(Radio Iowa) — Four of the 14 Democrats in the race for their party’s 2020 presidential nomination campaigned in Iowa Thursday. Amy Klobuchar told a crowd in Sioux City her fundraising picked up after the December debate. “We’re seeing a total surge that’s allowed us to double our staff in the state of Iowa and double our field offices,” Klobuchar says. “…We’re adding people in South Carolina and Nevada as well as New Hampshire.”

Tom Steyer has embarked on a bus tour of the state and one of his stops Thursday was at a grocery store in Manning that will close soon. Bernie Sanders, also traveling by campaign bus, held a forum on the Meskwaki Settlement. “Native American people have educated our country and once again we’re going to need your leadership to show this country and maybe the world about how we go forward respecting the environment,” Sanders said, “…that we can’t destroy nature and expect to live good lives.”

Sanders won the precinct on the settlement near Tama during the 2016 Caucuses. Joe Biden spoke to a crowd in Anamosa, suggesting Trump is like a shell game swindler at a traveling carnival. “Next time they come through town, you go, ‘Whoa…I’m not sure I want to play that game,'” Biden said. “Well, Donald Trump has shown his hand.” A woman in the crowd later told Biden she decided to attend the event at the National Motorcycle Museum because her son had died in a motorcycle accident four years ago and yesterday (Thursday) was his birthday. “And I thought I’m going to get to spend a little time with somebody who understands this heartache,” she said.

A C-B-S reporter posted the video online, showing Biden gave her a hug and asked how she was doing. Biden’s son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015 and Biden recently noted the 2020 Iowa Caucuses will be held on what would have been Beau Biden’s 51st birthday. Biden’s first wife and a daughter were killed in a 1972 car crash and he often encounters people on the campaign trail who tell him of their own bouts with grief.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports deputies arrested 48-year old Kerri Lynn Pace, of Villisca, Thursday night. Pace was taken into custody at around 10:20-p.m. on an active warrant for Violation of Parole. She was transported to Montgomery County Corrections and held on a $20,000 cash bond.

BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — Federal inspectors plan to review how well a Nebraska nuclear power plant handled a water service safety problem blamed on a silt buildup from the Missouri River. The river overwhelmed levees along its length last spring.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a news release Thursday that the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville was operating Dec. 6 when employees detected that water wasn’t flowing through a pipe connected to one of two safety generators. The other generator was available.

Nebraska Public Power District soon determined that silt had built up and blocked the pipe outfall. The district had the silt removed within a week.

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The father of a 14-year-old boy shot to death early New Year’s Day in Des Moines is asking the public to come forward with information on the shooting. The Rev. Ron Woods tells the Des Moines Register that his son, 14-year-old Josiah Woods, was standing in a house’s enclosed porch when he was hit by gunfire from a drive-by shooting. The elder Woods says his son was not the target, “but he was the victim.” Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says the shooting was deliberate and intentional, but that police don’t yet know who the intended target was.

UNDATED (AP) — Joe Biden is getting a high-profile endorsement for his presidential bid as congresswoman Abby Finkenauer becomes the first member of Iowa’s congressional delegation to take sides in the Democratic nominating contest. In an interview with The Associated Press ahead of her announcement Thursday, the congresswoman cites Biden’s experience and says he’s the candidate who can unite Democrats, independents and some Republicans. Finkenauer hosted nine presidential contenders at a November forum in her congressional district, demonstrating her potential influence. Polls suggest Biden is in a jumble of top contenders in Iowa along with Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Best-selling author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson has laid off her entire 2020 campaign staff but is pushing ahead with her Democratic presidential bid. Williamson’s New Hampshire state director and senior campaign adviser Paul Hodes confirmed Thursday that he had been laid off and “that the others in the national campaign have been laid off.” A former campaign aide told The Associated Press that Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff on Dec. 31 because of financial concerns. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because staff were told not to speak publicly about the layoffs.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Police in Council Bluffs in western Iowa say the traffic stop of a rental truck has lead to the seizure of 1,500 pounds of marijuana worth about $4.5 million on the street. Police say in a news release that the traffic stop occurred Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 80 in Council Bluffs, when the truck was stopped on suspicion of speeding. Police say a drug dog was deployed and indicated the presence of drugs in the truck and a search turned up 61 cardboard boxes packed with marijuana. The 35-year-old truck driver from Los Angeles was arrested on various drug charges.

IOWA CITY – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections, today (Thursday), said an inmate serving time for the Union County crime of Murder in the 1st Degree, died Wednesday afternoon from natural causes. 72-year old Rick Fay Bird was pronounced deceased at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Bird had been serving a life sentence for the Feb. 19, 1997 death of 47-year old Linda Trenkle.

Trenkle was beaten to death with a hammer, in Creston. Bird, who was 49-year old at the time, was living with Trenkle. Two weeks earlier she had gone to his home accompanied by law enforcement to retrieve her possessions. On the day she died, she returned without law enforcement to get more of her property.  Bird’s incarceration for the crime began on October 24, 1997.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials say an officer found a loaded gun in the waistband of a man being booked into the Polk County Jail. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that the incident began late Wednesday night as 25-year-old John Steven Hansen was being booked into the jail on a harassment charge. Officials say that when Hansen was brought to the jail by Des Moines police, he was immediately searched by a Polk County detention officer before his handcuffs were removed. Officials say that within seconds, the handgun and 17 rounds in the gun’s magazine were found in Hansen’s waistband.

A traffic stop at around 1:05-p.m. Wednesday in Council Bluffs resulted in the discovery of numerous boxes containing about 1,500-pounds of suspected marijuana worth an estimated $4.5-million. Council Bluffs Police initiated the traffic stop on Interstate 80 eastbound at he 7.5-mile marker. A 2016 Penske box truck was stopped for speeding. The driver, 35-year old Dmitry Brisov, of Los Angeles, CA., was issued a citation. A Council Bluffs Police Service Dog was deployed and  alerted to the  presence of narcotics in the vehicle.

A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered 61 cardboard boxes containing the suspected marijuana. Borisov was subsequently booked into the Pottawattamie County Jail  on charges that include: Possession with Intent to Deliver‐ Marijuana Over 100Kg/Under 1000kg; Prohibited Acts; A drug Tax Stamp Violation, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Dmitry Borisov

61-boxes of suspected marijuana worth about $4.5-million. (Council Bluffs PD photos)