Republican Governor Robert Ray vetoed similar legislation in 1980 and former Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack rejected a bill like this in 2001.

(Radio Iowa)

Some Iowa law enforcement officials question the accuracy of a Homeland Security report listing jurisdictions refusing to cooperate with federal requests to hold undocumented immigrants. President Trump signed an executive order in January calling on the government to document jurisdictions not cooperating with federal efforts to find and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

According to the Des Moines Register, the first list released Monday cited 206 examples of immigrants who were said to have been released from custody by local jails despite requests from federal agents. According to the report, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued 12 detention requests to Montgomery County and five requests to Franklin County during the week of January 28th to February 3rd.

Montgomery County ranked fourth nationally among non-compliant jurisdictions for the number of detainers it received during that week, according to the report. But Montgomery County Sheriff Joe Sampson and Franklin County Sheriff Linn Larson, both Republicans, told the Register their departments did not receive any detainer requests during that period.

Sampson says his department has not been contacted by anyone from ICE since October. Larson said his department has proactively flagged ICE to check the immigration status of five people since the start of the year.

(Mike Peterson/Radio Iowa – Shenandoah)

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports numerous warrants were served to inmates at the Pott. County Jail, and several arrests were made in other cases. Among them: 67-year old Franklin Dean Jensen, of Neola, who was arrested Thursday afternoon on warrants for OWI/2nd offense, Driving While Revoked, and a second Driving While Revoked charge, for Failure to Appear. He was taken into custody at his home at around 3:40-p.m., with bond set at a combined $20,000 for the two OWI-related charges.

And, an employee of a restaurant in Crescent was arrested Thursday night for Possession of a Controlled Substance and Drug Paraphernalia. 26-year old Holly Lynne McDaniel, of Council Bluffs, was arrested at the restaurant for allegedly having a clear plastic bag with about 1.5 grams  of a white crystal substance believed to be Meth, and paraphernalia that included syringes, a spoon, stamp bags and a box.