Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — People could buy firearms and carry a concealed handgun without first obtaining a state permit in the state under a bill the Iowa Senate approved and sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds. The bill was approved Monday with only Republican support. Last week it cleared the House with the backing of only one Democrat. The bill would eliminate current state permit requirements and the accompanying background checks that ensure the person obtaining or carrying a gun isn’t disqualified from ownership due to past felonies or abuses. It now goes to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A federal appeals court says three University of Iowa administrators can be held personally liable for monetary damages for improperly revoking a Christian student group that rejects homosexual relationships. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the administrators are not immune from the lawsuit brought by Business Leaders in Christ because they violated the group’s clearly established constitutional rights to freedom of speech and association. The case dates to 2017, when the organization barred a student from serving in its leadership after disclosing that he was gay and did not agree with its teachings on sexual morality. A federal judge ruled later that the university unevenly applied its human rights policy by revoking the group’s registration.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 54-year-old mother and son from Iowa are facing new charges arising from their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Deborah Sandoval, of Des Moines, and her 23-year-old son, Salvador Sandoval, of Ankeny, were each originally charged with three counts after their arrest on Feb. 19. A new federal indictment filed in their extradition case shows Salvador Sandoval now faces 13 counts and his mother faces five charges. Federal officials say video shows the younger Sandoval fighting with several police officers in the Capitol building. They are not currently in custody. They are scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Washington D.C.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The husband of Vice President Kamala Harris toured a Des Moines food bank as the Biden administration continued its effort to promote the recently passed $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Doug Emhoff, accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Iowa U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, toured the Food Bank of Iowa on Monday. Emhoff and Vilsack announced a 15% increase in benefits in the SNAP program through September 2021. The funding is in the recently passed bill and Vilsack says it will provide about $28 more per person, per month, or more than $100 more per month for a household of four, in additional SNAP benefits.

Sheriff’s deputies in Page County, Saturday, arrested 26-year old Bryson Sean McAlpin, of rural Braddyville. McAlpin was arrested at his residence on a Page County Warrant for Burglary 3rd Degree, Theft 4th Degree Criminal Mischief 4th Degree, and Trespass – Injury or Damage greater than $300.00. He was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $5,000 cash or surety bond, pending further court proceedings.

Bryson Sean McAlpin

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A federal appeals court says three University of Iowa administrators can be held personally liable for monetary damages for improperly revoking a Christian student group that rejects homosexual relationships. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the administrators are not immune from the lawsuit brought by Business Leaders in Christ because they violated the group’s clearly established constitutional rights to freedom of speech and association.

The case dates to 2017, when the organization barred a student from serving in its leadership after disclosing that he was gay and did not agree with its teachings on sexual morality. A federal judge ruled later that the university unevenly applied its human rights policy by revoking the group’s registration.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 54-year-old mother and son from Iowa are facing new charges arising from their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Deborah Sandoval, of Des Moines, and her 23-year-old son, Salvador Sandoval, of Ankeny, were each originally charged with three counts after their arrest on Feb. 19. A new federal indictment filed in their extradition case shows Salvador Sandoval now faces 13 counts and his mother faces five charges. Federal officials say video shows the younger Sandoval fighting with several police officers in the Capitol building. They are not currently in custody. They are scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Washington D.C.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — People could buy firearms and carry a concealed handgun without first obtaining a state permit in the state under a bill the Iowa Senate approved and sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds. The bill was approved Monday with only Republican support. Last week it cleared the House with the backing of only one Democrat. The bill would eliminate current state permit requirements and the accompanying background checks that ensure the person obtaining or carrying a gun isn’t disqualified from ownership due to past felonies or abuses. It now goes to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The husband of Vice President Kamala Harris toured a Des Moines food bank as the Biden administration continued its effort to promote the recently passed $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Doug Emhoff, accompanied by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Iowa U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, toured the Food Bank of Iowa on Monday.

Michelle Book, president and CEO of the Food Bank of Iowa gives Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, a tour of the Des Moines facility Monday, March 22, 2021. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Des Moines Register via AP)

Emhoff and Vilsack announced a 15% increase in benefits in the SNAP program through September 2021. The funding is in the recently passed bill and Vilsack says it will provide about $28 more per person, per month, or more than $100 more per month for a household of four, in additional SNAP benefits.

The Red Oak Police Department reports a two-vehicle accident between a Red Oak Schools Suburban and a dump truck occurred Monday morning.

At 9:54 a.m. Officers were dispatched to the accident at state highway 48 and Broadway Street in Red Oak. A 1998 Peterbilt Dump Truck operated by 60-year-old Lance Blaine Most of Red Oak was traveling southbound on Broadway Street and attempting to make a right turn into the alleyway just south of 2nd Avenue. A 2017 Chevy Suburban owned by the Red Oak Schools and operated by 72-year-old Steven Grant Thomas of Red Oak was southbound on Broadway following behind the dump truck. The dump truck needed to swing a bit into the turning lane to make the turn and Thomas misinterpreted the trucks intentions and proceeded forward and the left front of the Suburban collided with the pusher axle on the dump truck. No one was injured in the collision and no students were on board the Suburban.

The dump truck sustained an estimated $360 damage and the Suburban sustained an estimated $2,000 damage. No citations were issued at the scene.

(Radio Iowa) – U-S Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says through the end of September, there will be a 15 percent increase in federal food assistance. “It will provide additional help and assistance for struggling families,” Vilsack says. “To give you a sense of this, a family of four is going to receive under this extension and expansion about $102 each and every month for the next several months. Now that’s going to make a huge difference.”

The total increase in food stamp payments will be three-and-a-half billion. That boost in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits is financed from the recently approved pandemic relief package. “This is really significant,” Vilsack says. “About for every dollar that’s invested in SNAP, you get a $1.50 return in the economy.” Vilsack and Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala, visited the Food Bank of Iowa earlier today (Monday).

“Hunger is a real issue in this country,” Emhoff said. “I’ve already traveled to several food banks and other organizations both in DC and just last week in Nevada.” Emhoff is scheduled to visit similar organizations in Omaha tomorrow (Tuesday) and in St. Louis on Wednesday. Food Bank of Iowa officials introduced Emhoff to a small group of volunteers who work in urban and rural Iowa. “During this pandemic when the need for food in the United States of America, when you wouldn’t think that would be an issue in this country, but it is, to do the work that you’ve done, day in and day out, I thank you,” Emhoff said.

Food insecurity in Iowa doubled at this time a year ago according to Food Bank of Iowa statistics. Congresswoman Cindy Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, was along for today’s (Monday’s) Food Bank tour. She says the pandemic highlighted the need for more food processing and distribution on a regional basis. “To allow us to be able to produce food closer to home and be able to process it there and bring it to market,” Axne says. “…Centralization of the market really has caused some problems for Iowa and in particular in our rural communities who’ve lost a lot of economic viability as a result of that.”

A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said sending Emhoff and Vilsack to Des Moines can’t distract from the pork barrel spending in the American Rescue Plan that has nothing to do with directly combating Covid.