Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate panel is giving preliminary backing to a bill that would exempt military pensions from the state income tax. A Senate subcommittee approved the legislation during a brief hearing yesterday. The military pension exemption is a top priority for Republican Governor Terry Branstad, who has made support for veterans a key part of his budget plan this year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former residents and employees of the Iowa Juvenile Home testified before a legislative panel and urged lawmakers to support a measure that would force officials to reopen the facility that closed last week. Those testifying Wednesday before the Senate Human Resources Committee told lawmakers they tried to create a safe environment for teens at the Toledo, Iowa home which closed January 15th.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Board of Regents is appealing a district court’s decision to reinstate Iowa State basketball player Bubu Palo to the team. The Des Moines Register reports the Iowa Attorney General’s Office filed a motion yesterday on behalf of the board that seeks an immediate stay of a Webster County district judge’s recent order to let Palo rejoin the team.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Nik Stauskas scored 26 points, and Number 21 Michigan held off 10th ranked Iowa 75-67 last night to remain unbeaten in the Big Ten. Aaron White scored 14 of Iowa’s points in a row down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough to rally the Hawkeyes from an 11-point deficit.

Authorities in Montgomery County report three arrests on Wednesday. The Sheriff’s Department says Connie Williams, of Villisca, was arrested at around 10:20-a.m. on a Montgomery County warrant for Theft in the 5th Degree. And, at around 12:30-p.m., Zach Holland, of Red Oak, was arrested on a warrant out of Red Oak, for Theft in the 5th Degree and Trespass. Both subjects were transported to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 bond, each.

And the Red Oak Police Department reports the arrest at around 2:40-p.m., of 58-year old Kevin Kay Fish, of Red Oak. Fish was arrested on a Red Oak P-D warrant for Domestic Abuse Assault and was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

The Atlantic City Council overwhemingly voted down the first reading of an ordinance which would eventually have allowed the rezoning of a 50-foot lot on the southwest corner of 7th and Olive Streets, from Residential to Highway Commercial. Prior to their 7-0 vote, the Council had received a petition from residents in the immediate area opposed to the request from Plummer Investments to have the lot rezoned.

The owner has said he would tear down a 133-year old dilapidated home on the lot he owns because it hasn’t been kept up according to the City’s Minimum Maintenance Code, but he didn’t say what the lot woud be used for. That was still a mystery during Wednesday night’s City Council meeting. Mayor Dave Jones said “We have no plans from the person requesting the variance about what he’s gonna do. I’m not sure what the motive is behind it.”

The City Zoning Board recommended the rezoning be approved, but City Administrator Doug Harris pointed out the proposal doesn’t conform with the intentions of the City’s Comprehensive Plan for residential zoning in that area. Harris said he would be reluctant to rezone the lot unless the City receives more specific plans that would show how it would benefit the neighborhood and conform to the Comprehensive Plan.

The only access to the lot is through an alley, which the Council agreed is not conducive to parking or the flow of traffic in the area, if a commercial structure were to be built on the lot. David Riedeman, real estate agent for the property owner, tried to speak to the Council’s concerns over plans for the property. He said Plummer also owns an adjacent property to the west of the lot in question, and is willing to sell that property as well, if a potential commercial buyer needs parking. Reideman says his client intends to sell the lot for commercial development.