Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A company that makes products for animal health will invest $110 million in its plants in Fort Dodge and Ames over the next four years. The Iowa Economic Development Authority said yesterday that state and local financial assistance packages helped secure the investment by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A nonprofit health insurer has been taken over by Iowa’s insurance regulator and is ending enrollments after suffering financial problems. Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart’s office said that the 120,000 members of CoOpportunity Health in Iowa and Nebraska may find it in their best interests to find new carriers by February 15th. That’s the deadline for enrolling in 2015 coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A University of Iowa researcher has resumed work on the deadly MERS virus under tighter oversight after being sanctioned for not following proper safety guidelines. The university’s biosafety officer in February halted research by microbiology professor Stanley Perlman after discovering it started without approval of the school’s biosafety committee. Perlman tells the Des Moines Register the incident was unfortunate but “no safety was compromised.”

EARLY, Iowa (AP) — A court is refusing a new trial for an Iowa man convicted of killing his mother and kidnapping a woman. The Iowa Court of Appeals said Wednesday that Kirk Levin’s statement about wanting a lawyer wasn’t enough to force officers to stop their interrogation. Levin’s serving life in the 2013 slaying of his mother.

No injuries were reported following a fire that destroyed a home in rural Harrison County, Wed. evening. According to fire officials, the blaze occurred 2882 Price Place, northeast of Beebeetown.  Firefighters from Magnolia, Modale, Persia, Logan and Missouri Valley responded to the scene. The cause of the fire is unknown, but a wood burning stove is suspected. The family has been placed with their neighbors.

Crews were still on the scene checking for hot spots, as of about 6:30-p.m.

EARLY, Iowa (AP) — A court is refusing a new trial for an Iowa man convicted of killing his mother and kidnapping a woman. The Iowa Court of Appeals said Wednesday that Kirk Levin’s statement about wanting a lawyer wasn’t enough to force officers to stop their interrogation. Levin’s serving life in the 2013 choking and stabbing death of his mother, Marilyn Schmitt, at her Early farmhouse.

After the slaying, Levin lured a 21-year-old woman to a barn on the property, tied her up and drove off. She escaped when Levin’s car skidded into a ditch. The crimes came just hours after Levin was released from prison.

Levin waived his Miranda rights, but later told made a statement about wanting a lawyer. The court says the vague statement wasn’t “an unambiguous request for counsel.”

Some Iowa high schools offer only Spanish, German or French as foreign language courses, but in recent years, other options are beginning to make a stronghold in the curricula. Dan Carolin teaches Japanese and is co-chair of World Languages at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School. Carolin is among seven teachers in Iowa high schools who exclusively teach Japanese. “It’s important for students to really learn about any foreign culture they have an interest in,” Carolin says. “That’s what I think is terrific about having the program here. We’re not limited to European languages as many schools are, that our students do have other options to explore.”

Some 25 years ago, there was a renewed interest in Japanese language thanks to the island nation’s growth as an economic power, but Carolin says that’s shifted in this age of the Internet. “These days it’s really sort of more Japanese pop culture which is very often driving an interest in the study of Japanese,” Carolin says. “Video games, anime, manga, Japanese pop music are very often some of the interests my students have and what motivates them to study Japanese.” While Japanese is also offered at high schools in Des Moines and Davenport, he say the Cedar Rapids school district is very dedicated to offering a host of foreign language options.

“Kennedy has Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese,” Carolin says. “I’ve been here for 11 years and I have a steady stream of students and that’s true at the other schools as well. Both Jefferson and Washington have full-time Japanese programs. Washington also has Arabic and Russian programs as well.” Carolin is a New York native who got hooked on the Asian culture in the late 1980s after taking a job as teacher of English in Japan.

(Radio Iowa)

Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green has provided an update on the annual “Shop with a Cop” and “Family Dream Christmas” programs that took place recently. Green says on Sunday December 21st, officials with the Atlantic Police Department held their annual “Shop with a Cop” program at the Atlantic Wal-Mart. This year the APD decided to try and bring more children shopping than ever before. In total 34 children from around Cass County went shopping with A-PD officers.

All photo’s from the Atlantic Police Dept.’s Facebook page.

Green says knowing that it would take more manpower than originally planned, they “called for backup,” from the Cass County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol. The APD, APD Reserves, CCSO, and ISP representatives arrived around 1:00 PM in full uniform to be matched up with children. Once everyone was paired up, the children were taken shopping through the store and allowed to pick out many of the items they were in need of such as shoes, clothes, coats, boots, and snow pants. The children were also allowed to pick out a few toys that they wanted.