(Radio Iowa) — A bill passed by both houses of Congress would roll back state jurisdiction on Iowa’s Meskwaki settlement. Since 1948, state officials have been able to prosecute crimes by Native Americans on Native land. That’s resulted in some tribal members being tried twice for the same crime, in tribal court and state court, according to Meskwaki Attorney General Jay Finch.  “We felt that was fundamentally unjust and unfair that Native Americans were being prosecuted twice for the same offense,” Finch says, “or were being exposed to increased fines and incarceration.”

Federal lawmakers have approved a bill that would repeal the 70-year-old law, a move Finch says would reassert the tribe’s sovereignty. The bill is now heading to President Trump’s desk. Under that original law, Finch says, justice was not being served. “Which basically resulted in tribal members being charged twice for the same act on their land,” Finch says, “whereas, as a non-Native who committed a criminal offense on the settlement would only get prosecuted once in state court.”

In 1948, Congress gave the state of Iowa criminal jurisdiction over the Meskwaki settlement. At the time, the tribe didn’t have a formal court system, but that’s changed over the past 70 years.

(Thanks to Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports a man from Slater informed authorities early Sunday morning, that sometime between 10-p.m. Saturday and 2-a.m. Sunday, his vehicle was entered while it was parked at 910 N. Clayton Street, in Afton. Taken was $60 in cash, an EMS light bar, radar detector and prescription sunglasses. The loss was estimated at $1,085.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Tons of paper meant to be recycled was instead dumped into a Des Moines landfill because of plunging prices for the material. Mid America Recycling President Mick Barry tells the Des Moines Register that about 20 tons of paper a day ended up in the landfill this summer. The company processes the metro area’s recyclables. Cities have been struggling to get rid of recyclables since China tightened standards on what it would accept about two years ago.

Des Moines’ recycling program is expected to see a $50,000 deficit next fiscal year, compared to $320,000 in revenue in 2017. The city is looking to raise its solid waste fee by 2 percent next year to help cover losses. Metro Waste Authority, which handles recycling for the metro’s suburbs, has also seen costs increase.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County report a Honey Creek man was arrested late Friday night, following an investigation into an injury accident. At around 10:15-p.m., a Sheriff’s Deputy  was dispatched to 17673 Heritage Lane, where someone had struck a power pole. Pott. County Dispatch said also, the driver of the 2014Chevy Silverado pickup had been seen walking northbound on Old Lincoln Highway. Upon arrival, the driver of the vehicle could not immediately be located. The driver – identified as 45-year old Darin Jason Thompson, of Honey Creek – was eventually located at his residence and was arrested at around 11:35-p.m., for operating while intoxicated and driving while revoked.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — An eastern Iowa woman accused letting seven children live surrounded by garbage, rotten food and feces has been given probation. Dubuque County court records say 35-year-old Tiesha Martin pleaded guilty last month to seven counts of child endangerment. She was given two years of probation and deferred judgments. Deferred judgments allow Martin’s convictions in the case to be removed from court records if she fulfills her probation terms.

The records say police and a social worker checking on the children at Martin’s Dubuque residence Jan. 2 found the squalid conditions and say the children were sharing just one bedroom and bed. Jermaine Watson is the father of Martin’s youngest child, and he pleaded guilty to child endangerment and two drug counts. He’s been given two years of probation.

MEAD, Neb. (AP) — A pickup truck passenger has been fatally injured in a collision with a semitrailer in eastern Nebraska’s Saunders County. The accident occurred around 7 p.m. Sunday on Nebraska Highway 92 about a mile and a half west of Mead. The Saunders County Sheriff’s Office says the eastbound pickup went out of control and was struck broadside by the westbound semi, which was being driven by 53-year-old James Cooler, of Smithland, Iowa.

The sheriff’s office says the passenger was pronounced dead at a hospital in Wahoo. Another eastbound pickup sustained minor damage when it collided with the other pickup. The names of the others involved have not been released.