WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A company has taken another step toward redeveloping the former Waterloo Greyhound Park. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the Waterloo planning and zoning commission voted Tuesday to endorse a special permit that would let Deer Creek Development fill 7 acres on the site to get it out of the 100-year flood plain. Deer Creek President Harold Youngblut says doing so will make the site more appealing to companies because they wouldn’t have to pay for costly flood insurance.

He bought the property in 2018 and demolished the dilapidated buildings. The track opened in 1986 but later fell into disrepair. The special permit to bring in an estimated 16,500 cubic yards of clean fill now heads to the city’s board of adjustment for final approval.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man has been convicted of video recording girls in the bathroom of his West Des Moines record store. Polk County court records say 50-year-old Robert Kuhn was found guilty Wednesday of three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of invasion of privacy. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14.

Kuhn was arrested in 2017 after a girl who had worked for him told police she found a video camera hidden on a shelf in the bathroom after Kuhn had asked her to try on dresses. Federal prosecutors also had filed a child pornography charge but later dropped it.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Google is holding a groundbreaking this (Friday) morning for a $600 million data center it plans to build in an Omaha suburb. A news release says Gov. Pete Rickets will join Papillion Mayor David Black and other officials at the event. Google confirmed Thursday that it was behind the project, which had been known locally only as Project Wizard as officials worked on development and utility agreements.

The center will be erected on a 275-acre site on the west side of Papillion. Among its future neighbors are data centers for Travelers Insurance and Facebook. Officials have said at least 30 people will work there after the center is completed over the next 18 to 24 months. Google also has two data centers less than 13 miles northeast, in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

A Clarinda man was being held on a $32,000 cash-only bond, following a domestic incident, Thursday night. Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 34-year old Tyrel Thomas Scott McCallister a little after 7:40-p.m., when they responded to a residence in the 26-hundred block of Highway 148. Upon arrival, deputies determined McCallister gained entry into the home without permission from the homeowner, and that McCallister was in possession of numerous weapons.

He faces: a Class-C Felony charge of 2nd Degree Burglary; Class-D felony charges for 3 counts Possession of an Offensive Weapon by a Felon; 2 counts of Carrying Weapons (Aggravated misdemeanor), and 3 counts of Carrying weapons (Serious Misdemeanor).

(Radio Iowa) — Republican Senator Joni Ernst says it’s too early to say whether it was improper for President Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.  “We can’t determine that yet,” Ernst says. “We have information that will be presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee.”

President Trump’s decision to put a hold on military aide to Ukraine and Trump’s conversation with Ukraine’s president are now the subject of an impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House. During a town hall forum in Templeton yesterday (Thursday), Ernst joined Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa in calling for the whistleblower involved to be protected — and Ernst said the Senate’s investigation of the whistleblower’s complaint will be handled by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“They will call in the witnesses as necessary and it’ll be done in a bipartisan manner and a fair process,” Ernst said, “and they will evaluate that.” Amy Haskins of Manning asked Ernst when congress would decide “enough is enough” when it comes to Trump. “You still stand there silent and your silence is supporting him and not standing up,” Haskins said to Ernst and some in the crowd applauded. Ernst told the audience congress does not yet have “the full story” and it’s too early to reach any conclusions.

“I have traveled to Ukraine,” Ernst said. “…Many years ago, I had the opportunity to meet President Poroshenko and one of the issues that I spoke to him about is the fact that in Ukraine there is still a large amount of corruption and they have tried to deal with that corruption. They need to continue dealing with corruption. I don’t care where it is. I don’t care who it is, when it is. Corruption is corruption and it should be combated.” Earlier this week, Ernst posted a video on Twitter, saying Iowans want Congress to focus on moving the country forward rather than focusing on the “impeachment circus.”

Gene Langel, a Republican from Templeton, says he’s not surprised to see an impeachment inquiry in the House.”The Democrats are trying to drive him out and between that and the press, I don’t know, most presidents wouldn’t be able to stand all the pressure,” he said after the forum. Langul says trade is a more pressing issue.