OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area is edging closer to having a population of 1 million after eclipsing 900,000 people for the first time last year. The World-Herald reports that U.S. Census Bureau data places the metro area’s population at an estimated 904,421 people. The Omaha metro area includes Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, Washington and Saunders counties in Nebraska; and Pottawattamie, Mills and Harrison counties in Iowa.

David Drozd of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research and chamber of commerce officials say there are benefits to hitting the one million mark. According to them, some larger businesses and high-end retailers will only consider locating to cities with more than a million residents.

According to Drozd, Omaha, which is the 60th-largest metro in the United States, should reach 1 million by 2023.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa youth softball coach accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old friend of his daughter has been convicted of four counts of sexual abuse. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 47-year-old John Osborn, of Council Bluffs, was found guilty Thursday of third-degree sexual abuse in a nonjury trial. He faces up to 40 years in prison at his May 1 sentencing hearing.

Council Bluffs police say the girl and Osborn began exchanging text messages in June and had phone conversations about sex. Court documents show the girl reported that she and Osborn engaged in sexual acts in July when the girl stayed at Osborn’s house for a sleepover with his daughter.

Osborn has denied willingly touching the teen and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In a very brief, Special Session Thursday evening, the Atlantic Community School District’s Board of Education ratified the 2015-16 tentative agreement with the district’s Non-Certified Employees Association.

Board President Kristy Pellett opened the meeting by acknowledging that during their last, regular meeting on March 15th, they opted not to ratify the agreement at that time because they needed additional information. The information necessary to make the decision was available to the Board for the Special Session.

Board member Phil Hascall, who was vocal during the last meeting about not wanting to ratify the agreement, made the motion to reconsider at Thursday’s meeting. The motion was seconded by Rod Hartwig, and passed unanimously. Superintendent Mike Amstein said the agreement that was tentatively agreed to by the district’s negotiating team will cost the district $87,584. That’s the same amount mentioned during the March 15th meeting, and the same increase in pay for the affected staff.

Amstein says “We feel that [the amount] comes within the range that we had looked at. That it is a 3.26 [percent increase], based on new money and the reductions that we’ve made, and also with no increase to our insurance, we believe that [the] amount is acceptable, and I recommend the tentative agreement with our non-certified folks.”

With no further comments having been made, the Board heard a motion and second to approve the agreement, and it passed without objection.

Police in Council Bluffs located a missing juvenile this (Thursday) morning. Officials say at around 9:45-a.m., an 11-year-old male decided to leave Edison School without permission. Upon arriving in the area, several officers began searching for the child who was on foot. The 911 Center was successful in utilizing cell phone technology to locate the child, which indicated the child was in the area of Big Lake Park off N. 16th Street and was moving in a northeast direction.

Officers on foot and in vehicles concentrated their efforts in this area. Additional cell phone information had the child about a half mile north of city limits east of Monument Road. Officers converged on the area and observed the child running into a heavily wooded area on a ridge where he was located and apprehended without incident.

The child was uninjured and then transported to his residence where he lives with his grandmother. Pottawattamie County Deputies assisted Council Bluffs Police Officers in the two-hour search.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — The trial of a 20-year-old Denison man accused of slaying two elderly people and trying to burn their bodies has been moved to Sioux City. A judge on Wednesday announced that the trial of Jayden Chapman will take place April 28 in Woodbury County District Court. He is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree arson in the murders of 80-year-old Marvin Huesling and 81-year-old Alice Huisenga.

Another man, 26-year-old Michael Schenk, was sentenced earlier this month to two consecutive life terms in prison in connection with the murders. The Sioux City Journal reports that a change of venue was ordered prior to Schenk’s trial. Authorities say Schenk and Chapman shot the pair at a trailer home in Deloit in March 2014 and then set it on fire.