(Radio Iowa) – Events are planned at the end of the week in four cities to welcome back Iowa National Guard soldiers from their overseas deployment. Guard spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Wunn. He says about 350 members of the 248th Aviation Support Battalion will be recognized. He says they have been gone for one year. “The 248th is comprised of aircraft maintainers, test pilots and logistical support personnel. They were part of a larger unit that was in the Central Command Theatre of Operations,” Wunn says.

The Central Command is comprised of 20 nations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. Wunn says the Iowa National Guard has been called on many times in the last decade or more. “Since 9-11 we’ve had almost 19-thousand Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen who have deployed in support of overseas contingency operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places,” according to Wunn. “So, the Iowa National Guard has been very busy supporting those types of operations. And of course we’ve been supporting things here at home as well.”

The return cuts the number of Iowa guard soldiers who are deployed by more than half. “This is actually our largest single unit deployment since 2010 and 2011,” Wunn says, “so right now with these soldiers returning we have probably about 200 soldiers with the Iowa Army National Guard who are still deployed.” Wunn says the ceremonies are open to the public. “The homecoming ceremonies are some of the funnest things that we get to do in the Iowa National Guard. When we get to reunite our soldiers with their families, it’s really a special day. It’s an opportunity to say thank you and to honor their service,” Wunn says.

The soldiers of the Headquarters Support Company and Detachment 4, Company B will be honored at a 1 p-m. ceremony in the Davenport Army Aviation Support Facility. Soldiers of Company A and Detachment 3, Company B will be honored at a 1 p-m ceremony at the Waterloo Army Aviation Support Facility. The events are all Friday (Nov. 2nd). Soldiers of Detachment 1, Company A will be honored at a 5 p-m ceremony in the Iowa National Guard Readiness Center in Muscatine. And soldiers from Detachment 1, Headquarters Support Company and Company B will be honored at a 5 p-m ceremony in the Boone High School gym.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:50 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden has made a campaign stop in Iowa, where he bemoaned the tone of Trump-era politics and gave a preview of how he might take on the Republican president should he seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. In Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Biden said, “It’s our leaders who need to set the tone and dial down the temperature and restore some dignity to our national dialogue.” Biden was on a trip across the Midwest campaigning for Democrats ahead of the midterms.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Republican campaign official is criticizing conservative Rep. Steve King of Iowa for his remarks in support of a European political party founded by former Nazis. House Republican campaign chairman Steve Stivers called King’s comments and social media posts “completely inappropriate.” The Iowa Republican is still favored to win another term from his rural district in next week’s election. But after King’s latest remarks, some campaign donors say they will no longer support him.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal investigators say a broken rail caused the fiery 2017 derailment in northwest Iowa that released 322,000 gallons of ethanol. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled Tuesday that Union Pacific’s maintenance was inadequate before the March 2017 derailment near Graettinger, Iowa, and Federal Railroad Administration inspectors didn’t do enough to identify flaws in the track.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa environmental officials say they’re investigating the spill of about 1,000 gallons of lime slurry into a tributary of a central Iowa creek. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the spill happened over the weekend, when a storage tank overflowed at the Air Gas plant in Ankeny. Officials say a construction company on Monday noticed the discharge of the milky white substance into a tributary of Four Mile Creek.

(Radio Iowa) — A man and woman are facing child endangerment and drug charges in northeast Iowa’s Fayette County. Twenty-five-year-old Ryan James Smith and 30-year-old Erika Pipkin, both of West Union, were arrested Monday at an apartment where police say they uncovered a drug trafficking operation.

Police say meth was in reach of Pipkin’s two-year-old child. Officials with the Department of Human Services have launched their own investigation and took the child. The Fayette County Sheriff’s office reports more charges could be filed and more arrests are possible.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) — A prosecutor in the trial of an Iowa father whose infant son was found dead and maggot-infested in a baby swing last year has told a jury the child “died of diaper rash.” Assistant Iowa Attorney General Coleman McAllister told jurors Tuesday that 4-month-old Sterling Koehn had been in the same diaper for nine to 14 days when his body was found in the swing Aug. 30, 2017, at his parents’ Alta Vista apartment, the Courier reported .

