LE MARS, Iowa (AP) – A northwest Iowa woman accused of intentionally crashing her vehicle into another wants her trial moved to another county. Court records say Melissa Ebert is charged with attempted murder, driving under the influence and other crimes related to the collision Sept. 9, 2015, in Plymouth County. Prosecutors say Ebert threatened to kill herself and her passenger before purposely veering her vehicle into the path of an oncoming car.

She’d made a plea deal with prosecutors and was scheduled to be sentenced on three charges this past January. But she withdrew her pleas, and a trial on all seven counts has been scheduled to begin June 6. Her attorney cited pretrial publicity in seeking a change of venue. A hearing on the motion is set for April 10.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors today (Friday), passed a Resolution authorizing SWIPCO to submit a RISE (Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy) Grant Program application, with regard to the Elite Octane, LLC ethanol plant Echo Road to Olive Street paving project. The timing is critical in order to submit the application to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The Board gave Snyder and Associates Engineers Dave Sturm and Tim Teig verbal approval to speed-up the planning and design phase of the project, the RISE funds for which would, if approved, also be used for the addition of a northbound left turn lane off Olive Street to Echo Road (south of Iowa Interstate Railroad line near the FSC plant), and a southbound right turn lane.  The cost for the turn lanes alone, including reimbursable engineering expenses, amounts to a little more than $512,000.  

The plans and specs for the main line of Echo Road to Olive Street are completed. Just prep work for the new addition of turn lanes is needed. The updated project schedule calls for final plans and specifications for that portion of the project to be completed by April 20^th. Those plans would be submitted to the Iowa DOT, which requires a 40-day review. Afterward, the Supervisors would approve those specs and authorize a request for bids, at the end of May.

SWIPCO’s John McCurdy said the original RISE grant they were applying for amounted to $588,000, and was based on the number of jobs (49) created by construction of the ethanol plant. Later, a decision was made to move the application focus from mainly ethanol plant jobs to a Regional Economic Development Fund, meaning there would no longer be a $588,000 cap on funds, and the entire area could be included which increases the State’s contribution to 50-percent, or 1.5-million. That, according to McCurdy, allowed the turn lane project to be included in the funding application. The DOT Commission will act on the County’s RISE application during their meeting on April 15^th.

In other business, the Board approved a Supplemental Agreement for Additional Services connected to the ethanol plant Gray Water Transmission project. And, the Board approved entering into a 28-E agreement for the formation of the West Nishnabotna Watershed Management Coalition, “To enable cooperation in supporting watershed planning and improvements for the mutual advantage of the political subdivisions involved.” Supervisor Steve Baier said the 24-member Coalition is made possible thanks to a federal grant administered through HUD, the primary purpose of which is flood control, but also water quality, river bank stabilization, and more. Iowa’s share of the funding amounts to over $90-million, which will be distributed in phases. The first phase includes $30-million over the next five-years.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 18-year old Tyrone Dale Rinner, of Afton, was arrested Thursday afternoon at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a Polk County warrant. The warrant was for an order revoking pretrial release on the charges of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse – bodily injury and willful injury causing bodily injury.

Rinner was being held in the Union County Jail on $100,000 bond, and will be transferred to the Polk County Jail.

Specialized treatment for Iowa children and teenagers who’ve been diagnosed with autism will be covered under more insurance plans. The governor has signed a bill into law that requires businesses with more than 50 employees and all local governments in Iowa that provide health care benefits to ensure this coverage is part of those insurance plans. “Families and legislators from both parties have been working on this for about 10 years.”

That’s Josh Cobbs of Sioux City. He attended a ceremony in the governor’s office Thursday afternoon and celebrated with other families in the room as Branstad signed the bill into law. Cobb’s son, Noah, was diagnosed as autistic and Cobbs began lobbying for this law when Noah was five.  “He turned 17 in March,” Cobbs says. “For our families and families throughout Iowa it’s a big day. It’s a good start and a great step for Iowans to start accessing applied behavior analysis.”

Cobbs says last year, his family’s insurance plan started covering the treatment. “Access to this therapy is life-changing,” Cobbs says. “It’s helped our son with dietary issues, with hygiene issues, learning new skills. It’s changed out lives. There have been many families that have fought for this and I’m very proud of them and of Iowa today.”

The health care plans for state employees who are the parents of children with autism already cover this therapy, but it has not been required for health care plans offered by local governments in Iowa, including schools. Research has shown 87 percent of children show “significant improvement” or “achieve typical function” after getting the therapy.About one out of every 68 children in the country have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Similar insurance requirements are already in effect in 45 other states.

(Radio Iowa)

Iowa native astronaut Peggy Whitson set another record on Thursday. For the second time in seven days, Whitson and one of her co-workers took a spacewalk. It was her 8th EVA or extra-vehicular activity, which is the most ever performed by a woman. Whitson’s spent more than 53 hours in the vacuum of space, also a record for women, and next month she’s due for another EVA which will put her in third place among all astronauts.

Whitson hails from Beaconsfield and is in the midst of her second, six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Last month, she turned 57 in orbit, the oldest woman in space. Around the 10th of April, Whitson will be promoted to commander of the space station. She’ll be the only woman who’s held that title twice.

(Radio Iowa)

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities suspect a man broke into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and used a knife to stick a copy of a no-contact order on a wall of her Dubuque apartment. Police say the gist of a message written on the order was: Who’s going to stop me?

The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that police have arrested the suspect, 24-year-old Bodhi-Kristoffer McGowan, on charges of burglary and violating a no-contact order the woman had sought against him.

Police say the woman reported that she returned Monday from a trip and found that her apartment had been ransacked. Officers say they found an ice cream container that had four knives stuck into it.