Republican Congressman Steve King has a primary opponent and three other candidates are competing to be the Democrat who runs in the fourth congressional district this fall.

King is seeking a ninth term in the U.S. House. The district is decidedly Republican, but the Democrats who’ve lined up to run against King are hoping King’s headline-grabbing comments may be a turn-off for Republicans and independents, while Democratic turn out may be higher in a mid-term election.

Thirty-eight-year-old J.D. Scholten, a paralegal from Sioux City, is a former professional baseball player who says his competitive energy extends to the political field. “I’m fighting for your job. I’m fighting for your wage and your paycheck and I’m fighting for your health care and I’m fighting for your kids’ education,” Scholten says. “That’s what it boils down to.”

Fifty-five-year-old LeAnn Jacobsen is a member of Spencer’s city council who helped start a farmers market and a coffeehouse/wine bar in Spencer. “I don’t think candidates that have run in the past have done a really intentional job of holding Steve King accountable for the fact that he does nothing and gets nothing done,” Jacobsen says.

Fifty-eight year old John Paschen, an Ames pediatrician, says running for office wasn’t on his bucket list, but Paschen says he felt he had no choice but to run given the current political climate. The Republican running against Congressman King in the primary is 46-year-old Cindi Hanson of Sioux City, an administrator at the community college campus in South Sioux City, Nebraska. Hanson, who says she is a moderate Republican, argues it’s time for some collaboration in congress, “instead of being severely entrenched and in an extreme position.”

Congressman King says he believes he has a “reasonable chance” to win in November. Libertarian Charles Aldrich of Clarion is also running for congress in the fourth district. Aldrich, who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, is an industrial engineer.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has given final approval to a roughly $7.4 billion state budget and issued a handful of vetoes to conclude this year’s legislative action.

The Republican governor announced Friday afternoon she signed the bills making up the state budget, which goes into effect on July 1. The GOP-controlled Legislature was forced to make mid-year spending cuts the past two years. Legislators hope next year’s budget avoids a similar fate, even as the state cuts income tax rates starting next year.

Reynolds vetoed a proposal to immediately halt a pilot program for pretrial assessments, which will conclude this winter. She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed self-employed workers to qualify for small-group health insurance coverage, which she said would “further destabilize” Iowa’s health insurance market.

In addition, Reynolds vetoed portions of bills dealing with pooling employee benefits, regulation of the Iowa Insurance Division and a $195,000 appropriation she said could go through a competitive bidding process.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court says an all-male church board’s characterization of female congregants who were pressured into sex with the pastor as sinning “adulteresses” who gave into “temptation” was constitutionally protected religious speech.

In a ruling Friday, the court held that members of the Covenant Reformed Church’s board of elders didn’t defame the two women because they were expressing their religious beliefs. The court also found that the Pella church wasn’t obligated to provide counseling to the women that went against its religious teachings.

The pastor, who was later removed from the ministry, was convicted of sexual exploitation by a counselor. Iowa law treats religious leaders as counselors and bars them from having sexual contact with congregants they’re counseling.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge will temporarily block the most restrictive abortion law in the country from taking effect in Iowa next month under an agreement between lawyers for the state and abortion rights groups.

Attorneys for the state and Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds agreed Friday to prevent the law from taking effect on July 1 after discussions with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, Planned Parenthood Federation of American and the Emma Goldman Clinic.

The advocacy groups have sued the state to block the law, which bans most abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected. An attorney for the state says the goal is to quickly get the case before a judge to argue the law it’s constitutional.

Judge Michael Huppert said during a court hearing Friday that he’ll issue a temporary injunction later in the day. Reynolds signed the law May 2, two days after lawmakers approved it.

MABEL, Minn. (AP) — A motorcyclist from Iowa is dead after colliding with a horse in southeastern Minnesota. Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase says the crash was reported about 11:30 a.m. Friday on Highway 44 west of Mabel.

The 60-year-old man from Decorah, Iowa, was driving a motorcycle eastbound on the highway when he struck a horse in the eastbound lane. The man died at the scene. His name was not immediately released. The horse also died in the accident.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have searched the Belle Plaine home of a woman who killed herself and her 8-year-old son, looking for information on the 2012 killings of two Evansdale girls. The Des Moines Register reports that detectives recently searched 36-year-old Teresa Catherine Gerleman’s home, taking several items and a handwritten note.

On May 4, Gerleman pulled 8-year-old Henry Fields onto tracks in the path of a train that killed them both. Police say in court documents that someone who had counseled Gerleman told investigators that Gerleman claimed to have a six-page letter written by men who admitted involvement in the girls’ deaths.

Ten-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins were taken on July 13, 2012, as they rode their bikes. Their bodies were discovered on Dec. 5, 2012, in Bremer County. No one has been charged in the killings. It was not clear if any evidence relating to the girls’ deaths was found in Gerleman’s home.

A boil water advisory has been put into effect for an extended period of time for SIRWA Customers and the Cities of Afton, Arispe, Creston, Cromwell, Lorimor, Shannon City and Thayer.  Residents need to avoid drinking/injecting water from hydrants, water fountains, splash pads and the swimming pool.

The water fountains and hydrants at the 3-mile camp ground and the city parks in Creston, Afton and Arispe will be shut off until advisory has been lifted.  The bathrooms will remain in operation.

Residents should boil water used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth or preparing food. The water may be used for laundry as usual, showers and bathing as long as no water is swallowed.  Dishes and utensils should be washed using bottled water or water that has been boiled.

If you have any questions please contact:

Emergency Management Agency (EMA) @ 641-782-1622

SIRWA @ 641-782-5744

City Water Works @ 641-782-5817

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports no injuries occurred during a two-vehicle accident on Friday morning. At 11:50am Deputies responded to the accident at 200th Street and Fernwood Avenue in Montgomery County. After investigation it was determined that a 2000 Ford F250 pickup owned by Gregg Greene and driven by 30-year-old Jeffrey Scott Greene of Malvern was westbound on 200th Street at about Fernwood Avenue. At the same time a 2015 Chrysler 200 4-door car owned and operated by 76-year-old Lawrence Leroy Lafollette of Red Oak was westbound as well and had slowed behind a vehicle turning left onto Fernwood Avenue. As Lafollette was getting back up to the posted speed limit he was rear-ended by Greene’s pickup.

Both vehicles sustained disabling damage due to the accident. Damage to the Ford pickup was estimated at $7,500 and damage to the Chrysler was estimated at $8,000.

Jeffrey Greene was cited for Following Too Close and Expired Registration Plates. Red Oak Fire assisted with cleanup at the scene.