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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The head of Iowa’s agriculture department is once again asking state leaders for financial help to prepare for potential animal diseases like bird flu. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says his request Monday for $500,000 would be used to train livestock farmers to increase biosecurity efforts when responding to outbreaks involving foreign diseases like bird flu, which hit the state in 2015. The request mirrors Northey’s unsuccessful request one year ago to combat the same issue.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Crews have completed the first phase of a project to move freshwater mussels as part of the construction of a new bridge across the Mississippi River linking Iowa and Illinois. The Quad-City Times reports that the first phase began in August and was completed in early November. Officials say about 140,600 mussels were moved, including 886 that are federally protected. The second phase of the project will take place before demolition of the existing span.

MARION, Iowa (AP) — Linn County officials will spend $7.2 million to buy 485 acres of land and expand a park. KCRG-TV reports the Linn County Board of Supervisors on Monday announced the purchase of the land, which will expand the nearly 700 acre Squaw Creek Park, near Marion. The county will finance the purchase with money from a local options sales tax designated for conservation projects. The county also will tap money from bonds, budget reserves and the future sale of other land.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified two people killed early Saturday when their car slid across a freeway in Cedar Rapids and slammed into a patrol car. Cedar Rapids police Monday identified those killed as 21-year-old Martrell Demetrius Watson and 22-year-old Kaitlyn Marie Hall-Stougard, both of Cedar Rapids. Police say the crash happened when Watson lost control of a car on Interstate 380 and it crashed into a Cedar Rapids patrol car. Two Cedar Rapids officers were treated for minor injuries.

Iowans will send tens of thousands of holiday packages over the next few weeks and the U-S Postal Service wants those shipping an item to take safety precautions. Postal Inspector Dave Margritz, in the Omaha-Council Bluffs office, says the number-one rule is do not send cash. Write a check or use a money order instead. “Technically, they can still attempt to forge that and use it,” he says, “but then we have investigative leads that we can track, whereas cash is pretty much gone if it’s stolen.”

Margritz says the free tracking option also provides peace of mind. “You can track packages in real time,” he says, “You can set up alerts, say I want to be texted or emailed whenever there’s a changes in delivery status, or you can specify only when it’s delivered.” Margritz says there are options for senders to ensure a safer delivery. One way is to hold a package for pickup.

“It’s held, so they have to go get it. You can also require a signature, so they have to sign for it and it won’t just be left on the porch, so you know that someone got it,” Margritz says. “That eliminates any controversy.” Margritz says getting a tracking number helps the sender and receiver know when a delivery is likely. He also suggests insuring packages with high-priced items inside.

“It doesn’t cost very much,” Margritz says. “People are used to insuring their house, their car, their life. If you’re getting something for hundreds of dollars or even thousands of dollars, spend a little bit extra and have it insured, because that would definitely pay off, if something did happen to it.”

The U-S Postal Service estimates it will deliver 590-million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

(Radio Iowa)

Sixty-seven full-time job vacancies at the Iowa Department of Transportation will not be filled in the coming year, but D-O-T officials are asking the governor and legislators to set aside six-point-two MILLION dollars to cover pay increases as well as higher insurance costs for employees who are still on the payroll. Mark Lowe will become interim director of the Iowa D-O-T tomorrow (Tuesday).

“We’re smaller than we’ve ever been,” Lowe says. “We are a third smaller than we were in 1997. We are almost 30 percent smaller than we were in 2009 and and 20 percent smaller than we were in 2010 and so we’ve really made that trajectory to smaller government aggressively.”

But Lowe says the agency cannot easily cover the cost of negotiated pay and benefit hikes, so that’s why the D-O-T’s proposed budget includes additional money for those items. Last spring, Republican legislators balked at a similar request from D-O-T, since all other state agencies are forced to absorb those costs. Lowe says the D-O-T needs the “adjustment” of more money so it can offer the level of services Iowans expect, things like clearing snow from roads and issuing driver’s licenses.

“We have very, very public-facing and impactful services that have to happen every day,” Lowe says. “…There comes a point at which you can’t get smaller without breaking those things and I think that’s one of the things that happened last year. As you start to put that in that crucible, it finally breaks. You finally can’t keep up with an exponential rate of reduction.”

Lowe says after shedding a significant number of full-time employees over the past 20 years, the D-O-T needs to “level off” in terms of its workforce and focus on maintaining its services. There are 26-hundred-32 full-time employees working in the D-O-T today.

(Radio Iowa)

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, Monday (Today), released numerous reports on arrests and incidents that have taken place since early last week. Officials say among them, was the arrest on Thanksgiving Day, of 18-year old Tyler Shawn Alwan, of Council Bluffs. Alwan was charged with two counts of Possession with the Intent to Deliver, Marijuana and Cocaine. A Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped Alwan’s vehicle at around 1:35-a.m. for equipment violations, and upon further investigation, located a substantial amount of narcotics in the vehicle, including a little more than one-half pound of marijuana and 2.4 grams of Cocaine, along with various pieces of drug paraphernalia.

A Council Bluffs woman was arrested Saturday afternoon on drug and alcohol charges, after a Deputy conducted a traffic stop on an SUV for speeding and passing in a no passing zone. 31-year old Sara Ann Wilson was subsequently arrested for OWI/1st offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance (nearly 20.5 grams of marijuana) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Sheriff’s officials said also, 46-year old Brenda Lee Hone, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Thursday, for Domestic Assault with Injury, after she allegedly assaulted her 54-year old boyfriend at a residence, then drove off. The victim suffered minor injuries. Hone’s vehicle  was located and a traffic stop conducted. Deputies noticed she had suffered minor injuries during the altercation, but did not require medical attention. She was brought to the Pott. County Jail, where Hone allegedly began to resist Corrections Officers.  The woman was placed in a holding cell until she calmed down.

And, a Council Bluffs man already in the Pott. County Jail on separate charges, was served with a warrant last Wednesday. 41-year old Shane Leland Millett was served with a warrant for two counts of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree, Indecent Contact with a Child, and Lascivious Acts with a Child. He remained held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

A total of five juveniles from Oakland were cited into Juvenile court last week, following an investigation into an accident that took place Nov. 21st. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office says the teens, all of whom are male, included two 13-year old’s and three 16-year old’s. They were cited in connection with acts of vandalism and trespassing that took place in early October at the Oakland Golf and Country Club.

Three juveniles were charged with Criminal Mischief in the 4th degree and Theft in the 5th degree, along with Trespassing after business hours at the course. Two other teens were charged with Trespass. Officials say $500 damage was done to hole #3 on the property. The hole was damaged by the responsible parties taking flags from the course and poking 50 holes in the turf on two separate occasions.

The information came forward from the teens after Deputies were dispatched to 316 S. Gates Street for a property damage accident, and flags from the Oakland Golf and Country Club were located in the vehicle. The names of the teens were not released because of their age.