The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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OTTUMWA, Iowa (AP) — Police say a train struck and killed a pedestrian in Ottumwa. Officers sent to check a report about a train accident around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday found the body of 22-year-old Duane Heifort. He lived in Ottumwa. Officials have not yet reported on what actions led to Heifort’s death.

(Radio Iowa) — Another proposal to alter the state’s “bottle bill” has emerged in the Iowa Senate. For decades, legislators have debated making changes in the system that charges a deposit fee on bottles and cans of alcohol and carbonated beverages. For years, the stores that sell those beverages have objected to being the place customers go with their empties to get their nickels back. Pam Mackey-Taylor, a lobbyist for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, says the group opposes major changes. “We like the convenience of the grocery stores and convenience stores and the accessibility throughout the state, including in rural communities,” she said.

But a bill that got its first hearing at the statehouse yesterday would let grocery stores and convenience stores exit the redemption business. Brad Epperly, a lobbyist for the Iowa Grocery Industry, says retailers spend a lot to process the empties. “We devote square footage. We devote people. We have to do extraordinary cleaning measures…because this is where you buy your groceries,” Epperly said. “There are convenience stores in this state that have to rent space because they have no where to put them.”

The proposal a panel of three senators reviewed would raise the fee paid to recycling or “redemption” centers from one penny to two pennies out of the five cent deposit on each can. Troy Willard owns the “Can Shed” with locations in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. He says that increase in the handling fee is badly needed. “I would say most redemption center owners also have that concern about convenience,” he said, “as far as whether there would be enough redemption centers pop up to replace retail.”

The businesses that bottle and distribute the pop and beer also say the current system is unfair, but they oppose the bill. Senator Mark Segebart, of Vail says going 40 years without making improvements to the “bottle bill” makes no sense.  “As a farmer, you have to adjust things all the time,” he said. “The rule is don’t overadjust. If you adjust 10 things on a piece of equipment, you don’t know what you did that fixed it, so this is a fairly simple bill. It’ll fix a couple of little pieces. It won’t fix everything. But guess what? I’ll be back next year.”

Segebart, gesturing with a nearly empty can of pop, told the crowd at Wednesday’s hearing there will be adjustments in his bill. And groups involved in this decades-long debate over the “bottle bill’s” fate say they’re working to develop other alternatives, too.

(Radio Iowa) — A group of family members and supporters of people with autism plans on filing a proposal with the state’s cannabis board this week calling for access to medical marijuana for severe autism patients of all ages. The state is currently considering allowing medical marijuana treatments for some children with autism, if they have self-injuring or aggressive behaviors. Mary Roberts is the mother of two adult children with severe autism and says they should have the option of cannabis treatment, regardless of their age.  “Autism is a lifelong condition and we need to have access for patients who qualify from childhood through adulthood,” Roberts says.

She says they deserve more treatment options. “My kids for over 20 years have been on cocktails of benzodiazepines and anti-psychotics and often prescribed meds simply to counteract the side effects of other medications,” Roberts explains. “And it really becomes pretty complex and potentially compromising to their well-being.”

The state Board of Medicine is reviewing public comments on the proposal for children. They’re expected to take up that plan next month. Roberts and a group of families and advocates, plans to file their proposal for adults later this week. Sales of medical marijuana grown and produced in the state began in December.

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Children are still doing schoolwork during snow days at a district based in the northern Iowa community of Estherville. The Des Moines Register reports that Estherville Lincoln Central students are given assignments to complete at home and then connect remotely to post completed assignments or answer teacher questions. Teachers can conduct online video chats with small groups of students.

The virtual snow days are new to the district this school year, and Superintendent Tara Paul says there were complaints from students about having to work instead of play on their day off from their classrooms.
Students in kindergarten through second grade are given assignment options that can be completed without computers in case they’re not available to all students. Students in grades three through 12 have Chromebooks provided by the school, so the snow day assignments are completed on their devices.

Red Oak Police report two women were arrested, Wednesday. At around 7:30-p.m., officers took into custody 24-year old Kaylie Louise Hudson, of Red Oak, on a Pottawattamie County warrant for Theft in the 3rd Degree. Her cash or surety bond was set at $2,000. And, just before 10-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 35-year old Elysia Tylene White, of Red Oak.  White was taken into custody on a Montgomery County warrantr for failure to appear on a charge of Domestic Abuse Assault/1st Offense. White was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 cash-only bond.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports that a traffic stop on Maple street in Sidney Wednesday night, lead to the arrest of two Glenwood residents. At around 7:20-p.m., Deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office and the K9-unit conducted a traffic stop in the 2000 block of maple street in Sidney.

During the course of the stop, Deputies located one-quarter pound of marijuana in the vehicle and numerous pieces of paraphernalia. Taken into custody, was 18-year old Logan Christopher Harding,  and 20-year old Chelsey Marie Spiegelberg, both of Glenwood. They were charged with two counts each, of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver.

