Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 4:00 a.m. CDT
NEWELL, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Storm Lake man has died after the agricultural sprayer he was driving was hit by a train at a rural northwestern Iowa railroad crossing. The Sioux City Journal reports that the crash happened Wednesday morning, killing 33-year-old Kyle Drey. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Buena Vista County Sheriff Kory Elston says the crash happened about four miles northwest of Newell.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A 34-year-old Waterloo man who sent threatening tweets to U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst has been sentenced to six years in federal prison. Federal prosecutors say Joseph Hilton Dierks was sentenced Wednesday in Cedar Rapids’ federal courthouse. Prosecutors had said Dierks sent Ernst several threatening tweets in August, one which suggested he would shoot her and included a link to a 2010 movie in which a man shoots a woman in the head and kills her.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have launched a second investigation into the suspected misuse of public money by an employee at an Iowa soil and water conservation district. The latest investigation centers on the Jasper County Soil and Water Conservation District in Newton. A similar audit and criminal investigation have been going on for months into an employee who allegedly embezzled funds while working as an assistant in the districts based in Black Hawk and Bremer counties.
DUNKERTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say they’re investigating the death of a child in northeastern Iowa. The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office says deputies and medics were called to a Dunkerton home around 7:40 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a child not breathing. Officials say the child was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and pronounced dead. An autopsy has been ordered.