COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — City leaders in Council Bluffs plan to vote on a proposed trail that would connect downtown Council Bluffs to Omaha, Nebraska, across the Missouri River. The Daily Nonpareil reports that the Council Bluffs City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on the plans and funding sources for the second phase of the Mid-City Trail, which is part of the West Broadway Corridor development project.

The western portion of the trail would hook up with the current River’s Edge Park/Iowa Riverfront Trail that allows trail users to go back and forth between Omaha and Council Bluffs on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man accused of helping another man flee Sioux City after shooting a police officer has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. The Sioux City Journal reports that 25-year-old Esteban Hernandez pleaded guilty Friday in Sioux City’s U.S. District Court. Hernandez faces more than a year in prison when he’s sentenced.

Hernandez was arrested last month in Texas after being indicted in November. Hernandez was accused of driving Jamal Dean to Winnebago, Nebraska, a day after Dean shot Sioux City police Officer Kevin McCormick during a traffic stop in 2013. Hernandez later tried to take Dean to Mexico.

Dean was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder.

The 7:06-a.m. Newscast w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Sheriff’s officials in Montgomery County say an incident in Villisca Friday night, led to one person being arrested on an assault charge. 47-year old Douglas Franklin Nicholas, of Villisca, was arrested at around 7:50-p.m. for Domestic Assault, following an investigation into an incident that took place in the 300 block of south 3rd Avenue, in Villisca. Nicholas was being held without bond, in the Montgomery County Jail. Red Oak Police assisted in the investigation and arrest.

A traffic stop south of Villisca Friday night turned into a chase with speeds that reached 130-miles per hour. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says at around 7-p.m., a deputy attempted to stop a 1996 Cadillac Seville that had fraudulent license plates, at the intersection of Highway 71 and South U Avenue. When the vehicle failed to yield, deputies engaged in a pursuit. About two-miles north of the intersection of Business Highway 2 and Highway 71, the car hit stop sticks laid down by deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office.

The car continued southbound before turning west into Clarinda on Washington Street, then onto 5th Street, where Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies used “Legal intervention” to stop the vehicle. The driver, 30-year old Nicholas Allen ray, of Nelson, MO., was arrested without further incident. A female passenger in the car was detained for questioning, but later released.

Ray was transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held pending an appearance before the magistrate. He’s been charged with Eluding, Driving While Suspended, Fraudulent Use of Plates, and Speed by Pace (130-mph in a 55-mph zone). Ray was also being held on a felony Missouri warrant for Probation Violation.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office was assisted during the incident by the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Clarinda P-D, and the Iowa State Patrol.

The first-ever statewide non-profit organization to preserve farmland from urban sprawl is launching its operations. Suzan Erem, of West Branch, is president of the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, or SILT. Erem says the new organization will be focused to protecting Iowa farmland to grow healthy food. “We’re going to be targeting land that’s surrounding our growing communities,” Erem says. “Market farmers are having trouble staying close to their markets. They’re under pressure either from development or from commodity farmers. Either way, the land prices go up and it makes it much harder for them to stay close to the community where they’re trying to sell their produce.”

Farmers, she says, are often land rich and cash poor. “If we don’t have a non-profit taking the pressure off of the land from development or commodity prices, there’s no way to keep it from going up and up and up,” Erem says. “Every time somebody buys land, they count on 30 or 40 years from now, selling it at a higher price.” Working with city planners and private developers, she says small farms can be built into a community’s planning process.

“If we can’t take the land out of the equation, we’re always going to have our farmers farming with one arm tied behind their backs with this debt,” Erem says. “The land trust will protect the land and keep it just for local food production which eliminates that competition with the other pressures.” Independent, family farms help to provide a diverse, healthy landscape which she says will increase nearby home values while attracting new businesses seeking a high quality of life for employees.

Learn more at: www.silt.org.

Key legislators involved in crafting a bill to raise the state tax on motor fuel by a dime a gallon say the legislation will include an attempt to rein in county borrowing for road and bridge projects. Representative Josh Byrnes, a Republican from Osage, says Black Hawk County, for example, has borrowed over 35 million dollars for transportation-related projects in the past seven years.”That’s $46,000 of debt per mile of secondary road and it’s $269 per person that they’ve got on their backs,” Byrnes says.

Byrnes, who is chairman of the House Transportation Committee, says the problem is many roads will have to be repaired or even replaced long before residents have paid back the 30-year bond for the original project. Senator Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. Bowman says the bill to raise the gas tax likely will include a call for counties to match the length of their loans to the “life-expectancy” of the road or bridge.

