OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials have marked the end of an Omaha National Cemetery construction project. The open house held Wednesday included a flag-raising ceremony. The events celebrated the start of operations out of the permanent facilities. The cemetery opened for burials and other services in September 2016.

Marolyn Swanson stands among veterans as she holds the dog tags of her deceased husband Bob Swanson, during a flag raising ceremony and open house at the Omaha National Cemetery in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, April 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

The first phase of construction is providing burial options for about 10 years. Officials have said the entire 236-acre cemetery will serve the needs of more than 112,000 veterans and their families in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa for the next 100 years.

The closest national cemetery is about 180 miles away in Leavenworth, Kansas. There is a Nebraska veterans cemetery near Alliance in the Nebraska Panhandle.

The Harlan Police Department reports 21-year old Cody James Varnes, of Walnut, was arrested Tuesday, following a call about a shoplifter.  Varnes was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was charged with theft in the 5th degree.

An accident in Harlan, Tuesday, resulted in two vehicles being declared a total loss. Officials say the collision between a 2004 Pontiac Vibe and a 2007 Audi Q7 happened at the intersection of Highway 59 and Durant Street, when the driver of the Audi, Divine Lokange Kanioka, of Harlan, failed to yield the right-of-way. Kanioka’s car collided with the Vibe, driven by Susan Lynn Findlay, of Harlan, causing front end damage to the Pontiac.

Today (Wednesday), a 1996 Buick Park Avenue driven by Richard Loe Finken, of Earling, struck a 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage broadside. The Mirage was driven by Khamtanh Leng, of Denison. The accident happened at the intersection of Highway 59 and Lincoln Avenue, after Finken pulled away from the stop sign heading eastbound on Lincoln, across Highway 59. Leng was traveling north on Hwy 59 and was unable to brake before hitting the Buick. Both vehicle came to rest in the southbound lane of Hwy 59.

An investigation into an accident at around 12:45-a.m. Wednesday (Today), resulted an arrest. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports a deputy was dispatched to a property damage accident at Mynster and Old Lincoln. Dispatch advised also, that a brown Cadillac left the roadway, and a passer-by said the driver suffered no injuries. When the deputy arrived on the scene, he initially couldn’t locate a driver. The driver, 44-year old Donald Christopher Van Gieson, of Crescent, was located at Honeysuckle and Old Lincoln. He was arrested at around 1:25-a.m. for Operating while Intoxicated 1st Offense, and transported to Pottawattamie County Corrections

MARION, Iowa (AP) — Linn County authorities in eastern Iowa have arrested a school nurse who’s accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student. Cedar Rapids police say 46-year-old Angela Beik is being charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee. 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 month. 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.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed an immigration enforcement bill that bans so-called sanctuary cities. The Republican governor signed the bill privately on Tuesday. The news was tucked into a press release about 16 other bill signings. The new law will require law enforcement to follow requests from federal agents to hold a jailed person suspected of being in the country illegally. Local governments risk losing state funding if they don’t comply with the law.

Attorneys say the provision could open the state to litigation. Community organizers argue the bill will lead to racial profiling. Lawmakers who supported the measure called it a public safety issue. Reynolds highlighted the legislation in a gubernatorial fundraising email. Sanctuary cities is a catch-all label for jurisdictions that limit local involvement in federal immigration enforcement. Iowa doesn’t have any sanctuary cities.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Attorneys for a Burlington man accused of using an electric guitar to kill his mother say he’ll use an insanity defense if he goes on trial. The defense notice was filed Monday in Des Moines County District Court for 30-year-old Garret Selters, who’s charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 17 slaying of 56-year-old Linda Selters. Authorities say he swung the guitar into the back of her head. Police say Linda Selters had called for help that day, saying her son was having an “episode.”

Officers found Garret Selters outside, pacing and stating that he’d killed his mother. So far doctors have concluded Selters is incompetent for trial but is being treated in hopes of restoring his mental competency. A hearing on the issue is set for April 23.

The Iowa Department of Education says there was a small decrease in the statewide graduation rate for high school students in 2017. The Education Department says the number of students who graduated in four years dropped from 91-point-three percent in 2016 to 91 percent last year. The department says its goal is to have 95 percent of students graduate in four years. The annual dropout rate remained at two-point-eight percent. The graduation rate in Iowa has increased by nearly three percent since 2011 and the department says despite the small drop last year, there have been long-term gains in every demographic subgroup of students.

Graduation rates for African-American students for example, have gone up four years in a row and by more than nine percent since 2011.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds today (Wednesday), signed a drunk driving reform bill that will require all first-time convicted drunk driving offenders to have an ignition interlock installed on their vehicle as a condition of receiving a temporary restricted license, or “work permit.” The new law supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) makes Iowa the 32nd state with an ignition interlock law for all drunk driving offenders. MADD National President Colleen Sheehey-Church said “Iowa now joins 31 other states and Washington, D.C. in recognizing that ignition interlock technology is needed — after the first offense — to stop the horrendous tragedies caused by the leading killer on our roads. Time and again, we help grieving victims who have lost a loved one in a crash caused by a repeat drunk driving offender. There’s no excuse for this, and we know that the only way to stop someone intent on driving drunk is to literally block their vehicle from starting.”

Ignition interlocks require drivers to blow into the device before their vehicle will start. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all-offender interlock laws reduce drunk driving recidivism by 67 percent. A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found interlocks reduce the number of impaired drivers in fatal crashes by 16 percent. Sheehey-Church said “The evidence supporting ignition interlocks just keeps stacking up, which is why MADD is continuing our national movement to pass all-offender ignition interlock laws in all 50 states. We are proud to add Iowa to the growing list of states with this lifesaving law.”