A judge in Douglas County, NE, sentenced a former Council Bluffs pastor to 30-years in prison Thursday, for sexually assaulting an 11-year old girl who had turned to him for help in dealing with a family situation. The Omaha World-Herald says 57-year old Efrain Umaña had been charged with first-degree sexual assault. In 2011, Umana was sentenced in Iowa to 35 years in prison for sexually assaulting the same girl as well as at least two women in Council Bluffs. The paper says he pleaded no contest to his assaults of the girl in Omaha in exchange for the prosecution’s recommendation that any sentence in Nebraska be served at the same time as his prison time in Iowa.

All of the assaults occurred in 2004 while Umaña served as pastor of Templo Monte Horeb, a congregation that he eventually left amid accusations of impropriety.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

An official with the State Fire Marshal’s Office says it appears arson was the cause of a fire the severely damaged a home in Carter Lake early Tuesday morning.  John Ticer told the NonPareil that the fire at 802 Redick Boulevard was set on purpose, but he declined to elaborate. Firefighters from Carter Lake and Crescent were dispatched to the blaze around 1-a.m., Tuesday.  The fire reportedly caused about $35,000 damage to the unoccupied home.  The structure had been vacant for only about a week, while the owners were in the process of moving.  An investigation into the cause of the fire continues. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the State Fire Marshall’s Office at (712) 308-3977.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County report an 18-year-old from Crescent suffered a serious injury when he accidentally shot himself in the leg, Thursday. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker told the Daily NonPareil that the teen, whose identity was not released, shot himself in the thigh at around 6:30-p.m. The accident apparently happened as he  was trying to clear a cartridge from an SKS rifle. Danker said the wound was “severe” enough that the teen was required to be transported from a Council Bluffs hospital by air ambulance to Alegent Creighton Health Creighton University Medical Center.

A proposal that would let doctors prescribe marijuana to ease the pain of their patients is going nowhere in the Iowa House. A three-member House subcommittee held a 40-minute public hearing on the concept Thursday, then two of the legislators involved killed the legislation. Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, says it’s an “asinine” idea.  “I’ve watched state government function since 1962 and doing any bill, let alone this one, that would legalize marijuana would be at the top one or two of three stupidest bills that have been passed by this organization, in my opinion,” Baudler says.

Ray Lakers of Des Moines says he needs marijuana as treatment for his multiple sclerosis. “A growing number of people across the United States and the world with multiple sclerosis have shown great benefit of using cannabis rather than FDA drugs,” Lakers says. Representative Deborah Berry, a Democrat from Waterloo, says as her brother was dying several years ago, he smoked marijuana to relieve the pain of his cancer. “Alcohol and tobacco — I think those are much more addictive, much more dangerous in my opinion,” Berry said. “I think that we should at least just open it up and investigate the use of medical marijuana.”

Peter Komendowski, president of the Partnership for a Drug Free Iowa, disagrees. “In your opinion marijuana may not be as dangerous as cigarettes or alcohol,” Komendowski said. “I still think it represents a clear and present danger and one we need to work to the fullest extent of the law to protect our children from.” Mike Niday, of Des Moines, a Marine Corps veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress, urged legislators to allow prescriptions for marijuana.  “I just hope that you listen to Iowans’ voices and you vote for what we want,” he said, “because you’re representing us.”

Erin Kennedy of Nevada works with kids with substance abuse problems. She predicted medical marijuana would wind up in the hands of those who do NOT have a prescription for it.  “I’m sure we’ve put every precautionary method that we can think of in place for tobacco and alcohol,” she says, “and yet our youth continue to get access to that.” Marijuana is illegal in the United States but 18 states have laws which permit marijuana to be prescribed as a treatment for the symptoms of pain and nausea, often associated with chronic and fatal illnesses.

(Radio Iowa)