Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Republican straw poll, which has long been held in the college town of Ames, is moving. State GOP officials announced yesterday that the event would be held in Boone at the Central Iowa Expo on August 8th. They said earlier this year they would take bids to host the political gathering, in an effort to better manage costs.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Transportation officials say they’re getting a good response from electronic signs that use sometimes snarky messages to promote driving safety. Dakin Schultz, a traffic planner for the state DOT in Sioux City, tells the Sioux City Journal the signs have been grabbing the attention of drivers across the state with messages including sassy wordplay and parodies of popular songs.

STORM LAKE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 28-year-old man was charged with possessing explosive devices after officers who broke up a fight at a Storm Lake residence found homemade bombs. The officers responded early Wednesday morning to a report about the fight and arrested three people on charges related to the melee. The officers report that they found bombs inside the residence and subsequently arrested Dion Caldwell.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a body found on an island in the Cedar River has been identified as a man who was reported missing about a week ago. Investigators found 25-year-old Matthew Hudson Junior dead on an island north of the Quaker Oats bridge yesterday.

The City of Red Oak, and a company connected to the outgoing chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party have reached a settlement in a dispute over a now-demolished church the company owned in the city. According to the Omaha World-Herald, Kirojen LLC of Lincoln purchased a tax lien for the abandoned church at a tax sale in 2012. J.L. Spray, the GOP chairman, was listed in Iowa state records as the company’s president. The city later described the church as dangerous, with a sagging roof and broken windows, and it wanted Spray to pay to have it demolished.

The Iowa Senate’s Democratic leader says he doesn’t “condone” but does sympathize with the decision an eastern Iowa superintendent has made. Davenport superintendent Art Tate announced this week that rather than cut staff, he will dip deeper into the district’s reserve funds and use more money than allowed by law to make up for a short-fall in state support. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal, of Council Bluffs, commented on the situation Thursday during his weekly news conference.

“I don’t condone lawbreaking, either by local superintendents or by House Republicans with the aid of Governor Branstad,” Gronstal said. “Here’s what Iowans need to know about this situation: this is simply the highest profile example of many discouraging events across our state.” A statement issued by the Iowa Department of Education indicated the superintendent could be charged with a misdemeanor and could lose his job if he follows through on his plan.

Tate argues the long-standing formula for distributing state aid to schools needs to be rewritten, to fix the advantage districts in more affluent areas have over districts like his. Tate has said he’s following the example of Republicans in the legislature who have failed to follow existing state law which requires school funding decisions to be made far in advance. Republicans balked at following the law and did not vote last year to set the amount of general state aid that should be forwarded to districts for the school year that begins in August.

Gronstal says there were NO meetings this week in the statehouse on the school funding subject and it’s time for Iowans to pester Republicans to make a decision. “We need to show school boards like the Davenport School Board and to show students like the Davenport students that the State of Iowa will stop eroding our reputation for great schools,” Gronstal said Thursday. Republicans have proposed a one-and-a-quarter percent increase in general state aid to district for the school year that begins this fall. Democrats propose a four percent increase. That’s a gulf of about 100-million dollars between the two parties.

(Radio Iowa)