The Democratic mayor of Council Bluffs has sent a letter to the Iowa Senate, urging senators to pass a law similar to Nebraska’s that would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. After that Nebraska law took effect October 15th, a doctor in Bellevue, Nebraska who performs so-called “late term” abortions announced he intended to open a clinic across the border in Council Bluffs. 

Jon Jacobsen, a lawyer from Treynor, read the mayor’s letter at a news conference Thursday morning in Council Bluffs. “People of good will, from both sides of the aisle, are absolute in their solidarity together on this issue,” Jacobsen said. “This is not a partisan issue. This is a bipartisan issue.” In the letter, Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan encouraged the state senate to “take action” so Council Bluffs won’t become the home of a clinic that “specializes in later term abortions.”

“Now Mayor Hanafan is a Democrat and this is just emblematic of the bipartisan nature of what’s going on here in southwest Iowa and all throughout Iowa on this issue,” Jacobsen said at Thursday morning’s news conference. The Iowa House has passed a bill that would ban abortions in Iowa after the 20th week of a pregnancy, but the bill has stalled in a Senate committee.

 Senator Tom Courtney, a Democrat from Burlington, says it’s too late in the legislative session to give the bill adequate review before a vote is taken. Courtney is chairman of the Government Oversight Committee where the bill is stuck. The 110th day of the 2011 Iowa Legislative session is April 29th and that’s the day legislators’ daily expense money runs out. But it’s not clear whether lawmakers can wrap up work on the state budget by then and adjourn for the year.

Two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed while on active duty will be laid to rest today and tomorrow. Thirty-one-year old Sergeant Brent Maher (May-er) of Honey Creek died April 11th when the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Twenty-one-year-old Specialist Donald Nichols of Shell Rock died two days later when a bomb exploded under his vehicle on another patrol in Afghanistan. Mayer’s funeral is today (Friday) at 10 a-m at Council Bluffs High School. Burial will follow the service at the Garner Township Cemetery in Council Bluffs. The funeral for Nichols is 10 a-m Saturday at the Waverly-Shell Rock High School. Burial will follow at the Greenwood Cemetery in Cedar Falls. Iowa Guard spokesman, Colonel Greg Hapgood, expects a larger turnout to honor both soldiers.

“Certainly when it comes to supporting service members in Iowa…there’s no comparison to other states, Iowa just does it so well,” Hapgood says. He says the expect a significant amount of people to attend the services for both Maher and Nicols. The bodies of the fallen soldiers are returned home and Hapgood says their relatives determine how the services will be handled.

Hapgood says everything is driven by the family’s wishes and they do everything in their power to do whatever it is the family wants and to honor that soldier for them. Hapgood says any Iowan can show their respect for the soldiers. He says simple things like simply standing as the funeral procession passes by or holding a flag are important to the families. “Just simply to show your respect some visual way really is fantastic,” Hapgood says, “the families never forget that the day of the funeral when they see home many people come to show that they’re grateful to that family for what they’ve sacrificed.” 

Maher and Nichols were part of a group of 28-hundred Iowa National Guard soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in November of last year.

The Iowa State Patol says a Fremont, Nebraska, man was seriously injured Thursday afternoon, when the pickup truck he was driving rolled over and came to rest on top of him. 68-year old Edgar Leu was leaving the eastbound lanes of Interstate 680 onto southbound Interstate 29 about 2:15 p.m., when his 2002 Dodge Dakota picKup went off a ramp.

Leu over-corrected and lost control of the vehicle, which slid across the ramp and into a ditch, where it rolled several times. Even though he was wearing a seatbelt, Leu was partially out of the driver’s side window when the truck came to rest on his head.

The Patrol says passing motorists who saw the wreck stopped and lifted the truck off of Leu, and held it off of his body until rescue crews arrived on the scene. Officials say the samaritan’s efforts may have saved his life.

He was taken by helicopter to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. A report on his condition is currently not available.

No injuries were reported following a two-vehicle collision Wednesday afternoon, in downtown Atlantic. According to Atlantic Police, vehicles driven by Tammy Espinosa and Nichole Weeks, both of Atlantic, collided at around 3:35-p.m, when Weeks’ vehicle ran into the back of the Espinosa vehicle.

The accident happened in front of 412 Chestnut Street. Damage from the mishap amounted to $5,500.

Authorities in Shelby County say a Harlan man was arrested last Sunday on drug charges, following a traffic stop. 24-year old Derek Hildebrand, who was a passenger in the car, was allegedly found to be in possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the Shelby County Jail on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and prohibited acts.

The Harlan Police Department reports also, 33-year old Marty West, of Harlan, was arrested last Sunday on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, 2^nd offense. West was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting Mikeala Posekany, of Omaha, during an incident at West’s residence.

And, 31-year old Erica Lacy, of Harlan, was arrested Monday on a charge of 5^th Degree Theft, after she allegedly, and fraudulently, used a debit card belonging to Uzene Erkrich, of Harlan. Lacy was cited for the offense, ordered to appear in court at a later date, and released.