If you’re clicking that remote start to warm up your car, you MAY be breaking state law. It all depends on where the vehicle is parked. Under current Iowa law, it’s illegal to leave a running vehicle unattended on a public street. A bill to change that has cleared a senate subcommittee. Senator Thomas Greene of Burlington says if it’s available, lots of people are using the auto-start to warm up their cars this time of year.”Unless it becomes an issue where someone leaves it unattended for hours or an extended period of time, I really see no problem with this,” Greene says.

Greene says sometimes there’s nowhere else BUT the street to park a car and it’s time for state law to “catch up” with the modern convenience of a remote start. “I’m driving a nine-year-old car, so I don’t have that option, but the wife’s car, she loves it,” Greene says. “Technology advances.”

The Iowa D-O-T is not opposed to the bill, but an agency expert says one reason it’s illegal to leave your car running, unattended, on the street is because the car could roll and cause an accident.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Council Bluffs arrested a man on a theft charge as well as numerous traffic offenses, following a chase early this (Thursday) morning. 37-year old Jason Byers, of Council Bluffs, faces a charge of Theft in the 2nd Degree in connection with a stolen vehicle. He was being held in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Authorities says at around 1:30 this (Thursday) morning, Bluffs Police Officers witnessed a stolen vehicle heading east in the area of 32nd St. and 9th Ave. Those Officers lost sight of the vehicle, but a second officer located the vehicle in the area of S. 16th St and 9th Ave. The driver, later identified as Byers, tried to flee the area but was blocked by a train. He wrecked the stolen vehicle in the area of the 1500 block of
15th Ave. and fled on foot.

Officers set a perimeter and requested Omaha K-9 to assist with the search. Omaha K-9 arrived on scene and located Byers hiding in a garage a few houses down from the accident.

Jason Byers

Iowa Congressman Steve King is introducing legislation he says would go a long way toward eliminating abortion nationwide. King, a Republican from Kiron, is calling it “The Heartbeat Bill,” and under it, abortions would be banned once a heartbeat is detected in the unborn child. King says, “It requires any physician that’s planning to conduct an abortion has to check for a heartbeat and maintain records of the checking for that heartbeat.”

King suggests the bill could be a vehicle to overturn Roe versus Wade, the landmark 1973 U-S Supreme Court case which made abortion legal. “If a heatbeat is detected, the baby is protected,” King says. “There’s no penalty against the mother for seeking or having an abortion.” While the woman would be immune from prosecution, King says the doctor would face jailtime. “There is up to a five-year penalty for the provider if they violate the terms of this bill,” King says. “The heartbeat can be detected as early as 16 days.”

King says he has support from several other lawmakers in the House for the bill, The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017. In a statement, King says: “Since Roe v. Wade was unconstitutionally decided in 1973, nearly 60 million innocent babies’ lives have been ended by the abortion industry, all with a rubber stamp by the federal government. Human life, beginning at the moment of conception, is sacred in all of its forms and today, I introduced a bill that will protect the lives of voiceless innocents.”

(Radio Iowa, w/Thanks to Karla James, Omaha)

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

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa legislators are moving forward with a bill to ban traffic enforcement cameras, despite concerns from police that it could increase crashes. A three-person Senate Judiciary subcommittee unanimously approved legislation Wednesday that would remove traffic enforcement cameras from Iowa roadways. It now moves to the full Judiciary Committee. Several Iowa police chiefs oppose the bill. Urbandale Republican Sen. Brad Zaun, who filed the bill, says he thinks governments primarily use the cameras to generate revenue. He says they also violate motorists’ right to due process.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A charity controlled by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has disclosed the names of donors who collectively gave $1 million toward 2015 events celebrating his tenure in office, two months after missing a deadline for doing so. The filing reveals that 68 Iowa companies, lobbying groups or individuals gave $5,000 or more for events celebrating Branstad’s inauguration to a sixth term and his achievement of becoming the nation’s longest-serving governor. The late filing could bring IRS penalties.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former Iowa fire academy official has been charged with making up scores on tests that were used to improperly certify more than 1,700 firefighters and emergency responders. A criminal complaint alleges that former Fire Services Training Bureau certification manager John McPhee assigned “random scores to exams” without properly checking or correcting them. The Iowa Department of Public Safety says bureau issued nearly 2,300 improper certifications between 2012 and 2016.

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — Muscatine officials are studying the feasibility of building a container port facility on the Mississippi River. The Muscatine Journal reports the study is funded by a state grant and a matching fund from Kent Corp. The Muscatine Community Development Office is expected to conclude the study in a few weeks. At a League of Women Voters event Tuesday, Dave Gobin of the MCDO says the port will divert truck and rail traffic from the highway to the river, benefiting the region economically.

CRESCENT, Iowa (AP) — School district officials recommend closing Crescent Elementary at the end of the 2016-2017 school year due to declining enrollment. The Daily Nonpareil reports the Council Bluffs Community School District board will hear a presentation on the potential closing on Feb. 14. Superintendent Martha Bruckner says the school is too small and only half full. Crescent Mayor Brian Shea says the move “pulls the guts out of the town.”