A new pedestrian bridge in Avoca connecting to a trail system was completed last month, giving residents of the community a connection from East Thomas Street to Edgington Memorial Park over the East Nishnabotna River. Anna Hoegh, director of Avoca Main Street, told the Daily NonPareil in 2007, the city council worked to establish the foundation of a prosperous future through a financial comprehensive plan.

A Pottawattamie County jury has awarded a former semi truck driver $25 million in punitive damages in a civil case filed against his workers compensation insurance company. According to the Daily NonPareil, 37-year old Toby Thornton, of Monona, was paralyzed from the chest down in a semi crash in June 2009. At the time, he was an employee of Clayton County Recycling. American Interstate Insurance Company of DeRidder, La., the recycling company’s insurance provider, delayed and fought paying worker’s compensation benefits for years after the accident, denying Thornton was disabled and leading to the civil suit. The jury found that American Interstate Insurance acted in bad faith in its dealings with Thornton.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate committee has approved bills that would increase Iowa’s minimum wage and create a more detailed system for preventing wage theft. The committee on labor and business relations voted Wednesday to advance both bills. The full Democratic-controlled Senate can now debate them. The committee yesterday voted largely on party lines.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A high school wrestler from southwest Iowa has been hospitalized after collapsing during a state tournament. The Register reports Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrestler Tayler Pettit doubled over during the state tournament yesterday in Des Moines. Hospital spokesman Gregg Lagan told the Associated Press last night that Petit remains in critical condition.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have confirmed that one person died following a house fire in Waterloo. The Police Department tells the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier the identity of the elderly woman who was found dead at the residence hasn’t been released. Officials say the flames were contained to the living room, where the woman was found.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — An undercover investigation in Council Bluffs has resulted in the arrests of 14 Nebraskans on suspicion of prostitution. The Council Bluffs Police Department says the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force staged an undercover operation at a hotel Tuesday. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the 14 arrests occurred over a period of more than nine hours.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, agreed to commit $26,800 toward the construction of a trail around Lake #2 at the Schildberg Recreation Area. That’s $4,200 less than what they had expected to be asked to commit. Atlantic Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring said that was because the original calculations had figured-in the cost of a 600-linear foot section of the trail that the Nishna Valley trails group has agreed to cover.

Proposed additional trail around Lake #2 at the Schildberg Rec Area.

Herring said the City’s commitment of 20-percent of the estimated $134,000 cost of the project would fulfill a requirement that  makes the City eligible for a TAP (Transportation Alternatives Program) Grant from the State of Iowa, to complete a large portion of the trail, which will eventually become part of the Troublesome Creek Connector Trail Project. The City’s portion can consist of the local match can consist of labor used to build a portion of the trail around Lake #2, in addition to or in lieu of funding.

In other business, the Council will held a Public Hearing on the sale of Lot A, in the Southern Heights Subdivision 2nd Addition.  The land was appraised at, and after a public hearing, sold for, $1,620 to local developer Don Sonntag, who originally had donated the land to the City for development of a street, the plans for which was later shelved. Iowa Code requires the land to be sold, and not returned to a private party free of charge.

The Council also set March 4th as the date for: a Public Hearing on the adoption of the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 Capital Improvement Plan; A hearing on the proposed sale of $1.58-million in General Obligation bonds for the CIP, and, adoption of the proposed FY 2016 budget.

 DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate committee has approved bills that would increase Iowa’s minimum wage and create a more detailed system for preventing wage theft. The committee on labor and business relations voted Wednesday to advance both bills. The full Democratic-controlled Senate can now debate them.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa Department of Public Health report shows more than 90 percent of students have been vaccinated at the majority of public schools across the state. The immunization audit report for the 2013-2014 academic year depicts the percentage of kindergarten through 12th-grade students who have received the vaccines required by Iowa law. Schools with enrollment of less than 100 students were not included in the report.

According to the report, 37 schools in Iowa reported 100 percent compliance with Iowa immunization requirements. The Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, located in Fairfield, ranked the lowest in the state, with just more than 47 percent of its students vaccinated.

The percentages included in the report were calculated by dividing the number of students with valid immunization certification by total enrollment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal officials say that over 45,000 people in Iowa have signed up for health care coverage on the federal exchange. The second open enrollment period under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul — known as the Affordable Care Act — ended Sunday. In a Wednesday news release, federal officials say over 45,000 people in Iowa signed up or were automatically re-enrolled in a plan.

