IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — State lawmakers around the country are pushing schools to put more emphasis on teaching students how to tell fact from fiction online, a skill they say is critical to democracy. Lawmakers have introduced or passed bills calling on public school systems to develop lessons for a form of instruction called “media literacy.”

The effort has been bipartisan but has received little attention despite successful legislation in Washington state, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Mexico. Several more states are expected to consider such bills in the coming year, including Arizona, New York and Hawaii.

Supporters say the misinformation spread during the 2016 presidential campaign has helped their efforts. They want schools to include lessons about how to evaluate and analyze sources of information in civics, language arts, science and other subjects.

A Nebraska man suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the thigh during a car jacking incident early this (Saturday) morning, in the parking lot of a Council Bluffs casino. Council Bluffs Police say officers were called to the Horseshoe Casino at around 4:43-a.m., for a reporting of a male party laying in the parking lot who had been shot.

It was discovered the 53-year old male from Elk Horn, NE., was the victim of a robbery / car-jacking in the parking lot. The unidentified man was shot by a suspect, as the victim attempted to flee on foot from the vehicle. The suspect fled from the scene with the victim’s vehicle, a gray 2006 Ford F-150 Super-Crew.

The victim was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. His vehicle was recovered by the Omaha Police Department in the area of the 2000 blk of So 45th St. Authorities say it had been burned.

The case is currently part of an active investigation being conducted by the Council Bluffs Police Department Criminal Investigation Division and the Omaha Fire Department. Anyone with information is urged to contact CBPD Criminal Investigation Division at (712) 328-4728 or Crime Stoppers at (712) 328-STOP (7867)

Officials with the Harlan Police Department, earlier this week, issued a report on arrests that took place over the past couple of weeks. On Dec. 19th, 24-year old Jacob Wayne Jens, of Shenandoah, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant. Jens was transported to the Shelby County Jail and also charged with Driving While Suspended, Violation of Financial Liability, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. And, on Dec. 13th, 24-year old Victoria Rae Gonzales, of Bettendorf, was arrested following a call about a stolen vehicle possibly being in the Harlan area. She was brought to the Shelby County Jail and charged with Possession of Stolen Property.

With temperatures dropping to the single digits and below, combined with the winds, weather officials have issued wind chill advisories for Iowa. The Director of Nursing for Floyd Valley Healthcare in Le Mars, Lorrie Mortensen, says frost bite is a real concern, and can hit you before you know it.

She says it can occur in a matter of minutes if you do not dress appropriately. Mortensen says any uncovered areas will be hit first. The tissues start to freeze and the first symptoms are a cold prickly feeling to exposed areas such as ears, toes and fingers. “And then it kind of turns into that numbness feeling,” she explains. She recommends wearing mittens as opposed to gloves.

“Because you actually have the other fingers keeping them warm…when they are individually covered you don’t have as much protection as you do with a mitten,” Mortensen says. She says both the young and the elderly are more susceptible to the frigid cold temperatures, and they are likely to get frost bite before others.

Mortensen says elderly people may have decreased circulation and they often walk slower and are exposed to cold weather longer than others. Mortensen’s advice during these cold days is to “keep moving and bundle up.” Wear several layers of clothing, and remember wet clothing will bring on frost bite faster than wearing dry clothing.

(Radio Iowa)