CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Brazilian man who caused a jetliner flight to be diverted to Cedar Rapids has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison. U.S. District Court records say 34-year-old Guilherme Alves De Melo was sentenced Tuesday in Cedar Rapids and told to pay nearly $4,800 restitution to American Airlines for the cost of diverting the flight. He’d pleaded guilty to intimidating a flight crew member.

Court records say that on June 23, Alves became disruptive and “lost it” about an hour before the plane was scheduled to land in Chicago. The plane had taken off from Calgary, Canada. That led some passengers to restrain him with zip ties provided by the flight crew before the plane was diverted to eastern Iowa.

Alves was charged in Iowa with disorderly conduct for yelling obscenities as he was arrested by Cedar Rapids police. He pleaded guilty to that charge the next day and paid a $100 fine.

(Radio Iowa) — The Republican who leads the Senate Education Committee is championing a plan to get rid of the state mandate that Iowa schools have at least one school nurse and a teacher librarian on staff.  Senator Amy Sinclair of Allerton, says “This bill is about returning the authority to local school boards, local administrators and local teachers to make the decisions that make the most sense for their classrooms.”  Her proposal also would get rid of the mandate that schools collect data on whether students have had vision and dental screenings as well as a blood test to see if they suffer from lead poisoning.

Melissa Peterson, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Education Association, suggests the bill sets up a system of haves and have-nots. “We need to have consistent services provided to our kids,” Peterson said. School administrators said school nurses help administer prescription medications for students and there might be legal liability for schools that get rid of their nurses. Sharon Guthrie, executive director of the Iowa School Nurse Organization, says a quarter of Iowa schools did not have a nurse on staff before the the state mandate took effect. “Human nature tells you that if you say you don’t have to do something, you probably won’t do it,” Guthrie said.

Karla Krueger, a professor in the University of Northern Iowa’s College of Education, is urging legislators to maintain the mandate for school librarians. She says teacher librarians have contact with every student in their school. “They are teaching students important skills that makes them better readers,” she said. “It also makes them better writers and researchers.” Emily Piper, a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of School Boards, says most of the ideas in the bill came from school boards seeking more local control.  “It’s not our intention…to put children at risk,” she said. “It is our intention to try to better focus our attention and energies.”

A Republican senator who joined Sinclair in supporting the bill says he’s interested in reducing administrative costs in schools and he sees this bill as one way to do that.

(Radio Iowa) — A plan to provide 22 million dollars in scholarships, paid internships and other incentives to students in the “STEM” fields of science, technology, engineering and math is under development at the statehouse. Republican Representative Brian Best of Glidden says in addition to helping students get four-year degrees, it will help finance short-term training programs, too. “It’s just such a ‘no-brainer,'” Best says. “They can get a skill in one to two years, come out of a community college with very little debt and be making a good wage. That’s why I’m really excited about what ‘Future Ready Iowa’ does.”

The so-called “Future Ready” initiative is the top legislative priority of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds. While the outline for the initiative has been in place since last year, there’s been no funding to pass along to students. Representative Chris Hall, a Democrat from Sioux City, says both Democrats and Republicans recognize the state must spend more to address the workforce shortage. “But we should also be doing so in a way that is just not rebranding programs or shuffling dollars that already exist and claiming victory by continuing something that’s already underway, but just marketing it differently,” Hall says.

The governor has said her “Future Ready Iowa” goal is to have 70 percent of Iowa workers earn a college degree or advanced training after they finish high school. Just 58 percent of Iowa workers between the ages of 25 and 64 have met those goals today.

The Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Snowshoes 101 Program at Cold Springs State Park in Lewis, this Saturday March 2nd at 1pm. The event will be held at the Beach Parking lot. Come out at learn all about snowshoes and try on a pair for yourself! FREE, and all ages welcome. Snow shoe sizes from 5 year olds to adult are available.

And, the Cass County Conservation Board is holding a Bluebird Nest Box Program at the Outdoor Educational Classroom Lodge near Massena, on Saturday March 9th at 4:00 PM. Come out to learn from Iowa Bluebird Conservationist President Chris Parks and you may win a door prize. Learn all about placing a bluebird box, and discussing on how to increase the success of your bluebird box. Discussion will focus on bluebird box design, correct placement, and maintenance practices that will increase the success of your efforts. The event is FREE, and all ages are welcome to attend.

