DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – MidAmerican Energy Co. has agreed to stop burning coal in seven power plant boilers in Iowa and limit emissions from two others as part of a settlement with an environmental group.  The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit last year claiming MidAmerican was violating the Clean Air Act by emitting more pollution than allowed in permits in Sergeant Bluff, Bettendorf, and Council Bluffs.  To settle the case, MidAmerican agrees to stop burning coal in boilers at Council Bluffs and Sergeant Bluffs by April 2016. The company says it also will stop burning coal in Bettendorf but will operate the facility with natural gas.

It says installation of a cleaning system is under way at other boilers in Sergeant Bluffs.   MidAmerican says it settled the case Tuesday to avoid costs to customers.

Members of the Elk Horn-Kimballton School Board heard an update Monday night during their meeting, on the status of the reorganization process with the Exira Community School District. Superintendent Dean Schnoes said the districts are still moving forward with its plans. Those include each district having obtained 300 signatures on petitions calling for reorganization and presenting them to the Heartland Area Education Agency on January 7^th.  The AEA he says will meet with the two school board presidents, and then try to determine if April is still viable as month for a reorganization vote. Schnoes says they still hope for April 9^th, but the AEA is not sure the timelines will mesh. It’s possible the vote may have to be moved back to June.

He said they have not yet heard back from the AEA, which is reviewing the petitions, so “No news is good news,” as far as the approval of the petitions and signatures is concerned. Atlantic School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein last week announced the Atlantic High School Auditorium will serve as the site at 6-p.m. March 13^th , for a joint public meeting dealing with the Exira-EHK reorganization issue. Schnoes said that the meeting will be for individuals who live in the two districts, and wish to object to the two districts becoming one. They will address the joint board members to express their reasoning against reorganization.

Schnoes said neither he nor officials with the Heartland or Green Hills AEA’s have heard any preliminary rumblings from those who might be considering an objection to reorganization.

The director of Iowa’s Department of Public Safety Narcotics Division says Iowa law enforcement officers are seizing increasing amounts of marijuana originating from Colorado. Steve DeJoode says even before Colorado relaxed its marijuana laws late last year, the amount of marijuana seized in Iowa tripled over a three year period. “In 2010, the number of interdiction stops in Iowa regarding marijuana, 10-percent of those originated out of Colorado. In 2011, it increased to 25-percent and in 2012, 36-percent of the marijuana interdictions in Iowa originated out of Colorado,” DeJoode says. “So, each year, we’re increasing at least 10-percent.”

DeJoode notes Interstates 80 and 35 provide primary routes to marijuana markets and when it’s seized in Iowa, the costs fall on Iowa. “Whether or not that interdiction load of illicit drugs is destined for Iowa or not, they still have impacts on Iowa law enforcement, jail systems and the judicial system as well,” DeJoode says.

(Radio Iowa)

An accident in Atlantic Monday afternoon caused about $2,000 damage to the Subway store on East 7th Street, and resulted in a local woman being cited for failure to have insurance. According to the Atlantic Police Department, 31-year old Chalee Burtle, of Atlantic, was cited after the vehicle she was driving hit the store at 1705 E. 7th Street at around 3:20-p.m., while Burtle was attempting to park. Her car sustained $2,500 damage. No injuries were reported.

An Atlantic man who was the victim of a stabbing early Sunday morning outside of a local bar, was arrested Monday on a Cass County warrant. The Atlantic Police Department says 26-year old Christopher Anthony Jason Castillo was taken into custody on a warrant issued in December, for Failure to Appear for his arraignment on an original charge of Domestic Abuse Assault causing bodily injury. Castillo was being held in the Cass County Jail on $5,000 bond.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker today (Tuesday), released more information about a wild pursuit we first told you about Sunday morning, on KJAN. The incident began at around 3:30-a.m., after a Pott. County Sheriff’s Deputy pulled over a white Toyota pickup on Highway 59 in Avoca, for an equipment violation.

Danker says the 27-year old female driver of the pickup was being questioned by the deputy, when a passenger, identified as 20-year old Kolten Kenneth Kobold, of Harlan, slid into the driver’s seat and the pickup sped-off. As the chase went down interstate 80, the deputy noticed items including cash, a white powdery substance and a baggie were being tossed out of the truck, but Danker said later that authorities were not able to find evidence of the substance along the interstate. The pursuit entered the Shelby area on gravel roads before turning into a corn field. The truck with the deputy in chase, eventually wound-up back on I-80.

Danker says the pickup was traveling in the wrong direction for a short time before switching back across the median and going in the other direction. The truck then left the interstate again. The pursuit continued north through Shelby and ended at around 450^th Street and County Road M-16, where another deputy performed a PIT Maneuver. His action caused the pickup to spin into a ditch.

Kobold was taken into custody at around 4-a.m. He faces numerous charges, including being a Fugitive from Justice, Eluding, Reckless Driving and several traffic offenses. Kobold was later released from custody posting a $7,000 bond. The female driver did not have a driver’s license, but no charges were filed against her.

Sheriff’s officials in Audubon County say a Guthrie County man was arrested Monday night on a charge of 2nd degree theft, associated with the theft on January 1st of two spools of wire from rural Audubon County. 44-year old Ryan Vernon Doty, of Coon Rapids, was taken into custody at around 9-p.m with the assistance of deputies from Carroll County, who also assisted in the investigation.

Officials say Doty allegedly stole the wire from the 1500 block of Swift Avenue. The spools were valued at more than $2,500. Doty was brought to the Audubon County Jail and later released, after posting a $5,000 bond. He’s scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.