DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Microsoft is the latest business planning to build a massive data center in Iowa as the state continues to attract some of the biggest technology companies looking for a place to expand their computer processing and storage abilities.  Microsoft is proposing to spend more than $670 million on another West Des Moines data center. The company is seeking $20 million in tax credits to create about 30 jobs. The Iowa Economic Development Authority on Friday was considering approval of the incentives.
 
Already Microsoft, Facebook, and Google have chosen Iowa for data centers. Microsoft’s total investment is expected to exceed $1 billion in Iowa with the new project. Industry consultants say Iowa offers plentiful, inexpensive electricity and policies that alleviate millions of dollars in property and sales taxes.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – An annual parade organized by a gay and lesbian nonprofit group will move from Omaha to Council Bluffs. The Daily Nonpareil reports the parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, in downtown Council Bluffs. More than 35 floats will join in the Heartland Pride Parade, which typically is held in Omaha but had to be moved because of the College World Series. Due to that event, there weren’t enough police officers to block streets in Omaha.
 
The parade is hosted by Heartland Pride, which advocates for the local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. The parade is part of the 28th annual Live Proud event, which began Thursday and continues through Sunday at Omaha’s Stinson Park at Aksarben Village.

The Iowa State Patrol reports one person was killed, another injured, during a single-vehicle rollover accident late Thursday night, in Mills County. Officials say 30-year old Jason R. Hawkins, of Plattsmouth, NE, died in the crash, while a passenger in the vehicle, 34-year old Shaun Goines, of Clarinda, was injured.

The accident happened at around 10:50-p.m. on 195th Street, just north of Pacific Junction. A 1999 Chevy Blazer driven by Hawkins was traveling north when the SUV went out of control, rolled, and came to rest upright in the northbound lane of travel. Neither Hawkins nor Goines was wearing a seat belt. Hawkins died at the scene, while Goines was transported by LifeNet helicopter to Creighton University Hospital in Omaha. A report on his condition is not currently available.

The accident remains under investigation.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest on Thursday of 39-year old Dan Christensen, of Atlantic. Christensen was taken into custody on a charge of Disorderly Conduct. He was transported to Cass County Jail where he was booked and held pending an appearance before the magistrate.

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Investigators have examined a heater as they search for the cause of a plane crash in Kansas that killed four people with ties to Oklahoma’s Oral Roberts University. The plane was enroute from Tulsa to a Christian youth rally in Council Bluffs.  The heater was found in the wreckage of the eight-passenger plane that crashed May 11, 2012, near Chanute, Kan.  The National Transportation Safety Board issued a factual report this week about the crash that killed the plane’s pilot and three others.
 
One woman survived. The Tulsa World reports that she informed investigators that the heater produced a “terrible smell.” 

(8-a.m. News)