The Union County Sheriff’s Office says a Shannon City man reported on Thursday, that sometime over the last three weeks, someone entered his property and took a 2009 blue Big Bear 4-Wheeler. The loss was estimated at $4,000.

And, a Creston man reported to the Sheriff’s Office today (Friday), that someone had entered a building on his property, and in the process caused $20 damage.

Both incidents remained under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two Democratic lawmakers have proposed legislation creating a Medicaid-style health insurance plan for Iowans, but the proposal has virtually no chance in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Sen. Matt McCoy of Des Moines and Rep. John Forbes of Urbandale released details Friday of a so-called public option for people in the individual insurance market of the Affordable Care Act. It offers an additional subsidized insurance option in the marketplace. Separately, the legislation would return Iowa’s privatized Medicaid program to a state-run system.

McCoy and Forbes estimate about $200 million in savings but didn’t provide specifics to justify the estimate. The lawmakers say they expect changes to the bill, which they emphasized is an attempt to limit growing health care costs. The new plan wouldn’t start until 2019 at the earliest. A spokeswoman for GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds dismissed the plan, saying it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and not help people in need.

CLARINDA—Staff from DNR’s Atlantic field office confirmed that cleanup is complete from a manure spill that occurred Oct. 24 northwest of Clarinda. Contractors worked Wednesday and Thursday to remove approximately 236 tons of manure-contaminated soil from a ditch near the Lee Brooke confinement site. The mix was land applied to crop fields. Commercial manure applicator Jason Sickles will continue to work with Page County to restore the ditch.

A stuck pump valve Tuesday evening caused about 7,000 gallons of manure to pool at the confinement site, and in roadside and drainage ditches that flow into an unnamed tributary of East Tarkio Creek. The DNR says it will consider appropriate enforcement action.

(12:40-p.m. News)

Council Bluffs Police report a convenience store was robbed this (Thursday) morning. Officers responded just before 9-a.m. to the CB Quick Stop at 3500 Avenue A, for a report of a robbery. The clerk told officers that a black male entered the convenience store and displayed a handgun. The suspect pointed the firearm at the clerk and demanded money from the cash register. After receiving the money the suspect fled the business in an unknown direction.

The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 25 years old, 5-feet 8-inches tall with a thin build.  The incident is under investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Anyone possibly having information on the Robbery is encouraged to call CID at (712) 328-4728 or Crime Stoppers at (712) 328-7867.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a man was arrested Thursday on a felony Sheriff’s warrant for Fraudulent Practices 1st Degree. 57-year old Gregory Eugene Weppler, of Lewis, was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on $10,000 bond. Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Ayers told KJAN News the charge was with regard to Weppler allegedly receiving unemployment compensation, while still earning wages from his place of employment.

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports two students at the Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln High School died this (Friday) morning, when the vehicle they were in crashed into Lake Manawa, on the south side of Council Bluffs. The victims were identified as 18-year old Efren Lemus and 17-year old Christian Renteria-Perez, both of Council Bluffs. Lemus was identified as the driver of the vehicle.

Council Bluffs emergency personnel were dispatched to accident scene on the west shore of Lake Manawa at around 6:13-a.m. Upon arrival, they found the vehicle was upside down and partially submerged. Council Bluffs Fire Department personnel entered the water and located victims inside the vehicle.

Authorities say alcohol and/or speeding may have been factors in the crash, which remains under investigation by the Council Bluffs Police Department Traffic Unit.

The Texas senator who won Iowa’s 2016 presidential caucuses has placed a hold on Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey’s nomination for a federal job. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is blocking a vote in the senate on Northey’s nomination to be an undersecretary in the U.S.D.A. Cruz is reportedly irked with the way Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst pressured the E-P-A Administrator to back off on a plan to reduce the federal biofuels mandate.

Cruz and eight other senators from states that have oil refineries are now asking for a meeting with President Trump. They want to discuss an overhaul of the Renewable Fuels Standard. This group of senators charge the R-F-S hurts jobs in their states. Thirty senators — including the two Republican senators from Iowa — were part of the coalition that pressed the Trump Administration to favor ethanol and biodiesel.

(Radio Iowa)

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office reports one-person was injured during a rollover accident that occurred at around 6-p.m., Wednesday. A 1998 Chevy driven by 66-year old Paul Dennis Knudsen, of Exira, was traveling south on Littlefield Drive about one-mile east of Exira, when the vehicle left the road, came back onto the road, and then went out of control before entering the north ditch. The vehicle then rolled several times before coming to rest on its roof. Knudsen was injured and transported by Exira Rescue to the Audubon County Memorial Hospital. Damage from the crash was estimated at $15,000. The accident remains under investigation.

And, the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office says 46-year old Gregory Jacob Mansfield, of Carroll was arrested following a traffic strop at around 8:30-p.m. Thursday, in Audubon. Mansfield was taken into custody for Driving While Barred. He was brought to the Audubon County Jail and later released after appearing before a magistrate.

Flurries are flying this morning (Friday) in many parts of Iowa but forecasters say the flakes likely won’t be as widespread as first thought. Meteorologist Kurt Kotenberg, at the National Weather Service, says a Winter Weather Advisory is posted for Kossuth, Winnebago, Worth, Hancock and Cerro Gordo counties. He says they’ll likely get the worst of this pre-winter storm. “Overall amounts should be on the lighter side, we’re thinking around one to two inches here in Iowa,” Kotenberg says. “I don’t really think the snow is going to make it as far south as Highway 30. It’s all going to be in north and northeastern Iowa.”

It’s the first measurable snowfall of the season and drivers may need to take it particularly easy on the roads, especially the closer they are to the Minnesota border. “Wind gusts will remain in the 25- to 35-mile-an-hour range with gusts of 40 to 45 occasionally up across those northern counties,” Kotenberg says. “When you have the snow and you have those very strong winds, you could have reduced visibilities.” Temperatures are already topping out for the day in the 30s, with wind chills in the teens and 20s, and he doubts conditions will improve. “Pretty much what you see is what you’re going to get all day,” Kotenberg says. “Maybe we’ll warm up a couple of degrees in the afternoon but it’s going to be pretty windy all day long.”

It’ll be even colder tonight, with air temperatures across western Iowa in the low 20s, with central and eastern Iowa reaching into the mid to upper 20s. Gardeners across Iowa are on red alert to save their plants this afternoon.”We do have a Freeze Warning out for a good chunk of Iowa,” Kotenberg says. “Tonight, the temperature will be falling below freezing for a widespread part of the state so it’s going to be chilly out there. Cover any tender vegetation or bring it in if you want to keep it.”

Any snow that does fall will likely melt quickly as temperatures are expected to climb into the 40s on Saturday or perhaps Sunday.

(Radio Iowa)

Every successful business has a business cycle, and eventually that business will need to transition to a new business cycle or begin to decline. A farm or ag based business with an effective plan for the future can have a positive start in the next business cycle. To help women involved in agriculture plan for a future farm transition, Shelby County Extension is offering Managing for Today and Tomorrow beginning November 2nd, in Harlan.

The course will be held on Thursday nights November 2, 9, 16, 30 and Dec 7, from 6-9pm at the Shelby County Extension office at 906 6th Street, Harlan, Iowa. Topics will include planning for a successful retirement, family and business finances, estate planning terms and methods of transfer. A light meal will be served before the program at 5:45pm. The cost for the course is $75.

Pre-registration is required. To register online, visit the event calendar on the Shelby County Extension website (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/shelby/). Registration forms are also available at the Extension office to register by paper mail. Contact the Shelby County Extension Office with questions by calling 712-755-3104.