OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The future USS Omaha is now under construction in an Alabama shipyard.
The Navy says a keel laying ceremony was held for the USS Omaha last month. Austal USA is building the vessel. The USS Omaha is a littoral combat ship, which can operate in shallow and deep water. It will be roughly 420 feet long.

The future, USS Omaha’s sister-ship, (the identical) USS Independence.

The USS Omaha will be designed to deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors to fight mines and submarines.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa drivers will stay out of the fast lane for now, after lawmakers did not advance a bill that would have boosted the speed limit on interstate highways, bringing it in line with many nearby states.  The bill sought to raise the speed limit on interstate highways to 75 mph, up from the current limit of 70 mph. It died in the state Senate several days ago, amid questions about the safety ramifications.

That means Iowa drivers will continue at slower speeds than those behind the wheel in many nearby states. Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota all have speed limits of 75 mph.  Iowa’s interstate highway speed limit was last increased in 2005, up from 65 mph.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

(Des Moines) – An AMBER ALERT issued Saturday afternoon in Iowa has been cancelled The Iowa Department of Public Safety reported early Sunday morning 9-year old Brianna Crane, of Solon, was safely returned to her family. The girl was allegedly abducted at around 2:30-p.m. Saturday, by her step-father, 48-year old Kenneth Eugene Johns and the pair were thought to have been in southeast Iowa hours after the Alert was issued.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) – A Burlington glass manufacturer has told employees the plant will close its doors May 1st, leaving the eastern Iowa city with about 30 fewer jobs. The Burlington Hawk Eye reports that the PPG Industries plant announced the impending closure on Friday. Employees were told of the plan Thursday. The 29 employees affected will be given an opportunity to transfer to PPG manufacturing plants in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Wichita Falls, Texas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The clear rift over immigration opened up publicly Saturday at an Iowa forum on agriculture, energy, trade and food policy. Most of the nine possible Republican presidential candidates for 2016 called for enforcing existing laws. But outliers Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, and South Carolina’s Senator Lindsay Graham proposed offering the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally a path to legal status.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Police in Cedar Rapids are investigating a shooting that has left one man with critical injuries. The Cedar Rapids Police Department says it received reports of several shots fired just before 3 a.m. Saturday. Police have not yet released the name of the man shot or other details of the shooting.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Iowa State wrapped up the Number 2 seed behind Kansas in the Big 12 tournament in the last game of the regular season. The Cyclones’ 89-76 win Saturday night at TCU locked in the pairings for the tournament that starts Wednesday in Kansas City.

A traffic stop in Red Oak early this (Sunday) morning, resulted in a man being arrested on numerous drug charges. Red Oak Police say 31-year old Matthew Wayne Echternach, of Essex, was taken into custody at around 12:25-a.m. near the intersection of North Broadway and West Oak Streets. The man was charged with OWI Drugged/1st Offense, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Echternach was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 cash bond. Red Oak Police were assisted during the traffic stop, by deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

A traffic stop Saturday evening in Montgomery County led to the arrest of a Red Oak man. Red Oak Police say 57-year old Jeffrey Alan Runyan was arrested at around 7:40-p.m. for driving an ATV on a public street, while allegedly intoxicated. Runyan was charged with OWI/3rd offense and Driving While Revoked. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 bond.