OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett says stocks remain the best option for investors — not bonds, and especially not bitcoins. Buffett says he doesn’t think the stock market is overpriced compared with other options even though he’s had trouble finding entire businesses to buy at reasonable prices. Buffett appeared on CNBC Monday after spending Saturday answering questions before thousands of shareholders.

Buffett says cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are nonproductive assets similar to gold. So Buffett says anyone buying bitcoin is betting that someone else will pay more for it later. Buffett reiterated his standard advice that buying an index fund, such as the S&P 500 fund, regularly over time is the best option for most people. Roughly 40,000 people attended Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — A man convicted in 1970 of fatally shooting a gas station attendant during a robbery in Cedar Rapids has died in prison. The Iowa Corrections Department says Lacy Kelley died of natural causes Saturday at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. He was 66. He’d been housed in the hospice room at the prison because of a chronic illness. Kelley was convicted of first-degree murder for using a shotgun to kill 19-year-old Thomas Noethe.

A teacher in the Howard-Winneshiek School District has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation by a school employee.

Tiffany Ranweiler-Oblander

The Howard County Sheriff’s Department says 29-year-old Tiffany Ranweiler-Oblander was charged after a complaint was filed Thursday. Authorities say Ranwiler-Oblander allegedly engaged in sexual contact with an 18-year-old numerous times during the current school year. She is in the Howard County Jail on a $5000 bond. Authorities say a no-contact order has been issued prohibiting the teacher from contacting the student.

(Radio Iowa)

The top-ranking Democrat in congress since 2003 says her party must focus on convincing the country Democrats have a “better deal” for Americans.  “Putting forth what our purpose is, how we connect with America’s working families and what we will do, together, to make sure they succeed.” That’s California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the current minority leader in the U.S. House. Pelosi was the keynote speaker at Sunday night’s Des Moines fundraiser for Polk County Democrats. “I have probably been to Iowa more times than any other member of congress who is not running for president,” Pelosi joked at the start.

Pelosi reminisced about her first trip to Iowa, when she was chairwoman of California Democrats and dispatched to speak with Iowa Democratic Party officials about the timing of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Caucuses. Pelosi’s main theme, focused on recalibrating the party’s message for the 2018 election. She concedes Democrats didn’t communicate well with voters in 2016 — and she recommends that Democrats “relentlessly hammer away the stark contrast” with Republicans in the months ahead. “Republicans are giving the people a raw deal,” Pelosi said. “Democrats believe the Americans deserve a better deal.”

Pelosi told the crowd in Des Moines she’s hoping Democrats win two of the three Iowa congressional seats that are currently held by Republicans and Pelosi asked Iowa Democrats to seek votes in “every corner” of the state. “People always ask: ‘Is it a tsunami or is it a wave?’ …Whatever that is, it’s a lot of small droplets of water, This is not going to be big margins,” Pelosi said. “This is going to be small margins, many places, because we’re going into Republican districts.”

Iowa Republicans held a news conference Sunday, calling Pelosi the face “of the failures of Democrats over the last several elections” and noting Pelosi’s often listed as the least popular member of congress. The chairman of Polk County Democrats says Pelosi is one voice among many in the “national conversation” about the Democratic Party’s path forward. Pelosi’s appearance helped raise about 40-thousand dollars for turn-out-the-vote efforts in Iowa’s largest county.

(Radio Iowa)

Davenport police have released the victim’s name in a fatal shooting.  Police responded early Friday morning to a shots-fired call in a north-central Davenport neighborhood. Upon arrival officers found a woman gunshot victim. She was treated at the scene and then taken to a hospital, where she died. She has been identified as 19-year old Destiny Orr-Clark of Davenport. Detectives are investigating the incident.

