KWIT: Regional News for 7/2 (2009-07-02)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The state is beginning a new budget year
with conflicting views about the fiscal year that just ended.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver acknowledged yesterday that Iowa received
less tax revenue than projected, but he called the difference
"manageable." Culver put the gap at about $58 million, an amount
he says can be covered with the previous budget's surplus and money
from cash reserves.
But the Legislative Services Agency estimates the shortfall at
$161 million. That's prompted some Republicans to call for a
special legislative session.
The difference is due to assumptions about tax collections and
spending over the next two months as Iowa closes out the fiscal
year. They also differ on the amount of federal aid to Iowa and
spending on programs such as Medicaid.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa lawmaker is calling for an
investigation into the circumstances surrounding a hospital's
release of a man charged with gunning down a prominent high school
football coach in the school's weight room.
Mark Becker is charged with first-degree murder in the June 24
slaying of Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas. Becker was
released a day earlier from a Waterloo hospital after a psychiatric
evaluation.
State Rep. Patrick Grassley says that it's obvious something
fell through the cracks. He says he will work in the Legislature to
make sure such an incident doesn't happen again.
State Ombudsman Bill Angrick says he may also conduct an
investigation. He says there are issues that warrant further
examination.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Under a new state law, any minor caught
trying to sneak onto an Iowa casino's gambling floor will face a
$500 fine.
The law went into effect Wednesday.
Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa Gaming Association, says the
measure is aimed at putting some teeth into efforts to bar underage
people.
Iowa law prohibits people younger than 21 from entering casino
floors. The casinos can be fined up to $20,000 if an underage
person is discovered gambling.
Ehrecke says the casinos are preparing signs to place at gaming
floor entrances to inform patrons of the new law and will work with
law enforcement to ensure compliance.

AINSWORTH, Iowa (AP) - Washington County authorities say a
39-year-old Mount Pleasant man was injured when the crop duster he
was piloting crash-landed in a farm field north of Ainsworth.
The crash occurred shortly after noon Wednesday, and when
emergency responders arrived, they discovered the pilot was out of
the wreckage. The pilot, 39-year-old John Koehn Newton, was taken
to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics by ambulance. A
condition report wasn't available Wednesday evening.
The plane was loaded with nitrogen for crop dusting, and fuel
was reportedly leaking from the plane. A hazardous materials crew
was called to the scene six miles north of Ainsworth for cleanup.

In Nebraska...

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Public Power District has
plans for a $49 million upgrade to serve a project that will
deliver oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
The district is planning to build new substations and 70 miles
of transmission line to serve the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The work will help power pumping stations that will be built by
TransCanada near Stuart, Ericson and Central City as part of its
proposed pipeline through east-central Nebraska.
NPPD will build two transmission substations, one near
Petersburg and one near Clarks. Its substation at O'Neill will be
expanded.
An NPPD spokeswoman says TransCanada will pick up most of the
$49 million cost.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska health officials say the number of
confirmed cases of swine flu among residents has hit 136.
Wednesday's number is 25 more than reported last Friday, when
confirmed cases remained at 111.
Not counted among the confirmed cases is a Pennsylvania girl who
attended an international thespian festival on the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln campus last week. She has since recovered.
Her case was confirmed Wednesday, but swine flu cases are
tracked nationally by state of residence, and not where someone is
diagnosed.
Health officials have said the virus, also known as H1N1, has
had a relatively mild showing in Nebraska since the outbreak began
in April. It can cause a high fever, body aches, coughing, a sore
throat, respiratory congestion, and, in some cases, vomiting and
diarrhea.
Twelve other cases are probable and await confirmation testing
at a state lab.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Authorities say a Creighton University
student found dead on campus last month died from an accidental
drug overdose.
Toxicology reports show that 21-year-old Jonathan Colby
overdosed on Oxycodone. The drug is typically prescribed to control
moderate to severe pain. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said
the overdose was accidental.
The Hartland, Wis., man's body was found in his campus apartment
on June 8.
University officials said he was a full-time student and
chemistry major set to graduate next year.

In South Dakota...

FORT YATES, N.D. (AP) - The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux
Tribe says the reservation needs more police officers.
Ron His Horse is Thunder was among those speaking Wednesday at a
hearing chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., on the need for law
enforcement. The Standing Rock reservation straddles the North
Dakota-South Dakota border.
His Horse is Thunder said people on the reservation felt safe
when the number of police officers was increased from eight to 37,
but that federal program has ended.
The tribal chairman said reservation suicides "have a direct
correlation to the lack of law enforcement officers." He hopes a
new law enforcement training facility will help.
Dorgan, who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, says
drug traffickers target American Indian communities because of the
lack of police. He says those communities must have "basic public
safety."

KYLE, S.D. (AP) - A U.S. Treasury Department official was in
Kyle, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, on Wednesday to
announce $11.3 million from the agency's Community Development
Financial Institutions fund and the economic stimulus act for
economically distressed Native communities nationwide.
Sen. Tim Johnson and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin joined the
official, Donna Gambrell, at the event.
In a release, Johnson says $8 million of the money is from
economic stimulus funding and the rest is from the CDFI budget.
CDFIs provide financial services to underserved communities with
the goal of bringing them into the economic mainstream. CDFIs
include loan funds, banks, credit unions and venture capital
institutions.
Five entities in South Dakota are getting grants worth $2.9
million. They are in Rapid City, Kyle, Pine Ridge, Eagle Butte and
Fort Thompson.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks
Commission has approved a mountain lion hunting season aimed at
letting hunters kill more of the cats next year.
The season last winter allowed a quota of 35 total mountain
lions or 15 females. The commission approved raising next year's
quotas to 40 total mountain lions, with the season to end early if
25 females are shot.
The season will run from Jan. 1 to March 31 next year.
Supporters say the increased quotas will provide hunters with
more opportunity while controlling the cougar population in the
Black Hills. Opponents say the increased quotas could harm the
population.