Officials with the Iowa Army National Guard report, that as part of the U.S. Army’s ongoing overseas operational requirements, LeMars-based Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa Army National Guard, recently received deployment orders for Operation Enduring Freedom in the United States Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR). U.S. AFRICOM is responsible for U.S. military operations, exercises and security cooperation activities on the African continent, its island nations and surrounding waters.

Guard spokesman Col. Michael Wunn says “This is the second of several deployments announced by Maj. Gen. Ben Corell, the Iowa National Guard Adjutant General, during his Condition of the Guard address to the Iowa General Assembly on Jan. 16, 2020.” Troop C will deploy with approximately 90 Soldiers. They will be joined by approximately 40 Soldiers from Troop A, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, assigned to the Freedom Center located on Camp Dodge in Johnson.

Col. Wunn said also, “This is the third federal mobilization for Troop C since 2001. The troop previously deployed to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2010. For the last four years, Troop C, along with several additional Iowa Army National Guard units, has completed increasingly complicated training events in preparation for mobilization. The troop is currently working to schedule send-off ceremonies, which will occur in June. They will travel to Ft. Bliss, Texas, to complete their final training and readiness checks before deploying overseas. The deployment is expected to last approximately one year.”

The Iowa National Guard is experiencing an increase in deployments as a number of its units come into their “mission year” as part of the U.S. Army’s current force generation cycle.  Additional mobilization announcements are expected in the near future.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports four recent arrests. Late Monday night, 20-year old Kohl Robert Danielsen was arrested for OWI/1st offense, following a traffic stop for speeding near Avoca. Saturday afternoon, 29-year old Logan Bernard Stichler was arrested in Council Bluffs for Domestic Abuse Assault causing bodily injury/1st offense. Early Saturday morning, 38-year old Allen E. Westerfield was arrested for OWI/2nd offense, following an investigation into a vehicle in the ditch near Crescent. And, a 17-year old male was arrested Friday afternoon in Oakland for making a False report to a public safety entity. The unnamed teen allegedly pulled a fire alarm at the Riverside High School.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A man’s body has been found frozen in ice in a West Des Moines ditch. Police say a surveyor called around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday to report the body was spotted along a road that runs parallel to Interstate 80. Police say the body is that of a middle-age man. His name hasn’t been released. A police spokesman says officers are treating the area as a crime scene. No arrests have been reported.

(Radio Iowa) — Two abortion-related bills have advanced as Iowa lawmakers approach an end-of-week legislative deadline for committee votes. One bill approved by a Senate panel would require pregnant Iowans to view an ultrasound image and then wait three days to have an abortion. The Iowa Supreme Court struck down a three-day waiting period in 2018, but Republican Senator Brad Zaun says things have changed. “First of all, we’ve got a new court and I believe in this bill and I can file any bill that I want,” Zaun says.

Two of the five justices who overturned the 2018 law have died and, by this spring, two others will have retired from the court. Opponents of the bill — like Laura Hessburg with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence — say it puts up more barriers to abortion access. “Of course we want women to have information. What we’re saying is women don’t show up without being informed, any more than any of you show up for a medical procedure without being informed,” Hessburg said.

House Republicans also advanced a bill creating new licensing requirements for abortion facilities.

(By Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric)

(Radio Iowa) — A proposal advancing in the statehouse would require some low-income Iowans to work in order to stay enrolled in Medicaid. Most adults under the age of 65 would have to work or volunteer at least 20 hours per week, although disabled Iowans and the parents of young children would be exempted from the work requirements. Scott Centorino is with the Opportunity Solutions Project, which supports work requirements for welfare recipients. “It helps Iowans do more than just see higher incomes,” he says. “It helps Iowans reengage in their communities, build connections and skills.”

Opponents say the bill is unnecessary because most people in Medicaid are already working. They say it would punish people without transportation or child care. The bill has cleared a subcommittee and next goes before the Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee.

A woman from Bedford faces charges after a search of her vehicle in the Bedford High School parking lot resulted in the discovery of an illegal substance and drug paraphernalia, Tuesday. The Taylor County Sheriff’s Office says Deputies were called to the Bedford High School for a report of possible illegal substances being possessed on the premises. The K9 “Ciba” arrived on scene and was deployed. The dog gave a positive indication to the odor of illegal substance on a vehicle that was parked in the parking lot of the school. A subsequent search was conducted and marijuana along with paraphernalia was located.