(Radio Iowa) — The number of homes sold and the sales prices for homes in Iowa went up in October — the fourth consecutive month there’s been an increase. According to data released by the Iowa Association of Realtors, homes sales were up four-point-two percent in October compared to October of last year. The median price for an Iowa home that was sold last month was 161-thousand dollars — that’s nearly four percent higher than in October of 2018. Fifty-six days was the average time a home that sold last month had been on the market.

More than 37-hundred home sales were closed in Iowa last month. More than 31-thousand single-family detached homes have sold in Iowa so far this year. About 45-hundred townhouses and condos have sold over the past 10 months.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — Amazon has confirmed its plans to open a delivery station in the Des Moines suburb of Grimes. The Des Moines Register reports that Amazon broke the news Wednesday in a news release. The “last mile” distribution site is expected to open in 2020. Such sites are the last stop from Amazon’s delivery centers to customers’ homes. Amazon says the station will speed up deliveries for customers in the Des Moines area and will create hundreds of part-time and full-time jobs starting at $15 an hour.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A defense lawyer says a 61-year-old Las Vegas man will appeal his conviction and five-year federal prison sentence for illegally growing marijuana in Oregon and selling it in Iowa. Attorney Michael Pariente said Wednesday he believes Chief U.S. District Judge John Jarvey in Davenport, Iowa, improperly instructed the jury that found Oliver “Sonny” Maupin guilty in June of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute pot.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The former office manager of the Iowa City Area Development Group is facing federal charges for a 13-year theft scheme in which she misspent more than a half-million dollars. Court documents show that Sheri Jelinek is charged with seven counts of wire fraud. A plea agreement signed earlier this month calls for Jelinek to plead guilty to those charges, which each carry up to 20 years in prison.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska corrections department is asking more than 600 inmates to step forward if they want to complete their sentences in facilities in their home states to ease prison overcrowding. The department wrote to prisoners that completing their sentences in the other states could place them closer to family and friends. A spokesman for the prisons department in neighboring Iowa says his department would consider whether transfers would be in the best interests of the inmates.

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening, unanimously passed (with Councilpersons Jimerson and Hartkopf absent) the first of three readings of an ordinance that would essentially take away the power of the Parks and Recreation Department Board of Directors, to hire, fire or discipline staff working for the Department, assume oversight of their bills, and turn those matters over to City Administrator John Lund.

Councilperson Kathy Somers said the change is important, primarily because the City Administrator could better handle Human Resources matters, such legal issues that could arise in areas of hiring, terminations and disciplinary actions. Councilmen Halder, Pat McCurdy and Gerald Brink agreed that the City wasn’t “Asking any more from the Parks Department than we’re asking from the other departments.”

Halder said “Some people are seeing this as a power struggle. It’s not a power struggle, we’re just trying to do our best to protect the city.” City Administrator John Lund said “The State of Iowa looks at us as a business. The court system of Iowa looks at us as a business.” And, “All of our liabilities that we are held accountable to, are automatically passed-on to the taxpayers. That is a ‘quiet levy’ that exists. It is unlimited. If we get sued and it is over our cap, we have to pay it. Cities [in Iowa and other States such as Georgia] cannot file for bankruptcy to escape those liabilities.”

Former Atlantic Mayor, and Parks Board member John Krogman summed-up what most of the Parks Board felt after hearing about the proposed amendment to the ordinance. He said their main issue is a lack of communication between the City, Lund, and the Board. Especially with regard to learning about the proposal just minutes before they were scheduled to meet this past Monday evening. “We feel the system (in place now) has been working for the Parks Board in its current form,” but the way they found out could have been handled better.

Former Atlantic businessman Rich Perry questioned having the opportunity of hiring and firing, “In one man’s hands.” Perry said “If you have a disagreement between two individuals, what protection does the second individual have on that? Is there not an opportunity to have a hybrid system of some kind, that would involved the Board as far as having some of the decisions, but would also work with some of the administrators cover our behind?” He asked if other opportunities were researched to accomplish the same thing, “Without changing the ordinance to literally cut the legs out from under the Parks Board?”

City Administrator John Lund said he looked at other ordinances, but that they were “totally insufficient.” Mayor Dave Jones said the City Council would have the authority to reverse any decision made by Lund with regard to any hiring, firing and disciplinary action of a City Employee.

GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — Amazon has confirmed its plans to open a delivery station in the Des Moines suburb of Grimes. The Des Moines Register reports that Amazon broke the news Wednesday in a news release. The “last mile” distribution site is expected to open in 2020. Such sites are the last stop from Amazon’s delivery centers to customers’ homes.

Amazon says the station will speed up deliveries for customers in the Des Moines area and will create hundreds of part-time and full-time jobs starting at $15 an hour. Amazon has already been posting job some job openings for the delivery station.

Grimes Mayor Scott Mikkelsen says Amazon’s announcement shows the city’s “ability to provide a top-quality workplace and living environment.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A hepatitis A outbreak in Nebraska, Indiana and Wisconsin has been traced to blackberries sold in Fresh Thyme grocery stores and federal authorities on Wednesday warned consumers in 11 states against eating some berries bought from that chain.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release that the outbreak began several weeks ago in Nebraska. The department said it, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating and have confirmed 11 cases of the virus, including six in Nebraska.

Fresh Thyme said in a written statement that it’s cooperating with the investigation, working to identify its suppliers and isolate the source of the contamination. “At this time, there is no reason to believe that any of the product was contaminated via handling in our stores,” the company said.

The FDA urged consumers in Nebraska, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania to not to eat any fresh blackberries bought from Fresh Thyme between Sept. 9 and Sept. 30.

Anyone who froze the berries for later use should throw them out, the FDA said. Hepatitis A is a virus that infects the liver and can cause mild, flu-like symptoms for several weeks.

Officials with the Cass County Health System, in Atlantic, have announced that Dr. Emily Chang, OB/GYN, is now seeing patients at Atlantic Medical Center. Dr. Chang’s practice will be primarily focused on gynecological care and surgeries, and she will also offer obstetrics care. She is able to work with a wide range of patients including adolescents.

Dr. Emily Chang

Dr. Chang has worked in both Illinois and Iowa and brings more than a decade of experience to CCHS, most recently having practiced the past six years at Obstetrical & Gynecological Associates next to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. Dr. Chang is certified through the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is a Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Dr. Chang will work closely with Dr. James Brown in transitioning his practice before his retirement in May 2020. Appointments with Dr. Chang can be made by calling 712-243-2850.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A defense lawyer says a 61-year-old Las Vegas man will appeal his conviction and five-year federal prison sentence for illegally growing marijuana in Oregon and selling it in Iowa. Attorney Michael Pariente said Wednesday he believes Chief U.S. District Judge John Jarvey in Davenport, Iowa, improperly instructed the jury that found Oliver “Sonny” Maupin guilty in June of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute pot.

Maupin also was ordered on Monday to serve four years’ supervised release after prison. Pariente says Maupin is now in federal custody. Pariente lost a bid to get the case dismissed a year ago on the unusual grounds that President Donald Trump’s then-acting U.S. attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, hadn’t been properly confirmed by the U.S. Senate. U.S. Attorney William Barr’s confirmation made that issue moot.