Weather kept farmers out of the fields much of last week, but the latest crop report shows planting is still on schedule. The report shows 92-percent of the corn has been planted, which is six days ahead of last year and five days ahead of the five-year average. Northwest Iowa stayed ahead of the pace — with 98-percent of the corn planting there complete. Southwest Iowa lags behind the state average with just 75-percent of the corn crop in. Sixty-three-percent of the corn has emerged, which is one week ahead of last year and five days ahead of normal. Soybean planting crossed the halfway point at 51-percent complete — three-days days ahead of last year and two days ahead of the average.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Minnesota-based health care insurer says it will offer individual policies on and off the Affordable Care Act marketplaces in Iowa and Nebraska starting later this year. Medica says it won’t be selling group policies in the two states. The company is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

It will start selling policies on Nov. 1 for coverage beginning Jan. 1, using the Midlands Choice network in both states. The network is the same one used by CoOportunity Health, of Des Moines, which has been liquidated.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Celebration of Life service for Nebraska assistant soccer coach Peter Underwood will be held Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The 31-year-old Underwood was killed in a car accident Saturday on Interstate 80 in western Iowa, while on a recruiting trip near Atlantic. He was a Nebraska assistant for four years, the last two as a full-time coach. People attending the celebration of life should enter the arena on the north side on the ground level. Parking is free.

Charges are currently pending against 49-year old Paul W. Marshall, of Modale, in connection with the crash. Marshall, who was driving a pickup the wrong way on Interstate 80 when he collided with Underwood’s car, was listed in fair condition Monday, at the Cass County Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press….

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Agriculture economists say bird flu could cost the two states hardest hit, Iowa and Minnesota, nearly $1 billion and the virus is still spreading. The estimates include sales losses to feed suppliers, trucking companies, and processing plants. Economists say exact figures are difficult to know because it’s unclear how long barns must remain empty before they’re declared virus-free. Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producer, has lost about 20 million chickens laying eggs, more than a third of the total.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Two more Iowa turkey farms in Sac County have tested positive for the bird flu and state agriculture officials say they’ve found the virus among a backyard duck flock and a backyard chicken flock, both in Sioux County. The new discoveries announced by the Iowa Department of Agriculture bring to 56 the number of cases reported in the state in 14 counties.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three women have filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the West Des Moines police chief, claiming they were fired or overlooked for promotions because of their gender. The lawsuit was filed against the city of West Des Moines and Police Chief Shaun LaDue, who took over the department in 2012. The lawsuit claims LaDue retaliated against the women and promoted less qualified men over them. The lawsuit also claims female administrative staffers were segregated from other employees. Two of the women still work for the department.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Investigators suspect that a former Iowa lawyer facing fraud charges was getting help from an ex-business partner while on the run from the FBI. Search warrant documents unsealed Monday show investigators believe former Coralville attorney Dennis Bjorklund received financial and other assistance from Thomas Harbit, who worked as a substance abuse counselor at Bjorklund’s office. Harbit has denied knowing Bjorklund’s whereabouts and hasn’t been charged.

(Post updated 4-a.m., 5/19)

The Iowa State Patrol says two people were in custody Monday after shots were fired at an officer with the Iowa Department of Transportation on Interstate 29 near Missouri Valley. Trooper Scott Miller told the Omaha World-Herald a man and a woman were arrested, but their names were not immediately released.

The final design of signs to be placed around Sunnyside Park.

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors, Monday, approved the purchase of signs designed with art work from a local Girl Scouts Cadette Troop, that ask patrons of area parks not to smoke around playground equipment and other areas. The art work was sent to J&J Graphic Designs, who will print the design on metal signs, along with the Atlantic Parks Dept. and Girl Scouts logos.

The dozen signs will cost $25 each, for a total of $300, with the local Girl Scouts Troop picking up half the cost, and the Parks & Rec Dept. paying for the balance. The roughly 11″x14″signs will be placed at various locations within Sunnyside Park. They will be clear coated which will help to clean off any graffiti defacing the signs.

Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring and Board complimented the Cadettes for taking the initiative and getting clean air awareness signs placed in the park, something the City hasn’t been able to do for a number of years because it can’t create an ordinance or policy to that effect. The signs respectfully ASK people to refrain from smoking, and don’t threaten them with fines. In related news, the Junior Girl Scout Troop from Atlantic on May 9th, completed a bridge project in Sunnyside Park, and worked to install walkway pavers.

