COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A kindergartener at a Council Bluffs school has tested positive for meningitis. Longfellow Elementary spokeswoman Diane Ostrowksi says that the girl felt ill when she came to school Wednesday and was soon sent home.

Council Bluffs Health Department director Donn Dierks says families of students in the girl’s class were notified Friday by letter after tests confirmed she had meningitis. Dierks says the illness isn’t highly contagious but parents were urged to seek antibiotics from their doctors.

Symptoms of meningitis include high fever, headaches, vomiting and stiff neck. If untreated, it can cause death.

The school has since been cleaned to limit further illnesses.

AMES, Iowa – Dec. 3, 2011– The Iowa Department of Transportation is reminding commercial motor carriers that movement of permitted oversize loads is only allowed when the roadways are clear of ice and snow, and visibility is at least 1/4 mile.

Presently, roadways in the western part of the state are partially or completely covered with a mix of slush, snow and ice. A wintery mix of freezing rain, freezing drizzle and snow is possible across the northwest part of the state through the day and evening.

For the latest road conditions, visit: www.511ia.org or call 511 (within Iowa) or 800-288-1047 (nationwide).  For oversize, fuel and trip permit information, call: 515-237-3264.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new tool available to Nebraska and Iowa veterans will help speed communication with health care providers. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System says its “secure messaging” feature allows veterans to communicate electronically with their doctors. It can be used to ask about appointments, prescriptions and non-urgent health issues.

The VA Department says the tool will help veterans avoid long waits to speak with providers over the phone. The tool is available through an online account at http://www.myhealth.va.gov/

Detectives with the Council Bluffs Police Department are making routine checks of area scrap yards, looking for items of metal which were stolen and may have been unwittingly purchased by the scrap yard operators. Every Friday, Detective Joe Hothersall of the Council Bluffs Police Department stops by the yards and picks up a stack of cards with the identification information and fingerprints of those who that week sold metals to the scrap yard. Hothersall makes sure the cards are filled out correctly. The owners tell him if anyone has dropped off anything suspicious. Police on both sides of the Missouri River say most companies are eager to cooperate.

Most of the scrap yard owners don’t mind the checks, because they don’t want buy stolen scrap metal, a crime which has grown immensely over the past few years. Thefts of copper have been most prominent. A typical air conditioner, according to Hothersall, has about $60 worth of copper inside, that can be ripped out, and sold for scrap.

Omaha and Council Bluffs both have ordinances mandating that recyclers document those who sell them metals. There is interest in both the Iowa Legislature and on the Pottawattamie County Board to require the same thing.

Iowa Representative Clel Baudler, a Republican from Greenfield, said such a measure will likely be introduced early in the 2012 session. Baudler, a former State Trooper, told the Omaha World-Herald  “These thieves will absolutely steal anything. I assume there would be several sponsors, including myself.” Nebraska already has a statewide law, though it may be strengthened this year with a bill to specifically outlaw the sales of sewer grates and manhole covers.

Loren Knauss, member of the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors and former Bluffs police officer, said there is interest in passing a county ordinance similar to the city ordinance that requires the documentation of sellers. The board members have considered such a measure in the past.

A jury in Pottawattamie County deliberated for more than 10 hours Friday, but ultimately handed down a guilty verdict against a man accused of sexually abusing a child. The trial of 47-year Martin Hiatt, from Carter Lake, lasted only two-days. Hiatt was charged with five counts of second-degree sexual abuse and four counts of indecent contact with a child. He was found guilty on three of the second-degree sexual abuse counts and all four counts of indecent contact with a child. Second-degree sexual abuse is a Class B felony and carries a mandatory prison sentence of 25 years. Because the crime is a forcible felony, 70 percent of the sentence – or 17½ years – must be served before Hiatt will be eligible for parole. Hiatt is scheduled to be sentenced March 7, 2012.

Assistant Pottawattamie County Attorney Dan McGinn said the encounters occurred with the child over a four-year period between 2007 and February 2011. The child — who was not identified because of her age, testified that Hiatt “did bad things” to her, including touching her thigh, breasts and buttocks; the girl said that Hiatt touched her inappropriately on more than 50 occasions.