An assistant in the Iowa Attorney General’s office is calling on state legislators to make it easier to prove recklessness in cases where bicyclists are injured or killed when hit by motor vehicles. Pete Grady says Iowa currently has some of the nation’s highest hurdles to clear when prosecutors go after distracted drivers accused of hitting bicyclists. He says legislators have done nothing to toughen laws.

“We had bills filed in 2015, 2011, 2008, and we haven’t had any movement on bicycle safety laws in any of those sessions of the legislature,” Grady said. More than 20 bicyclists have died after being struck by vehicles in Iowa over the past five years. At present, Grady says prosecutors need to show the vehicle operators knew their actions would cause harm.

“I don’t think anyone would define reckless behavior as requiring a better than 50 percent outcome for danger or harm, but that’s the standard we have now in Iowa,” Grady said. Most of the time, county attorneys go after lesser charges against drivers involved in serious bicycle accidents, resulting in fines, but no jail time, according to Grady. He notes most Iowans agree that texting while driving is very dangerous, but Grady doesn’t believe it’s treated that way under Iowa law.

A police officer in Iowa can’t pull over a motorist for simply texting while driving. Grady asks, “How serious is texting if the legislature says it’s not even serious enough to require that somebody be pulled over when it’s observed by a law enforcement officer?” Grady made his comments on Iowa Public Radio’s River to River program.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Creston say the Nishna Valley Credit Union in Creston, has reported a bad Cashier’s Check was presented and cashed. The check was cashed April 11th, and was later found to have been fraudulent. The loss was estimated at $1,720.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The number of parents seeking religious exemptions to Iowa vaccination requires is still climbing despite health officials’ efforts to ease concerns about the shots. Don Callaghan with the Iowa Public Health Department told The Des Moines Register that “it’s not the trend we want to be seeing.”

A new state report says more than 6,700 Iowa schoolchildren obtained religious exemptions to vaccinations this school year, up 13 percent from the year before and more than four times the number 15 years ago. Iowa doesn’t make parents cite specific religious teachings for exemptions. The state merely requires a signed statement that immunization “conflicts with a genuine and sincere religious belief.”

About 1.3 percent of Iowa schoolchildren now have religious exemptions to vaccination, compared with a national average of 1.5 percent.

A new push to guard against meningitis outbreaks in Iowa is included in a budget bill awaiting Governor Branstad’s review. Bacterial meningitis is serious and can be deadly. It causes tissue surrounding the brain and the spinal cord to swell. Representative Rob Taylor of West Des Moines is all too familiar with it.

“My oldest daughter who is in dental school now actually had it when she was 18 days old, nearly died. That’s why part of the reason why it’s very close to my heart,” Taylor says. “I think it’s very important that we have junior high, high school and adults vaccinated specifically against meningitis, so that we’re not exposing unneeded risk to our smallest — our toddlers and our infants.”

Iowa is one of 11 states that do not require teenagers to be vaccinated. “We’re ripe for an outbreak,” Taylor says. The Centers for Disease Control recommends kids get the meningitis vaccine by the age of 12 and then get a booster shot when they’re 16. “You get a shot at the 7th grade level and the 12th grade level, preparing our kids to go off and live in dorms or go into the military and it has a zero percent death rate,” Taylor says.

If Governor Branstad signs off on the proposal, 7th graders and 12th graders will have to show they’ve gotten the meningitis vaccine, or they won’t be able to enroll in school. Meningitis is highly contagious, according to Taylor. “And very devastating to the community that gets it because if there’s one that has, it can spread rapidly,” Taylor says. About four-thousand cases of meningitis are reported in the U.S. each year.

At the end of March a student at St. Ambrose University was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. Nearly 80 percent of American teenagers get a first dose of the meningitis vaccine. In Iowa, only 64 percent get it. That’s 11-and-a-half percent lower than Minnesota and about 13 percent lower than Illinois. South Dakota’s governor just signed a bill requiring 7th and 12th graders to show they’ve been vaccinated before they may enroll in school.

(Radio Iowa)

The Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund has donated $1000 to the Nishna Valley Family YMCA’s 2016 Annual Campaign as a Chairman’s Roundtable Member. Officials with the Y say “Thank you for ‘Answering the Call.’  Every gift makes a difference.  Everyone has a role to play, thank you to Trevor’s family and the Trevor Frederickson Memorial Fund for playing that role. ”

Laena Frederickson and Grant Petty are shown in the picture

“Together, with people and organizations like the TFred Memorial who “Answer The Call” the Nishna Valley YMCA says they can achieve so much more.  If you would like to donate to the Annual Campaign you can stop at the front desk of the YMCA, or for more details about the Annual Campaign call Michelle at 243-3934.

