KWIT: Regional News for 11/4 (2009-11-04)

In Iowa...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - Trucking firm executive Ron J. Corbett
has defeated City Council incumbent Brian Fagan to become the next
mayor of Cedar Rapids.
With 90 percent of the city's precincts reporting Tuesday night,
Corbett had 13,418 votes, or 62 percent, while Fagan had 7,742
votes, or 36 percent.
A third candidate, P.T. Larson, had only 384 votes.
The 49-year-old Corbett has been campaigning since March and has
attacked what he called the current City Council's "culture of
delay."
The 37-year-old Fagan, an attorney at Simmons Perrine Moyer
Bergman, entered the race in late July.
Corbett raised some $101,000 for his campaign, almost three
times as much as Fagan.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The first child in Iowa has died of
swine flu.
The Iowa Department of Public Health said Tuesday that the child
died in October and was from eastern Iowa. The department says the
child had factors that increased the risk of swine flu
complications.
Department spokeswoman Polly Carver-Kimm says six Iowa adults
have died from swine flu.
The department's medical director, Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, says
the child's death should be reminder to protect Iowa children from
swine flu. Quinlisk says "surveillance is showing a steady
increase in pediatric illness and hospitalizations."

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Gov. Chet Culver is airing a new
television commercial touting his approach to flood recovery and
budget problems.
Culver campaign manager Andrew Roos says the commercial is
airing in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids and on scattered cable
systems. He says Culver wants to communicate directly to Iowans
amid lots of news about the state budget.
Faced with plunging tax revenue, Culver ordered a 10 percent cut
in state spending. The move could force as many as 1,300 layoffs of
state workers.
The ad argues Culver responded decisively to a budget shortfall
without raising taxes. Republicans claim the Democrat is to blame
for the cuts because he previously pushed for too much spending.
Culver hasn't announced he'll seek re-election but has been
clear he wants another term.

In Nebraska...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Two Lincoln men face trial next month in
federal court on charges of tax fraud.
A news release issued Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney's Office says
Christian Quevedo and Carlos Carpio, both 27, were indicted last
month by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to defraud the United
States. The indictment says the pair filed false claims for income
tax refunds of $121,936 for the 2005 and 2006 tax years.
Investigators say the claims were based on false income tax
returns filed by people recruited by Quevedo and Carpio.
Authorities say the men kept most of the money and paid a small
portion to those recruited.
Trial is set for Dec. 28. If convicted, each face up to 10 years
in prison on the fraud charges and up to five years on each false
claim charge.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) - A 21-year-old North Platte man tied to
a case involving 16 pounds of marijuana sent through the mail has
pleaded guilty.
On Monday, Anthony Apodaca pleaded guilty to possession of
marijuana with intent to distribute and to possession of cocaine.
Sentencing was set for Dec. 14.
Apodaca was one of four people involved in the crime.
Investigators say that in July, a drug-sniffing dog found the
marijuana in a package at an Omaha post office.
Police allowed the package to be delivered to a North Platte
home. Apodaca was arrested there.

In South Dakota...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Law enforcement officials say charges of
first-degree rape of a child, felony sexual contact with a child
and possessing, manufacturing or distributing child pornography
have hit a five-year high in the state.
In fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, South Dakota had 99
charges of first-degree rape of a child, 248 reports of felony
sexual contact with a child and 637 alleged instances of
possessing, manufacturing or distributing child pornography.
There were 25 child porn convictions in South Dakota during the
last fiscal year - a five year low. Attorney General Marty Jackley
says that might be because of more federal prosecution for the
crimes.
He says it was a focus for him when he was U.S. attorney for
South Dakota.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Landowners who live along the route of the
crude oil pipeline TransCanada Keystone wants to build across
western South Dakota say they are worried about oil spills and
damage to their land, water and roads.
About 50 landowners and others showed up at a public hearing
held Tuesday night by the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
The commission also is holding a formal hearing this week on
TransCanada Keystone's application for a permit to build the
pipeline across 313 miles of South Dakota.
The landowners' comments are not part of the formal evidence,
but the PUC will consider those comments in seeking information in
the formal hearing.
Keystone XL would deliver up to 900,000 barrels of crude oil a
day through a 36-inch pipe running from Alberta, to Texas terminals
near Port Arthur and Houston.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The American Cancer Society will not be
allowed to call witnesses to testify on the dangers of secondhand
smoke in a hearing to decide if a smoking ban should go to a
statewide vote.
A circuit judge has ruled to keep out the testimony.
The South Dakota Legislature passed the smoking ban, and bars
and casinos opposed to it collected signatures to force a public
vote in the November 2010 election.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson eventually rejected the
petitions, ruling too few valid signatures were collected.
The ban's opponents then asked the circuit judge to order Nelson
to reinstate some signatures and put the measure on the ballot.
The American Cancer Society argues the smoking ban cannot go to
a public vote because it is necessary for the immediate
preservation of public health.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Twenty-three Wind Cave National Park
buffalo are headed to a new home in Mexico, where they will be the
seed stock for a new herd in a Mexican national park.
The animals were loaded up in South Dakota's Wind Cave National
Park for the trip on Monday morning.
The Mexican government has wanted for years to bring back the
animal that once roamed its lands as well as those of the U.S. and
Canada.
The buffalo will be the foundation stock for a herd that will
graze on a 46,000-acre park in north-central Mexico. Experts picked
the Wind Cave herd because geneticists believe it has the purest
buffalo genes of any herd in the nation and is free from domestic
cattle diseases.
The Mexican climate is warmer and drier, but biologists believe
the bison are tough enough to adapt.