A proposed ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy is scheduled for debate in a House committee today (Thursday). The abortion ban has been attached to another bill that would make it illegal in Iowa to sell or donate fetal tissue from abortions for use in medical research. Representative Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, is guiding these merged measures through the House. “This was not a bait and switch,” Lundgren said. “The senate sent us a bill over for us to debate. We just chose to add it on to this bill.”

In late February, Republicans and the lone independent in the state senate approved a bill that would make it a crime for doctors to perform an abortion after the sixth week of a pregnancy. The plan to be considered in a House committee today does not include criminal charges for doctors. Leah Vanden Bosch was among those who testified yesterday (Wednesday) during a hearing on the new abortion ban.  “Do not let us go back to back-alley abortions, because that is exactly where this bill will take us,” Vanden Bosch said. “I would have done absolutely anything to terminate my pregnancy.”

Tamara Scott, state director for Concerned Women for America and a lobbyist for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, spoke in favor of a six-week abortion ban. “This is about the physical health and well-being of our fellow Iowans in the womb who don’t deserve to be discriminated against,” Scott said.

Iowa’s current law — enacted last year — bans abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.

(Radio Iowa)

Republicans on a state senate committee have advanced a plan that would save Iowa-based telecommunications companies nearly 30 million dollars in property taxes each year. The plan changes the way land lines, telephone poles and other property owned by cable and phone companies is taxed. Republican Senator Randy Feenstra of Hull says the current, centralized system for property tax assessments is “archaic.” “When you have a lot of telecommunications companies that don’t have any physical presence in our state and they don’t pay any taxes and yet you have small, telecommunications companies that are in our communities and they pay significant (property) tax,” Feenstra says, “we’ve just got to figure out some parity.”

Democrats like Senator Herman Quirmbach of Ames say now is not the time to reduce the amount of property taxes cities and counties may collect. “I mean, our local governments are already struggling,” Quirmbach said, “and I think it’s really unfair to them.”

The Iowa Association of Counties and the Iowa League of Cities are registered as undecided on the bill, however. Supporting the bill are CenturyLink, the state’s rural telephone cooperatives, the city-run telecommunications utilities and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says he’s concerned about a report showing Latinos seeking home loans in Iowa City were far more likely to be denied than whites. Miller says the findings by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting seem consistent with an earlier University of Iowa study that documented home loan denial rates for Latinos. He says his office will look into the issue.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — Police in southeastern Iowa have announced an arrest in the stabbing death of a college basketball player in Oskaloosa. Officials said Wednesday at a news conference that 23-year-old Luke Ryan VanHemert, of Oskaloosa, has been arrested in the May 1 fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Marquis Todd. VanHemert has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held in the Mahaska County Jail on $500,000 cash bail.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa House has shot down an effort to ban automated traffic enforcement cameras in the state, effectively ending the effort this session. The Republican-controlled chamber voted 55-43 Wednesday against a proposal that would have banned cameras designed to catch cars speeding or running red lights.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa House Republicans are advancing a legislative effort to ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected by adding the measure to a separate bill. A Republican-led panel agreed Wednesday to approve legislation that would ban the sale of fetal tissue. The heartbeat provision, which would ban abortions as early as 6 weeks of pregnancy, was tacked on during the meeting. The bill heads to the House Human Resources Committee, which is expected to take up the measure Thursday.

OSKALOOSA, Iowa (AP) — Police in southeastern Iowa have announced an arrest in the stabbing death of a college basketball player in Oskaloosa. Officials said Wednesday at a news conference that 23-year-old Luke Ryan VanHemert, of Oskaloosa, was arrested for the May 1st fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Marquis Todd.

VanHemert has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held in the Mahaska County Jail on $500,000 cash bail.

Todd was a student and basketball player at William Penn University in Oskaloosa. Investigators say officers found Todd with stab wounds after being called for a report of a fight. Police have said there was as minor vehicle accident that happened about a half-hour earlier that led to the stabbing

A Council Bluffs man was sentenced Wednesday in U-S District Court to a term of imprisonment, followed by three-years of supervised release, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. 33-year old Jesus Everardo Medina is required to serve 37 months (slightly more than 3-years) in prison on the charge.

An investigation into his activities began when Council Bluffs Police responded to a gunshot being heard in the 1400 block of Avenue B shortly after midnight on June 5, 2017. Upon arriving in the area, officers located nine millimeter shell casings and were told by a witness that the party responsible, Jesus Medina, had left the area in a gold colored two door car. The vehicle was located by law enforcement a short distance from the 1400 block of Avenue B, with Medina in the back seat.

A nine millimeter Jennings semi-automatic handgun was found in the seat pocket in front of Medina. Medina was convicted of a felony offense in 2009 making it unlawful for him to possess a firearm.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa said Wednesday, that a Pottawattamie County man was sentenced March 13th to prison, for being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. 35-year-old Sean Cullen, of Council Bluffs, will be required to serve 2 years in prison and three years of Supervised Release at the conclusion of his imprisonment.

On September 23rd, 2017, Cullen was admitted into the emergency room at Jennie Edmondson hospital in Council Bluffs, for treatment of a gunshot wound to his leg. He claimed someone had shot him. After an investigation it was determined that Cullen shot himself with a firearm during a domestic dispute. Cullen then threw the loaded handgun into a neighbor’s yard before driving himself to the hospital for treatment.

Officers observed a trail of blood on the outside of the residence that led to the fence of the property. The neighbor located the gun and reported it to Council Bluffs Police Department the next day. The firearm was determined to be a six shot, .22 caliber revolver, with one spent round in the cylinder. Cullen was convicted in 2007 of a felony for theft.

The investigation was conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.