Gun advocates in the Iowa House plan to resurrect their bill that addressed a wide range of gun-related issues. Representative Matt Windschitl says they’ll do it in a House Committee this afternoon (Wednesday) by taking up the bill passed by the Senate last (Tuesday) night that legalizes possession of gun silencers. Windschil then plans to ask the committee to vote to substitute the broad House-passed bill for the single-issue bill that cleared the senate.

“The ultimate goal will be to get it signed into law and do right by three million Iowans,” Windschitl says. Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley, is among a group of legislators, law enforcement officials and gun rights advocates who’ve been working for the past several months to come up with a comprehensive bill to address a number of issues. Seventy-five of the 100 members of the Iowa House in early March voted for the bill Windschitl helped craft and the action Windschitl plans this afternoon (Wednesday) in a House Committee will keep that proposal alive.

“The House is very serious about this proposal. Iowans are very serious about this proposal. Law enforcement is very serious about this proposal and this is something that is a demonstration of multiple different groups coming together that can advance the rights of three million Iowans,” Windschitl says. Windschitl says the scaled-down package of gun-related proposals that Senate Democrats tried to offer as an alternative yesterday (Tuesday) “had not been previously discussed” with Windschitl and the rest of the group that had been working together on the issues.

“I think it offended a great many Iowans, including Iowans who are involved in law enforcement as well as those that are involved in the Second Amendment community,” Windschitl says. From the other side of the debate, Iowans for Gun Safety issued a written statement late Tuesday night praising what the group called “brave lawmakers in the Senate” for rejecting passage of the catch-all bill that Iowans for Gun Safety is lobbying against. Iowans for Gun Safety executive director Cheryl Thomas calls the House bill “truly dangerous” because it would get rid of Iowa’s three-day waiting period for buying a handgun.

(Radio Iowa)

A man from southern Iowa was arrested Tuesday night on a Union County warrant. 27-year old Devin Douglas Logue, of Chariton, was arrested on a warrant for Theft in the 2nd Degree. Logue was picked up in Wayne County and is being held in the Union County Jail without bond until making an appearance before the Magistrate.

The Atlantic Police Department today (Wednesday) reports three recent arrests. Officials say 36-year old Kimberly Ruiz, of Atlantic, was arrested this morning on a 5th Degree Theft (Shoplifting) charge.

On Tuesday, 35-year old Joshua Lillard, of Atlantic, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault, and, 23-year old Alex Garside, of Atlantic, was arrested for Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree.

All three suspects were booked into the Cass County Jail.

All across Iowa today, residents young and old are being urged to grab their sneakers, lace them up and get moving toward a healthier and longer life. This is National Walking Day, and Kassi Wessing, communications director for the American Heart Association in Iowa, said making a habit of walking on a regular basis can help relieve depression, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and prevent stroke and heart disease.

“The weather is turning nicer,” she said. “Spring is coming, and it’s kind of time for everybody to come out of hibernation and get those walks in, get those steps in.” While many people will be stepping out on their own or with family members or community groups, Wessing said a growing number of Iowa employers are realizing the importance of healthy workers.

“A healthy employee is a happy and more productive employee,” she said. “They have more motivation, more energy. So we work with a lot of our local companies to host events at their sites to get their employees out walking and moving and do companywide initiatives.”

Wessing said the American Heart Association recommends walking for a half hour a day, five days a week to get in the recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity. More information is online at heart.org.