DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An advocacy coalition in Iowa says it delivered thousands of petitions to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to protest his recent comments about the selection of a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. A coalition of organizations says it delivered 36,000 petition signatures Thursday to Grassley’s six regional offices around Iowa. They also delivered excerpts from the U.S. Constitution.

Why Courts Matter Iowa, part of a national group, says the move is to protest the Iowa senator’s comments that he will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee made by President Barack Obama. Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley said through a spokeswoman that he appreciated the effort but he had his own copy of the Constitution. He also defended the Senate committee’s work.

Officials with the Cass County Board of Health said Thursday (March 3rd), the Board met February 15th and unanimously voted to name Cass County Health Systems (CCHS) as the official public health agency. The change will go into effect on July, 1st, 2016. Cindy Kail, local site manager for UnityPoint at Home, noted that UnityPoint at Home is committed to a smooth transition of public health services and staff to CCHS.

The hospital leadership has offered to assume the employment of UnityPoint at Home employees currently providing public health services. Kail said, “UnityPoint at Home will continue to proudly serve the community with home care and hospice services, including nursing, therapy, home care aide, and homemaker services. This transition will allow us to focus our energies on continuing to be the premier home care and hospice agency in the area.”

The Board of Health will continue to subcontract with UnityPoint at Home for nursing, home care aide and homemaker services for residents of Cass County. UnityPoint at Home will be funded with the Local Public Health Services grant and a share of board health funds (county taxes) to support patients who lack insurance coverage for home care services.

The board of health will fund the CCHS public health agency with Local Public Health Services grant funding to support local board of health coordination, as well as disease outbreak and collaborative relationships on behalf of the board of health. In addition, CCHS will be funded with a share of board of health funds to support other public health services, such as immunization, breast/cervical cancer screening, family planning, maternal/child health, lead follow-up, family home visitation, volunteer services, and Children at Home.

Grants for those programs will be prepared by CCHS staff this spring for the transition to occur this summer.

(clarifies to read 1 count aggravated misdemeanor, 1 Class-D felony count)

A search warrant executed this (Thursday) morning at a home in Council Bluffs resulted in the arrest of a Douglas County, NE. Corrections officer on a felony sex charge. Authorities say the Department of Homeland Security received a tip in December of 2015 from NCMEC (National Center for Missing or Exploited Children) that led to the arrest of 36-year old Shawn Beu, of Council Bluffs.

Through a joint investigation with members of the Department of Homeland Security and the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, evidence obtained during the investigation was used to apply for an arrest warrant, and a search warrant for Beu’s home.

On the morning of March 3rd, members of both Agencies executed the search warrant on Beu’s home and subsequently arrested him on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor/1st offense, an aggravated misdemeanor, and a Class D felony charge sexual exploitation of minor.

Shawn Beu

Beu remains in Pottawattamie County Corrections with a $10,000 cash bond.

The Adair County Sheriff’s Office is asking for you to be on the lookout for rare, stolen currency. On its social media page the Sheriff’s Office said “A burglary occurred and several rare items were taken. Among the items were Morgan silver dollars, early 1900’s(year) $ bills, gold presidential dollar bills to name a few.” The currency represents a family’s life collection.

Authorities say “If you know of someone trying to pawn these types of items off, who suddenly came into possession of them, please contact the Sheriff’s Office.” Anyone with tips or information about the burglary is also asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office.

Examples of the type of currency stolen is shown below:

Officials with U-S Representative Congressman David Young’s office said today (Thursday), A “Coffee with your Congressman” event, featuring 3rd District Republican Congressman David Young, will be held in Atlantic next Wed., March 9th, from 10-until 11:30-a.m.

The event takes place at the Sweet Joy Shoppe (315 Chestnut Street). Everyone is invited to listen and ask questions of their Representative in Congress.

David Young

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An advocacy coalition in Iowa says it will deliver thousands of petitions to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to protest his recent comments about the selection of a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. A coalition of organizations plan to deliver 42,000 petition signatures today (Thursday) to Grassley’s six regional offices around Iowa. They also plan to deliver excerpts from the U.S. Constitution.

Why Courts Matter Iowa, part of a national group, says the move is to protest the Iowa senator’s comments that he will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee made by President Barack Obama. Grassley is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The petitions are made up of electronic signatures from a recent online campaign.

Officials with the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn, say a t-shirt design contest is being held by the Museum, for an upcoming exhibit. Nicky Christensen, Museum Development/Social Media Associate, says they are accepting entries until noon on  Tuesday, March 15th. The contest is open to high school students from the Atlantic, Audubon, Exira‐Elk Horn‐Kimballton, and Harlan districts. The winning graphic design will appear on the front of a shirt that will be made available for purchase through online sales and in the museum’s Design Store.

Museum of Danish America

The design is to center around the theme of the new exhibit Sport for Sports’ Sake: Athletes and Ethnicity in Danish America which will open on Saturday, April 23rd. The exhibit will explore four aspects of sport: fitness, competition, camaraderie, and profession.

The original design should be made up of no more than three colors and contain no text or logos. The file must be emailed to media@danishmuseum.org with the student’s information. Students may submit a maximum of two designs. All entrants will receive a certificate for one free family admission to the Museum of Danish America. Admission also entitles the group to same‐day entry to the Genealogy Center, Bedstemor’s House (open Memorial Day‐Labor Day), and Jens Dixen cabin.

The winning entry will be announced on or before April 1st, 2016. One grand prize winner will receive a t‐shirt with their design, a gift certificate to the Museum of Danish America Design Store in the amount of $100, and a one‐year membership at the Contributing Level (A $100 value which includes access to the online collections database).

Official rules and entry information can be found at http://bit.ly/1TVd85Q .