Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — First Lady Michelle Obama will campaign in Iowa next month for Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley, his campaign announced on Wednesday. Obama will appear at an event in October, but the Braley campaign said details on the date and location have not been worked out.

WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — The police chief for West Burlington in southeast Iowa said he’s been hospitalized for damage to his spinal cord, and he’s unsure about his recovery. Police Chief Frank Newberry said Tuesday he is paralyzed from the waist down after a disc in his back ruptured. The injury caused damage to his spinal cord, he tells the Burlington Hawk Eye. The 57-year-old Newberry has been police chief since 2012.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — A man suspected of fatally stabbing a Davenport woman and injuring her husband has been captured in western Illinois. Rock Island County Sheriff Jeff Boyd said Tuesday that Gary Fortune had been apprehended but didn’t provide any other details, the Quad-City Times reported yesterday.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The University of Iowa announced yesterday plans to create a program that would allow some students to earn their undergraduate degree in three years. University President Sally Mason told the Iowa Board of Regents that the program will be implemented by the end of this academic year. For a limited number of majors, students will be promised a degree in three years if they take summer classes and meet certain academic milestones.

The ISU Theatre 2014-15 season marks the hundredth anniversary of organized theatre at Iowa State University. That was when Fredrica V. Shattuck organized a group of interested students and formed Iowa State Players. ISU Theatre’s opener, “Spring Awakening,” first performed under heavy censorship in Germany in 1906. “Spring Awakening” closed after just one night in New York in 1917 amid public outrage and charges of obscenity.

The story traces the dawning sexual awareness of four teenagers, Melchior, Moritz, Wendla, and Hanschen, who, in their painfully funny contradictions—-they are at once too innocent and not remotely innocent at all-—remain fresh and unsettling even in our own sex-saturated culture.

Stacy Hansen

“Spring Awakening” features as guest director Exira native and ISU alum Stacy Hansen, who graduated from Iowa State in 1992 with a degree in speech communication/theatre and education. Also appearing in the production is: Taylor Sklenar , a senior in performing arts, English, and chemistry from Treynor; Christopher Tedford, who is a senior in engineering from Cumberland;Emily Tigges, a senior in performing arts from Carroll, and Austin Farwell, a senior in performing arts from Council Bluffs.

Iowa State University Theatre’s production of “Spring Awakening” opens on Friday, October 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Fisher Theatre in the Iowa State Center.

Chris Tedford

Other performance dates are October 4, 10, and 11 at 7:30 p.m. and October 5 and 12 at 2 p.m. in Fisher Theater, Ames. The production features mature themes, sexual situations, and explicit language. Tickets are priced at $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $11 for students. Tickets can be purchased through any TicketMaster, the Iowa State Center Ticket Office in Ames, or at the door before performances.

(Updated 4:15-p.m.)

Officials with the Iowa DNR said Wednesday that authorities in Shelby reported a sewer line that runs from the town to the city’s lagoons washed out at a small creek crossing, causing untreated wastewater to discharge.

The city estimates between 100 and 200 gallons per minute of wastewater flowed directly into Little Silver Creek until the discharge ended at 3-p.m.

The DNR recommends keeping children and pets away from the creek for 24 to 48 hours after repairs are completed. The DNR will continue to monitor the situation.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a woman from Red Oak and a man and woman from Atlantic were arrested Tuesday, on drug and other charges. 24-year old Courtney Nicole Orr,  of Red Oak, was arrested on charges of OWI 2nd Offense and Possession of a Controlled Substance. Orr was taken to the Cass County Jail where she remains held on $3,000 bond.
And, 35-year old Charles Theodore Shroyer, of Atlantic, was arrested Tuesday on charges of Controlled Substance Violation and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, while 30-year old Jessica Nichole Shroyer, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of Controlled Substance Violation. Both were taken to the Cass County Jail where they were released later that day on $5,000 bond each.

The Vision Iowa Board has awarded $1,675,000 in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grants for a new YMCA in Council Bluffs and a Veterans Service Center in Waverly. The grants were approved by the Vision Iowa Board at their meeting in Des Moines today (Wednesday).

In western Iowa, the YMCA of Greater Omaha received an award amounting to $1-million towards the more than $16.1million cost of a new Council Bluffs YMCA. The CAT grant award is contingent upong completed fundraising within 90-days. Officials has requested $2-million.

Th project includes the construction of a new 73,000-square-foot YMCA in downtown Council Bluffs. The facility will include a health and wellness center with walking track, warm water therapy pool, gymnasium with bleacher seating for 1200 people, aquatics center with warm water and lap pools, early childhood education center, teen center, family center, outdoor splash zone, teaching kitchen and adjacent surface parking for 136 vehicles.

The Vision Iowa Program provides financial incentives to communities for the construction of recreational, cultural, educational or entertainment facilities that enhance the quality of life in Iowa. Currently, 393 CAT awards have been granted by the board, totaling more than $149.1-million.