That’s more than the roughly 29,000 who signed up during the first enrollment. Over 2,000 people who shopped on the exchange are still enrolled in plans with an insurance cooperative that the state plans to liquidate. Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart is urging them to seek new coverage before the end of the month so they can maintain federal tax credits to help pay premiums.

A spokesperson for the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Foundation says applications are now being accepted for the 6th Annual Trevor Frederickson Memorial Scholarship. Melanie Petty, Trevor’s mother,  says applications may be obtained from the Atlantic High School guidance office at 1201 E. 14th Street or the Atlantic High School website: www.atlanticiaschools.org.

Two $750 scholarships are available to those graduating from Atlantic High School in the spring of 2015. Applicants must plan to attend a college or vocational school, show involvement in school and/or community activities, supply a copy of their college acceptance letter, provide two letters of reference along with their 7 semester transcripts, and maintain academic achievement of 2.5 or better. The scholarships will be awarded at the Atlantic High School Class Night held in May.

Trevor Frederickson (Photo provided by Melanie Petty)

Trevor Frederickson graduated from Atlantic High School in 2006. He went on to further his education at Southwestern Community College in Creston where he studied automotive mechanics and played baseball for the Southwestern Spartans. Two additional $750 scholarships will be available for Southwestern Community College students this fall.

Trevor, who passed away in 2009, had plans of pursuing a career in law enforcement and returning to his hometown of Atlantic. Melanie Petty says “Anyone who knew Trevor, knew he valued family, life and community. Someone once told me that Trevor is not really gone because he continues to live on in our hearts and minds. To this day, Trevor is still giving back to the community he loved to be a part of.”

Funds for the scholarships are raised at an annual golf tournament. Plans are already in the works for the 7th Annual T-Fred Memorial Golf Tournament to be held on Saturday, August 8th, 2015. Organizers look forward to another successful tournament so they can continue to grant scholarships for many years to come.

Six people were arrested on separate charges over the past week in Cass County. The Sheriff’s Department reports 43-year old Daniel Dale Laws, of Atlantic, was arrested Feb. 7th on a charge of Driving Under Suspension. Laws pled not guilty and was released later that day. That same day, 36-year old Isaac George VanSickle, of Atlantic, was arrested on a charge of OWI 1st Offense. VanSickle was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on his own recognizance.

On February 8th, Cass County deputies arrested 47-year old John Martin Chamberlin, Jr, of Atlantic,  on two District Court warrants for Failure to Appear. Chamberlin was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released the following day on his own recognizance.

Two people were arrested in Cass County on February 10th. 39-year old Danny Allen Elrod, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on two district court warrants for Failure to Appear. Elrod was taken to the Cass County Jail where he was released later that day on his own recognizance. And, 37-year old Eric Jason Ostrander, of Council Bluffs, was arrested on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. Ostrander was taken to the Cass County Jail where he remains held without bond.

On February 12th, 35-year old Joshua James Mullen, of Atlantic, was arrested by Cass County deputies on a District Court warrant for Probation Violation. After arrest, Mullen was also charged with Assault Causing Injury upon a fellow inmate. Mullen remains held at the Cass County Jail on $20,000 cash bond.

Three Atlantic women have been arrested on drug-related charges. The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports 35-year old Heather Marie Christensen,  of Atlantic, was arrested Feb. 4th,  on charges that include Possession with Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine, Sponsoring a Gathering, Drug Tax Stamp Violation, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Christensen was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was released the following day on her own recognizance. Christensen was arrested last Sunday (Feb. 15th), for OWI 2nd Offense, two counts of Possession with Intent to Deliver Methamphetamine, Ongoing Criminal Conduct, and Driving Under Suspension. She was taken to the Cass County Jail where she later posted $25,000 bond and was released.

Cass County deputies arrested 22-year old Ashley Hope Cohrs,  of Atlantic, on Feb. 4th. Cohrs was charged with Sponsoring a Gathering, Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was released the following day on her own recognizance.

And on February 9th, Cass County deputies arrested 53-year old Sharadee Ann Witt,  of Atlantic,  on two charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd or Subsequent and one charge of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Witt was taken to the Cass County Jail where she was released the following day on $5000 bond.