DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Co. has filed a plan that it says will help protect bald eagles and four bat species at the company’s wind farms. The company says in a news release that the habitat conservation plan filed Thursday with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reflects four years of research. The plan aims to help protect the bats by modifying nighttime turbine operations during certain months and making additional operational changes at wind farms with signs of higher bat activity.

The plan also proposes measures to reduce impacts on bald eagles, including educating nearby landowners about removing animal remains that may attract eagles. The company is seeking a 30-year federal permit to allow for an average of 10 turbine-related eagle deaths per year across its Iowa service territory.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Seven higher education institutions in the Quad-City area are collaborating in a recruitment campaign. The Quad-City Times reports that the “QC Colleges: Raising the QC by 4,171 degrees” campaign was announced Wednesday in Davenport. The initiative will be presented in partnership with “Q2030,” a community-development initiative for the Quad-Cities Chamber of Commerce.
Some of the initiative partners include Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, Augustana College, St. Ambrose University, and Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences.

Augustana President Steven Bahls says the initiative aims to attract more local students who attend to stay in the Quad-Cities area. Q2030 Director Greg Aguilar says current Quad-City college and university students come from all 50 states and 61 countries, “from Australia to Zimbabwe.”

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA – The Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has voted to endorse and support the Council Bluffs Community Schools school bond issue to renovate and upgrade Kirn and Wilson Middle Schools. Denise McNitt, Chair of the Chamber’s Board, said “Our board believes that supporting our children and schools is one of the best investments we can make. When families are searching for a home, one of the top considerations they take into account is the quality of the community schools and we need to make sure our educational product is top-notch. We have seen the positive impact of the improvements made to all of the other school buildings in Council Bluffs and it is time to complete the two middle schools.”

McNitt noted that the $37 million bond issue will cost an average household about .10 cents a day and in the process, increase residential property value. “When the construction is complete and the schools are modernized to accommodate today’s learning and safety standards, the result should increase homeowner equity and value,” McNitt said. “In the long-run, homeowners should view bond election as an opportunity investment in their own property value.” The Chamber encourages all registered voters to go to the polls on Tuesday, September 11 and cast a ‘yes’ vote in support. Polling sites are open 7AM – 8PM and are located at:

• Carter Lake City Hall, 950 Locust Street, Carter Lake
• Crescent Elementary School, 401 East Welch, Crescent
• Epworth United Methodist Church, 2447 Avenue B, Council Bluffs
• Broadway United Methodist Church, 11 South 1st Street, Council Bluffs
• Bethany Presbyterian Church, 1900 South 7th Street, Council Bluffs
• Queen of Apostles Church, 3304 4th Avenue, Council Bluffs

A man from California was arrested Wednesday afternoon in western Iowa on an attempted murder charge. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker told KJAN News 27-year old Edgard Castillo, of Vallejo, CA., was arrested at a weigh station off westbound interstate 80 at around 2:10-p.m., following an incident that occurred earlier at a car wash just south of I-80, on the north side of Walnut. Danker says two men came into the Econolodge in Walnut asking for help, after one of the men, 22-year old Gustavo Cervantes-Romero, of Vallejo, CA had been stabbed 11 times, in both the chest and the back. (click on the left of the audio bar to listen)

Danker says after they grabbed some food at a convenience store, they went across the street to a car wash parking lot.

Romero was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital in Atlantic, and then flown to an Omaha hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. The suspect (Castillo) took off and traveled west on I-80 before pulling off at the weigh station near mile marker 44, where he attempted to hide his vehicle among the semi’s parked there.

The third individual, Manuel Ortega, of Vallejo, CA, was charged with offenses unrelated to the stabbing. Castillo had warrants out of California for being a Fugitive From Justice.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man suffered severe burns during a fire in a Council Bluffs apartment. The Daily Nonpareil reports that Council Bluffs police and firefighters were dispatched around 10:20 a.m. Wednesday. They found the injured man outside his home, and he was taken a hospital in nearby Omaha, Nebraska. His name hasn’t been released.

Acting Assistant Fire Chief Mike Godbout says investigators suspect the fire resulted from a cooking accident. The apartment sustained minor damage.