DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state regulator says less than 2 percent of Iowans will be hit by state-approved health insurance rate increases. The Iowa Insurance Division said Wednesday that it had approved 2015 increases averaging 8.7 percent to 19 percent for Iowans who bought individual policies from Coventry Healthcare, Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield, and CoOportunity Health.

The department says the increases were justified, in part by costs associated with the federal Affordable Care Act. Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart told The Des Moines Register that Iowa’s overall health insurance climate is stable, with most premium increases being relatively small.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst has over $3 million in the bank going into the final stretch of the competitive campaign. Ernst announced Friday that she raised $6 million between July 1 and Sept. 30. Of that, $302,000 went to pay off debt from her primary campaign. She concluded the financial quarter with $3.2 million in cash.

Ernst is locked in a tight race against Democrat Bruce Braley. She substantially outraised him in the latest quarter. Braley’s campaign said last week he had raised $2.8 million in the same time period. Braley’s campaign declined to say how much cash he has left.

Full campaign finance reports are due to federal authorities on Oct. 15.

A District Court Judge has denied a request by an Atlantic man to have his 5-year prison sentence reconsidered. According to Cass County Attorney Dan Feistner, Rex Dean McDermott filed his motion on Oct. 6th, asking Judge Jeffrey L. Larson to reconsider the sentence originally imposed on Nov. 12, 2013. The Judge on Monday entered an order denying McDermott’s request for a hearing on the Motion.

Feistner said the court’s action is not subject to appeal, and while McDermott could make one final request to the Judge to reconsider the request for another hearing on the matter, other than that, all criminal appeals have been exhausted and ruled upon by the Iowa Court of Appeals. Pending any other challenges to the matter, such as a civil petition for post-conviction relief, McDermott will remain in custody of the Iowa Department of Corrections until he is paroled.

McDermott was arrested in Oct. 2012 on a felony charge of Willful Injury and a Serious Misdemeanor charge of Domestic Abuse Assault, following an incident involving his wife that occurred at R&B Feeds. An additional felony charge of Domestic Abuse Assault by Strangulation was filed in Dec. 2012.

McDermott plead guilty to the latter charge in Sept., 2013, and in November of that year was sentenced to a maximum of 5-years in prison with credit for time served. McDemott appealed the sentence, but the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision. The Iowa Supreme Court also later affirmed the district court ruling.

McDermott was subsequently transported to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville, and is currently being held at the Correctional Facility in Ft. Dodge.

One-person was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital following a two-vehicle accident Thursday evening on Atlantic’s east side. According to dispatch reports, the accident happened at around 5-p.m. near the school bus barn on Highway 6.

Fuel was reported leaking from one of the vehicles, and the road was said to have been blocked for a time. No other details are currently available.