COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs police have charged a man in connection with a deliberately set fire that destroyed his mother’s house. Police Sgt. Chad Meyers says officer arrested 29-year-old Daniel Kennedy, of Council Bluffs, on Saturday on a warrant for suspicion of second-degree arson in connection with the Jan. 28 fire. The Daily Nonpareil reports the home, which was vacant, was owned by Kennedy’s mother, Susan Graves Kennedy.

Officers arrested Kennedy after responding to a report of a disturbance and finding him yelling at his mother. They checked his name for warrants and then made the arrest. The January fire destroyed the house. Crews demolished it a few days later.

Daniel Kennedy was held in the Pottawattamie County Jail on $12,000 bond.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The floor manager of school anti-bullying bill in the Iowa Senate says the bill is unlikely to make it through this legislative session. Democratic Sen. Rob Hogg says changes made in the Republican-led House on parental notification are unacceptable. Hogg says one of the primary changes made would remove the ability of school administrators to handle incidents of bullying off school grounds.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A bill meant to support veterans already in Iowa and attract others to the state has won the final approval of the Iowa House. The bill headed to Gov. Terry Branstad would exempt military pensions from state income tax, and surviving spouses are included in the exemption. It allows companies to give preference to veterans in hiring decisions and offers credit to veterans with occupational licensing.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs police have charged a man in connection with a deliberately set fire that destroyed his mother’s house. Twenty-nine-year-old Daniel Kennedy, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Saturday on a warrant for suspicion of second-degree arson in connection with the Jan. 28 fire. The home, which was vacant, was owned by Kennedy’s mother.

ROCKWELL CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 115-year-old railroad freight house has been moved from a farm back to its original location adjacent to the Rockwell City depot. The freight house was moved about 20 years ago to a nearby farm. It was donated back to a group that oversees the Rockwell City Depot in October 2013. The group Landmark Depot Preservation raised $4,000 to move the freight house.

A woman who experienced a medical condition crashed her vehicle Sunday morning in Harrison County. The Iowa State Patrol says 35-year old Athena Clayborne was traveling north on Interstate 29 at around 10:07-a.m., Sunday, when she experienced an epileptic seizure. The woman lost control of her vehicle, which entered the median and struck a cable guard rail on the east side of I-29 southbound.

Clayborne was transported by Mondamin Rescue to Burgess Hospital in Onawa. She told authorities that she had forgotten to take her epileptic medication prior to getting behind the wheel.

Police in Atlantic report two arrests over the weekend. Both took place Saturday. Officials say 21-year old Jason T. Smith, of LeMars was arrested for 5th Degree Theft. And, 32-year old Joshua Larsen, of Atlantic, was arrested on a Cass County warrant for Failure to Appear on a Driving While Suspended charge. Both men were booked into the Cass County Jail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Four Iowa cities have had economic development sites certified under a new state program designed to have land project-ready for industrial development. Gov. Terry Branstad says the first four Iowa Certified Site Program properties are in Dexter, Fort Dodge, Iowa Falls, and Van Meter.

The program run by the Iowa Economic Development Authority is an effort to address the lack of project-ready industrial sites. IEDA Director Debi Durham says the state has lost projects because sites weren’t ready for immediate development. The department has spent about $244,000 to hire a consultant to help complete air permits, archaeological sampling, and ensure no wetlands are present. The certification process took two years to complete

Site certification is a growing trend. Branstad says certification allows Iowa to better compete for large-scale projects.

This week (April 26th through May 3rd), is National Infant Immunization Week. Officials with the Cass County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) report the Atlantic Medical Center (AMC) will be giving a $5 gift certificate to the CCMH Treasure Cove Gift Shop to parents who get their infant child (under 1 year of age) immunized this week. The AMC immunization room is open 8:30 – 11:30 am Monday – Saturday and 1:30 – 4:00 pm Monday – Friday. No appointment is necessary. Most infant vaccines are covered by private health insurance policies. The AMC immunization staff can help families who meet program guidelines access free or low-cost vaccine.

National Infant Immunization Week is an annual observance to highlight the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrate the achievements of immunization programs and their partners in promoting healthy communities. Babies under the age of 6 months are more likely to develop certain infectious diseases than older children.

Babies less than 6 months of age are too young to have received all the doses of vaccine that are needed to protect them from pertussis (whooping cough), flu (influenza) and other dangerous diseases that infants die from every year. It is important for the child to receive ALL of the doses required in a vaccine series to be FULLY protected. If children don’t receive recommended vaccines, there may be an increase in diseases for which there are vaccines even though they are no longer common in the U.S.

Normal vaccines a baby/toddler receives in the first two years of life are as follows:
Dtap (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), HIB (Haemophilus Influenzae Type B), Polio, Hepatitis B, Pneumococcal, Rotavirus, Hepatitis A, MMR (measles, mumps, reubella), and Varicella (chickenpox).
Babies and children can receive up to 6 vaccinations at one time.

There is a lot of information available on vaccines. Please contact your family physician or the Atlantic Medical Center Immunization staff at 712-243-2850 with any questions or concerns you may have about vaccinations.

With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) – Iowa authorities are tallying up the damage and injuries caused by powerful storms that struck the state. The National Weather Service says the storms damaged a number of Iowa towns as gusts neared 90 mph and hail up to an inch in diameter fell on Sunday.

The service says radar data suggested that a tornado struck the southern Iowa city of Ottumwa. City officials told The Ottumwa Courier that several homes were damaged and some residents were injured near Liberty Elementary School on the southwest side of Ottumwa. Assistant Fire Chief Mike Craff says it’s unclear how many people were hurt.

A storm was blamed for a person’s death in the Keokuk County town of Kinross, but a county dispatcher said Monday morning that she couldn’t provide any information.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was in Iowa Sunday afternoon to deliver her endorsement of U-S Senate candidate Joni Ernst in person. “She’s going to set ’em straight,” Palin said. “She’s a soldier. She’s a hard-working farmer. She’s a pistol-packin’ Harley rider.” Ernst is one of five Republicans vying for the G-O-P’s U.S. Senate nomination and Palin announced a month ago that Ernst was her choice.

Palin told the crowd gathered in West Des Moines Sunday that Ernst would not be “co-opted” by the special interests in D.C. and she urged Ernst supporters to go out and “brag her up.” “Time is short. We don’t need a whole lot of touchy-feely, compassionate, ‘kumbayah’ singing around the campfire when it comes to these campaigns,” Palin said. “We need the fighters. We need you all to fight for the right folks that we need in D.C.”

The newly-decorated Ernst campaign vehicle was parked outside Sunday’s event, featuring the phrase: “honk if you want to make DC squeal.” That continues the theme of a campaign ad in which Ernst talked about castrating pigs as a farm girl. “Coolest campaign bus in the nation. I think it’s gorgeous and it says it all, about castrating those hogs, you know…That ad that she put out, right. That right there,” Palin said, snapping her fingers. “I mean, it got people’s attention because it’s like: ‘Whoa! Nobody’s going to push her around.'”

Ernst thanked Palin for the endorsement, saying she’d be honored to be the first woman Iowa elected to the U.S. congress. Sunday’s event was organized by ShePAC, a political action committee formed in 2012 to help elect conservative Republican women.

(Radio Iowa)