And, Herring announced Monday the Atlantic Pool will tentatively be opening this Saturday, May 23rd. Guards will begin clean-up of the area and staff will begin filling the pool on Tuesday. Herring said new pumps have been installed, but there are no heaters for the pool, so unless the sun helps to warm things up soon, that first splash into the water may be a bit icy.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said Monday afternoon they were responding to four probable cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Sac and Sioux counties. With the new announcements, Iowa now has 56 cases of the disease in the state. The Department has quarantined the premises and once the presence of the disease is confirmed, all birds on the property will be humanely euthanized to prevent the spread of the disease.

Two of sites in Sac County are turkey farms that have experienced increased mortality. An estimate on the number of birds at the site is still pending. Initial testing showed it positive for H5 avian influenza. Additional confirmatory testing is pending from the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames.

The two sites in Sioux County have backyard duck flocks with a total of around 62 birds that was found during monitoring activities by the Department around a previous case. Initial testing showed it positive for H5 avian influenza. Additional confirmatory testing is pending from the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames.

As the Department receives final confirmations of the disease updated information will be posted to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website at www.iowaagriculture.gov/avianinfluenza.asp.

Clarinda Police Chief Keith Brothers late Monday evening announced a Clarinda Academy student who had been absent from custody since early Friday morning, has been apprehended. 17-year old Correy J. Thunder Hawk was taken into custody Sunday morning, by the Missouri Valley Police Department. Thunder Hawk was taken to the Harrison County Jail in Logan. No additional details are available at this time.

The teen, who is originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, made his escape by jumping out of a dormitory window at around 5:40-a.m., Friday. The escape was the latest to have occurred at the facility in less than two weeks. During the early morning hours of May 5th, 16-year old Kenneth E. Saunsoci, of Rapid City, South Dakota, and 15-year old Lukas T. Barse, of Sioux Falls, jumped from a dorm window and allegedly stole a Toyota Camry. Omaha police located both the car and Saunsoci in Omaha a day later, while Barse remains at large.

The Clarinda Academy is a residential foster care facility that provides residential treatment and shelter care to at-risk and delinquent male and female youth from several states.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety (DPS) has formed what’s called a “Child Abduction Response Team” or CART. Iowa D-C-I special agent in charge, Michael Motsinger, says the team was created in response to the kidnapping and murders of Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrissey in Evansdale and the abduction and murder of Kathlynn Shepard in Dayton. Motsinger says there will be six regional CART offices that will help boost the manpower law enforcement has when an abduction is reported.

“The biggest thing is just getting there and assess to see what is going on. We really stress the quick reaction, sitting down with the family, and what I mean with assessing are, could they be with a friend, could they be at the local neighbor’s house and just walked in,” Motsinger explains. “Just doing those quick things so we can establish right away, do we have a true child abduction, or is the child missing. D-P-S unveiled a CART trailer today (Monday) that Motsinger says will have computers and other equipment and serve as a mobile command post if they determine a child has been abducted.

“We’ll have tracking software, we’ll have mapping software, we’ll have a big plotter so we can print off a big map of the area so we can get a better idea of where we need to go,” Motsinger says. Nineteen other states have created CART teams, and Motsinger says they talked with them and reviewed how those teams work to set up the Iowa team.

“And even going back and talking about how we responded at Evansdale and Dayton, and what can we do to get better. And so we’re kinda trying to combine all of that,” Motsinger says. “It’s a process that will always evolve, we’re always learning and we’ll always go back to our local partners to see what we can do to get better.” Motsinger showed off the new CART trailer outside a Des Moines hotel as 120 law officers from across the state were inside training to work with the CART team.

“We won’t actually work out of this trailer, it’ll basically be bringing this command center and everything we have inside the trailer and then we can go to a conference center and set everything up,” according to Motsinger. He says it’s important to have a separate command center to keep local officials from being overwhelmed during the abduction investigation.

“Just because there’s a child abduction doesn’t mean they don’t respond to an more calls. So, they’re still going to be doing their normal job duties on top of a abduction,” Motsinger say. “We hope by having this command center we relieve a lot of the pressures off the smaller departments that don’t have as many dispatchers to do everything that we done for a child abduction because they still need to do their own job.” Motsinger says having CART officials in six regions across the state allows them to respond quickly and figure out what has happened when it’s important to act quickly.

“Very critical the first two or three hours to get there and respond and assess to see what is going on so the chances of recovering that child obviously increase,” Motsinger says. CART deployment can be used for all missing children cases and is not dependent on an Amber Alert being issued. D-P-S purchased the CART trailer with a 25-thousand dollar grant of forfeiture funds. Motsinger says they hope to have the Iowa CART team earn national certification.

(Radio Iowa)