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Iowa early News Headlines: Tuesday, April 4th 2017

News

April 4th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Civil rights groups, media advocates and some lawmakers are opposing an Iowa bill that would end public access to many 911 calls. The bill would declare that 911 calls involving emergencies in which people are injured are confidential “medical records” and exempt from the open records law. The measure says the secrecy would apply to some video records, a clause that critics fear could apply to recordings documenting the aftermath of police shootings.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A decision by Iowa’s dominant health insurance company to stop selling individual policies could leave thousands of resident scrambling to get new policies. The Des Moines Register reports Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield announced Monday it would stop selling the individual policies because of instability in the insurance market. The decision means more than 21,000 Iowa residents who bought health insurance policies since Jan. 1, 2014, will need to find another provider.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has sentenced a 19-year-old Dubuque man to life in prison without parole after his conviction of first-degree murder in the killing of a man at a Dubuque trailer park. The Telegraph Herald reports Judge Thomas Bitter sentenced Imere D. Hall to the life term despite defense lawyers’ argument that the sentence was unconstitutional for someone Hall’s age. Prosecutors say Hall and two other men broke into the trailer of Collin Brown, intending to rob him. Brown was shot trying to escape.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says he’ll have private meetings with members of Congress this week to discuss his consideration as U.S. ambassador to China. The Republican governor is scheduled to be in Washington between Monday and Thursday. Branstad says he’ll meet with members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and officials at the State Department. A spokesman for the governor says no formal hearings are scheduled.