OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A group associated with the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce has hired a director to focus on boosting activities near the Missouri River. The Omaha World-Herald reports that former Lincoln Railyard employee Rachel Halbmaier began Monday at the Missouri River Commons initiative.

The push to bring more events to the riverfront comes after a 2014 Urban Land Institute study. The group suggested the Omaha-Council Bluffs area come together to bring more people to the riverfront, and even potentially hold a national festival.

Chamber President David Brown says that before anything big can develop, Halbmaier will work to ensure people are using the current riverfront amenities. Brown says residents can expect to start seeing results from Halbmaier’s work by next year.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – U.S. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska says he will re-introduce a measure aimed at helping secure citizenship for the widower of an Omaha police officer killed in the line of duty nearly two years ago. The measure, first introduced by former Nebraska Congressman Brad Ashford and dubbed the Kerrie Orozco Act, would expedite the citizenship process for spouses of first responders who are killed on the job.

Bacon, a Republican, defeated Ashford, a Democrat, in November in the race to represent the state’s 2nd congressional district, which encompasses the Omaha area.

Kerrie Orozco was fatally shot in May 2015 while trying to make an arrest. Her husband, Hector Orozco, is now a single father to three children, including the one Kerrie Orozco delivered only three months before her death.

More area and State news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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A legislative forum featuring State Senator Tom Shipley, from Nodaway, and State Representative Tom Moore, of Griswold, will be held this afternoon, in Atlantic. The event takes place at the Farmers Walnut Street Diner, beginning at 1-p.m. The event is sponsored by Farm Bureau, and offers you a chance to hear from our area legislators about the issues they have voted on, those yet to come, and to answer your questions.

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

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Today (Saturday) marks the start of F-F-A Week in Iowa. Scott Johnson, executive secretary for the Iowa F-F-A Association, says the theme for the week-long observance is “Transform: Purpose to Action.” The week signals not only the 70th annual F-F-A Week but another special date for the program. “On the 23rd will be the 100th anniversary of the federal Smith-Hughes Act, passed on February 23rd of 1917,” Johnson says. “The Smith-Hughes Act is actually what established what was called vocational agriculture at the time in public schools.”

That laid the foundation for creation of the F-F-A just 11 years later. Johnson says there will be special events statewide to honor of F-F-A Week, including Drive Your Tractor to School Day in some areas. “You see a little bit of everything,” Johnson says. “Some will do an Ag Olympics, they’ll have appreciation breakfasts, pancake feeds, activities that engage the community, school, students, FFA members, staff dress-up days.”

Iowa has 232 chapters of F-F-A and last year counted 14-thousand-700 members statewide. On the web at http://www.iowaffa.com

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak arrested a local man on an assault charge, Friday. 39-year old Edgar Ralph Wilkins, Jr., of Red Oak, was taken into custody at around 9:45-p.m. in the 200 block of E. Hammond Street, on a charge of Aggravated Assault. Wilkins, Jr. was booked into the Montgomery County Jail, where his cash bond was set at $2,000.

A traffic stop early this (Saturday) morning in Fremont County resulted in the arrest on drug charges, of a Pottawattamie County woman. Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports 19-year old Taylor Murdock, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody for Possession of a Controlled Substance/1st Offense, after her vehicle was pulled over at around 12:30-a.m. near Percival and a K9 search was conducted. Murdock was being held in the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center on a $1,000 bond.

Taylor Murdock

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has signed into law limitations to most collective bargaining rights for public workers in the state, yet some changes could take years to go into effect. For some of the roughly 180,000 public sector workers directly affected by the measure, key provisions that remove most of their collective negotiating authority would apply after their current employment contracts expire.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A man charged with the 1995 slaying of an Iowa City woman has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after making a deal with prosecutors. Authorities say Steven Klein killed 38-year-old Susan Kersten, whose body was found in her burned-out car near Iowa City. He was charged with first-degree murder, but the Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that on Friday, Klein entered an Alford plea to arson, willful injury causing serious injury and suborning perjury in the death.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Developers of a pork processing plant under construction in Sioux City have announced plans for a second shift expected to increase its number of jobs to around 2,000 _ nearly double the original estimate. The Sioux City Journal reports that the expansion will raise the cost of the Seaboard Triumph Foods project by $31.4 million, to just over $300 million. The 600,000 square-foot plant is expected to open July 31 with a single shift of around 1,100 employees.

PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Parkersburg officials and the state auditors are squabbling over the town’s finances, including paying the town administrator for digging graves. Auditors questioned whether Parkersburg should have paid its city administrator nearly $33,000 over his base salary over nearly five years for overtime, compensatory time, record keeping and grave digging. The town says Luring isn’t a manager and that extra pay for extra job duties is fiscally responsible.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has moved its hunting rules listening session in Council Bluffs to Iowa Western Community College due to a scheduling conflict at the previous location. The meeting will now be held at Iowa Western Community College, 2700 College Road, in Loft Hall, Room 24, in Council Bluffs. The DNR is hosting public meetings over the Iowa Communications Network on February 22 from 6 to 9 p.m., to listen to the public’s thoughts on the hunting and trapping regulations for this fall.

These meetings are part of the process for making rules in state government. “Any rule changes must be discussed with Iowa’s citizens who might be impacted by the changes before the rule changes are proposed. The process helps ensure that rule changes serve the public’s wishes and do not impact Iowa’s economy,” said Dr. Dale Garner, chief of the wildlife bureau.

At each meeting DNR staff will facilitate a discussion about what went well last fall, what didn’t, and what changes hunters and trappers would like to see for this fall. These discussions along with the data that the wildlife bureau collects on harvest and population numbers will be used to develop recommendations for any rule changes. Any changes must be approved by the Natural Resource Commission and then go back to the public for further comment before taking effect next fall.

Meetings will be held in Ankeny, Boone, Calmar, Centerville, Clinton, Correctionville, Council Bluffs, Creston, Dubuque, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Mason City, Ottumwa, Sac City, Sheldon, Spencer, Tripoli and West Burlington.

Complete ICN locations are available online at www.iowadnr.gov/hunting

(DNR Press Release)