Iowans will lose an hour of sleep this weekend as clocks spring forward, but for many it’ll be just be another day in their regular struggle to get enough rest. Among the most common factors for losing sleep are pain, stress and poor health. It’s estimated that more than a third of adults don’t always get the amount of sleep they need to feel their best. Dr. Stephen Grant with Iowa Sleep says that’s even more true for those who have chronic or acute pain. “The suffering associated with pain can produce anxiety and the suffering and anxiety when combined can really preclude someone’s ability to fall asleep, as well as if they are awoken by pain, return to sleep.”

According to a new poll out today (Monday) from the National Sleep Foundation, pain, stress and poor health all correlate to shorter sleep durations and worse sleep quality for millions of Americans. Overall, there are about 80 different types of sleep disorders. Grant says among the most common are insomnia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy and apnea. Apnea occurs when a person’s airways narrow or collapse during sleep.

Dr. Grant says “Most of the people that I see with obstructive sleep apnea have respiratory events that we call hypopneas. And that’s people that just kind of snore and have enough resistance in their airway when they sleep, they just don’t ventilate appropriately. They don’t get the oxygen in or the carbon dioxide out.”

This is Sleep Awareness Week and the need of many to get more “Z’s” will be apparent on Sunday, when Daylight Saving Time begins in the U-S and an hour is lost as clocks spring forward.

(Iowa News Service)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A new report suggests economic growth is ahead for nine Midwestern and Plains states. The survey report issued Monday says the overall Mid-America Business Conditions Index climbed to 57.0 in February from 54.8 in January.  Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the regional growth is likely although areas “linked closely to the energy sector, including ethanol, are experiencing pullbacks in economic activity.”

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

Getting caught stealing a horse was a serious crime in the wild west. A small group of Iowa legislators has been mulling the idea of tougher penalties for modern day cattle rustlers, pig thieves and corn snatchers. Representative Lee Hein raises livestock and grain on a farm near Monticello and he says, unfortunately, it’s far easier to catch a car thief than to catch someone who’s stolen agricultural commodities.

“You always count everything going into the yard and then as we sell them, we count them going out,” Hein says, “And there’s been times when I’ve probably been short maybe 10-15 hogs and I wonder: ‘Did you miscount or did somebody slip in there at night and load a load up and is gone with it.” Hein first considered establishing a minimum prison sentence for those caught stealing livestock or corn and beans, but he’s now considering other options. And He’s not sure whether the bill he’s trying to craft will survive this Friday’s deadline to pass a House committee.

“But the biggest thing I want is to let agriculture understand that this is a bigger issue than what I realized,” Hein says. “Maybe we need to start figuring up ways to put up cameras or start lockimg things up way tighter.” 2011 is the most recent year for which data is available and there were more convictions in Iowa that year for stealing livestock or grain than for car theft.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Iowa racing officials are reviewing a recommended plan to distribute $72 million settlement related to the end of greyhound racing in Council Bluffs. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission plans to review the report Thursday. Half of the money would support the Iowa Greyhound Association’s operation of the Dubuque track, which plans to run races from April 29th to October 25th on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Most of the rest of the money would go to Iowa breeders based on their past performance.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A new facility offering psychiatric care and substance abuse treatment to children and teens in northwest Iowa is expected to address an important need in the region when it opens this spring. The Sioux City Journal reports the new Jackson Recovery Centers Child and Adolescent Recovery Hospital opens in May.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police are investigating after finding a woman’s body in an alley in Des Moines. Sergeant Jason Halifax says the body was reported shortly before 8:45 a.m. yesterday in an alley near 14th Street and 14th Place. Halifax said the woman was 35-years-old. Her name wasn’t immediately released Sunday.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for fatally stabbing another man during an argument last March. The Quad-City Times reports Judge John Telleen says the argument between Tremaine Gabirel and Christian Wood outside a Davenport nightclub was about “stupid stuff.”

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) – Iowa racing officials are reviewing a recommended plan to distribute $72 million settlement related to the end of greyhound racing in Council Bluffs. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission plans to review the report Thursday. Half of the money would support the Iowa Greyhound Association’s operation of the Dubuque track, which plans to run races from April 29 to Oct. 25 on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  Most of the rest of the money would go to Iowa breeders based on their past performance.

