OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The generosity of an Iowa native will mean swimming lessons for more than 2,000 Omaha-area kids. Omaha television station KETV reports that Charles Lakin of southwest Iowa helped organize and pay for the Charles E. Lakin Learn to Swim program.  Lakin says he made the donation after learning of the near-drowning of a child at a summer program in Omaha earlier this year.

All of the lessons are free. Lakin also provides a swimsuit and towel for those children in need. Omaha parent LaTia Miller says she would not be able to afford swimming lessons for her children and appreciates Lakin’s generosity.

The federal Centers for Disease Control reports an average of 10 U.S. deaths a day from drowning.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials are asking residents to avoid a certain vine when decorating holiday wreathes. The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports the state Department of Natural Resources wants residents to avoid using the Oriental bittersweet vine. Officials say its viable seeds are capable of spreading the unwanted plant.

The woody vine that’s native to Asia has bright red berries along the length of the stem. The aggressive plant can either kill a tree or slow its growth by blocking light from the forest canopy.   Officials recommend using the American bittersweet vine that’s native to Iowa. It is similar in appearance to the Oriental, but its fruit is at the tip of the stem.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold the second of two public hearings Wednesday morning, and act on adopting an Amended Ordinance, both of which pertain to the Amaizing Energy TIF District.

Ordinance 28, which provides for the Division of Taxes levied on taxable property in the Amaizing Energy Urban Renewal Area, proposes that certain property included in the definition of an “Urban Renewal Area” in the ordinance, be deleted from that definition. The first reading was approved following a similar hearing last week.

The Board will also discuss and possibly accept a proposal from Carlson, West and Povandra architects, as it pertains to a courthouse space and needs study. They’ll also set the date or dates and time for a hearing and adoption of an amendment to Ordinance number three, pertaining to zoning.

The Supervisors meeting begins at 9-a.m.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The amount of water flowing into the lower Missouri River will be increased this week because of concerns about colder temperatures, but the increase isn’t likely to boost the level of the Mississippi River downstream. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it plans to gradually increase the amount of water it releases out of Gavins Point dam on the South Dakota-Nebraska border to 18,000 cubic feet per second by Thursday.  That’s an increase of 4,000 cubic feet per second over current levels.

The corps’ Jody Farhat says the change is needed because ice will begin forming on the river with the cold weather and reduce the flow. The additional water will make sure the river remains high enough for cities that rely on its water.

A Monroe County, Indiana man, whose last known address was in Underwood, Iowa, was sentenced Monday to serve two-years in prison for failing to register with the Sex Offender Registry. United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner also ordered 64-year old Steven Wayne Kizer to serve a five-year term of supervised release following incarceration.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, says on November 1st, 2012, Kizer entered a guilty plea to failing to register with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, as required when he began residing in a rural part of the county. In July of 2012, law enforcement determined that Kizer had been residing in Pott. County, under the name of Samuel Mitiouti. He did so for about three months, without registering with the Sheriff’s Office, as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.  Kizer was required to register with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office as a result of an aggravated sexual assault of a child conviction out of the State of Texas.

Authorities determined Kizer had a felony warrant for his arrest out of Monroe County , Indiana, and that he was attempting to elude arrest. The investigation was conducted by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Marshal’s Service. It was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.