DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A judge has granted a request by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland to suspend a state ban on the organization’s use of a video conferencing system to distribute abortion-inducing pills in Iowa.  Judge Karen Romano granted a motion for a stay Tuesday. It means the ban cannot go into effect until a court issues a decision on it. The ban was set to go into effect Wednesday.  The ban, approved in August, requires a doctor be physically present with a woman when an abortion-inducing drug is provided.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland says the stay will ensure Iowa women can continue to receive safe health care without delay.  Iowa Board of Medicine Executive Director Mark Bowden says he needs to review the motion before making a comment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The man who led police on a vehicle chase through Ames city streets to Iowa State University and was shot and killed by an officer has been identified.  Ames police say 19-year-old Tyler Comstock, of Boone, died at an Ames hospital Monday.

Police spokesman Geoff Huff says Comstock had become upset and took his father’s pickup. He ignored attempts by police to pull him over and led several officers on a chase sending pedestrians scrambling to get out of the way. The pickup ended up on the university campus and crashed into a tree. Police say Comstock continued to rev the pickup’s engine, ignoring officers’ commands to off the engine.

Officer Adam McPherson, an Ames officer for 8 1/2 years, fired six rounds at the pickup, striking Comstock at least once.

Sheriff’s officials in Fremont County report the arrest last Saturday of a Hamburg man. 43-year old David Wayne Miller was taken into custody on charges that include Felon in Possession of a firearm, Assault, Possession of Methamphetamine and Possession of drug Paraphernalia.

One of the bugs trying to find its way indoors for the winter was once thought to be an invasive species confined to eastern states. The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug was confirmed in Iowa last year. Iowa State University entomologist Donald Lewis says the stinkbug was found in Warren County, Des Moines, and Council Bluffs this summer.

Marmorated Stink Bug

“That spans the state. But so far we’ve only had reports from ten counties, more will probably show up. But this is how it starts, with these widely scattered reports and then we go back and we fill in the distribution in between,” Lewis says. Lewis says the brown, stinky bugs eat almost anything, destroying fruit and vegetable crops during the summer months, before trying to get into your home.

” It’s a double barreled threat, the brown marmirated stinkbug will feed on your crops in the summer, it’ll come into your house in the fall of the year,” according to Lewis. Lewis says you can take preventive measures to keep the bugs from coming inside when it gets cold, but once they’re in, insecticides aren’t always practical. So it’s probably best to go after them with a vacuum cleaner.

(Radio Iowa)

The Cass County Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees are scheduled to meet Wednesday morning during a special meeting. During their 7:30-a.m. session in Conference Room 1, the Board will act on the offering of employment to a person selected as the hospital’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The Board whittled down the selection from more than 100 applicants. Interviews with the finalists were conducted last week. The person selected will replace current CEO Pat Markham, who is retiring at the end of the year. Earlier this year, the CCMH Board of Trustees approved hiring an independent contractor to help with the CEO search.

The Iowa Firefighters Association reports the organization is now accepting applications for the 2014 Iowa Firefighters Association Scholarship. The scholarship is in the amount of $500 and will be awarded to a high-school or college student wishing to pursue educational commitment in the field of fire science.

The applicant must submit an application and an essay of 500 words or less about their goals, community service, hobbies and why he or she wants to receive a degree in fire science, by the application deadline. The applicant must be planning to attend an accredited Iowa College to obtain a degree in Fire Science. The application process will remain open from October 1st to December 15th.

The application can be found on the Iowa Firefighter Assoc Website at: http://www.iafireassn.org/

Applicants must send completed forms and essay to:

Iowa Firefighters Association

Executive Director

PO Box 67

Humboldt, Iowa 50548

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Nebraska man has been given probation and a suspended prison sentence for fondling a Sioux City girl around 15 years ago. The Sioux City Journal says 33-year-old Joshua Feenstra, of Norfolk, Neb., pleaded guilty on Monday in Woodbury County District Court to three counts of lascivious acts with a child. Prosecutors amended the charges from one count of second-degree sexual abuse as part of a plea agreement with Feenstra.

Judge Steven Andreasen suspended a 15-year prison sentence and placed Feenstra on five years of probation. Feenstra also must register as a sex offender and write a letter of apology to the girl.  Feenstra is accused of fondling the girl in 1997 or 1998, when she was about 8 years old and he was 17 or 18.

Authorities in Montgomery County say a woman has died after apparently jumping from a moving Amtrak train in Stanton.  Sheriff’s deputies were called to the vicinity of Broad and James Streets in Stanton at around 9:50 p.m.  When they arrived, deputies  located the woman’s body near the train tracks. The Montgomery County medical examiner declared the female dead at the scene.

The incident remains under investigation. Red Oak Police and the Iowa State Patrol assisted the sheriff’s office with the investigation.

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