Residents of Audubon are being asked to conserve water effective immediately. Ed Mahlstadt, with the City of Audubon Public Works, said at 5:55-p.m., there was an issue with the water plant in Audubon, and until the matter is resolved, please conserve water. He said a 10-inch main coming down from the water tower that circles back toward the water plant, has a 32-inch split in it. Crews have excavated a hole and a replacement pipe is being readied to install. In the meantime, residents are asked to conserve water where possible. Mahlstadt said the water is safe, they just need people to conserve usage for about three hours.

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A jury has found northwest Iowa man guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of an Emmet County man. Sioux City television station KTIV reports that the verdict was for a lesser offense than the first-degree charge prosecutors had brought against 19-year-old Lee Christensen. Christensen was found guilty in the June 2015 shooting death of 19-year-old Thomas Bortvit at the Christensen farm in the Estherville area.

Defense attorneys acknowledged that Christensen killed Bortvit, but argued that it was a killing in the heat of passion over Bortvit’s girlfriend, whom Christensen had once dated. Prosecutors said Christensen planned the killing and tried to cover up his crime. Christensen’s sentencing is set for Sept. 16, when he faces up to 50 years in prison.

A boating collision that resulted in one vessel sinking to the bottom of the Missouri River is being investigated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The collision occurred just after 10 p.m. Friday when a 24-foot boat operated by 45-year old Corey Fuller, of Omaha, Neb., collided with another boat being operated by 43-year old Anthony Wilson, of Bellevue, Neb.., on the Missouri River near Council Bluffs.

The boat operated by Fuller sunk to the bottom of the river following the collision. Fuller and a passenger on his boat, 42-year old Kristine Schwab, also of Omaha, Neb., were rescued from the water by another boat. They were not wearing life jackets, but did have life jackets with them. Anthony Wilson’s wife, 37-year old Deanne Wilson,  suffered minor injuries in the collision and was treated and released from Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs. Neither of the Wilsons were thrown in the water as a result of the collision.

Alcohol was not a factor in the collision. The incident remains under investigation by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Governor Terry Branstad and Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds have announced their upcoming weekly schedule, which includes stops in Atlantic, Audubon, Harlan and Council Bluffs. Governor Branstad will be in the area next Friday (July 8th), beginning with a 9-a.m. visit to AMVC Veterinary Services, in Audubon.

From there he will travel to Harlan, where Branstad will attend an Agriculture Industry Town Hall meeting hosted by the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, beginning at 10:30-a.m.  Afterward, both the Governor and Lt. Governor will speak at the 33rd Annual Governor’s Volunteer Award recognition ceremony at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, beginning at 1-p.m.

The next leg of Branstad’s trip takes him to Atlantic, where at 3-p.m. next Friday, he’ll tour Rex Pharmacy, which the McKesson Corporation on June 27th, named Health Mart Pharmacy of the Year for 2016. The Governor’s last stop in Atlantic at 3:30-p.m., will be for a tour of the Historic Whitney Inn, the upper floors of which are being converted into mature adult apartments and living spaces. The three-story Victorian-era Boss Hotel was built in 1890, and is on the list of the National Register of Historic Places.