Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A state prosecutor was told to drop an inquiry into Iowa State University President Steven Leath’s damage of a school airplane after the Iowa Board of Regents’ top lawyer contacted his boss’s office. State officials confirmed Wednesday that prosecutor Rob Sand sought and obtained public records about Leath’s plane accident. The inquiry was dropped because it was inappropriate for prosecutors to conduct criminal investigations, the attorney general’s office says.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says Republicans “can’t just simply stonewall” nominees to the Supreme Court even if the president making the choice is Democrat Hillary Clinton. Sen. Chuck Grassley made the comments to Iowa radio reporters on Tuesday. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona had vowed on Monday that Republicans would unite against any nominee Clinton puts forward if she becomes president.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has visited an Islamic center in Waterloo that was vandalized over the weekend. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Albright was in town to campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But after learning of the vandalism _ in which GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s last name was spray-painted on a center wall _ Albright added a stop at the center.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A Davenport man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for providing a fatal dose of heroin to a woman in May 2015. The Quad-City Times reports that 30-year-old Kiel James Kiwala was sentenced Monday in Davenport’s U.S. District Court. There is no parole in the federal system. Kiwala pleaded guilty in June to one count of distribution of heroin resulting in death.

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green presented his annual report to the City Council, Wednesday night. Green said his department handled 7,217 calls over the past year and made over 1,000 traffic stops but only wrote 396 tickets. They also took over 388 incident reports, including burglaries, etc.  241 people were arrested and incarcerated. Simple misdemeanor offenses such as shoplifting, resulted in citations instead of arrest, due to jail overcrowding and expenses. He said also, that while other law enforcement agencies make a habit of making daily announcements on drug busts and other arrests, his officers work under the radar and put out what information they can, without hindering their undercover operations. Sometimes those operations span several months so all the suspects can be rounded-up and prosecuted.

Green told the Council his officers also spent a lot of volunteer time in service to the community such as “Shop with a Cop,” and other programs for children, families and emergency services.  He said he’s been asked a lot over the past year if the Atlantic Police Department will be getting body cameras. He said they tested five different models of cameras this past year, with each model tested in various modes for several weeks, each.

He says a system called “WatchGuard” (https://watchguardvideo.com/) is the best and most durable they’ve tested. The price tag of $52,220 includes five in-car systems along with the 12 body camera systems, a warranty and a three-year software license for each officer. The City of Des Moines recently contracted for the same system.

Green has about $20,000 available in his budget. City Administrator John Lund said Green is currently under budget, so coming up with the funds won’t be a problem, and if any adjustments need to be made, they can come from the next fiscal year that begins in July. That option was preferable to a more expensive three-year lease agreement for the cameras and equipment, that includes a seven-percent interest rate. That would have pushed the total cost to more than $62,000. It takes at least eight-weeks for the system to arrive once the contracts are negotiated with the company and signed.

Green announced also, that if he’s elected to the Board of Supervisors in November, he will be retiring as Police Chief at the end of December. He said also, Officer Cody Eckles will be leaving the Police force at the end of December, to accept a Chief Deputy Sheriff’s position in Shelby County.

The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening heard from representatives with Mediacom with regard to the future of high-speed fiber optic internet service for business and residential customers. They also heard from members of the business community who expressed concern the problem with obtaining faster service would not be solved any time soon. Mediacom Government Affairs Director Lee Grassley told the Council a big announcement is coming in January about a major service upgrade that would be implemented within the next year.

Grassley their initiative toward faster service “Project Gigabyte” began with an announcement in March 2016 in honor of the company’s 20^th Anniversary. Grassley said  their CEO, Rocco Commisso pledged and extra billion dollars over the next three-years to bring gigabyte-level service to the door of every Mediacom subscriber or who has passed-by the company in favor of another service. Grassley said the initial pledge was to have their nationwide footprint done by the end of 2018.

Mediacom’s Lee Grassley addresses the Atlantic City Council

He said they have tested the gigabyte system in Columbia, Missouri for the past 13 months, and that they are ready to implement the service elsewhere. He said in January 2017, there will be a formal announcement in Des Moines with Governor Branstad present, where the Governor and Commisso will lay out the timetable for Iowa. Grassley said “I think that you will be pleasantly surprised and happy with the timetable.” He declined to provide further details, though.

As for a possible working agreement with the City of Atlantic for improved fiber-to-business service, Grassley said “We want to be a friend and a partner to the folks here. All we ask is that you allow us, and find out what we have to offer.” Scott Bennett, an Information Technology Specialist who was in the audience at Wednesday night’s meeting, said the business community needs better internet service than what is currently available, and he encouraged the Council to find a way to invest in the infrastructure that would allow local control and money to stay in Atlantic.

Bennett said business leaders he’s spoken with want a local provider who is ready to invest in the future of the city. Mayor Dave Jones said he’s checked with other cities like Indianola, that have a City-owned utility for fiber-optic service, and has concluded the debt is too much of a burden for the City to carry.

Mediacom Local Area Operations Manager Beau Hicks said they want to bring their fiber optic specialist to town to meet with the Chamber and Economic Development officials to discuss the matter further, and continue talks with the City about their future capabilities and services.

A woman arrested Tuesday in Page County for Driving Under Suspension has warrants for her arrest in Audubon and Carroll Counties. Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer says 22-year old Lacey Ann Malson, of Yorktown, was arrested following a traffic stop by a Page County Deputy east of Yorktown.  Malson was operating a Mercury Mountaineer registered to Dave Holste also of Yorktown.

She was transported to the Page County Jail and faces three separate counts of Possession of Prescription Medication without a prescription in Page County, along with the Driving Under Suspension charge.

Lacey Ann Malson

Malson was being held in the Page County Jail on $1000 bond.  She will be transferred to Audubon and Carroll Counties when the Page County charges have been satisfied or bonds paid.

Audubon & Carroll Counties have custody holds on Malson on four separate warrants.

(12-p.m. News)