Dubuque’s Mystique Casino and Bluffs Run Greyhound Park in Council Bluffs agreed to pay the settlement in exchange for ending subsidized racing. About $1.2 million would be set aside for closing expenses at Bluffs Run and no-kill greyhound adoption centers.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A new facility offering psychiatric care and substance abuse treatment to children and teens in northwest Iowa is expected to address an important need in the region when it opens this spring. The Sioux City Journal reports the new Jackson Recovery Centers Child and Adolescent Recovery Hospital is expected to open in May.

Right now the closest child psychiatric crisis centers are either about 60 miles away in Cherokee, Iowa, or about 90 miles away in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The $10.5 million project has been under construction in Sioux City since August. It will have 72 inpatient beds and a 12-bed psychiatric stabilization unit.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — With a fuel tax increase taking effect, how quickly can Iowa drivers expect to see road improvements on their daily commutes? State and county officials say there will be additional road work underway later this year, but it’s too soon to talk specifics. The 10-cent a gallon increase starts at the pump March 1 and is expected to generate over $200 million annually for Iowa’s bridges and roads, many of which are considered deteriorating or deficient.

Lyle Brehm, county engineer for Tama and Poweshiek counties, says he has a “very long list of repairs.” The Legislature approved the tax increase several days ago in a bipartisan deal. Gov. Terry Branstad  quickly signed it into law. The tax was last raised in 1989.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — An arctic winter weather system hovering over Iowa has led to several record-breaking cold temperature readings in the state. The National Weather Service says Mason City hit a record low of 18 degrees below zero at 6 a.m. Friday, shattering its 115-year-old record. Waterloo also reached a record low of 24-below zero on Friday. More snow and frigid wind chills were expected overnight into Sunday across much of the state.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Dubuque man has been cited on suspicion of reckless driving after police said he drove through the front of a nail salon and caused $10,000 in damages. The Telegraph Herald reports that 37-year-old Devin Stampley was cited after the crash at 6:20 p.m. Thursday at Nails for U. No one was injured, even though the business was open and serving customers at the time of the crash.

DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — An eagle watched by the Raptor Resource Project’s Decorah Eagle Cam has laid a third egg this season. The Des Moines Register reports that the third egg was laid just before 7 p.m. Wednesday. That follows the eagle pair’s tradition of laying three eggs every mating season.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — No injuries have been reported from a Cedar Rapids apartment fire that displaced six people. Officials say firefighters responded to a report of smoke in the building around 5:45 a.m. yesterday.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Storm Lake man has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison Friday for making and using dozens of counterfeit credit cards. The Sioux City Journal reports that Yoirland Tome-Rojas was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City. He was convicted in October of two counts of using a counterfeit access device; one count of possessing 15 or more counterfeit access devices; one count of money laundering; and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Federal prosecutors say Rojas manufactured credit cards and used them to buy gift cards that he would later use to buy various items. At least two of the card numbers he used belonged to people who reported unauthorized use of their credit cards.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is encouraging hunters to be aware that gray wolves are once again a protected federal species. D-N-R furbearer biologist, Vince Evelsizer, says they want to remind Iowa hunters after the gray wolf protection was reinstated near the end of December. “It just means to be sure of your target — especially if you are out coyote hunting this time of the year when the season is still open for coyotes — to keep an eye out. Because now the gray wolf is protected both federally and state protected,” Evelsizer says.

The change protects gray wolves in all of Wisconsin and Michigan, the eastern half of North Dakota and South Dakota, and the northern half of Iowa. Evelsizer says it is possible a hunter might mistake a gray wolf for a coyote and fire at the animal. “I think you could, I think it’s possible. I think most Iowans when they are out coyote hunting are not expecting or really keeping an eye out for a gray wolf when they coyote hunt,” according to Evelsizer. “We are just reminding folks that it’s time to start doing that more. We’ve had a few larger canines in our state recently.”

Wolves generally are larger and bulkier while coyotes are shorter, sleek and lighter on their feet. Evelsizer says there is not a breeding population of gray wolves in Iowa. He says it’s hard to figure just how many might be here. “It’s been occasional, it’s always a little tough to tell as there is sometimes dog-wolf hybrids out there,” Evelsizer says.

The D-N-R has information and identification tips online at www.iowadnr.gov/wolves.

(Radio Iowa)