AMES, Iowa (AP) – An audit is questioning whether Iowa State University President Steven Leath violated policy by storing and transporting firearms in campus housing and airplanes without written approvals. A Board of Regents report says ISU has no documentation that Leath applied for and received waivers required to bring guns on school property. Leath stores firearms at the president’s mansion, the Knoll, and has brought them on university planes to hunt during fundraising trips.

University policy bans weapons, without advanced approvals for storage and transportation. The report says Leath received verbal approval to store weapons at the Knoll following a campus police inspection.

ISU says Leath believed that approval also applied to transportation and that documentation likely existed but couldn’t be found due to administrators’ retirements. Leath’s obtaining a new waiver. The audit came after the Bleeding Heartland blog reported in November that Leath’s hunting trips likely violated the weapons policy.

Iowa State University expects to lose tens of thousands of dollars unloading an airplane it purchased 2 1/2 years ago for his President Steven Leath’s travel. A notice seeking a broker to handle the sale says Iowa State will likely list the 2011 Cirrus between $429,000 and $480,000, and is willing to negotiate to have it sold within 90 days.

That range is less than what a university statement called the “exceptional price” of $498,000 it paid in 2014 – before the broker gets paid a likely five-figure fee. Such depreciation wouldn’t be unusual. But Leath told reporters in December that he expected to make money or break even on the planned sale, announced the day an audit found he used it for a mix of official and personal business.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, has a full agenda to work through. They’ll start out at 5:30-p.m. in their chambers at City Hall, with a Public Hearing with regard to signage for a local roofing and siding company whose office is at 700 Walnut Street. Business owner Scott Prociw, on Feb. 1st, requested a hearing about issues he has with the City requiring him to remove four large signs on his property, that just happen to be blocking the view of a building to the south, where Mayor Dave Jones has his insurance office. Three other businesses are also located in the same building as Jones’ office.

The issue is whether the signs are legal under the City Zoning Ordinance. The City claims no permit was submitted prior to the signs being erected, that the minimum elevation does not meet 10-feet, and that there is a limit of two signs on the property. Prociw obtained a permit in January for a sign currently exists on the building itself. Under the Code, at least three of the other signs must be removed. City Administrator John Lund is expected to recommend the Council take no action on the matter, and instead allow Prociw to request a meeting of the Board of Adjustment, at a cost to him of $150. He could also request multiple variances costing $200 each, according to Lund. If Prociw does not want to state his case in front of the BoA, Lund will recommend the signs in the parking lot be removed.

In other business, the Council will act on an order to Adopt the Proposed FY 2018 City of Atlantic Budget, and set the date/time for a Public Hearing on Budget as March 1st, 2017, at 5:30-p.m.  The final budget must be submitted to the State of Iowa by March 15th. The proposed budget amounts to just under $12.5-million, which is a decrease over the FY 2017 budget of 14.78%, or more than $1.847-million.

The Budget calls for a property tax increase of 1.48-percent.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday, will hear from a representative with Wellmark Insurance, with regard to the FY2016 Group Health program, and act on renewal of the program for FY2018. The Board will also act on appointing a Weed Commissioner for March 2017 through February 2018, and set the date for a Public Hearing on the FY-2017-18 Cass County Budget. The meeting begins 8:30-a.m. Wednesday in the Supervisors’ Board Room at the Cass County Courthouse.

In Greenfield, the Adair County Board of Supervisors meeting gets underway at 9:30-a.m. (which is 1/2 hour later than normal), in the Court Room at the Adair County Courthouse. During their session, the Board will discuss and/or act on Township Clerk wages, receive follow-up correspondence from/with the DNR, with regard to Solid Waste, and hear from Wellmark representative Lacie Litton, with regard to Health Insurance Renewal.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he spoke with Republicans in neighboring Iowa as they prepared to vote on a bill that would eliminate most collective bargaining rights for public workers there. Walker’s signature achievement as governor was signing a similar bill into law in Wisconsin six years ago. Walker tweeted on Monday night that he had spoken via Skype with Iowa Republicans and offered encouraging words to them in advance of a vote Tuesday on the proposal.

Walker’s spokesman Tom Evenson says that Walker discussed how Republicans overcame protests to pass Wisconsin’s law, known as Act 10. Evenson says Walker also showed photos from the protests on the call with the Iowa Senate and House Republican caucuses. Evenson says Iowa Senate Republicans initiated the contact with Walker.

The Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature is moving to approve a bill that would cut most collective bargaining rights for public sector employees. The bill is scheduled for floor debate today (Tuesday) in the House and Senate, one week after it was made public. Republican lawmakers fast-tracked the legislation amid growing protests at the state Capitol. Hundreds turned out Monday night for a public hearing.

Procedural moves in both legislative chambers could take hours. Iowa’s collective bargaining law currently ensures roughly 180,000 public workers such as teachers, nurses and correctional officers can negotiate over issues including health insurance, extra pay and grievances. The bill would specifically prohibit those discussions, though a key GOP lawmaker says there may be changes to the bill.

Republicans say the legislation will give local officials more flexibility with budgets.

The driver of a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee escaped injury Monday morning, when he stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the SUV to strike a pickup and a Subway sandwich shop, in Glenwood. According to Glenwood Police, the accident happened at around 10:40-a.m., Monday. 65-year old Paul Alan Krietemyer, of Glenwood, was driving the SUV when the incident occurred.

The Jeep struck a legally parked 2012 Dodge Ram pickup, which in-turn hit a legally parked unoccupied 2013 Dodge Dart. After striking the unoccupied pickup, the Jeep continued moving forward before striking the building, causing a brick external wall to crack. Damage to the building was estimated at $5,000. The vehicles sustained a combined $11,500 damage. No citations were issued.

And, the Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Tuesday) reports two recent arrests. 55-year old Terry Wayne Lewis, of Malvern, was arrested at around 2:10-a.m. today (Tuesday), for OWI/1st offense, and Carrying a Weapon. His bond was set at $3,000. Monday evening, 23-year old Rocky Alan James Runyon, of Glenwood, was arrested following a traffic stop, for Possession of a Controlled Substance, and on a warrant for Probation Violation. His bond was also set at $3,000.