Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Dozens of Davenport residents have reported sewer backups and flooded basements following heavy rainfall. Melissa Logsdon told the Quad-City Times that water was ankle deep around stairs in her basement and that her “whole house smells like a sewer right now.” The National Weather Service says between 2.5 and 4.5 inches of rain fell across parts of Johnson, Muscatine and Scott counties in Iowa and Rock Island County in Illinois on Monday.

PALO, Iowa (AP) — The water level of a Linn County lake will be lowered next month to allow for work to improve its shoreline. Paul Sleeper, a state fisheries management biologist, tells KCRG-TV that a part of Pleasant Creek Lake’s shoreline is eroding. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources plans to lower the lake’s level by at least 12 feet beginning in August.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man in Iowa in connection with a stabbing death in Texas. The U.S. Marshals Service says 23-year-old Noe Trevino of Abilene, Texas, was arrested Wednesday near an apartment complex in Des Moines.

BEDFORD, Iowa (AP) — The father of a 3-year-old girl slain in southwest Iowa now faces a murder charge. The Omaha World-Herald reports that new charge was filed last week against 25-year-old Charles Hall, who is from Chicago. Hall originally was charged with child endangerment resulting in serious injury, the same charged filed against his girlfriend, 25-year-old April Clair, who is from Bedford, Iowa.

The teenaged driver of a Chrysler PT Cruiser and four teenage passengers escaped injury during an accident Tuesday evening about nine-miles north of Clarinda, in Page County. The Sheriff’s Office says 15-year old Brandon Ray Kammerer, of Clarinda, was driving the car southbound on Quince Avenue at around 8-p.m. Tuesday, when the vehicle went out of control and hit a power pole.

Passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident included 16-year old Joslyn Renea Dale, 14-year old Collin Steven Gregory, 16-year old Dylan Gregory Dalton, and 15-year old Amber Rae Anne Foster.  Each of the vehicles’ occupants were released to their parents or guardians.

Kammerer was cited for Careless driving and Failure to have a valid driver’s license.

A former Denison resident was sentenced Monday to a maximum of five-years in prison in connection with the May 11th assault of a Crawford County Jailer. 20 year old Jayden Chapman is currently incarcerated in the Anamosa State Penitentiary. His telephone hearing took place before Judge Jeffrey Poulson.

The plea agreement Chapman accepted specified that, “an indeterminate term of imprisonment, not to exceed five years, shall be imposed.” Chapman had also been charged with attempted escape from custody, but that charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement. The new sentence will run concurrently with the two consecutive life sentences Chapman is now serving for the March 10, 2014, murders of 81-year old Alice Huisenga, of Arcadia, and 80-year old Marvin Huelsing, of Maple River. Chapman was convicted of their murders on May 5th.

The Crawford County Attorney says while awaiting sentencing, Chapman, who was in the exercise area of the Crawford County jail, went to a locked door to tell the jailer that he had a bloody nose. When the jailer opened the door to attend to him, Chapman “grabbed the door handle, pulled the door open and bodily assaulted her,” according to Prosecutor Roger Sailer.

Chapman then forced the jailer to the floor, punched her with his fist, choked her with his hands, and choked her with his arm from behind, while holding her body with his legs. Sailer says when Chapman heard others coming, he released the jailer and ran down a hallway to another part of the jail, where he was apprehended and placed in a restraining chair.

There’s good consumer news for Iowans who use liquid propane — from backyard grillers to farmers and homeowners. Propane prices are at an all-time low, according to Harold Hommes, an energy analyst at the Iowa Department of Agriculture. Hommes says those who grill probably won’t notice a difference, but he says the impact will be significant for the two-thousand or so Iowans who heat their homes with L-P.

“People are just now taking advantage of summer fills and buying opportunities where they try to lock in their needs for the winter,” Hommes says. “I think they’re going to be fairly happy with the results and where they can lock in those values.” Just how good are those values? In the winter of 2013, propane prices hit a record five-dollars per gallon due to increased exports and high demand from farmers needing it to dry grain. This summer, Hommes says many suppliers are offering the gas significantly cheaper.

“Depending on different locations in the state, anywhere from 70 to 95 cents and the dollar mark,” Hommes says, “but certainly a very favorable value compared to where we were at just a couple years ago.” Just like gasoline, Hommes says L-P inventories are up and foreign investors are not finding it as attractive as it’s been in the past.

(Radio Iowa)