A state senator says a fellow Republican senator who’s under an ethics investigation should resign now. Senator Kent Sorenson of Milo has been accused of violating ethics rules which forbid senators from being paid directly or indirectly for work on presidential campaigns. Sorenson denies the charges and says he’s the victim of “a witch hunt.” Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale has been interviewed about accusations that Sorenson stole a contact list of Iowa homeschoolers for Michele Bachmann’s campaign.

“I know the answers to many of the allegations. I am a part of the police investigation in Urbandale as well as the (senate) ethics investigation,” Zaun said. “…I think it has been a big distraction for Republicans…He needs to resign.” Congresswoman Bachmann herself recently reached an out-of-court settlement with the woman who accused others in the Bachmann campaign of stealing the list of contacts. According to Zaun, the accusations surrounding Sorenson are “bad” for all senators.

“I know answers. I think that Senator Sorenson should resign,” Zaun said Sunday. “…Let’s let the investigation go forward, but I think it’s been a major distraction to the senate Republicans and I think he should resign,” Zaun said. Zaun made his comments Sunday on “The Insiders” on WHO-TV. Long-time State Representative Clel Baudler, from Greenfield, watched the program and Baudler says Zaun showed “a lot of leadership” by saying Sorenson should resign.

“(Sorenson’s) a cancer within our party and you cut it out if you have a cancer in there,” Baudler said. Baudler made his comments at a gathering of Adair County Republicans in Greenfield. Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix issued a written statement Sunday, noting the Senate Ethics Committee “has appointed a special investigator to examine all the allegations involving Senator Sorenson.” Dix said that process is in place “for a reason. Senate Republican leadership believes in the importance of allowing the process to work to maintain the integrity of the Iowa Senate.”

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating the death of a 40-year-old Iowa man who was severely beaten near Wells Fargo arena in Des Moines. A woman called police shortly before 1 a.m. yesterday to report the assault in a parking lot near the arena in downtown Des Moines. Police found Richard Daughenbaugh with significant injuries, and paramedics took him to Methodist Hospital where he died.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A 21-year-old Iowa man has been charged with causing serious injuries to a toddler earlier this summer. Dubuque authorities say Troy Laufenberg was arrested there Saturday evening. He is accused of causing 18-month-old Myah Larson’s brain damage on July 15th. He was being held yesterday in the Dubuque County Jail.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs is looking for a new fire chief for the first time in nearly two decades. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Alan Byers is retiring after 19 years as chief and 35 years as a firefighter.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — The city of Cedar Rapids is celebrating the new library it built to replace one lost to the devastating 2008 flood. KWWL reports eastern Iowa’s largest city opened its new downtown library on Saturday. The new library has a children’s section that’s bigger than the temporary library that had served the city since the 2008 floods.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A new state board charged with enforcing Iowa’s public records and meetings laws will also have to settle disputes over records requests. The Des Moines Register reports the new board that was created July 1 has already received about 50 complaints. The complaints come both from public records advocates and from government agencies who say they are facing unreasonable requests.

For instance, a county hospital administrator in Denison says he has received more than 300 information requests from Richard Knowles in the past 16 months. And Ottumwa city officials say staff members sometimes spend more than 75 percent of their day fulfilling records requests.

Officials with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have chosen a route for a proposed passenger rail system that would link the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro area with Chicago, and include stops at several cities in between. Among the cities, is Atlantic. The Daily NonPareil reports the option would utilize existing tracks owned by Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, Iowa Interstate Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad and Amtrak, according to an FRA Tier 1 Record of Decision released in July. The route, which would take trains through Moline, Ill., Iowa City, Des Moines and Atlantic, was referred to as the “preferred” option during a public meeting in Council Bluffs last December, according to Brian Goss of HDR Engineering, who served as a panelist.

The FRA decision was based on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of October 2012 and the Final Environmental Impact Statement of May 2013 conducted by the Iowa Department of Transportation in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Transportation as part of Tier 1 of the Chicago to Council Bluffs-Omaha Regional Passenger Rail System Planning Study, the document stated. The FRA also considered comments from agencies, tribes and Native American groups and the public received during the public comment periods.

Goss says there could still be modifications, depending on what is uncovered during the Tier 2 study.  Amanda Martin, freight and passenger policy coordinator for the Iowa DOT and manager of the project, says the selected route would have the smallest impact on the environment of any options studied. The environmental portion of the Tier 1 study was completed well ahead of the usual two-year time frame, and now, the DOT is waiting for comments from the FRA needed for a Tier 1 Service Development Plan (SDP) and hopes to have the full study finished by October.

The Tier 2 study will proceed as funding becomes available. Specific aspects of the project likely to receive attention include track improvements, drainage, railroad crossings and train-control system improvements along the entire route. In addition, construction of stations in Iowa City, Grinnell, Des Moines, Atlantic, Council Bluffs and Omaha would be studied, along with possibilities for rail yards, layover and maintenance facilities, bridge construction or improvements and other factors. Once the Tier 2 study is finalized and approved, the next step would be design and engineering.

The proposed schedule developed for the SDP for these phases includes the following estimated time frames:
• Chicago to Moline (two round-trips) – construction 2014-2015; service begins Dec. 31, 2015
• Chicago to Iowa City (two round-trips) – construction 2015-2016; service begins 2017
• Chicago to Des Moines (two round-trips) – construction 2020-2021; service begins 2022
• Chicago to Des Moines (four round-trips) – equipment procurement 2024; service begins 2025
• Chicago to Council Bluffs (four round-trips) – construction 2028-2029; service begins 2030.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Council Bluffs is looking for a new fire chief for the first time in nearly two decades. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Alan Byers is retiring after 19 years as chief and 35 years as a firefighter. Byers says it’s time for someone else to have a chance to lead the department.

Longtime Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan praised Byers work as chief. Hanafan says Byers oversaw numerous improvements and growth in the department during his tenure.