GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) — A southwest Iowa man has reached a plea deal in connection with the death of a 13-month-old girl he was babysitting. The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports 23-year-old Colby Puckett, of Pacific Junction, pleaded guilty Monday in Mills County Court to second-degree murder in the February 2012 death of Aliyanna May. The plea deal drops charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment causing death.

Puckett was dating the infant’s mother when he was watching the girl and two of her siblings. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation says the infant sustained extensive injuries to her head and eyes while in Puckett’s care. Aliyanna was treated at a hospital and died. Officials later ruled her death a homicide.

Puckett is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13.

A woman walking along Aspen Drive in Atlantic Sunday afternoon was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, after being struck by a car. According to Atlantic Police, Audrey Goettsche, of Atlantic, was hit by a vehicle driven by Kathryn Nelson, of Atlantic, as Nelson was backing her vehicle out of a driveway, and failed to notice Goettsche prior to striking her. The accident took place at around 3:05-p.m., Sunday.

Nelson’s vehicle sustained $500 damage during the accident. No citations were issued. A report on Goettsches’ injuries was not available.

The Harlan Police Department reports three arrests were made over the past week. On Monday, 24-year old Shannon Schow of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County bench warrant for failure to appear in court. She was transported to the Shelby County jail.

On Nov. 21st, 51-year old Jeffrey Pape, of Omaha, was arrested following a traffic stop. Pape was taken to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with driving while revoked, possession of a controlled substance and prohibited acts penalties.

And, on Nov. 19th, 33-year old Stephen Nichols, of Harlan, was taken into custody when he allegedly violated a no contact order with Melissa Nichols. Nichols was arrested on November 22nd and transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with two counts of violation of a no contact order.

In other activity, authorities in Harlan say they received several reports on Nov. 22nd, of vehicles being broken into. The incidents occurred along West Park, Court Street and 16th Street. Among the items taken were a Garmin GPS unit and an iPod Shuffle.

Officials remind citizens of Harlan to lock their vehicles and stay alert to persons in the neighborhood. Crimestoppers rewards may be awarded to persons who provide information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for the burglaries.

Officials with Shelby County Health Clinics report the Flu vaccine is still available at Myrtue Medical Center’s Public Health office.  And, there will be another Flu Vaccination Clinic on December 4^th from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.   You can register for an appointment at www.shelbycountyclinics.com or by calling 755-4422.  All ages are welcome for the clinic.

Shelby County Public Health Director, Jennifer Muff says  “As long as flu viruses are circulating, people can get sick.” She says “Flu activity generally peaks in January or February and lasts into the spring, so it is definitely not too late to get a vaccination.” It takes about two weeks after vaccination for the body’s immune response to provide fully protection.

Shelby Public Health joins the Iowa Department of Public Health and the CDC in recognizing December 8 through 14 as National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW). The CDC established NIVW to highlight the importance of continuing flu vaccination through the holiday season and beyond.  For more information, see http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/nivw/nivw_media_toolkit_2013.pdf .  Flu vaccine is also available at Myrtue Medical Center’s medical clinics.

The CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against the flu. While the flu vaccine is the best defense against getting influenza, it’s also important to take personal actions to help prevent the spread of illness. Remember the 3Cs: Cover your coughs and sneezes; Clean your hands frequently; and Contain germs by staying home when ill.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency reports a portion of Elmwood road will be closed for today (Tuesday) only. The section of Elmwood Road near 1150th Street is closed for a pipe replacement. The EMA says work will be completed by the end of today and the road will reopen Wednesday.

Minnesota and Missouri are now allowing lottery sales as people gas up their vehicles and pay at the pump, but Iowa Lottery C-E-O Terry Rich isn’t ready to ask Iowa legislators to allow those kind of transactions at gas pumps here. “It’s a subject that has and needs a lot of safeguards,” Rich says, “and I sure wouldn’t feel positive about doing something until I’m fully convinced that we have all the safeguards in place for amount of money people might be able to spend and/or the whole safeguards in terms of social impact.”

Minnesota began testing Powerball ticket sales at gas pumps last year. Missouri began testing the concept this fall at 15 gas stations as well as 100 A-T-Ms in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas. Rich says the technology to allow those gas-pump ticket sales is rather expensive and that’s one reason he’s not yet sold on the concept for Iowa gas stations.  “We really want to see what the financial impact is,” Rich says. “I don’t like to spend money unless I know that it’s going to be a positive financial return for the State of Iowa.”

This fall Delaware’s lottery began offering on-line casino games like blackjack and roulette. New Jersey is on the verge of doing that, too, but the games won’t be operated by that state’s lottery. The neighboring state of Illinois is selling Powerball and MegaMillions tickets online.  “There are so many safeguards that we want to make sure and ensure are in place,” Rich says. “We think those are in place now, but we’ll continue to test those and look at that, but it’ll really be determined by what the public and, I think, the other gaming entities in Iowa do to see what our next step is.”

Iowa’s casinos have been lobbying legislators to pass a law that allows the casinos to offer on-line poker games, but the effort has stalled in each of the past two years.

(Radio Iowa)

Some are criticizing the decision of retailers who have decided to open their doors on Thanksgiving Day instead of waiting for Friday to kick off holiday shopping. Iowa State University retail and small business specialist, Ron Prescott, says one of the reasons stores are making the move is because they think it will get them sales. “The whole things is actually consumer driven. People are interested in shopping earlier,” Prescott says. “Now that may come from the recession, where people are interest in spreading out their paychecks over a longer period of time.”

While consumers want to shop earlier, Prescott says they may not go along if things continue moving up on the calendar.  “I think there is going to be a point where people say ‘enough is enough’ and we’re encroaching on our holiday season a little bit too much,” Prescott says.

But for this year anyway, opening on Thanksgiving isn’t the limit. “Up to this point, it doesn’t seem like that’s the trend, at least in 2013,” Prescott says. While some retailers are trying to get the jump on holiday shopping, Prescott says overall he’s seen something else that he views as good for the economy. “Employment is up for retailers this holiday season — you know everybody is concerned about unemployment. And it’s just not temporary,” Prescott says.

He says many retailers are hiring full-time employees, and that means they have a positive view of the economy and for business beyond the holidays.

(Radio Iowa)