Both subjects were transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center being held on $10,000 bond.

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Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CST

ALBIA, Iowa (AP) — Animal rescue officials in Iowa say they’ve found one dead steer and rescued seven other ailing animals from a rural southern Iowa property. The Animal Rescue League of Iowa says in a news release that its response team helped Monroe County officials rescue three horses, one burro, a steer and two dogs that were left in freezing weather with no food, water or shelter. Charges are pending against the animals’ owner.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former worker at Sioux City’s wastewater treatment plant has pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to tamper with wastewater sampling and testing. The Sioux City Journal reports that 69-year-old Patrick Schwarte entered the plea Wednesday in federal court. Prosecutors say chlorine was added to wastewater on days that E. coli samples were taken, then reduced after the tests, saving the city money.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — House Republicans leading a committee to review the results of a contested northeast Iowa House district election say they plan to recommend not opening and counting 29 absentee mail ballots that could reverse the outcome of the race. Committee Chairman Steven Holt says since the ballots had no postmark and didn’t have a seldom-used county election official tracking barcode, they can’t be counted even though postal officials have confirmed they were mailed in time to be valid votes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state judge has struck down Iowa’s restrictive “fetal heartbeat” abortion law. Judge Michael Huppert on Tuesday found the law unconstitutional. The law would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It would have been the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation.

The City of Atlantic’s Personnel and Finance Committee discussed for 45-minutes, Wednesday, the issue of whether to sell the Senior Center as is, fix the roof and sell it, or fix the roof and hold onto the building. In the end, the committee decided to punt the matter to the full City Council for further discussion and action at their next meeting.

City of Atlantic Personnel and Finance Committee

The Atlantic Elks Lodge was sold late last year to Bev Moffatt. Representatives with the Lodge said they learned in late December that the Senior Center might be available for purchase as their new home. The Elks are looking for a place to hold their bingo and other events, and have offered to buy the Senior Center as is, make the necessary repairs to the roof, and share the facility with Senior Citizens during the day, as is currently the case.

City Administrator John Lund says a realtor told him the fair market value of the building, as is, would be $59,000 to $63,000. If the City pays for the roof repair, that would up the value to between $86,000 and $88,000. The roof has been leaking since last August, and must be replaced. The cost of that project was estimated at $36,255.

In addition to the roof factor, the City receives about $2,000 per year in revenue from the Senior Center. Operating costs range from $4,244 to $4,323. Officials say payback on the roof “Is not mathematically feasible from ongoing revenues. The Fund balance for the Senior Center Fund at the end of FY 2018, was $11,069. The City admits the building has not been a high priority on physical updates, and while the structure itself is solid (minus the roof issue), it could use additional investment.

John Lund says the City Council could activate levy a 13.5-cent tax (per thousand dollars valuation) to pay for the roof repair, and accordingly lower the employee benefits levy by the same amount. Those funds ($30,000), combined with the remaining balance of the Senior Center Fund, would allow the roof to be repaired. And, the Council could use the Elks to use the facility without charge in the evenings. It would no longer be rented out for other purposes, and still allow the Senior Center to be used from 10:30-a.m. to 3-p.m. as it is today.

The Committee had a hard time deciding whether to recommend to the Council that the City sell the building outright to the Elks, or fix the roof. Lund said the building would be better off under the Elks’ control/ownership. He said the building would be on the tax rolls – earning money for the City – it would be under better management, and their Fair Market Value offer, is very reasonable. Council/Committee person Chris Jimerson, who sits in on the Committee, says it would be a “win-win.” The Elks get a new place, and the Seniors still have a place to go to that’s easily accessible and familiar to them.

Council/Committee person Kathy Somers said she didn’t want to sell the building because the City wouldn’t be able to control what goes on there, with regard to Seniors being allowed to sharing the building, and it may, in the future may be useful to the City as a Police Station if necessary, or used for parking space if the second floor of City Hall ever gets modified as discussed over the past several years (Including the addition of an elevator).

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former worker at Sioux City’s wastewater treatment plant has pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to tamper with wastewater sampling and testing. The Sioux City Journal reports that 69-year-old Patrick Schwarte entered the plea Wednesday in federal court. He faces up to seven years in prison when he’s sentenced at a later date for conspiracy to defraud the government and falsifying information required under the federal Clean Water Act.

Prosecutors say chlorine was added to wastewater on days that E. coli samples were taken. The samples then showed plant discharges into the Missouri River met federal limits for levels of fecal coliform and E. coli. The chlorine was reduced after the tests, saving the city money.

The city fired Schwarte and the plant superintendent in June 2015 after the Iowa Natural Resources Department began an investigation.