Another candidate has entered the special election race for the Iowa House District 23 seat. According to The Daily NonPareil, Republican Keith Johnson of Mineola has declared his candidacy for the seat vacated by Mark Costello, who was recently elected to the Iowa Senate. Costello won the special election held for Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat after she was elected to the United States Senate in November 2014.

Johnson is a lifelong Iowan, a graduate of Glenwood High School and served in the Army in 1971. He graduated from Iowa State University with a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1973 He has worked for General Atomics, which is based in San Diego, for 42 years.

The special election will be held Feb. 10. District 23 covers Fremont and Mills counties and two-thirds of Montgomery County. A GOP convention will be held at 7 p.m. tonight (Friday) at the Glenwood American Legion Post, 104 N. Vine St., to nominated the Republican candidate. David Sieck of Glenwood has also entered the race. He was one of the seven candidates who ran for the Senate seat that Costello won.

A former Council Bluffs man is on trial in Nebraska accused of hiring an acquaintance to burn down his troubled manufacturing business near Fort Calhoun, Neb., to gain $4 million in insurance money. The Daily NonPareil reports 52-year old Thomas Schropp is being federally indicted on six criminal charges related to the arson of PK Manufacturing, a Nashville, Neb., company he co-owned with his uncle. The trial started Tuesday.

Prosecutors say the business was intentionally set on fire about 3 a.m. on Nov. 20, 2008. Jurors will hear from more than 30 witnesses during the trial, which is expected to last two weeks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Russ Mayer laid out the state’s evidence against Schropp during opening statements Tuesday, saying PK Manufacturing had been heading downhill for some time.

He pointed to the fact Schropp lost his largest customer in late 2007, causing his sales to drop almost 50 percent. His tax returns for the tax year 2007-2008 showed Schropp lost $254,000 in income due to his business. In 2008, Schropp owed nearly $5 million in bank loans. Mayor said Shropp instructed one of his employees to inflate the value of his inventory so bankers would continue to work with him, and right before the business burned, Schropp had unsuccessfully attempted to sell it.

A Crime Stoppers tip led the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to methamphetamine addict Billy Richards and his live-in girlfriend, Julie Winkelbauer. Schropp asked Richards, a painter, to stop by his business during the summer of 2008. Mayer said when Richards arrived at PK Manufacturing, Schropp told him this job wasn’t about painting, it was to torch the business. Schropp allegedled offered the man $20,000 to do the job.

Richards has pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of a building by fire and is facing seven to 9½ years in prison. He is hoping to receive a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony against Schropp.Winkelbauer agreed to testify only if the government would not prosecute her. After the fire, Schropp filed a claim with his insurance company for about $4 million. The insurance company later denied his claim. Fire and insurance investigators declared the fire suspicious but couldn’t determine the cause of the fire. The trial continues today (Friday) and next week in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

A family dog’s attack on a seven-year old boy Thursday evening resulted in the child’s death. Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer says authorities were notified about the incident just before 5-p.m. The incident occurred at 709 Glen Avenue, in College Springs. The unidentified child wasn’t breathing at the time.

When Deputies arrived EMS workers from Clarinda and College Springs were administering CPR to the 7 year old boy. Clarinda EMS transported the 7 year old to the Clarinda Regional Health Center where he was pronounced dead at 5:50 PM.

The names of the victim and his family were being withheld as of early Friday morning, pending notification of relatives.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jeb Bush has tapped former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to serve as the chairman of his education foundation. Bush appears to be moving toward a campaign for president in 2016. Rice remains a popular figure in Republican circles, having served in the administration of Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Greyhound Association is looking to claim nearly $5 million from a supplemental fund in an effort to help live dog racing in Dubuque. The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission met to go over the association’s request to claim remaining funds in an account traditionally used to offset expenses. The Iowa West Racing Association is also considered a stakeholder, therefore having claim to the account as well. The commission plans to ask both groups to file proposals for the account money prior to a March meeting.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic lawmakers say more than 200 Iowa school superintendents oppose Gov. Terry Branstad’s education spending plan. House and Senate Democratic leaders released data Thursday from an online survey sent to officials in Iowa’s 338 school districts. Only one of those who answered thought Branstad’s proposed funding level was adequate. Branstad’s $3 billion school budget offers about $100 million in new school funding, though much of it is earmarked for specific programs. The budget includes about $35 million more in general support for K-12 public schools.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The parents of a 13-month-old girl who died from methadone exposure last year have been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Twenty-six-year-old Precious L. Bailey, formerly of Bettendorf, and 25-year-old Spencer J. Smith, of Clinton, pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment resulting in serious injury. Medical records say the couple’s daughter died Sept. 24, 2013 after consuming a small amount of methadone. Tests show the girl had also been exposed to methamphetamine.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A national advocacy group has ranked Nebraska and Iowa among the nation’s worst in enacting safer driving laws. The Washington, D.C.-based Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety group released its annual report Thursday rating each state based on their laws meant to increase safety. Nebraska and Iowa are among nine states to receive the lowest rating.

The group has identified 15 laws it believes ensure safe driving. Both states have just five of the laws on the list. Jacqueline Gillan, the group’s president, says these states’ secondary offense laws, such as texting while driving and not wearing a seatbelt, allow unsafe behavior.

Fred Zwonechek, Nebraska Office of Highway Safety administrator, tells the Omaha World-Herald the low rating doesn’t mean the state isn’t a safe place for drivers.