KXEL Midday News for Fri. Jun. 03, 2022

From KXEL News:

From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.):

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines utility has filed lawsuits, proposed legislation and even tried public shaming in an effort to clean up drinking water that comes from rivers teeming with agricultural pollutants. None of it has worked, so Des Moines Water Works is trying another approach. The utility is working with grain cooperative Landus to teach farmers the latest techniques for reducing pollution at riverfront plots of corn and soybeans in the sprawling park where the utility filters the city’s drinking water. It’s a surprising turn in a long-running dispute between the state’s dominant industry and a utility that supplies drinking water to 600,000 customers in Iowa’s largest metro area.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A federal judge has sentenced a northern Iowa father and son to prison for their participation in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Daryl Johnson, 51, and his son Daniel Johnson, 30, both of St. Ansgar, admitted to entering the building through a broken window and pushing through a police line once inside. Daryl Johnson will serve 30 days in jail and Daniel Johnson with serve four months. Defense attorneys for both men sought probation and no jail time. Federal Judge Dabney Friedrich handed down the sentences in Washington.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Iowa has hardly any bears, but one keeps popping up in Dubuque and has led state and city officials to advise residents to be on guard for black bear encounters. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the city of Dubuque issued a “bear aware” release this week following a number of sightings since early May of a black bear in the northeastern part of the city. The suggestions including stowing away food sources, such as bird feeders, pet food and garbage cans, and a warning for residents who encounter a bear not to run, but back away slowly. Black bears are native to Iowa, but it’s been more than 100 years since the state has had a resident bear population.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – About 400 workers at Planned Parenthood offices in five Midwestern states plan to unionize. The move comes as their employer deals with the potential loss of business in states where abortions may become illegal if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Ashley Schmidt is a training and development specialist for Nebraska and western Iowa. She says workers at Planned Parenthood North Central States in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota formally filed for a union election with a National Labor Relations Board on Thursday. The workers plan to join SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, which represents Planned Parenthood workers in other states.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Rising material prices and legal expenses are expected to add nearly $50 million more to the cost of a power transmission line being built across southern Wisconsin. American Transmission Co., ITC Midwest and Dairyland Power Cooperative are building the 345-kilovolt Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line that would run more than 100 miles from Dane County to Dubuque County in Iowa. The utilities have notified the Wisconsin Public Service Commission that the overall cost of the project is now expected to top more than half a billion dollars. In the filing, the utilities cited considerable increases in the cost of steel, conductors, insulators and other materials.