DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa will host the Midwest’s largest annual gathering of state legislators this month. The Midwestern Legislative Conference of The Council of State Governments will meet Sunday in Des Moines. More than 500 lawmakers, staff, private sector representatives and guests representing 11 Midwestern states and four Canadian provinces are expected. The conference runs through Wednesday and will be held at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown.

Featured speakers include Kenneth Quinn, former U.S. ambassador and president of the World Food Prize, Isabel Wilkerson, author of the best-selling, award-winning “The Warmth of Other Suns,” and Harry Enten, senior political writer and analyst for FiveThirtyEight.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Omaha Police Department is giving people the opportunity to get rid of leftover fireworks this weekend. People can also turn in guns and ammunition Saturday for the Metro Area Fireworks/Gun Amnesty Day. Three drop-off locations will take fireworks, guns and ammo from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The drop-off sites are the Omaha Fire Station on 103rd Street, Seymour Smith Park and the west parking lot of the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The event allows the items to be dropped off with no questions asked, but police will document all firearms. If a gun is linked to a crime or reported stolen, police will investigate.

A central Iowa school is setting aside grant money to create an emergency fund for students which could mean the difference between some students staying in school or having to quit. Carl Moses, provost of Grand View University in Des Moines, says the money is meant for students who are faced with unexpected expenses when they’re already struggling to make ends meet. “So it might be medical costs, it might be traveling home for a family emergency or auto repair,” Moses says. “They need to choose between paying for that and paying for college.”

The school is getting 210-thousand dollars from Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation to establish the fund which will be available at the start of the fall semester. “We don’t give the funds directly to the students,” Moses says. “So, if it’s a matter of an auto repair, we write a check to the mechanic and we can do that in less than two days from the time a student first approaches us for assistance.”

He estimates as many as 900 Grand View students are living day-to-day and might value the financial help.

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)

A convicted felon who possessed a gun and ammunition and discharged the gun inside a Cedar Rapids apartment building was sentenced Friday to more than seven years in federal prison. 39-year old Brian Lee Brown, of Cedar Rapids, received the prison term after a March 2nd, 2017, guilty plea to one count of being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition. While imposing the sentence, the Court noted that Brown had an extensive criminal history going back to age 18 and that he had a history of violence. The Court also noted that Brown possessed a rifle and live ammunition and that he discharged the rifle in his apartment. The round went through his apartment wall and into an adjacent apartment. A woman and two children were in that apartment, but no one was injured.

Brown was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Brown was sentenced to eighty-seven months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Brown is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.