KWIT Local
(2009-11-11)
SIOUX CITY, IA
(kwit) -
In Iowa...
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Some are standing in line for hours,
others are going to their local school, and in some cases a mobile
health van is delivering the swine flu vaccine to rural Iowa towns.
No matter how they're getting it, Iowans are eager for
protection from the swine flu virus.
So far, the virus has claimed 16 lives in Iowa. Five hundred
people have been hospitalized.
People lined up at Des Moines' Veterans Auditorium Tuesday for a
mass vaccination clinic.
In Tama County, officials are taking a van town to town and
setting up vaccination clinics across the county. In Warren County,
clinics are being set up at local schools.
Officials say a shortage of vaccine from the federal government
has stymied efforts to reach people who need it but that the
problem should be resolved in a few weeks.
CEDAR FALLS , Iowa (AP) - According to the University of
Northern Iowa's faculty collective bargaining unit, the majority of
unionized faculty are open to furloughs and temporary pay cuts to
balance the school's budget.
However, the respondents to a recent survey say the university
must bargain "in good faith and demonstrate the need for the
measure."
United Faculty Communications Committee member Chris Martin says
it is important to know the faculty is on one page as they go into
negotiations. About 360, or 42 percent, of the faculty responded to
the survey.
Because of Gov. Chet Culver's budget cut, Northern Iowa must
eliminate 10 percent, or about $8.8 million, in costs before June
30. Officials propose a graduated furlough or temporary layoff plan
that would save the university about $1.8 million.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Former New York Gov. George Pataki says
he'll tell Iowa activists that Republicans can find unity and
electoral success by focusing on pocketbook issues that appeal to
the middle class.
In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Pataki argued
there's broad agreement the party should focus on creating jobs,
cutting taxes and maintaining strong national security. He spoke
soon after arriving in eastern Iowa, where he was scheduled speak
at a Republican Party fund-raiser in Bettendorf.
Pataki flirted with a run for the GOP presidential nomination in
the last election, and like many politicians his visit to the state
where caucuses launch the presidential nominating process raises
questions about his intentions.
Pataki says it's too early to think about the 2012 election and
that he's focused on next year's midterm races.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - A crane has collapsed at the
construction site of a new federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids.
The crane collapsed late Tuesday morning. Police say no one was
hurt.
No other details have been released.
The federal courthouse is being built in Cedar Rapids to replace
the existing one, which was inundated with flood water in 2008.
In Nebraska...
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Rural Nebraska schools could feel the most
pain under a plan being discussed by state lawmakers to deal with
the budget crisis.
Senators discussed proposed changes to the complicated
school-funding formula on Tuesday.
Their goal is to keep overall state aid to schools next year
roughly on par with funding this year - about $933 million - to
help close a projected $334 million shortfall in the state budget.
Under a plan advanced to the full Legislature by the Education
Committee on Tuesday, schools with increasing enrollments would be
allowed to increase spending.
It would be harder for school districts that aren't growing to
increase spending.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska tax revenue in October rebounded
after a dismal September that prompted a special legislative
session to cut the state budget, but collections still fell below
official projections.
On Tuesday, the state Department of Revenue reported that total,
net tax revenue last month was 1.8 percent, or $3.5 million, below
projections that form the baseline for the state budget.
In September, revenue nose-dived, dropping more than 11 percent
below projections.
A primary reason was falling income tax collection. That's still
cause for concern. Individual income tax collection was nearly 9
percent below projections in October.
State Tax Commissioner Doug Ewald says he is cautiously
optimistic about future state revenue because of the new report.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A year after raising electric rates an
average 14.5 percent, the Omaha Public Power District is
considering a residential rate increase of 4.9 percent more.
OPPD managers presented the proposal to the utility's board on
Tuesday. The board is expected to take up the proposal at its Dec.
17 meeting.
If approved, the rates would go up on Jan. 1, with the average
residential bill rising about $4.05 a month.
OPPD says the ailing economy and cooler than normal weather cut
demand for electricity in 2009, which in turn cut OPPD revenue.
Despite its budget cutbacks, OPPD says it needs the
rate-increase revenue - about $35 million - next year.
OPPD serves about 754,000 people in southeast Nebraska, in all
or part of 13 counties.
In South Dakota...
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Health officials say about two dozen
H1N1 flu vaccination clinics are scheduled to be held in South
Dakota by Dec. 9.
Wendell Hoffman, a doctor at Sanford Clinic in Sioux Falls, said
health officials think flu cases will come in waves. He says
there's no reason to believe there won't be another wave this
spring.
Hoffman says the new flu strain can change and that while
symptoms may seem mild now, they could be different in the spring.
Hoffman says he thinks the vaccine's benefits outweigh the risks
and has undergone safety trials.
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds plans to attend the annual
conference of the Council of State Governments later this week in
California.
Rounds is the council's incoming chairman. He says the
organization includes elected and appointed officials from the
legislative, executive and judicial branches who focus on
governance issues and the interaction between and among the
branches at the state level.
Rounds says the council has various committees that work to make
government better and more efficient.
The meeting starts Thursday and ends Saturday. One topic to be
discussed is what happens to state finances after the economic
stimulus money ends.
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Labor Department's
unemployment insurance director says additional benefits from a
14-week extension won't hurt the struggling state unemployment
trust fund.
Don Kattke (KAT'-kee) says the extra benefits - part of
legislation the president signed - are federally authorized so the
government pays the tab. He says the state handles the claims and
pays the workers, but the federal government ultimately pays the
bill.
Kattke says people who have run out of benefits could be
eligible for the extension. He says there are no hard numbers on
how many have used up their benefits.
But he says those who lost their jobs at the start of the
recession will run out soon.
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