IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says an attorney won’t be sanctioned for helping a wealthy farmer shield his assets from the estate of another farmer he killed.  The court declined to reprimand Indianola attorney Mason Ouderkirk, ruling Friday he didn’t violate ethical rules while representing Rodney Heemstra.

Heemstra fatally shot his neighbor, Tommy Lyon, in 2003 during a dispute over farmland and then hid his body. He was convicted of first-degree murder but later granted a second trial, where he was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter.  After Heemstra was charged, Ouderkirk assisted his family in transferring ownership of millions of dollars of farmland into trusts.

A judge later ruled that those transactions were fraudulent and designed to shield assets from Lyon’s estate, which had been awarded millions in a wrongful-death lawsuit.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say at six people have been hospitalized after an explosion and fire at a home on the east side of Council Bluffs.  Fire investigator Dan Roberts told Omaha television station KETV that the accident occurred about 8:10 p.m. Thursday. Four children and two adults suffered mostly second-degree burns, and two of the injured were taken to a burn center in Lincoln, Neb.

Authorities say a group of Boys Scouts had been working on a ceremony display at the home when the explosion occurred. The fire marshal’s office is investigating.

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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – At least three people have been injured in a residential fire in Pottawattamie County. Authorities say the three were hospitalized Thursday night for burns. Two people also received lacerations.

The Daily Nonpareil says the fire was reported a little after 8 p.m. Thursday on the east side of Council Bluffs.

(8-a.m. News)

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The Principal of the Glenwood Community High School has resigned. The Omaha World-Herald says Principal Shane Stephens cited a decline in personal health and failure to meet goals as his reasons. His resignation was announced during a special school board meeting earlier this week. Stephens is the second principal in less than a year to resign from the high school.

Superintendent Devin Embray said Thursday that Stephens will work through the end of the year. The Glenwood Community School District has begun an internal and external search for a new principal. Embray said school officials hope to find a new candidate by mid- to late April. Applicants will be narrowed to three to five finalists.

Police in Council Bluffs are looking for a vehicle that crashed into a home and then left the scene, early Thursday morning.  Authorities says at around 12:20 a.m., Council Bluffs Police Department officers were called to 803 south 13th St., where an unidentified vehicle struck the side of a home, causing $10-thousand damage.

Citing the need to spend more time with his family, Mills County Attorney Eric Hansen has announced with will not be seeking re-election this year. The Omaha World-Herald says Hansen’s daughter was very ill last year, and had to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Hansen said that experience left him emotionally drained to the point where he didn’t have the energy to participate in a contested election.  Hansen was hired as an assistant county attorney in February 2003. He was promoted to full-time assistant in 2006 and became county attorney in 2011.

Authorities in Fremont County report one person was recently arrested on a felony theft charge associated with the theft and sale of grain. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office says 41-year old Kelley Ryan Roof, of Tabor, was charged with 1st degree theft, a Class-C felony, following the execution of a search warrant at his residence.  His cash bond was set at $40-thousand.

His arrest was the result of an investigation into a tip from a concerned citizen authorities received on March 13th. The individual told authorities about a possible theft of grain from the Fremont County area. During the investigation, it was discovered Roof allegedly took without permission, 2,230-bushels of soybeans from a Randolph area farmer. Roof is alleged to have sold the beans for more than $31-thousand.

During the search of his property, authorized seized a 2014 Polaris RZR purchased with the proceeds of the alleged theft. Roof remains in the Fremont County Jail.