DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers have approved a bill seeking to increase penalties for kidnapping cases involving minors after hearing from the mother of murder victim Kathlynn Shepard. A subcommittee and then the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill Thursday. In urging passage of the bill, Denise Shepard told subcommittee members the story of her daughter’s killing last May. She says legislation to keep kidnapping offenders in jail longer would save children’s lives.

The bill would increase criminal penalties in cases involving children 16 and younger and cases in which the person convicted had previously been convicted of kidnapping. Kathlynn was 15 when she and a 12-year-old friend were kidnapped by Michael Klunder while walking home from school in Dayton.

The 12-year-old escaped but authorities say Klunder killed Kathlynn and committed suicide.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Senate Democrats want to boost state preschool spending, with a goal of making publicly-funded preschool available to all 4-year-olds whose parents want them enrolled. A bill that would provide more funding to school districts that expand or establish preschool programs for 4-year-olds was reviewed in a Senate subcommittee Thursday and has the support to move on to the Senate Education Committee for review.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, a Democrat from Ames, says the additional funding would be offered for three years, starting in the fall of 2015. He says the effort could cost as much as $15 million. While this plan has support in the Democrat-majority Senate, it is not clear if the bill could win backing from Republicans controlling the Iowa House.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa House Republicans are continuing their effort to amend the state constitution to add the right to bear arms. Lawmakers debated the proposal in a House subcommittee Thursday. They did not vote to move the measure forward, instead pledging to have more discussions. The proposal from House Republicans would add language to the Iowa Constitution stating that the right to “acquire, keep, possess, transport, carry, transfer, and use arms to defend life and liberty” cannot be denied.

Changing the state constitution is a multi-step process, which would require approval by the current General Assembly and then by the one elected in 2014. After that it would go to Iowa voters. A similar bill was passed in the GOP-majority Iowa House in 2012 but did not advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

An Atlantic man was arrested Wednesday on a shoplifting charge. The Atlantic Police Department reports 27-year old Jacky Walters was booked into the Cass County Jail on a charge of Theft in the 5th Degree.

Officials with PRIDE (the Progressive Rural Iowa Development Enterprise) have announced two legislative coffees will be held in Cass County during the 2014 legislative session. The first is at 8 a.m. Saturday, February 22, at the Griswold Public Library, 505 Main Street. The City of Cumberland is the second host on Saturday, March 22, at 10 a.m. at the Fire Station, 216 Main Street.

PRIDE President Kenner Baxter says the coffees “Are opportunities to have face-to-face dialogue with our Iowa legislators. ” Usually, those legislators in attendance include Senators Hubert Houser and Jake Chapman, as well as Representatives Jack Drake and Clel Baudler.

P.R.I.D.E. is the economic development organization that works on behalf of communities, businesses, and citizens from Cumberland, Lewis, and Marne for Southwest Iowa development. For additional information, or to join P.R.I.D.E., please contact Kenner Baxter, president, at 781-2395, or Clarke Gerlock, vice-president, at 712-774-5476.