DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State statistics on traffic-related deaths suggest Iowa roads were safer last year than in 2016. Iowa Department of Transportation figures show that 329 people died in traffic-related incidents in 2017, as of Dec. 29. The 2016 figure: 398. The drop in traffic deaths follows a jump in 2016 from 315 fatalities in 2015.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig told The Des Moines Register that a new state law that cracked down on texting while driving may have helped avert deadly collisions in 2017. Ludwig also said the lack of snowfall last year — except for heavy snow and winds Thursday and Friday — may have helped lower the fatality figure.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An economist says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states rose over the past month, pointing to continuing improvement in regional economic conditions. A report released Tuesday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index climbed to 59.0 from 57.2 in November. The October figure was 58.8. The Iowa overall index dipped to 54.3 in December from 55.2 in November. Index components were new orders at 63.4, production or sales at 56.9, delivery lead time at 49.0, employment at 53.0 and inventories at 49.3.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says profit growth, low interest rates and the recently passed tax package pushed business confidence last month to its highest level since January 2011. The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Adams County Sheriff’s officials report a Cass County man was arrested Monday night, following a traffic stop. Deputies stopped a vehicle near Highways 34 and 148 at around 7:20-p.m., for a traffic violation.  Upon further investigation, the driver of the vehicle, Ancherson William, of Atlantic, was placed under arrest after providing a false name to deputies. William was charged with Providing False Information, Driving Under Suspension, and on an arrest warrant.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DELHI, Iowa (AP) — A group of University of Iowa students presented possible solutions to a wastewater treatment issue at a lake in eastern Iowa. The Telegraph Herald reports that engineering students with the university’s Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities offered design options to Delaware County officials. The findings aim to help Delhi home septic systems meet state code.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines shelter is bending some of its rules to ensure that homeless people have a place to stay during the dangerous chill that’s descended over much of the Midwest. Central Iowa Shelters & Services is letting people stay longer as the temperature remains zero (minus 18 Celsius) or below. The shelter also is converting its computer lab into living space.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago man accused of shooting into a Dubuque nightclub has pleaded not guilty. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that 32-year-old Richard Sanchez filed a written plea to charges of theft, going armed with intent and of intimidation with a dangerous weapon.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former Sioux City schoolteacher has been accused of stealing nearly $3,000 from accounts she set up for East High Special Olympics and the Friendship Connection. The Sioux City Journal reports that 48-year-old Melissa Dickerson is charged with theft. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press.

Des Moines University administrators are asking for 250-thousand dollars in state taxpayer support — to help finance a new course about mental illness for all its students who are training to be doctors. Governor Kim Reynolds says the proposal “makes sense” — but she and her staff are trying to figure out if there’s money in the state budget to support the effort to train future doctors in how best to diagnose mental conditions.

“What I love about DMU is they have doctors in almost all 99 counties and I come from rural Iowa, so I’m extremely appreciative of that,” Reynolds says, “and so it makes sense as we talk about access, especially for rural Iowa, that we’re training them to see the signs and help them get the services they need.” The medical school already has raised private money to start teaching the course over the next six months to its medical students. Psychologist Lisa Streyffler is the chair of D-M-U’s department of behavioral medicine.

) “As we train our osteopathic physicians, we know that we’re moving more and more to a community model of treating the folks with mental illnesses in our state and so what we’re thinking about as an educational institution is what can we do to create truly excellent primary care (doctors) to be providing a lot of that mental health care,” she says, “because we know that they are the folks who actually do the bulk of the work.”

She says doctors can help the overall health and well-being of their patients by being trained to recognize and treat symptoms of mental illness. Des Moines University graduates more primary-care doctors than any medical school in the country.

(Radio Iowa)

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports one arrest took place over the past week. On Dec. 28th, 26-year old Cody Leon Zimmerline, of Adair, was arrested in Adair on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear, on an original charge Driving While License Under Suspension. Zimmerline was brought to the Adair County Jail in Greenfield, and released the following day on a $300 cash bond.