Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — President Barack Obama will visit Iowa on Wednesday to talk about making high speed Internet access more available nationwide. The White House has not said yet where the event will take place in Iowa.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in Iowa have decided to carry on with their presidential straw poll, a political tradition that detractors decry as a meaningless sideshow. Despite criticism from some prominent Republicans, the Republican Party of Iowa’s central committee unanimously voted Saturday to keep the event going. This year’s straw poll will be held in August.

WODEN, Iowa (AP) — A north Iowa woman has died and her husband critically injured after the pair walked away from their vehicle when it became stranded in a blizzard. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that the body of 76-year-old Lilah Hobbs of rural Woden was found late Thursday or early Friday on the shoulder of a road about a mile from their truck, which was stuck in snow. Her husband, 77-year-old James Hobbs, was found in a field about 150 yards from the road. He remains hospitalized in critical condition.

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) — A Clear Lake man has been arrested and charged with a felony count of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 49-year-old Brian McDaid was booked Friday night into the Cerro Gordo County Jail on $10,0000 cash or surety bond.

Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sunday (today) announced the retirement of Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) Director Teresa Wahlert. Wahlert formally notified the governor late Friday that she would retire effective today, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015.

In his statement, Branstad thanked Wahlert for her work to help lead initiatives like Skilled Iowa, Home Base Iowa, and the National Career Readiness Certificate. Reynolds said “Under her direction, Iowa Workforce Development was a key partner as 168,700 jobs were created in the past 4 years.”

Branstad appointed Beth Townsend, current executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, as acting director of IWD. He appointed Don Grove, former Iowa Civil Rights Commission director and current Iowa Civil Rights Commission employee, the acting executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. The governor will appoint a permanent director at a later date. A timeline for naming a permanent director has not been set.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say at least 32 care centers in Iowa have had outbreaks of influenza recently, despite safeguards like vaccination and sanitation measures. Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the state’s top infectious disease expert, says she’s received daily reports of the disease affecting nursing homes, assisted living centers and other care facilities. She says the rate of infection is higher than it’s been in the past.

At the Bishop Drumm Retirement Center in Johnston, every resident and employee was vaccinated. But the virus spread at the center in December. Several residents required hospitalization. Quinlisk tells The Des Moines Register that the flu contributes to hundreds of deaths of the elderly in Iowa during a typical year.

Nearly two weeks after a window and doors at business in downtown Atlantic were damaged by vandalism, another, nearby business was hit. Lt. Dave Erickson with the Atlantic Police Department told KJAN News the Designer Portraits by Ann studio at 406 Chestnut sustained damage by someone throwing three field rocks through the business’ windows and doors. The incident happened sometime between 5-p.m. Friday (Jan. 9th) and 9-a.m. Saturday (Jan. 10th). The damage was estimated at $2,200.

During the late night incident on Dec. 29th at Aunt B’s (at 408 Chestnut), a witness reported hearing glass breaking and  saw a short male suspect wearing a black coat, pants and stocking cap, run north in the 400 block of Chestnut and turn east on 4th Street. The culprit had thrown a piece of black asphalt, measuring 5-by 7-inches in diameter through the front, 8-foot by 8-foot plate glass window. The front glass door of the business was also smashed.Damage from that incident amounted to about $1,500.

Designer Portraits is located just north of Aunt B’s. Erickson said there’s no known motive for either incident, other than someone just messing around, probably looking for “something to do.”  Anyone with information about either incident is asked to call the Atlantic Police Dept. at 243-3512.

An icy road contributed to an accident Friday morning, about 5-miles west of Audubon. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office said Sunday (today), a vehicle driven by 47-year old Marcia Lynette Christensen, of Audubon, was traveling north on Dove Avenue at around 9-a.m.  When she attempted to turn east at the T-intersection with 200th Street, Christensen’s car slid off the road and landed in a ditch on the north side of 200th, coming to rest against the embankment. Christensen was transported to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital by Audubon Rescue.

In other news, the Sheriff’s Office reports two men were arrested Saturday on separate charges. 40-year old David James Elliott, of Guthrie Center, was arrested at around 5-p.m. by authorities in Guthrie County on an outstanding Audubon County warrant for Revocation of Probation. Elliott was transported to the Audubon County Jail and held on $2,500 bond. He’s scheduled to appear in Court Monday afternoon.

And at around 11-p.m., Saturday, a trooper with the Iowa State Patrol arrested 46-year old Jeffrey Robert Albert, of Kimballton, on a charge of OWI/1st offense. The charge was the result of a traffic stop on Highway 173, south of Kimballton. Albert was brought to the Audubon County Jail and later released after appearing before a magistrate. The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office assisted in conducting the arrest.