DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad has called for a single statewide minimum wage, rather than a hodgepodge of wages that vary by county, and a new Republican majority in the Legislature could give him a clear path to enact uniform pay rates.

That worries some supporters of higher minimum wages who fear the state could couple an insignificant wage increase with a ban on local jurisdictions approving their own higher wages, as four counties have already done.

More than a dozen states have passed similar so-called pre-emption laws regarding minimum wage.

Branstad said in October that a single minimum wage was better because businesses are being negatively affected. Some county officials say any legislation challenging local control must include a meaningful raise to the minimum wage.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Hundreds of protesters angry about Donald Trump’s presidential win blocked Interstate 80 in Iowa City for about a half-hour, backing up traffic for miles.

The protests began Friday afternoon when about 200 high school students walked out of class and held a rally on the University of Iowa campus, dubbed a “Not My America” protest. University students joined the protest and listened to speeches before marching through downtown and down Dubuque Street toward the freeway.

Protesters walked out onto I-80 about 5 p.m. Iowa City police and state troopers held back traffic but didn’t intervene in the protests.

Protesters dispersed about a half-hour later and walked toward downtown.

The protest caused huge traffic snarls on the freeway and Dubuque Street.

PELLA, Iowa (AP) — A federally mandated study has concluded that Pella Corp. inadvertently released two dangerous chemicals into the ground at its plant in Pella.

The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/2eYAuaR) that the study says pentachlorophenol and dioxin have reached the groundwater. Only those two chemicals were found at higher than acceptable levels.

Pella officials say the contaminants do not threaten the city’s drinking water, which comes from the Des Moines River and the Jordan aquifer.

The study was a result of a 2010 settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, which required the company to test for 30 different possible sources of contamination. A Pella manager, Jim Nieboer, says Pella will wait for guidance from the EPA on whether Pella must remove the chemicals from the ground.