Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A push to add language to the Iowa Constitution that ensures the rights of crime victims is moving through the Legislature despite opposition from a crime victims group and prosecutors as well as problems in other states that have enacted similar laws. The law has bipartisan support and the backing of Gov. Kim Reynolds, but others argue the legislation could ultimately hurt victims by siphoning money away from programs that now help them.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A senior center in southeast Iowa may have to close due to a loss of funding from the county. The Hawk Eye reports that the Des Moines County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday on a list of cuts to make from proposed budget increases. The board cut out $12,000 requested by the Steamboat Senior Center in Burlington. Closing the center would force senior citizens to find a new place to play card games and bingo.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine what caused a house fire in central Iowa that caused a 70-year-old woman’s death this weekend. The Knoxville Police and Fire Departments said crews responded to a fire shortly after midnight Sunday, and found a home filled with smoke and two adults sitting on the front porch.

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) — Archer Daniels Midland plans to invest $196 million in its grain processing plant in Clinton, Iowa. The Quad-City Times reports the project will update the machinery inside the plant and expand the facility.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine what caused a house fire in central Iowa that caused a 70-year-old woman’s death this weekend. The Knoxville Police and Fire Departments said crews responded to a fire shortly after midnight Sunday, and found a home filled with smoke and two adults sitting on the front porch.

The two victims were placed in a police car to get them out of the weather, and then the woman became unresponsive. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she died. Her name wasn’t immediately released.

Authorities are working to determine the cause of the fire.

A teenager from Clarinda who was reported missing last week, was found safe. The Page County Sheriff’s Office reports 15-year-old Cheyenne Rose Fahey was located, Saturday. The runaway was reporting missing at 5:20 pm on Monday. No other information was released.

Cheyenne Fahey

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A senior center in southeast Iowa may have to close due to a loss of funding from the county.

The Des Moines County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday on a list of cuts to make from proposed budget increases. The board ended up cutting out $12,000 requested by the Steamboat Senior Center in Burlington, the Hawk Eye reported .

Without the money to continue operating, “it’s going to be pretty hard to keep this place going,” said Helen Rawlings, the center’s president. “We won’t be here very long then, I guess,” Rawlings said. “I don’t know where we’re going to get the money.”

The requested $12,000 is what the center’s vice president, Marilyn Leight, estimated will be needed to cover the utility bills in the coming year. The center leases the building from the city of Burlington for free. The center cost more than $1,500 last month to run, but it brought in less than $400 in revenue.

Golden Oldies events and card game fees were the center’s biggest sources of revenue last month. Leight said the card game fee is a sore subject to talk about.
“We have to charge our seniors to play cards in the center because we need the money,” she told supervisors in a budget hearing last month. “Every time someone comes in to play cards, we have to charge them a dollar.”

Des Moines County gave the center $4,500 in fiscal 2016, and $1,500 last year, according to the county auditor’s office. Supervisors said to completely eliminate the funding this past week. “I can’t see where we can do anything for something non-mandated,” said Jim Cary, board chairman. “With the budget like this, we can’t do anything for any non-mandated entities.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A push to add language to the Iowa Constitution ensuring the rights of crime victims is moving through the Legislature despite opposition from a crime victims group and prosecutors.

The law has bipartisan support and the backing of Gov. Kim Reynolds, but others argue the legislation could ultimately hurt victims by siphoning money away from other programs that now help them.

Critics point to other states with similar legislation, like South Dakota, where lawmakers are currently trying to alter language added to the state constitution in 2016 to reduce the unintentional burden on county attorneys’ offices.

But supporters of Iowa’s proposal say lawmakers learned from other states and designed the amendment to avoid added burden to a court system facing budget cuts and reduced courthouse staffing.