(Radio Iowa)

Red Oak Police, Sunday, were called to the 100 block of W. Reed Street, for an assault involving a minor. Officers cited a female juvenile into Juvenile Court, for Simple Assault. The girl was then released to a parent. No name was released because of the girl’s age.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:30 a.m. CDT
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that House Democrats have the fundraising, the issues and the political atmosphere on their side to win back the majority in November.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — With majorities in both chambers, Iowa Republican lawmakers can point to plenty of accomplishments as they passed a conservative agenda that includes the nation’s strictest abortion restriction and a large tax cut. Lawmakers completed their work Saturday after finalizing a $7.4 billion budget and approving hundreds of millions in tax cuts. Earlier in the week, Republicans passed a six-week abortion ban that was quickly signed into law by Gov. Reynolds. It faces a series of court challenges.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — An agreement has been reached to demolish a decrepit greyhound track in northeast Iowa and develop the land. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the deal announced Sunday calls for the demolition of the idle dog track to begin by the end of May.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers have adjourned their 2018 legislative session. Republicans with control of the Legislature held near simultaneous debate Saturday in order to approve a sweeping $2.1 billion tax cut bill that they hailed as the largest in state history and Democrats decried as unfairly favoring the wealthy. The legislative activity caps a marathon of votes in recent days to finalize spending bills that will make up the roughly $7.4 billion state budget that goes into effect in July.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — An agreement has been reached to demolish a decrepit greyhound track in northeast Iowa and develop the land. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports the deal announced Sunday calls for the demolition of the idle dog track to begin by the end of May. The National Cattle Congress, Meskwaki Nation and Deer Creek Development all signed on.

The track closed more than 20 years ago and has been an eyesore with broken windows, graffiti and overgrown weeds. The nonprofit National Cattle Congress ran the dog track starting in 1986, but began losing money. The tribe loaned the nonprofit more than $9 million in 1995 while it underwent bankruptcy reorganization.

The tribe had sought to seize the property because of that loan. Deer Creek is developing about 100 acres of nearby farmland.

The Council Bluffs Police Department reports that at around 9:15-a.m. today (Sunday), Council Bluffs Police and Fire Departments were called to the 1400 block of Little Broadway, for a woman who had fallen from the bridge down into the Indian Creek culvert. The adult female had fallen approximately 15- 20 feet and landed on the concrete.

The Council Bluffs Fire Department deployed their High Angle / Confined Space Rescue Team to get to the female and extricate her from the culvert. She was transported to the hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.

At this time it is unknown if the female fell from the bridge or from a water pipe that crosses over the Indian Creek culvert. It is also unknown how long she was down in the culvert before being found by a passerby.

The incident is being investigated by the Council Bluffs Police Department.

Spring has finally arrived, and just in time for the annual Cass County Master Gardener Plant Sale! The sale is being held at the Cass County Community Center north parking lot, Saturday, May 12 beginning at 8 AM and lasting until the plants are gone. Cost is a free will offering for most plants.

The sale consists of perennial flowers and plants from local Master Gardeners’ own beds- hostas, iris, yarrow, sedum and day lilies, to name a few. Plant selection changes each year depending on what is being dug and divided by our gardeners! The plants this year may be a little smaller due to a late spring, but should be hardy and catch up in no time. All plants will be labeled with information on color, height, and shade vs sun preference, to assist you in finding the perfect spot to plant them in your own landscape.

Besides perennials there will be books from the 2018 Spring Garden Seminar available for purchase; authored by our garden seminar presenter, J. Schwanke, these would make great Mother’s day gifts. There will also be yard art, garden supplies, and other garden books to buy.

It’s recommended that you come in the first hour for best selection, as plants go fast! Cass County Master Gardeners use funds from the plant sale to support their scholarships and community grants, as well as projects they do around the county each year. For more information on the sale, you can find a flier at the Cass County Extension office, or on the Cass County Extension website at www.extension.iastate.edu/cass.

You can also call the Cass County Extension office at 712-243-1132 or email xcass@iastate.edu. Mark your calendar now, and plan to join the Cass County Master Gardeners for their annual Plant Sale on May 12, from 8 AM until the plants are gone!