(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Senate is advancing two bills that would allow Iowans to have loaded firearms on work and school property. One measure would force businesses to allow employees to keep guns locked in their car at work. The other would allow people dropping off kids to have a gun on them while in a school parking lot or driveway. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, says current policies make it hard for Iowans to keep their guns with them.  “I think these are a very good common sense recognition that Iowans and Americans in general have a right to keep and bear arms,” Schultz says, “and keep and bear arms during their daily routine throughout the day.”

Brad Hartkopf is a lobbyist for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, which opposes the measure about keeping guns at work in the car. Hartkopf says, “This legislation infringes upon an employer’s private property rights by saying that they can’t have a policy prohibiting weapons in their parking lots or on their property.” Representatives from school and religious groups also say these bills infringe on private property rights and pose safety risks. Both proposals have support from some members of both political parties.

(Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – Two former officers at a northwest Iowa agriculture cooperative have pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges. The Sioux City Journal reports that Kenneth Ehrp and Calvin Diehl entered the pleas Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. Prosecutors say the two directed Farmers Cooperative Society workers in Sioux Center to layer higher-value soybeans over oats in grain bins and in trucks and then concealed the scheme from customers and federal inspectors. Prosecutors say the scheme led to the overvaluing of the co-ops grain inventory in order to influence a lender’s action on a loan.

Creston Police say a man from Colorado was cited following a non-injury accident Wednesday morning. 53-year old Raymond Ferrington, of Limon, CO. was cited for Failure to Provide Proof of Financial Liability (Insurance) – accident related, after the 2001 Nissan Maxima he was driving slid through the intersection of Highway 25 and Adams Street in Creston, and collided with a 2005 Dodge Caravan. The driver of the van was identified as 19-year old Kirby Queener, of Creston. The accident happened at around 6:25-a.m., Wednesday.

Authorities say Ferrington was traveling on Highway 25 and tried to stop for the red light at the intersection, but was unable to do so, due to the weather/road conditions. Damage from the collision amounted to $5,000.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Sioux City woman has been given 30 months in prison for driving the getaway vehicle after a bank robbery. The Sioux City Journal reports that 36-year-old Karen Merrick was sentenced Thursday. She’d pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors had charged her with bank robbery but changed the charge in return for her plea. Prosecutors say Merrick drove Phillip White away from Iowa State Bank in Le Mars after he robbed it on Dec. 12, 2018. Officers managed to flatten the vehicle’s tires during a chase and arrest the pair. White’s been sentenced to 12 years.

Police in Creston say two residents reported incidents of theft, Thursday. A man residing in the 300 block of South Division Street reported at around 8-a.m., that sometime between 9-a.m. Wednesday and 8-a.m. Thursday, someone broke into his car. Items missing from the vehicle included: a $100 Casey’s gift card; Hy-Vee Fuel Saver card; a pack of cigarettes; a Samsung phone charger, and two spare sets of keys. The loss was estimated at $227 altogether.

And, at around 11:50-p.m., a man residing in the 500 block of  North Vine Street in Creston, reported to police that sometime between 4-and 6-p.m., Thursday, someone broke into his home. He was missing a Howa 1500 .308 rifle with a scope, and a small bat. The items were valued at $720.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A deal has been struck that could avert a strike by unionized nurses at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in Sioux City. Nurses represented by the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 222 voted earlier this month to authorize a walkout. The hospital announced the tentative agreement Thursday night, but details have not been publicly released. The union says voting dates on the deal will be announced soon. The local’s current contract expired Sept. 1. The nurses have been seeking a better nurse-to-patient ratio, higher pay, better benefits and an improved strategy to handle turnover at the hospital.