Iowa briefs

Stricter kidnapping penalties advance

DES MOINES - Bills increasing the penalties for child kidnapping have been easily approved in the Iowa Senate and House.

The Senate legislation would increase criminal penalties in cases involving children 17 and younger and cases in which the person convicted had previously been convicted of kidnapping. The House bill boosts penalties in cases involving children 15 and younger and would prevent those convicted of certain crimes from reducing sentences through good behavior.

In the state House, lawmakers voted 92-3 in favor of a bill that would increase penalties in cases involving children 15 and younger and prevent those convicted of certain crimes against anyone 15 and younger from reducing sentences through good behavior.

The vote in the Senate was unanimous.

Reports: New casinos threaten existing ones

DES MOINES - Consultants hired by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to analyze the saturation level of gambling in Iowa say new casinos proposed for Cedar Rapids and Jefferson would get most of their money by sucking revenue from already existing casinos.

Union Gaming Analytics and Marquette Advisors were hired to conduct independent evaluations of gambling in Iowa, which has 18 state-regulated casinos.

The studies were designed to help commissioners decide whether to approve a proposed $165 millionCedar Rapids casino and a $40 million complex in Jefferson.

The reports say casinos in Riverside, Altoona and Emmetsburg would lose millions of dollars to the new ones.

Insurer hits milestone way ahead of schedule

DES MOINES - A West Des Moines nonprofit insurance provider set up to sell insurance under nation's new health care overhaul plan has surpassed 50,000 individual and group members, a milestone that wasn't expected for at least two years.

sells health care insurance in Iowa and Nebraska. It is one of 23 Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans set up nationwide. The cooperatives were designed to assure competition in insurance plans and provide consumers choices.

The company said as of Feb. 24 it has already exceeded enrollment projections not expected to be met until 2016.

Man lands 17 years for pornography

DES MOINES - Federal prosecutors said a former Dallas Center man has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison on child pornography charges, a sentence enhanced because a judge said the man lied in court.

The sentence for Benjaman Shelabarger, 36, was enhanced because Shelabarger had movies and images of very young children being sexually assaulted.

A jury convicted him in November of illegal possession of child pornography and knowingly receiving child pornography.