SIBLEY, Iowa (AP) — A 39-year-old former football coach and teacher accused of sexually assaulting a child in northwest Iowa has been convicted of a similar crime in Nebraska. Court records say Kyle Ewinger was found guilty Tuesday of sexual assault in Omaha. Prosecutors say that in 2012 and 2013, he assaulted the 9-year-old son of a woman he was dating. Ewinger’s sentencing is scheduled for March 28.

Iowa records say the Sibley-Ocheyedan coach was fired after the district superintendent found Ewinger sleeping in his classroom next to a 10-year-old in October 2015. Ewinger has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. His trial in Osceola County is set to begin April 10.

A House panel has begun reviewing a bill that would create a new state crime for flying a drone over a prison or jail in Iowa. Representative Jarad Klein, of Keota, says after drones were caught carrying drugs, phones and weapons into prisons in several other states, it’s time to consider taking action in Iowa. “Having a tool in the toolbox for the prosecutors — if they can catch them — to give them an additional charge is more what it’s about,” Klein says. “We’re not talking about having the guards in the towers being able to — with sniper rifles — shoot these things down.”

Klein led an effort in 2014 to establish state regulations for “unmanned aerial vehicles” — which most of us call drones, but it failed to clear the legislature. Klein says regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration have addressed many of the concerns about drones, but he says it’s worth considering safety-related issues at the state level, including flying a drone over drinking water supplies. “That’s been one of the things we’ve talked about. Where are the places we need to make sure are fully secured? I mean, the jails, prisons — these are easy ones,” Klein says. “…We do have more infrastructure that we do need to be safeguarding, so that’s one of the things we need to talk about in the subcommittee and see what cities and counties come back and say. ‘We would like you to do something’ or ‘Absolutely not’ — and give us reasons.”

Just this week, New Jersey’s governor signed a law that makes it illegal to fly a drone while intoxicated in New Jersey. Klein says that proposal is not yet on the radar for Iowa lawmakers.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Facebook is rolling out a 30-city program it promised last year to help small businesses grow and workers gain the digital computer skills needed to find a job. The company is announcing the first five cities to get a visit from a crew of professionals as part of its Facebook Community Boost program.

Each team will train job seekers on digital and social media skills. Business owners will be offered ways to expand their digital footprint and find new customers. People learning to get online can receive training on digital literacy and online safety. The Des Moines event is set for June 4-8. Other cities scheduled for March, April and May are St. Louis; Houston; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Greenville, South Carolina.

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) — A northwest Iowa school superintendent has been given six months of probation after pleading guilty to drunken driving. Court records say 58-year-old Rod Earleywine also was given a deferred judgment at his Dickinson County sentencing last month. Under a deferred judgment, records of his conviction will be expunged if he completes the terms of his probation.

Earleywine was arrested Aug. 5 in Spirit Lake. The records say Earleywine’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit in two tests. The president of the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Community School District board has declined to comment about the case. On Thursday the district website still listed Earleywine as superintendent.

More area, and State news, from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Officials with the Creston Police Department say 40-year old Melissa Y Clark, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center. Clark was taken into custody on a Union County warrant charging her with Forgery and Theft in the 3rd Degree. Clark was being held in the Ringgold County Jail on $7,000 bond. And, 61-year old Gregory Kaufman, of Creston, was arrested at around 3:25-a.m. today (Thursday), on a charge of Public Intoxication. His bond was set at $300.

Creston Police report also, a resident in the 600 block of N. Vine Street said Wednesday, that sometime around 7:55-p.m. , a window was broken out of the back door of her home. The glass was shattered by someone throwing a rock. The damage was estimated at $75. And, just after 9-p.m. Wednesday, a woman residing in the 600 block of N. Birch, in Creston, reported that sometime between 3-and 9-p.m., three windows of her residence were broken by thrown rocks. The damage there was estimated at $250.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday night, approved the appointments of Barb Barrick, to the Office of City Clerk, and Mark Bosworth, with the law firm of Lawrence and Wiederstein, to the Office of City Attorney. The City had appointed David Wiederstein as City Attorney on Oct. 7, 2015. When Bosworth joined the law firm, the City updated its retainer agreement to reflect that he would act as primary attorney. The Office of City Clerk requires appointment in the year following a regular City Election, which was held last November.

Barrick told the Council, Wednesday, that as part of Atlantic’s year-long Sesquicentennial (150th) celebration and monthly activities, during the month of February, they are asking people to find 150 reasons to “Love Atlantic.”  She handed out red construction-type paper to members of the Council and media, asking each one to mark, in a black marker, a reason to love Atlantic. Names are optional, but age or generation are requested, so people can see on an as yet to be assigned store-front, people from every walk of life, in Atlantic. She requested they be turned in to City Hall by no later than January 29th.

The hearts are available from City Hall and the Nishna Valley YMCA.

(UPDATE) The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office has released additional information with regard to an accident that happened Wednesday afternoon, near Redfield. Officials say Danyelle Walls of Dexter, was driving a van with her two children inside, when she lost control of the vehicle, which entered a ditch and struck several trees and shrubs. The crash was reported at around 4-p.m.. It happened on 310th Street, about a mile west of Redfield.

The injured were transported to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines, by Dallas County EMS. Damage to the van was estimated at $10,000.  The Iowa State Patrol, Redfield Fire and First Responders, Dexter Fire, and Stuart EMS aided at the scene.

A key state administrator says progress has been made to fix problems in the privately-managed Medicaid program that serves half a million Iowans, but Department of Human Services director Jerry Foxhoven says reverting to a system where state employees manage care for patients is not a fix he’s willing to make. Private companies began managing the program in April of 2015.

“I don’t think there’s any question that managed care is the future, that most states are going to managed care. This is not uncommon,” Foxhoven says. “Most states, early in their programs, have struggled with the program — some of the same issues that we’ve struggled with.”

Foxhoven testified before the Senate Human Resources Committee yesterday (Wednesday). Health care providers have complained about lagging payments for Medicaid services and patients say their complaints about denied care fall through the cracks. Foxhoven says the billing issue is getting better and, with “millions of claims” processed, there have only been a “couple of hundred appeals.” However, Foxhoven is promising a “serious” review of those appeals. “If you look at the program as a whole, we’re really doing quite well,” Foxhoven says.

Legislators of both parties pressed Foxhoven for data to back that up.  Senator Julian Garrett, a Republican from Indianola, said “I’m kind of surprised that you can’t give us anything more than a general statement that, ‘Yeah, things are getting better.'”

After the meeting, Foxhoven told reporters there’s no infrastructure left to have state employees manage care for Medicaid patients. “It’s like we’re not going to go back to rotary phones,” Foxhoven said. “…The world of Medicaid anymore is managed care. Everybody’s moving in that direction, not away from it, but towards it because it’s the only way you end up making it sustainable in the long term.”

Foxhoven told reporters his agency may ask legislators to approve “small changes” in Medicaid, but he didn’t specify what those might be. Foxhoven also indicated most of the adjustments he envisions for the Medicaid system can be made under his orders.

(Radio Iowa)