This is Donate Life Month in Iowa as people are encouraged to register as organ, eye and tissue donors. It’s also a time to celebrate those who saved lives through the gift of donation. Deb Thielen, with Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says a new person is added to the national waiting list for organs every ten minutes.
“An average of 22 people die every day while waiting for organs,” Thielen says. “On average, 81 transplants take place every day in the United States and in the year 2014, the lives of almost 30,000 Americans were saved through organ donation.”

More than one-point-six million Iowans have registered as organ, tissue and eye donors. Thielen says we can all qualify. “Anyone,” she says. “It doesn’t make any difference if they have any existing health conditions at the time of death. There is an extensive screening process that is completed through the Iowa Donor Network and they will determine what organs, tissues, what can be recovered.”

A number of Donate Life events are planned this month statewide, such as flag-raising ceremonies, run and walk events and more. Learn more at: www.iowadonornetwork.org

(Radio Iowa)

CLARION, Iowa (AP) – A northern Iowa woman whose 2-year-old was found wandering a Galt street in bare feet, wearing only pajamas, has been given probation.
Mason City television station KIMT reports 24-year-old Ysabel Ceplecha was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $1,000 Monday, but both punishments were suspended. She must serve three years of probation.

She’d pleaded guilty to neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. Authorities say Ceplecha’s little girl was found outside in the rain on Nov. 22. Both the 2-year-old and Ceplecha’s 1-year-old child were taken into protective custody.

NEW VIRGINIA, Iowa (AP) – Officials have removed 14 neglected horses from two properties in south-central Iowa’s Warren County. The Animal Rescue League says 10 malnourished horses were taken from a site in New Virginia and four severely neglected horses from a property in Indianola.

All 14 will be nursed back to health at the league’s Second Chance Ranch in Des Moines. No arrests have been reported.

A public auction of state-owned equipment will be held by the Iowa Department of Transportation on its grounds in Ames, Saturday, April 22, beginning at 9 a.m. The sale will be held in the auction building south of the Iowa DOT’s sign shop on South Fourth Street in Ames.

Laptop computers, equipment for offices and shops, automotive supplies, and many other items are included in the sale. The computers are sold with no operating system or software. There will also be a limited number of vehicles included in this auction.

Office equipment to be sold includes 60 laptop computers, several copiers, tables, chairs, and storage and file cabinets. Shop equipment items include a bench grinder, a chain hoist, jacks, various saws, drill presses, generators, mowers, a pressure washer, and truck boxes. Automotive supplies, radios, and many other items are also included in this sale.

Items for sale may be inspected at the sale site from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 21, and from 7 to 9 a.m. Saturday, April 22.

Please bring a driver’s license or state-issued identification card with you to the sale. The information from your driver’s license will be scanned into the system and a bid number will be printed for you to use at the auction. For those without a driver’s license, information will be entered manually.

Final payment for all items is due the day of the sale. Payment for the items must be made in cash, cashier’s check, or certified check. Personal or company checks will be accepted, if accompanied by satisfactory identification. Sales tax will be collected. Dealers must provide tax-exemption numbers to be exempted from the tax. All items must be removed from Iowa DOT property within five business days of the sale.

Lynch Auction Co. of Boone will conduct the auction. Coffee, sandwiches, and cold drinks will be available for purchase at the auction site.

A listing of auction items is also available on the Iowa DOT’s website at www.iowadot.gov/auction/auctlist.htm.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The school board could vote today (Tuesday) to change school starting times at Des Moines public schools. The board is expected to discuss the proposal and could either vote Tuesday or April 18.

Under the proposal, elementary schools would begin at 7:50 a.m., roughly 30 minutes to an hour earlier. Middle schools would start at 8:35 a.m., 50 minutes later, and high schools would start at 8:30 a.m., also 50 minutes later. The proposal would take effect either for the 2017-18 or 2018-19 school years.

Officials say research shows the later starting times would better align with teenagers’ natural sleep schedules. The Des Moines Register reports Ankeny and West Des Moines schools already have later middle and high school start times. Davenport and Iowa City made the change recently.