Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press
DANVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A rail line in southeast Iowa is closed for repairs and cleanup after a coal train derailed. Authorities say more than 20 cars left the tracks Monday morning near Danville when the train struck a road grader.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad is rejecting a request that the state delay penalizing health care providers that don’t quickly sign contracts with the private companies set to run Iowa’s Medicaid program. Branstad said Monday that there was no need to change the timeline. Democratic lawmakers asked the state to delay the penalties that will hit providers that don’t sign up by Jan. 1.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Forecasters are warning 63 million people in the central U.S. to have an eye out for bad weather this week as colliding air masses threaten to generate high winds and possibly tornadoes. The threat Wednesday stretches from San Antonio to Chicago to Cincinnati. Missouri, southern Illinois and northern Arkansas face the greatest severe weather threat.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Polk county board is set to vote on a development agreement between board of a proposed $101 million convention hotel for downtown Des Moines. The nonprofit Iowa Events Center Hotel Corp. board, established by Polk County and the city, has approved six agreements that outline the hotel’s appearance and financing. Plans calls for the 330-room hotel, built on the southwest side of the Iowa Events Center, to open by December 2017.