DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Court of Appeals says a Sioux City man serving a 50-year prison sentence on a child endangerment conviction may pursue an appeal based on his claim that police violated his right to remain silent. A three-member panel of the court says in a decision released Wednesday that a district court judge erred in dismissing Paul Hill’s appeal application.

Hill claims his attorney should have moved at trial to suppress statements he made to police in which he admitted to striking the child while buckling her into a car seat on Feb. 17, 2009. She died hours later.
Hill says he had asked police several times to stop interviewing him but detectives continued.  The 25-year-old Hill is in prison at Fort Dodge. He was convicted in July 2010.

The second of three people suspected of stealing cattle from a farm near Lewis has been arrested. Officials say 49-year old James Brunzo, of Omaha, is in custody. Another suspect, 57-year old Ervin Jacob, of Omaha, was arrested last week.The third suspect, 42-year old Amy Springer, of Omaha, is still at large. Jacob is being held on three Iowa theft counts. Brunzo is charged in two of the thefts while  Springer is charged with one theft.

Cass County (IA) Sheriff Darby McLaren said Tuesday, the three have been linked to May and June thefts from two farms. In Nebraska, Cuming County sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Brown says the three are “people of interest” in the thefts of the trailer and nine animals. Court records don’t show that they’ve been charged in Nebraska.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Lawmakers say they hope to introduce a bill to increase Iowa’s fuel tax as early as next week. Sen. Tod Bowman, a Democrat from Maquoketa, and Rep. Joshua Byrnes, a Republican from Osage, said Wednesday they are working on legislation that would increase the tax, potentially by 10 cents a gallon. That would provide $215 million annually for the state’s network of bridges and roads, many of which are in disrepair.

Iowa’s fuel tax is currently 22 cents a gallon, including fees. It hasn’t been raised since 1989. The lawmakers said they are working on ways to maintain the funding in future years. Gov. Terry Branstad has said he wants to increase funding for roads this year, though he has not endorsed a specific plan.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Health officials say more than 400 Iowans committed suicide in 2013, a 17 percent increase from the previous year. The Iowa Department of Public Health released data last month that reveals 445 such deaths statewide in 2013, the most since at least 1989. The suicide rate was 14.4 per 100,000 people, up from 12.8 in 2012. The Telegraph Herald reports Iowa’s suicide rate exceeds those of neighboring Illinois and Wisconsin.

Officials say changes to Iowa’s mental health system might improve crisis intervention in eastern Iowa.
Clete Gartner, a National Alliance on Mental Illness-Dubuque member, says criteria for hospitalization for mental health crises leave some without needed support. He says officials are pushing for law enforcement training and the expansion of in-between care systems to help stem Iowa’s suicide spike.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa health officials say the number of flu hospitalizations has decreased by more than two-thirds since late December. An Iowa Department of Public Health report shows just 50 flu hospitalizations were recorded in the week ending Jan. 17, down from 182 admitted in the week ending Jan. 3. The drop in cases comes when Gov. Terry Branstad’s hospitalization due to the illness focused attention on the flu.

Health Department medical director Dr. Patricia Quinlisk tells the Des Moines Register there are likely more cases last week than the report indicates because a major hospital couldn’t send its figures. Still, she says it’s clear fewer people are becoming severely ill from the flu.

Despite the drop, Quinlisk says flu season is not over yet, and the epidemic could rekindle.