Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Even as lawmakers work through Governor Terry Branstad’s latest proposal to expand broadband Internet in Iowa, officials and service providers say the effort will last for years and cost far more than the $5 million now under discussion. Supporters of Branstad’s legislation say it’s intended to jumpstart work on a long-term broadband expansion.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing two other men at an apartment near Hawkeye Community College. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that the altercation happened around 8 p.m. Friday, leaving two men and the suspected assailant injured. Two men were hospitalized, and the 27-year-old suspect, who had also been cut, was treated at a hospital before being taken into police custody.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police say no one was seriously injured when a sport utility vehicle driven by a teenager crashed through a Des Moines storefront. The crash happened Friday morning when an SUV driven by a 17-year-old girl went over a sidewalk and through the glass and brick front of Jim’s Appliances.

RIVERDALE, Iowa (AP) — A couple of the world’s most-watched eagles have welcomed an egg to their nest. The Quad-City Times reports that the egg was spotted by the Alcoa EagleCam in the nest of the eagles, dubbed Liberty and Justice. The nest is on the property of the Alcoa Davenport Works in Riverdale. The birds can be seen at WWW DOT Alcoa DOT com SLASH EagleCam.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A new downtown Sioux City casino has announced plans to convert a grass-covered outdoor spot into a hard surface that will be used for outdoor events, such as concerts, as well as more parking. The Sioux City Journal reports that the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in downtown Sioux City plans new landscaping, decorative street lamps, a beer garden, an expanded restaurant patio and a barrier to control concert noise also are part of the $850,000 project.

The project is awaiting city approval. The plan would create 102 spaces to park vehicles on days when there are no outdoor events.

A Red Oak man was arrested Saturday morning for Trespassing, in Red Oak. 31-year old Zachariah Michael Holland was taken into custody at around 2:20-a.m. in the 400 block of north 4th Street. His bond was set at $300.

A man from Shelby County was injured during a rollover accident Saturday morning, in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol reports 28-year old Nikolas Schaben, of Portsmouth, was traveling east on Interstate 80 at around 5-a.m., when he lost control of the 2004 Mercury Sable he was driving, about 5 miles west of the Neola Exit.

The car went out of control and rolled over. Schaben traveled to a nearby residence and was transported by private vehicle to University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa residents seeking health care coverage on the federal exchange have until Sunday to sign up. This is the second open enrollment period under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, known as the Affordable Care Act. For the most part, enrollment has gone more smoothly this time, with fewer complaints about technical glitches.

Federal authorities say nearly 40,000 people in Iowa had signed up or had been re-enrolled in a plan as of last week. In Iowa, some consumers have been scrambling to find new coverage since the state took over a cooperative that was selling insurance to residents in Iowa and Nebraska.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two people from Sioux City have been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for robberies committed in Omaha, Nebraska. The Sioux City Journal reports that Anthony Aranda was sentenced Thursday in Omaha’s federal court to 10 years and 10 months in prison. Jamie Speelman was sentenced to 12 years and three months. Both had pleaded guilty to carjacking and brandishing a firearm. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Nebraska said the two stole a pickup at gunpoint on Nov. 22, 2013. Later that day, they robbed the Midtown Gas and Grocery at gunpoint, taking more than $400.

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Astronaut and southwest Iowa native Peggy Whitson is being assigned to another six-month mission aboard the International Space Station, what will be her third trip into orbit. Whitson has already spent 377 days in space, more than any other woman, and she’s thrilled by the chance to return. The space station has grown in size with several additions since Whitson was last there in 2007. “The U.S. has scientific facilities in both the European and the Japanese laboratory so it’ll give me a lot more places to do different science,” Whitson says. “Most importantly, the cupola was added on since I was there last. I’m looking forward to the view from the cupola.”

Whitson, who is a native of Beaconsfield, in Ringgold County, turned 55 this week. She was the space station’s first science officer, its first woman commander and she set records for spacewalks for a woman and for the most days in space for a woman. She also holds two patents for her work in biomedical research. In an interview with Radio Iowa, she was asked if there’s one accomplishment for which she’s the most proud. “I feel really lucky and honored to have had an opportunity to be in the right place at the right time for all of these things,” Whitson says. “Any one of them, the opportunity to live in space for over a year is a very special one and I’m really excited about the opportunity to get to live up there another six months.”

During one of her previous missions, Whitson did a little space farming — she grew soybeans in the lab. There are certain to be more experiments involving plants in her upcoming mission, but the details are still in the distance. “You can’t set your mind too much on the specifics of the mission in advance because the one thing that is super-sure is that it will change,” Whitson says. “You have to be flexible enough to go with the flow and adjust your expectations as you’re going along.”

Since America’s space shuttle program is over and a replacement spacecraft is still in the testing phase, Whitson and two crewmates will blast off in December of 2016 aboard a Soyuz rocket from a Russian launch pad. Relations between the U-S and Russia are strained right now, given the Ukraine situation, but Whitson isn’t worried about diplomatic issues overshadowing or threatening her mission. “The international partnership is stronger that the political issues that are going on right now,” Whitson says. “What’s really great is, the crew members on board, this is your family and you live with them and it doesn’t matter — the politics on earth don’t matter.”

Training for the next mission won’t be a breeze, but she anticipates it will be easier, since she’s already gone through the process twice before. Will this next mission into space be her last? Hopefully not, she says: “If my body can hold out, I’d be happy to keep going.”

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Republican Party has received four bids to host the 2015 straw poll later this year. The party announced Friday that four venues have submitted proposals to host the August event, which has traditionally been held in Ames the summer before a contested presidential caucus.

The locations are the Central Iowa Expo in Boone, the Iowa State Center in Ames, the Iowa Speedway in Newton and Drake University in Des Moines. A committee will review the bids and recommend a location. No timeline has been set for the decision.

First held in 1979, the Iowa straw poll has grown from a county GOP fundraiser to a large event. The poll draws a small percentage of caucus attendees. It’s one early test of campaign organization.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – One of the first Iowa police departments to outfit officers with body-worn cameras has repeatedly had to pay for repairs, highlighting one ongoing cost of the increasingly popular devices.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety has shipped dozens of cameras to their manufacturer for replacement and repair since buying them in 2011.

The department has paid 26 times to repair cameras at a total cost of nearly $5,000, about half of which was incurred last year. Each repair costs $193. That’s nearly the price of some new cameras, which have dropped in cost. Interim department director Dave Visin says the most common problem comes when officers plug cameras into computers to download videos the wrong way and damage the USB port.