DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A woman has been imprisoned for helping to kill a Des Moines man during a robbery more than two years ago. Polk County District Court records say 28-year-old Monica Fagan was given 35 years in prison at her sentencing Tuesday. She’d pleaded guilty to robbery and willful injury. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge in exchange for her pleas.

Prosecutors say Fagan and two other people killed 31-year-old Michael Huckleberry at his apartment in January 2017. One of them, 51-year-old Ricky Hascall , died in jail Sept. 16 last year while awaiting trial. The other, Sarah Saltz, pleaded guilty to robbery and theft for her role in the slaying and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest at the Union County Law Enforcement Center (LEC), of 50-year old Brian Eugene Ward. The Creston man was arrested Thursday morning, on a Union County warrant for Failure to Appear (in court). He was later released on a $2,000 bond.

Sheriff’s officials in Pottawattamie County, Thursday, reported that 30-year old Angie Marie Lybarger, of Council Bluffs, was arrested Wednesday. Lybarger was taken into custody at the Pott. County Courthouse, on a Harrison County warrant for Violation of Probation. She was being held on the warrant pending transfer to Harrison County. And, Kimberly Sue Trotter, who was being held in the Pott. County Jail for a Residential Correctional Facility (RCF), was served with a warrant Wednesday, for Violation of Probation. She was then returned to the custody of Corrections Staff.

And, Police in Glenwood, Thursday, arrested 43-year old Chad Clark, of Glenwood. Clark was taken into custody for OWI/1st offense, with his cash or surety bond set at $1,000. Also arrested Thursday, was 65-year old James Raybourn, of Glenwood, who was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant. Raybourn was being held without bond, pending an appearance before the Magistrate.

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.