“We’re not finalized,” Bowman says. “It could change yet before we publish the draft, but there are under consideration some other ideas to be in the bill.” Bowman and Byrnes discussed the issue today (Friday) during taping of Iowa Public Television’s weekly “Iowa Press” program. Iowans for Tax Relief founder David Stanley, a critic of the fuel tax hike, was also a guest. “As I hear these people talk…about the bill, they’re still having trouble putting it together,” Stanley said. “I don’t think they have a done deal yet.” Stanley say the gas tax is the most regressive tax the state levies.

“After several years of recession, we’ve got thousands of Iowans out there who’ve lost their jobs. They’re working for half the money they used to get. Many now have to drive 30, 40, 50 miles to work,” Stanley says. “We’ve got people hurting. This is the wrong time.” Other groups, like Americans For Prosperity, argue state policymakers should prioritize state spending and divert three-and-a-half percent of all the other taxes the state collects into the gas tax fund which is used exclusively for road projects.

Supporters of the gas tax increase say that will pit roads against other priorites, like spending on schools and the mentally ill, and the gas tax is a user fee that is also paid by out-of-state motorists and truckers who drive on Iowa roads.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential prospect Rand Paul says he agrees with outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder on some criminal justice issues. Speaking at a rally in a Des Moines-area winery, Paul says he applauds Holder’s efforts to reduce seizure of property from people facing no criminal charges. He also supports reducing penalties for possession of marijuana. Paul plans to appear with freshman Republican Representative Rod Blum later today.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials say they’re trying to decide the best way to remove ethanol that leaked into the Mississippi River and pooled around the area where several train cars derailed. The Telegraph Herald reports about a half-acre of fuel froze at the site as of Friday, with more covering about an acre of ice on the Mississippi. Fourteen of the cars that derailed Wednesday morning contained ethanol, and eight appeared to be leaking.

BERNARD, Iowa (AP) — Police say an intoxicated man has been arrested after he caused a commotion at an eastern Iowa school that triggered a lockdown. The Telegraph Herald reports 39-year-old Scott Menadue was detained Friday after officials at Bernard Elementary School called authorities about an angry man inside the school who they believed was intoxicated.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Des Moines Register was named Friday as the Iowa Newspaper Association 2015 “Newspaper of the Year.” The award was announced at the association’s awards banquet during the INA 2015 Convention and Trade Show held in Des Moines.

Officials with the Cass County Health System are asking anyone who may have been exposed to the measles virus, not to come to the Atlantic Medical Center. Instead, you should call the facility, in order to prevent the virus from being spread to those who are not infected. If you have traveled to states where there is a measles outbreak, and think you may have been exposed to the virus, contact the AMC Immunization staff at 712-243-2850.

What they measles look like on human skin.

Currently there have been 2 confirmed cases of the measles in Omaha, Nebraska as well as some cases in South Dakota, Illinois, and Minnesota. Jeri Orstad, RN, Immunization Nurse at the Atlantic Medical Center (AMC), reminds the public of the seriousness of the disease and importance of containing the spread of measles. “Measles is a very contagious disease that infects 90% of people who are exposed and can lead to serious complications. Vaccination is the best way to prevent contracting measles. People who receive two doses of the MMR vaccine will be 99% protected.”

The measles virus spreads through the air by breathing, coughing, or sneezing. Symptoms normally appear 7-18 days after exposure.  A person infected with measles may experience any of the following:
· Fever
· Runny Nose
· Red, Watery Eyes
· Sore Throat
· Cough
· Loss of Appetite
· Koplik spots (small spots with white or bluish white center on the inside of the cheeks)

About 14 days after exposure a rash will develop, first showing at the hairline and progressing down the body. It is important to note people with measles are contagious for almost 14 days, beginning 4 days before any rash appears and about 4 days after all of the rash is gone.

Measles is a serious illness that can require hospitalization. Complications include ear infection, pneumonia, diarrhea, or swelling of the brain. Children routinely get the measles vaccine (MMR) at one year of age and a booster dose as early as four years of age. Jeri advises that the second dose of the MMR vaccine may be given as soon as one month after receiving the first dose. The vaccine does not provide protection until after the child receives the second dose. If parents are unsure if their child received both doses they may contact the AMC Immunization Room at 712-243-2850. AMC participates in a statewide vaccine registry so they can verify vaccines even if they were not administered in this clinic.

No appointment is necessary to receive a measles vaccine at AMC, and funding is available for those unable to afford vaccination either privately or through their insurance. The Immunization Room is open Monday through Friday 8:30 -11:00 am and 1:30 – 4:00 pm. They are also open on Saturday 8:30 – 11:00 am.

A man from Creston has reported to the Union County Sheriff’s Office that someone stole a chainsaw from his machine shed sometime over the past week. Authorities say the machine that disappeared from the shed located on 150th Street, was valued at $250.