Officials with TS Banking Group, in Treynor, Tuesday, announced an agreement has been reached to acquire a bank in Corning. TS entered into the purchase agreement with Blue Grass Bancorporation, Inc., in Corning, to acquire the Okey-Vernon 1st National Bank, with banking assets of $85-million.

TS Banking Group is a joint venture between Treynor Bancshares, Inc., the bank holding company of Treynor State Bank, with banking assets of $290-million, and TS Contrarian Bancshares, Inc., the bank holding company of The Bank of Tioga (North Dakota), with banking assets of $300-million. The TS Banking Group is headquartered in Treynor.

Okey-Vernon 1st National Bank’s name will be changed to TS Bank, and become part of the TS Bank branch network.

Officials with SWITA (Southwest Iowa Transit Agency), based in Atlantic, have announced their summer bus service will once again be open to all kindergarten through 12th grade students living within two-miles of the Atlantic City limits. Students may be taken to any parent pre-approved location, such as: The library; Swimming pool; YMCA; Piano lessons; Vacation bible school; grandma’s house; band lessons, and so on. Rides are available from 8-a.m. until 5-p.m. Monday through Friday. Call the SWITA office at 1-800-842-8065.

SWITA says it was able to dramatically reduce transportation rate this year, thanks to a new sponsorship program with donations from local businesses and organizations. Parents may purchase a whole, unlimited summer pass (May 27th-Aug.22nd), for just $40, or One-dollar per ride.

Registration is required for kids to ride the SWITA bus. Stop into the SWITA office at 1501 S.W. 7th Street between 6-a.m. and 5-p.m. M-F, fill out a registration form and prepay for the rides. Registration is also available on the SWITA website at www.swipco.org, and fares may be paid online. Families must have a registration form filled out with contact information and allowable destinations, before a child is allowed to ride.

For more information on the “Summer Fun Bus,” call Kristen Templeton at 1-800-842-8065. All rides are also open to the non-student public for $5 per ride.

310 AM CDT WED MAY 11 2016

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 166 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CDT

FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS: . IOWA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

ADAIR ADAMS CASS FREMONT MILLS MONTGOMERY PAGE POTTAWATTAMIE RINGGOLD TAYLOR UNION.

PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE: SCATTERED LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE; ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch #166 for counties in mauve/pink.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 100 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BEATRICE NEBRASKA TO 40 MILES EAST OF SAINT JOSEPH MISSOURI.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:00 a.m. CDT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — About 180 Army Reserve Soldiers based in Sioux City are preparing to be deployed to the Middle East. Maj. William Geddes says soldiers in the 960th Quartermaster Company will deploy to Kuwait and Iraq on Sunday. A send-off ceremony is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at East High School in Sioux City. The company’s mission will be to supply ammunition, fuel and portable water purification.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A judge has suspended prison sentences for two women who pleaded guilty in connection to a staged Sioux City bank robbery. Nineteen-year-old Heaven Zevenbergen and 19-year-old Angelica Perez had been sentenced to five years in prison in February after pleading guilty to second-degree theft as part of a plea agreement. District Judge Jeffrey Neary suspended the remainder of their sentences Tuesday, and placed them on five years of probation. Neary said the original prison terms were meant to be “shock sentencing,” which is used to deter offenders from future criminal behavior. He said he always intended to reconsider the women’s sentences.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man is charged with child endangerment after authorities say he let his 7-year-old son drive a car that later crashed into a utility pole. The vehicle had left the scene of the crash in Dubuque by the time authorities arrived Saturday afternoon. Court documents say when police later located the damaged car in an alley, 28-old Wesley Rainer told police his son wanted to drive the car.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The City Council again has effectively rejected a plan to seek a National Park Service grant to help fund a $2.6 million white-water park and kayak course near downtown Waterloo. The council voted 3-2 Monday to seek the $750,000 grant, but the resolution required four votes to pass. The council first voted 3-1 last week to seek the grant, with Councilman Jerome Amos Jr. absent. He requested the reconsideration.