DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A fast-moving Iowa bill would eliminate the public’s right to access 911 calls involving emergencies in which people are injured, sealing key information about public safety. The House has approved the measure and a Senate committee will discuss it Thursday.

The bill declares that 911 calls involving injured victims are medical records and exempt from Iowa’s open records law. That means authorities’ initial response to shootings, stabbings and many other incidents would face less scrutiny.

Calls involving juveniles would all be confidential. GOP Rep. Dean Fisher says the legislation comes in response to the release of 911 calls to The Associated Press last year that exposed a string of gun accidents in Tama County that killed two teens and injured a third. Fisher says medical privacy outweighs the public’s right-to-know.

Texting while driving would be treated like driving drunk in a case of vehicular homicide under a bill that’s advanced in the Iowa House. Representative Zach Nunn of Bondurant says “What this bill makes very clear to the courts is that drunk driving and distracted driving are on the same plane.”

Nunn cites a Fort Dodge case as inspiration for the bill. A 21-year old man was sentenced to probation and no prison time after his texting caused a crash that killed 56-year-old David Castenson and 85-year-old Velma Castenson. “David and his 85-year-old mother were going into Fort Dodge when they were struck by a man who, while on his phone, blew through the rumble strips, blew through the stop sign, showed no signs of braking and no signs of hesitation before colliding with that vehicle,” Nunn says.

By law, vehicular homicide applies if it’s clear the driver showed reckless disregard for safety. The sentencing judge in that Fort Dodge case said there was no evidence of malice and he chose probation for the accused man instead of a 20-year prison sentence. Nunn says this bill spells out that using a hand-held electronic device qualifies as reckless disregard in such cases and the accused texting driver would be charged with a Class C felony.

The bill is part of a package of recommendations from the Iowa Impaired Driving Coalition.

One person was injured during an ATV rollover accident Wednesday afternoon, in Shelby County. The Sheriff’s Office says 57-year old Galen Grabill was found by deputies beside an ATV that rolled over into a ditch, as Grabill was engaged in farming activities. A passing motorist noticed the accident scene northeast of Harlan near 1214 Redwood Road, and notified authorities. The accident was discovered just before 3-p.m.

Grabill was transported to Myrtue Medical Center for treatment of unknown injuries. Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies were assisted at the scene by crews with Medivac Ambulance and the Harlan Fire Department.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a Creston man was arrested Wednesday night at the Union County Law Enforcement Center, on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court on an original charge of assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.  23-year old Michael Steven Cox was being held in the Union County Jail on $2000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An 88-year-old convicted sex offender accused of grabbing an Iowa state mental hospital worker has been found unfit to stand trial. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that results from an evaluation of William Cubbage were turned over to a judge Tuesday. The case is expected to be put on hold while experts try to return him to competency.

He’s charged with assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. Authorities say Cubbage grabbed the worker between the legs in January 2016 while she was showering him at the hospital in Independence.

Cubbage was convicted of numerous sex crimes from 1987 through 2000. He gained notoriety after he was accused in 2011 of molesting a 95-year-old woman at a Pomeroy nursing home, where state officials placed him without notifying other residents.