OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new report says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index in February hit its highest level since September, signaling solid economic growth over the next three to six months for nine Midwest and Plains states. The report issued Friday says the index rose to 57.9 last month from 56.0 in January. The September figure was 57.5. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says even stronger growth was hampered by shortages of skilled workers and international trade tensions.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth. A score below that suggests decline. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

The President and owner of Rex Pharmacy in Atlantic, today (Friday) announced plans for its two current Atlantic locations, Rex Pharmacy downtown and the Atlantic Medical Center Pharmacy, to merge and become one pharmacy located in the former Sears building at 1607 E. 7th Street. Josh Borer says the plans are the result of Rex Pharmacy’s desire to make community pharmacy a more viable part of patient outcomes in Atlantic and the surrounding area.

With all the pharmacists and team in one location, Borer says the merge and move will offer the community better access to pharmacists as well as more and improved services; including a drive through pick-up service and expanded delivery services. The new space will be designed with private clinical rooms for patient medication reviews, education, consultations and immunizations. It will be a full-service pharmacy with all the over-the-counter medications and supplements as well as in-home medical equipment and supplies.

It was a big decision to leave the downtown location, where Rex Pharmacy has served for over 75 years, but Josh Borer said in his statement “We feel we’re doing it for all the right reasons…this move will allow us to further pursue our Core Purpose, which is to improve health outcomes for the patients in our communities. It really fits our “WHY”.”

The transition is expected to take place sometime this summer; and they are currently exploring the possibilities for other occupants of the downtown building.

(Radio Iowa) — There’s a move in the Iowa Senate to change the definition of a circus. Last year, the elephant rides at the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport were cancelled. It’s against the law. The bill would change that. Senator Mark Costello said “This will allow a person who owns an elephant to offer controlled rides on the elephant.” Costello convened a small group Thursday morning to review the bill.

Senator Zach Wahls was there. “We’re only creating a single exemption for elephants. There won’t be any tiger rides or anything happening.” Senator Jeff Edler was an enthusiastic yes. “As a youngster, I do remember riding an elephant at a circus.” It was legal back then in Iowa, but a state law passed in 2007 classified elephants as “dangerous wild animals.”

People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals says elephants are abused by circuses and PETA complained to state officials that the law wasn’t being followed. The state veterinarian then sent out the notice that elephant rides are not allowed in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) — A bill that would remove the time limit on filing criminal charges in child sex abuse cases has cleared its first hurdle in the Iowa Senate. Under current state law, criminal charges must be filed before the victim turns 28. Studies show many victims never reveal they’ve been abused until much later in life. Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines has been pushing for this change for years.

“Our laws not only benefit perpetrators, but they also benefit organizations that have covered up crimes against children,” Petersen said, “and that is simply wrong.”

The Senate passed the bill last year, but it stalled in the Iowa House. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison is the new chairman of the committee that will review the bill, if passed the senate. Holt says he’s “looking very favorably” at the concept, but some time limit for filing CRIMINAL charges may be warranted.

“Anybody that’s been a law enforcement officer like myself, you can get two witnesses together for something that happened three days ago and have a different story,” Holt says, “so when you’re talking about something that happened decades ago, you also have to be careful in terms of the rights of the accused.”

There’s a separate bill in the SENATE that would remove the time limit for adults to file CIVIL lawsuits seeking monetary damages for sex abuse that occurred when they were under the age of 18.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

EARLVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say the husband of a woman killed in what was initially believed to be a fatal fall at a northeastern Iowa farm has been charged with her murder. The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Thursday that 42-year-old Todd Michael Mullis had been arrested on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder in the Nov. 10 death of 39-year-old Amy Lynn Mullis. An autopsy shows Amy Mullis was stabbed multiple times in the back with a corn rake.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa settled sexual harassment claims against an agency director for $4.15 million after one victim’s lawyer threatened to sue before the November election and to investigate the harasser’s long association with Gov. Kim Reynolds. Records show Attorney Paige Fiedler backed off her plan to file the lawsuit after a top state lawyer told her Nov. 1 that he had “just got authority this morning” to settle from the governor’s administration. The agreements were negotiated weeks later.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa farm and its managers have been given probation in a water pollution case. Federal prosecutors for Iowa said in a news release that Etcher Family Farms owner Scott Allen Etcher was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation. Farm manager Benjamin Allen McFarland was sentenced to two years’ probation. Officials say that in July 2015, McFarland _ at the direction of Etcher _ dumped agricultural waste at the New London farm that ended up in Big Creek.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa say no one was hurt when officers executing a search warrant at a Marshalltown home fired their guns. Marshalltown police say in a news release that the incident happened around 10:20 a.m. Thursday when the officers entered the home and encountered an armed man. Neither the man nor the officers were injured, and the man was detained. The two officers who fired their service weapons have been placed on paid administrative leave.

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (AP) — Police in central Iowa say no one was hurt when officers executing a search warrant at a Marshalltown home fired their guns.

Marshalltown police say in a news release that the incident happened around 10:20 a.m. Thursday when the officers entered the home and encountered an armed man.
Neither the man nor the officers were injured, and the man was detained. The two officers who fired their service weapons have been placed on paid administrative leave, per department policy, while an investigation into the shooting is conducted.

Police say the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct that investigation.
The officers’ names have not been released.