KWIT Local
(2010-02-04)
SIOUX CITY, IA
(kwit) -
In Iowa...
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - Former Arkansas governor and
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will visit Iowa to
campaign for Bob Vander Plaats, a GOP candidate for governor.
Huckabee, who won Iowa's leadoff precinct caucuses in 2008, will
campaign for Vander Plaats in Cedar Rapids on Feb. 24. He will
attend a private luncheon at noon at the Cedar Rapids Country Club,
where tickets are $1,500 per person and $2,500 per couple.
In addition, Vander Plaats' campaign says Huckabee will attend a
free public rally at a Cedar Rapids hotel.
Vander Plaats was chairman of Huckabee's Iowa caucus campaign,
and Huckabee endorsed his gubernatorial campaign last year. He
keynoted two events for Vander Plaats last summer in Spirit Lake.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Attorney General's Office has
filed a lawsuit against two companies that operate eight large hog
confinement facilities in Kossuth and Palo Alto Counties.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday contends that General Development LC
and Kollasch Land and Livestock Inc., both of Whittemore, failed to
submit or comply with required manure management plans for their
operations.
Manure management plan requirements apply to all animal feeding
operations, except very small ones. The Iowa Environmental
Protection Commission refers matters to the Attorney General for
judicial enforcement when DNR administrative enforcement efforts
have not succeeded.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Kossuth County District Court,
asks the court to assess civil penalties up to $5,000 per day per
violation, and to prohibit further violations.
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Officials of the Northeast Iowa Food Bank
says a national survey of hunger in America only confirms what they
have been seeing in recent months - increased demand.
According to Barb Prather of Northeast Iowa Food Bank, pantries
in the area have seen the number of households served soar from 15
to 60 per day since 2006.
Prather says a big shocker was learning people in need have to
choose between paying bills and how much they eat. The study found
the number of people making such choices has increased by roughly
67 percent since the last survey.
Northeast Iowa Food Bank conducted 242 interviews and surveyed
130 agencies in a 16-county area last year.
Prather says despite the increasing demand, area food banks have
been able to keep up thanks to federal funds and businesses and
individual donations.
In Nebraska...
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A state senator from Omaha has been
hospitalized for treatment of an autoimmune disorder.
Speaker Mike Flood said Wednesday that Sen. Rich Pahls of Omaha
is in the intensive care unit of Lincoln's Bryan LGH West Medical
Center.
Flood did not identify the autoimmune disorder Pahls is being
treated for.
Pahls' family says doctors won't know for several weeks when he
might be able to return to the Legislature.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Alcohol makers and distributors are
opposing a proposal aimed at easing alcohol-related problems in and
near Whiteclay, Neb.
Beer-maker Anheuser-Busch was among the companies that told a
Nebraska legislative committee on Wednesday that it opposes
earmarking dollars from sales tax for specific purposes.
Under the measure (LB1002), sales-tax revenue from alcohol sales
in Whiteclay and stores within a 30-mile radius would go toward
alcohol treatment, law enforcement and possibly other measures.
Four stores in Whiteclay, which has a population of about a
dozen, sell millions of cans of beer annually, mostly to residents
of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Liquor is banned on the South Dakota reservation, but it is
within walking distance of Whiteclay.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Lawmakers were told Nebraska is missing out
on moviemaking that could draw dollars and attention to the state.
Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha and supporters of his bill (LB1073)
said during a legislative hearing on Wednesday that it could also
encourage young filmmakers to stay in the state.
If approved, the bill would offer tax credits to film and
television productions. Production companies would have to show
they had the ability to finance the projects to be eligible for tax
credits.
Stu Miller, former deputy director of the state Department of
Economic Development, said the department used to get 10 to 15
phone calls per week from film producers and a common first
question was if the state offered incentives.
In South Dakota...
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A supporter of embryonic stem cell research
says he may revive an effort to put a measure on the ballot that
would ease South Dakota's restrictions on the research.
Former state Treasurer David Volk of Sioux Falls started a
petition drive last fall to force a public vote on the issue, but
he asked the South Dakota Legislature to consider the issue
instead. The bill failed to pass.
Volk says he now will reassess the situation and may try to put
the stem cell measure on the November ballot for a statewide public
vote.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A South Dakota Senate committee has endorsed
a plan to build a nursing home on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation.
The state has had a ban on new nursing homes for more than 20
years, but the bill would grant an exception to allow construction
of a nursing home on the reservation in western South Dakota.
Sen. Jim Bradford of Pine Ridge says a nursing home is needed on
the reservation because elderly tribal members now stay in
facilities far from Pine Ridge. He says the tribe has not yet
identified how it would pay for building a nursing home.
State officials have objected to similar bills in past years
because a new nursing home could increase state spending on
Medicaid. No state officials testified at Wednesday's hearing.
© Copyright 2012, kwit
