WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The Waterloo City Council has poked a small hole in the city’s fireworks ban. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the council voted 4-3 on Monday to allow consumer fireworks to be set off July 3-July 5 each year. The three-day window is far below the 53 days that Iowa law allows but replaces a complete city ban. Council member Steve Schmitt says the total ban wasn’t effective in stopping people from shooting off fireworks. Council member Sharon Juon says she thinks “there is more potential harm with expanding the fireworks than there are benefits.”

Matt Reisetter co-owns Crossroads Fireworks and he says the three-day period approved is “a very reasonable compromise.” Waterloo will allow fireworks use between noon to 11 p.m. July 4 and from noon to 10 p.m. on July 3 and July 5 each year. The fine for using fireworks outside of those times was boosted to $375 or more from $250.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office says a woman from Shenandoah was injured during a single-vehicle accident, last Friday evening. In their report issued Tuesday, authorities said 68-year old Ruby Knight, of Shenandoah, was driving a 2006 KIA eastbound on Highway 34 at around 5:55-p.m., when her vehicle went out of control due to the slick road conditions. The car crossed the center line of the road and entered the north ditch, where it rolled over and came to rest on its wheels. Knight was transported by Red Oak Rescue to the Red Oak Hospital.

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office, Tuesday, issued a report on arrests that occurred over the past week. Most recently, on Tuesday, 66-year old James Edward Vaughn, of Pacific Junction, was arrested on a warrant charging him with three counts of Indecent Contact with a Child. Bond was set at $6,000. On Monday, 36-year old Jacob Lee Kimball, of Henderson, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault and Obstruction of Emergency Communications. Bond was set at $600. Sunday, 23-year old Shyanne Marie Mathews, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving While Barred ($2,000 bond). And, 43-year old Jeffrey David Robichaud, a homeless person, was arrested on a warrant for Failure to Appear in court (Bond $10,000).

On Saturday, 32-year old Colton Michael McLain, of Glenwood, was arrested in Mills County for OWI/1st offense, Operating a non-registered vehicle, and speeding (Bond $1,000). Last Friday, 23-year old Amanda Lee Nicole Blazer, of Emerson, was arrested for Driving Under Suspension (Bond ($300). And, 23-year old Shyanne Marie Mathews, of Council Bluffs, was arrested for Driving While Barred and Failure to Provide Proof of Insurance (Motor vehicle-related). Bond was set at $2,000.

And on Thursday, 22-year old Jacob Allen Strong, of Wahoo, NE., was arrested in Merrick County, NE., on a Mills County warrant for two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance. Bond was set at $50,000.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Another trial starting date has been set for a 19-year-old in northwest Iowa accused of stabbing to death his ex-girlfriend and another young man. Woodbury Country District Court records say prosecution and defense attorneys requested another delay in the trial of Tran Walker. The trial had been set to begin Tuesday . The new starting date is April 30. The original starting date was July 24.

Walker’s pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing 17-year-old Paiten Sullivan and 18-year-old Felipe Negron Jr., who both lived in Sioux City. Police say Walker was in a car with the other two on Jan. 28 last year when he began to stab Sullivan because he was upset that she had broken up with him. Police say that when Negron tried to intervene, Walker stabbed him, too.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited health care providers and insurance companies from discriminating against people who refuse immunizations has failed to advance to a Senate committee. A Human Resources subcommittee on Tuesday voted against advancing the bill that would have created the Vaccination Safety and Right of Refusal Act. Republican Sen. Thomas Greene, a retired Burlington pharmacist, voted with a Democrat to kill the bill.

The subcommittee also declined to forward a bill that created a philosophical exemption from vaccinations for children enrolling in schools or child care centers. Gov. Kim Reynolds says that with outbreaks of measles and other diseases resurfacing, she thinks vaccinations are important. She says existing medical and religious exemptions already address some of the concerns voiced by anti-vaccine proponents.