KWIT: Regional News for 11/3 (2009-11-03)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The State of Iowa has released
preliminary plans to lay off 792 state employees.
According to a media release issued by the state Monday, layoffs
have been proposed by 15 of the 36 state agencies as part of plans
to implement the ten percent across-the-board cut in spending
ordered by Governor Chet Culver.
The layoff plans will be processed, but not implemented, to
allow time for ongoing negotiations with the three unions
representing state employees. If negotiations succeed, the rules
governing the layoff of contract employees will change and
employees in positions identified for layoffs under the plans being
made public may or may not lose their jobs. If the negotiations
don't succeed, the layoffs will proceed immediately upon Culver's
order.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Five filmmakers have filed two lawsuits
seeking to force the state to make good on promised incentives to
make movies in Iowa.
Iowa Eye Entertainment LLC, Daedalus Film AG, C-Films France
SAS, Clean Out Productions Inc. and Clean Out Film Services Inc.
filed suits against the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
The agency administers Iowa's film promotion program.
The companies claim the state approved $6.5 million in tax
credits to make movies in Iowa.
The lawsuit, filed last week in Polk County, claims the state
failed to execute a contract for the incentives after Gov. Chet
Culver halted the program after allegations of mismanagement.
The companies say the order doesn't address projects that had
already been approved.
The Iowa attorney general's office declined comment.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - An employee of an Iowa kosher
meatpacking plant says that Sholom Rubashkin was incompetent and in
over his head.
Chaim Abrahams testified for the defense during Rubashkin's
federal fraud trial in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls, S.D., on
Monday.
Abrahams, who still works at the former Agriprocessors Inc.
plant in Postville, also testified that understaffing led to
sloppiness in the plant's operation.
Attorneys for Rubashkin argue that alleged fraud at the plant
was the result of incompetence and not corruption.
Rubashkin is charged with 91 counts of financial fraud.
Prosecutors rested their case Monday before the defense started
calling witnesses.
The plant was the site of an immigration raid in May 2008.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - The loss of $3,000 by a Black Hawk County
resident has prompted the sheriff's department to issue a warning
about telephone scams.
Authorities say a county resident received calls from a man
claiming to be his grandson. The caller said he had been arrested
for drunken driving following a traffic accident and needed money
for bail and an attorney.
Sheriff's Captain Rick Abben says the victim indicated the man
sounded like his grandson. Abben said the real grandson was in no
such trouble. The money disappeared after the resident sent it by a
wire service.
Abben said the fraud was attempted a second time, however the
intended victim didn't have a grandson.
Authorities say the public should make their own contact with
the family member claiming to be in trouble when they receive
requests for money.

In Nebraska...

PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) - An Omaha-based crime-scene investigator
has pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence in a 2006 case in
which two innocent men were wrongly charged in a double murder.
Douglas County CSI commander David Kofoed (KOH-fode) entered his
plea Monday in Cass County District Court. If convicted, he faces a
maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
The charge stems from his work more than three years ago
investigating the shotgun killings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock
(STOKE) of rural Murdock.
Kofoed was acquitted in September on federal charges in a
related case.
His trial in Cass County is set for March.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Douglas County health officials say another
person sickened by the swine flu has died.
Health officials said Monday that a Douglas County man who was
more than 50 years old died Saturday. The man, who had an
underlying health condition, had been hospitalized for six days and
tested positive for the swine flu last week.
No other details were immediately released.
Friends identified the man as 58-year-old John Bernardi, an
Omaha library branch manager. Funeral services will be held
Wednesday.
Seven other deaths connected to the flu strain, also known as
the H1N1 virus, have been reported by state and local health
officials. All seven had underlying medical conditions that
officials said may have contributed to their deaths.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Wet weather continues to stall fall harvest
in Nebraska and officials say they haven't seen these kind of
delays in decades.
The latest weekly crop report from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture says the corn harvest is four weeks behind the average
and is the latest harvest since 1967. It's 18 percent complete.
The soybean harvest was more than two-thirds complete, but is
now more than two weeks behind. It's the latest harvest since 1984.
Most areas of the state received an inch or more of moisture
last week.
The USDA says the state's corn crop going into this week rated
80 percent in good or excellent condition, above last year's 77
percent good or excellent rating.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A key state lawmaker says the governor's
proposed budget cuts represent a good start toward balancing
Nebraska's two-year budget.
State Sen. Lavon Heidemann of Elk Creek is the chairman of the
Legislature's budget-writing Appropriations Committee. He said
Monday that the governor's plan to account for a projected $334
million shortfall will be helpful.
Heidemann says he won't know how many changes to the proposal
might need to be made until after public hearings are held.
Gov. Dave Heineman says he developed his budget plan by
following the simple philosophy that government shouldn't spend
money it doesn't have.
Heineman says he proposed cuts across the board, so the pain
will be shared by all state agencies and programs.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Education officials say federal stimulus
funds have helped create or save more than 1,400 jobs at public
schools in Nebraska.
The estimate comes from a report released Monday by the U.S.
Department of Education. Nebraska education officials say money
from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has gone to
programs for low-income students and to help homeless students. It
has also gone to hire and retain teachers.
Among those jobs were 10 created in the Bellevue school
district. In Scottsbluff, 18 teaching positions were saved, and
more than 30 jobs were saved or created in the Omaha Public Schools
district.
The U.S. Education Department allocated $100 billion in stimulus
money to address state budget shortfalls. Nebraska's portion is
nearly $234 million.

In South Dakota...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Board of Education has
approved new high school graduation requirements that officials say
will require students to take rigorous courses but also give them
some flexibility in choosing some courses.
For the past few years, South Dakota had two sets for graduation
requirements for high school students. They had to take an advanced
curriculum aimed at preparing them for college unless their parents
decided that they should take a more basic curriculum that put less
emphasis on math and science.
The South Dakota Legislature this year eliminated the basic
curriculum, which required the Board of Education to rewrite
graduation requirements. Students will get some flexibility in math
and science courses.

UNDATED (AP) - An Associated Press analysis of economic stress
says counties in the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the
Southwest have made the least improvement.
The analysis of September data suggests the northern half of the
nation is stabilizing or improving faster than the southern half.
Midwestern and Plains states have avoided the worst of the
housing and financial crises. The AP found the states with the
lowest economic stress in September were North Dakota, South Dakota
and Nebraska.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Wet weather continues to hinder South
Dakota's row-crop harvest.
The weekly crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
says statewide last week there were only 1.8 days suitable for
field work.
The western part of the state saw heavy snowfall last week. The
northern Black Hills reported more than 2 feet of snow. Eastern
South Dakota, meanwhile, got rain.
The report says half of the soybean crop has been harvested,
compared to 92 percent complete last year and 95 percent for the
five-year average.
The corn harvest was slow going, too, and now stands at 12
percent complete. That's compared to 31 percent last year and 55
percent for the five-year average.
As of Sunday, the corn crop rated 76 percent good or excellent.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Republican state Rep. Brian Dreyer of
Rapid City said Monday that he has resigned from the Legislature
because of his pending deployment with the National Guard to
Afghanistan.
He said he will serve a year of active duty starting in the
spring.
Dreyer, who represented legislative District 32 in the 2007,
2008 and 2009 sessions, said serving in the Legislature was a
"great honor and a humbling experience."
Dreyer says he has talked with Gov. Mike Rounds and thinks the
governor will name a replacement soon.
The 33-year-old Dreyer is a member of the South Dakota National
Guard's 196th Mobile Enhancement Brigade.