Officials with the Burlington Northern-Sante Fe Railroad have confirmed a BNSF train derailed near Shenandoah, Tuesday. According to reports, a wheel of the train slipped off the track, causing a locomotive to become detached from three rail cars.The incident happened on tracks on near Porters Lake off Highway 48. A Shenandoah Police officer reportedly contacted BNSF officials regarding the derailment. No other details are currently available. Crews are working to repair the wheel and get the train back on the tracks by this evening, according to BNSF.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An April sentencing is scheduled for an eastern Iowa school nurse accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student. Linn County District Court records say 47-year-old Angela Beik, of Marion, entered an Alford plea Monday to a charge of sexual exploitation by a school employee. In an Alford plea, a person doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a likely conviction.
Her sentencing is set for April 23.

Beik was the school nurse at Linn-Mar High School in Marion and also employed at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids. Police began an investigation of Beik last March. They’d learned that state officials were checking a report that Beik told fellow St. Luke’s nurses that she’d had consensual sex with the boy. They reported the conversation to officials.

(Radio Iowa) — A three-member Senate panel has unanimously advanced Governor Kim Reynolds’ proposal that would expand access to birth control in Iowa. The bill would let Iowa women get birth control pills and some other forms of contraception directly from a pharmacist. Patients would still have to go through a health screening and might be referred to a doctor. Jodi Tomlonovic is director of the Family Planning Council of Iowa.  “We think this is a good step forward and adds to our ability of women, in particularly in the more rural parts of the state, to access birth control,” she said.

Kathryn Kueter of Concerned Women For America, says a woman’s health could be harmed if she takes the wrong dosage of birth control. “We’re also concerned about the lack of accountability this bill provides since there’s no liability for the pharmacist,” she said. “And we think there needs to be some accountability on those fronts.”

Senator Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa, the Republican in charge of guiding the bill through the senate, says she wouldn’t be supporting it if she thought it would endanger women’s health. Miller-Meeks is the former director of the Iowa Department of Public Health. A three-member House subcommittee is scheduled to consider a similar proposal tomorrow (Thursday).

Police in Red Oak conducted a traffic stop in the vicinity of N. Broadway and W. Reed Streets, at around 8:40-p.m., Tuesday. As the result of the stop, 25-year old Shilo J. Major, of Red Oak, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension, with three withdrawals in effect. Major was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on bond amounting to slightly more than $566.

Police in Council Bluffs, Tuesday night, updated their information with regard to a hit-and-run incident that occurred on the South Expressway, Saturday night. Authorities say 45-year old Billie Rowe, of Council Bluffs, admitted to being involved in the incident that happened just before 8-p.m., in the northbound lanes in the 2200 block area of the South Expressway.

During the event, 20-year-old Kane Fideler, of Council Bluffs, was struck by a silver or gray pickup with a business logo on the doors, and possibly a large letter “C” with a tree symbol. The accident happened as Fideler was alongside the road due to a previous fender-bender accident.

For his role in the incident, Rowe was cited for Failure to Maintain Control, Leaving the Scene of an Injury Accident, and for having no insurance. He was released with the citations.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:47 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 50-year-old Iowa man has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for having and producing child pornography. Federal prosecutors for Iowa said in a news release Tuesday that Joel Thomas Augard was sentenced Monday in Des Moines’ federal courthouse. Augard had pleaded guilty in October to two counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — The trial of an Indiana man accused of killing a Fort Dodge woman has again been postponed and moved. The Messenger reports that trial for Phillip Williams was to start Monday in Mason City, but a judge granted his request Tuesday to delay and move the trial. That came after Williams, who is black, objected to the composition of the jury pool, which had only one African American. Williams is charged with first-degree murder in the August 2017 death of 26-year-old Jessica Gomez.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say three people perished in a fire that heavily damaged a two-story house in the eastern Iowa city of Muscatine. Firefighters dispatched around 6:40 p.m. Monday found flames coming from several doors and windows. One injured person found outside the home was taken in critical condition to a hospital. The Muscatine Fire Department says firefighters found three bodies inside the home. Their names haven’t been released. The fire cause is being investigated.

AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska man has pleaded not guilty to stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of brass from his employer. Nemaha County District Court records say 26-year-old Justin Heard, of Auburn, entered the pleas Monday to 11 counts of burglary and three of theft from Magnolia Metal in rural Auburn. Investigators say he sold the brass to a recycler in Council Bluffs, Iowa.