DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Republican-majority House has passed several bills that would expand gun rights in Iowa, including legislation that would allow children under 14 to use handguns with parental supervision. The House voted Tuesday in support of five gun bills that now head to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it’s unclear if they will get enough support to advance.

The legislation includes a measure that would restrict public access to information about gun owners and another bill that would allow people to use their guns in a state of emergency. Another bill would legalize the use of suppressors.

Rep. Matt Windschitl, a Republican from Missouri Valley, says the bills protect Second Amendment rights. Rev. Cheryl Thomas, with Iowans for Gun Safety, says some of the legislation is designed to weaken Iowa’s gun laws.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – A new Purdue University study says grain bin entrapments and other confined space accidents on the nation’s farms fell to their lowest level in a decade last year. Iowa led the nation with seven incidents.

Purdue’s study shows the U.S. had 47 entrapments in grain bins and other confined spaces in 2015. That’s 34 percent less than 2014’s 71 entrapments and the fewest since 46 were recorded in 2006. Purdue says 25 people died last year in entrapments, down from 31 in 2014.

But Bill Field, a Purdue professor of agricultural safety and health, says many nonfatal entrapments go unreported each year because there’s no mandatory national reporting system.

In addition to Iowa, other states reporting grain bin entrapment deaths include: Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin and South Dakota.

The Audubon County Community Foundation reminds students that the deadline for submitting applications for the Exira Lions Club/Harold and Beverly Ann Godwin Endowed Scholarship is March 31st. The Fund will award one scholarship for $1,000 and is open to any high school senior from the Exira-EHK School District pursuing a two or four-year degree, full-time, at any accredited vocational/technical, educational institution, a college or university.

Applicants are asked to complete the application form and submit it with a copy of their current transcripts to their high school guidance counselor, as directed in the scholarship’s fact sheet. Scholarship applications are available from the guidance counselor.

The Audubon County Community Foundation Board members are: Chair, Brett Irlmeier of Audubon; Vice Chair, Jonnie Meislahn of Audubon; Secretary/Treasurer, Barbara Johnson of Audubon; Genelle Deist of Audubon; Jay Nelson of rural Brayton; Daryl Olsen, DVM, of Audubon; and Joseph T. Rasmussen of Exira.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A trial is set to begin for a Council Bluffs woman accused of fatally stabbing her ex-boyfriend. The Daily Nonpareil reports the trial of Jodie Sherman, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the July 2014 death of Douglas Richt, was starting today (Tuesday) at the Pottawattamie County Courthouse in Council Bluffs.

Sherman is accused of stabbing Richt in the throat during an argument after he picked her up in a car. Richt died while being taken to a hospital. Sherman was arrested shortly after running away. During a Monday pre-trial hearing, Pottawattamie County Attorney Matthew Wilber said defense attorneys are expected to use the defense of insanity.  On Feb. 9, Sherman waived her right to a jury, so District Judge Kathleen Kilnoski will hand down a verdict.

The Cass County Community Foundation reminds students that the deadline for submitting applications for the Dustin McCurdy Endowed Scholarship Fund is March 31st. The McCurdy Scholarship provides two scholarships of approximately $500 each to high school seniors from Cumberland Anita Massena High School (C-A-M).

Applicants are asked to complete the application form and submit it with a copy of their current transcripts to their guidance counselor as directed in the scholarship’s fact sheet. Applications are available from their high school guidance counselor.

Board members of the Cass County Community Foundation are: Chair, Nicholas Hunt of rural Atlantic; Vice Chair, Gary Maas of Anita; Secretary/Treasurer, Roland K. Landsness, Esq. of Atlantic; Royal Bierbaum of rural Griswold; Beulah Follmann of Massena; and Mark D. Kyhnn, CPA of Atlantic.

The Atlantic Police Department reports the arrest on Monday, of 28-year old Casey Sampson, of Atlantic. Sampson was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana. He was booked into the Cass County Jail.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The group that runs the Powerball lottery game approved, then abandoned, changes that would have given ticket buyers more bang for their two bucks than the redesign implemented last year. Powerball managers changed the game’s odds in October to build bigger jackpots and revive lagging player interest. The strategy quickly paid dividends for state lotteries, causing soaring ticket sales as a jackpot grew to a record $1.6 billion last month.

Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press show a different Powerball overhaul was initially planned to increase jackpots while providing more value for players. The “Power Play” that multiplies cash prizes for an extra $1 would have been embedded in the base $2 ticket. A new $1 add-on would have entered players into a second jackpot drawing for $10 million.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker has announced the placement of a permanent Medication Drop box (Iowa Take Back drop box) located in the Jail lobby of the Sheriff’s Office located at 1400 Big Lake Road. Sheriff Danker said the drop box is made possible through a small grant from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy to address the increasing problem of prescription drug abuse. The drop box will be accessible to the public during normal business hours or Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Citizens wishing to utilize the medication drop box are asked to place all medications in sealed nonbreakable containers and are requested to not include any “sharps” (syringes or lancets) or any other item that could cause injury to the Sheriff’s Office staff servicing the drop box. Remove all personal identification from your unneeded “controlled prescription drugs,” seal the medicines in vials and/or bags, take them to your nearest Iowa Take Back drop box site, and anonymously place your medicines in the secure drop box.

Find additional Iowa Take Back sites at: http://www.iowa.gov/odcp/drug_information/takebacks.html. Most prescription drug drop boxes are located a short distance inside the main public entrance of local law enforcement centers. If you have questions, call ahead to the law enforcement agency.

A semi truck driver in Iowa who suffered a medical condition might not be alive today if not for the fact that an ambulance happened to pass by shortly after the driver left a highway. It happened Sunday evening, not far from the Des Moines airport. Bob Soukup, spokesperson for the Indianola Fire Department, says two medics from Indianola were returning home from a Des Moines hospital following an EMS call when they came upon the semi truck in the median of Highway 5. They stopped and found the driver was unresponsive and without a pulse.

“They pulled the driver onto the ground and began CPR,” Soukup said. “They retrieved equipment from the ambulance and started rescue breathing and chest compressions, with the aid of bystanders.” The victim was in cardiac arrest and paramedic Jason Kling and EMT Kayla Schark used a defibrillator. “They were able to resuscitate the patient successfully and as they were preparing to transport him in the ambulance, he was regaining consciousness and speaking to them,” Soukup said.

Information about the semi truck driver, such as his name and age, were not released. But, Soukup said it’s expected the man will make a full recovery.

(Radio Iowa)

Two people were injured when a car collided with a pickup truck Monday afternoon, in Union County. The Sheriff’s Office says the driver of a VW Jetta, 16-year old Christian Oscar Ramirez, of Afton, and his 18-year old passenger, Juanita Ramirez, of Afton, suffered possible/non-incapacitating injuries and were transported by Medic 1 ambulance to the Greater Regional Medical Center, in Creston. The driver of the pickup, 23-year old Roberto Hernandez Cruz, of Afton, was not injured. All three individuals were wearing their seat belts.

Officials say Cruz was traveling west on 167th Street at around 4:25-p.m., Monday, and stopped at the intersection with Highway 169. He didn’t see the approaching car, and proceeded into the intersection. The VW struck the pickup on the right side, causing $10,000 damage, altogether.

Cruz was cited for Driving with a Suspended license, Failure to Yield, and No Insurance-Accident related. Ramirez was also cited for Failure to have Insurance-Accident related.