DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Court of Appeals says a man who fell on an icy sidewalk outside the Shenandoah Medical Center in 2010 is entitled to some compensation for the pain he suffered.  A jury last year had awarded Zachary Robinson just over $4,300 for his medical bills but nothing for pain. He appealed.

The appeals court found the jury’s verdict inconsistent because it identified an injury and pain caused by the fall which it found the hospital partially liable for but failed to compensate Robinson for the pain stemming from the injury.

The court says the case should be sent back to Page County district court for a new determination of damages that includes compensation for pain.

w/ Ric Hanson

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THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXPANDED THURSDAY’S BLIZZARD   WATCH TO INCLUDE SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AND AUDUBON COUNTIES. THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ADAIR, GUTHRIE AND DALLAS COUNTIES AS WELL, FROM 6-A.M. THURSDAY TO 6-P.M. FRIDAY.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD
WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH LATE
THURSDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING…A WINTRY MIX IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT TONIGHT
AND TRANSITION TO SNOW THURSDAY MORNING. THE SNOW MAY BECOME
HEAVY AT TIMES DURING THE DAY THURSDAY. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS
ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND PERSIST INTO THE
EVENING HOURS…POTENTIALLY CREATING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS.
HOWEVER…WITH THE LOWER SNOW AMOUNTS AND LITTLE TO NO SNOW
CURRENTLY ON THE GROUND…CONFIDENCE IS LOWER FOR WIDESPREAD
BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OVER WEST CENTRAL IOWA.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW/ICE ACCUMULATIONS…3 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW IS
EXPECTED. MINOR ICE AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS MAY ALSO OCCUR.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY…WINDS WILL SHIFT NORTHWEST AND QUICKLY
STRENGTHEN TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 50 MPH POSSIBLE BY
THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

* IMPACTS…THE BAND OF WET AND HEAVY SNOW AND VERY STRONG WINDS
MAY LEAD TO VERY LOW VISIBILITY AND AS WELL AS QUICKLY COVER
ROADS MAKING TRAVEL HAZARDOUS TO NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE AT TIMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A BLIZZARD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FALLING AND/OR
BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND EXTREMELY POOR VISIBILITIES.
THIS CAN LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND MAKE TRAVEL VERY
DANGEROUS.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The National Weather Service in Des Moines has released its projection of expected snowfall for Thursday. Officials say Central to northern Iowa will receive the most, with the worst blizzard conditions Thursday afternoon into the evening. Areas from Atlantic on north, can expect 3-to 6-inches of snow, with 2- to 3-inches possible to our southeast. One-to two-inches are possible to our west and southwest. A Blizzard Watch remains in effect from 6-a.m. Thursday until 6-a.m. Friday, for Adair, Guthrie and Dallas Counties in the listening area. And a Blizzard Watch is in effect from 9-a.m. Thursday until 6-a.m. Friday for Audubon, Carroll, Crawford and Sac Counties.

An Audubon man arrested on drugs and a firearms charge in April 2013, pled guilty to the charges Monday, and faces sentencing on April 14th. 45-year old Joel Corey Brannon agreed to plead guilty to amended felony charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance (2 counts) Marijuana and Methamphetamine, Conspiracy to Deliver a controlled substance/Methamphetamine, and Possession of a Firearm as a Felon. A 4^th charge of Habitual Offender was dismissed.

Brannon and 23-year old Desiray Elliott, also of Audubon, were taken into custody on April 19^th, 2013, after a search warrant was executed at a residence in the 1100 block of North Division Street, in Audubon.  A pre-trial conference for Elliott will take place March 31^st, with trial set for April 15^th.

Police in Red Oak are investigating the theft of personal items reported stolen from an apartment. Authorities say a Red Oak woman reported Tuesday afternoon a person or persons entered her unlocked apartment on north 7th Street and took prescription drugs Aderall, Alprazolam, and some miscellaneous jewelry, out of her purse. The items were valued at a little more than $100.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Red Oak Police.

The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, voted to approve new security measures at the courthouse in Council Bluffs. The Omaha World-Herald reports three metal detectors and one X-ray machine will be placed in the middle of the main lobby.Anyone coming into the Pottawattamie County Courthouse will eventually have to go through metal detectors and, if necessary, X-ray machines in the building lobby before continuing onto their destination.

The County Board voted 3-2 to approve the new security measures, which had support from law enforcement and judicial officials. The new equipment will initially cost $387,050.

Legislators are making another attempt to relax state laws for “sexting” between teenagers who are dating. Assistant Iowa Attorney General Sherri Soich says, for example, a teenage girl who sends a racy photo to her boyfriend could be charged with a felony today. “Under the current law, it makes teenagers who are ‘sexting’ actually child pornographyers,” Soich says, “because under the definition of child pornography…if you produce a picture of a prohibited sex act involving a minor, then you are deemed a producer of child pornography.”

Iowa’s attorney general began asking legislators in 2010 to change these laws, to make most cases of “sexting” a misdemeanor. Eric Tabor, another assistant attorney general, says young people sometimes do dumb things. “What we want to ensure here is that some youthful mistake like that does not turn into someone being convicted of a serious crime or being put on the sex offender registry forever,” Tabor says.

A bill that would make most cases of “sexting” a misdemeanor has cleared a senate committee. The bill would allow some “sexting” to be legal if the two parties are in a relationship and the text or photo or video is NOT sent to others, but once that content distributed beyond its original recipient, Soich says charges could be filed. “We want the law to sort of keep up with technology and this kind of new behavior that teenagers are engaging in,” she says. But Senator Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids says legislators are likely to seek changes in the bill.

“I don’t want this legislature to convey a message that ‘sexting’ is o.k.,” Hogg says. “I want to convey a message that that is still illegal, but it’s not going to put you on the sex offender registry and it’s not going to make you serve a multi-year prison sentence if you do it.” The bill has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee. As currently written prosecutors could have the discretion to charge individuals between the ages of 14 and 18 with a simple misdemeanor for sending images of a minor engaged in a sex act or in a state of full or partial nudity.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say three young Iowans died last year after using a new kind of synthetic marijuana. The Des Moines Register reports the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy disclosed the deaths Tuesday. Office Director Steve Lukan called the news a demonstration that the “quick-changing products are unsafe” and the need to educate people about their danger. Officials say those who died were in their late teens through late 20s. Officials wouldn’t provide details about the deaths.

The Iowa Poison Control Center says those who died had used a compound called 5F-PB-22. Although it’s hard to prove the drug was the sole cause of death, it was in the systems of those who died. The compound is the latest of many synthetic marijuana products, often known as spice or K2.