The baby’s father, 29-year-old Zachary Paul Koehn, is charged with murder and child endangerment. The boy’s mother, Cheyanne Harris, is also charged and faces a separate trial at a later date.
McAllister said Tuesday in opening statements that the baby’s heavily soiled diaper had attracted bugs that had laid eggs, which had hatched into maggots. The resulting diaper rash led to ruptured skin, and e.Coli bacteria set in. “He died of diaper rash. That’s right, diaper rash,” McAllister said.

A coroner’s report showed the baby died of malnutrition, dehydration and the infection.
In opening statements Tuesday, Koehn’s attorney said the baby’s death was a tragedy, but not a crime. McAllister denied the defense’s claims, saying Koehn was an experienced parent. He noted that Koehn’s 2-year-old daughter was also in the apartment and was healthy, and that Koehn had money to buy food and baby supplies. He stated Koehn was a drug user.

Nurse and county rescue squad EMT Toni Friedrich testified Tuesday that she was the first to arrive at the apartment after Koehn called 911 to report the baby had died. Friedrich said Koehn showed no emotion when he led her to the dark, hot bedroom where the baby’s body was.

The baby’s “eyes were open, and it was a blank stare,” she said. Friedrich said when she touched the baby’s chest, his clothing was crusty. When she moved his blanket, gnats flew up, she said. Koehn’s trial was moved from Chickasaw County to Henry County to counter pretrial publicity.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative Rep. Steve King is coming under fire ahead of the midterm election as top Republican officials and campaign donors balk at standing with a Republican congressman who regularly espouses extreme views on race and immigration.

King is still favored to win another term representing his rural Iowa district in next week’s election. But in the aftermath of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, the congressman’s latest comments in support of a neo-Nazi party in Europe sparked a strong rebuke Tuesday from the House Republicans’ campaign chairman, Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio.

“Congressman Steve King’s recent comments, actions, and retweets are completely inappropriate,” said Stivers. “We must stand up against white supremacy and hate in all forms, and I strongly condemn this behavior.” The Land O’ Lakes Inc. PAC said Tuesday it “will no longer support Rep. Steve King.” The political action committee, based in neighboring Minnesota, said it wants its contributions “to be a positive force for good” and tries to ensure that “recipients of our contributions uphold our company’s values.”

Technology giant Intel Corp. also said it would no longer support King, according to reports.
King on Tuesday posted a tweet denouncing the attacks against him as “orchestrated by the nasty, desperate and dishonest fake news. Their ultimate goal is to flip the House and impeach Donald Trump.”

The Iowa congressman has long tested the limits of the Republican Party’s tolerance for fringe views, notably his harsh anti-immigration rhetoric. On Saturday, the day of the deadly Pittsburgh shooting, he defended the groups he associated with, including Austria’s Freedom Party, which was founded by former Nazis. “If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans,” King told The Washington Post.

King has represented the Sioux City-area congressional district for eight terms, and was so widely expected to win again that the National Republican Congressional Committee has not been spending any resources on the race. NRCC spokesman Matt Gorman said that after the accumulation of King’s “bigoted words and actions, the time had come for Chairman Stivers to speak out.”

A Democratic challenger, former pro baseball player J.D. Scholten, has been pummeling King with ads, and an outside group has been airing one that suggests the congressman is approved by white supremacists, according to Dave Wasserman, an analyst at the Cook Political Report. That election forecaster on Tuesday shifted King’s race slightly toward the Democrat, while reporting it is still “likely” to be won by the Republican.

Still, Wasserman tweeted that King’s campaign is “virtually broke” and “with a week left, it’s unclear who’s going to bail him out.”

The Harlan Police Department reports two recent arrests. On Friday, 36-year old Kera Dlynn Bomer, of Harlan, was arrested following a call for service in the 1300 block of Victoria St. Bomer was transported to the Shelby County Jail where she was charged with domestic abuse assault.

Saturday, 24-year old Johnathan Lee Jay Behrens, of Harlan, was arrested following a short pursuit. Behrens was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with eluding, possession of stolen property, driving while barred, and reckless driving. And, 62-year old Gary Lyn McCoy, of Harlan, was cited Saturday for trespassing in the 400 block of Durant Street