(Radio Iowa) — Governor Kim Reynolds is going to meet with staff at the Glenwood Resource Center this (Wednesday) afternoon. It’s the governor’s first visit to the facility that cares of patients with severe intellectual disabilities since she fired Glenwood’s superintendent in late December.  “I’m actually going on site as part of the discovery process,” Reynolds says.

The phrase “discovery process” refers to the collection of evidence and interviews with witnesses in a legal proceeding. Reynolds has hinted her trip also may be related to another firing. This past summer, the governor fired Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven. Reynolds says Glenwood staff may have complained to Foxhoven about the facility’s superintendent, who is now under federal investigation — accused of using patients for human experiments. “I believe the former (DHS) director did receive some correspondence from individuals there,” Reynolds says, “but that will all be part of the discovery process as well.”

The governor says her NEW Iowa Department of Human Services director is putting the right policies and procedures in place to respond to the situation at Glenwood, but Reynolds says the staff at the facility need to hear that directly from her.  “There’s a lot of state employees that work hard every single day down there to take care of some of our most vulnerable Iowans,” Reynolds says, “and I want to thank them for the work they’re doing, I want to let them know that we take this very seriously, that the allegations are unacceptable and we’re making changes to address them.”

Federal officials are investigating physical injuries and allegations of improper nutrition for patients at Glenwood. The former superintendent has been accused of using patients for a sexual arousal study.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reports (via 511ia.org), that roads in parts of southwest and western Iowa are either partially or completely covered with snow/slush this morning, and bridges may be icy.

Roads i light blue are partially covered w/snow-slush; Roads in pink are compeletly covered

The completely covered roads include:

• Highway 6 (Whitepole Road) from I-80 to Highway 48
• Highway 71 from Templeton to Grant
• Highway 92 from Griswold half-way to Winterset
• Highway 173 from Highway 83 to Kimballton
• Highway 83 (Marne Road) from Atlantic to Marne
• Highway 48 from Highway 6 south, to Essex
• Highway 34 from Emerson to Creston
• Highway 59 from Henderson to Emerson
• Highway 25 from Bayard south to Highway 2

MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) –  Democratic White House hopefuls are campaigning in the more than two dozen Iowa counties that went from supporting Barack Obama in 2012 to supporting Donald Trump in 2016. They hope showing up in counties Democrats lost will help prove they can take on the Republican president this year. Their visits may also help Democrats win back these counties in November by energizing Democrats and engaging disaffected Republicans. And they hope to win some delegates by focusing on these counties across the state. Iowa is home to more counties that pivoted from Obama to Trump than any other state.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb (AP) – An Iowa woman has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide for fatally striking a pedestrian in northeast Nebraska’s Dakota County. The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal reports that Maria Gonzalez-Diego, of Sioux City, Iowa, entered the plea Tuesday. Prosecutors dropped a charge of failure to stop at the scene of a fatal accident. Her sentencing is scheduled for March 10. South Sioux City police have said Gonzalez-Diego’s northbound vehicle hit 62-year-old Antonia Lopez De Ramirez the night of June 24 as she walked across a street. Police say Gonzalez-Diego’s vehicle continued north. A Sioux City, Iowa, officer later found Gonzalez-Diego and arrested her.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – The Waterloo City Council has postponed action on a proposal to permanently shut down the shortest of the local airport’s three landing strips. The airport director has recommended closing the runway because of safety and liability concerns. Federal officials have said they won’t provide any money because the airport’s other two runways can handle nearly all of the traffic. But several pilots told the council Tuesday that the runway is important for companies that use smaller aircraft to shuttle workers to other locations. The runway also is a safe alternative when high winds make it harder to access the two primary runways.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) —  A driver faces several charges stemming from what authorities say was a hit-and-run in the parking lot of a bar in Linn County. County court records say 30-year-old Bret Klima, of Urbana, is charged with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and with other crimes. His attorney didn’t immediately return an Associated Press call Wednesday. The crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Dec. 1 in the parking lot of Bully’s North in Center Point. Authorities say 50-year-old Kimberley Swore died at the scene. She lived in Center Point. Another pedestrian suffered minor injuries.

(Radio Iowa) — Investigators are looking into the crash of a University of Dubuque helicopter that injured a student pilot in northeast Iowa, Tuesday afternoon. The crash happened near a hangar at the Independence Municipal Airport around 4:15 p.m. Independence fire officials say the helicopter sustained significant damage. They also reported that the hanger was damaged in the crash.

University of Dubuque Public Information Director Stacey Ortman released a statement after the crash confirming that the accident involved a university helicopter and a student pilot, who was not identified. She also confirmed that the student suffered non-life-threatening injuries and taken to the Independence hospital for treatment. The Federal Aviation Administration has been called in to investigate the crash.