KWIT Local
(2009-11-18)
SIOUX CITY, IA
(kwit) -
In Iowa...
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa Workforce Development says about
20,000 unemployed workers who face the loss of unemployment
insurance benefits have qualified for up to 14 weeks of emergency
assistance.
The state agency says the group of workers includes about 10,000
Iowans who have already exhausted their benefits.
Iowa Workforce development director Elisabeth Buck says as
residents continue to struggle with the affects of the national
recession, the additional benefits provide an economic safety net
for Iowans in need.
Iowa received notice in September it would receive a 13-week
extension because the state unemployment rate was consistently
above 6 percent.
Earlier this month Congress agreed to extend unemployment
insurance benefits. Iowa officials say with the federal extensions,
jobless Iowans could qualify for up to 73 weeks of unemployment
insurance benefits.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The state has reached a tentative
agreement with the State Police Officers Council calling for unpaid
furlough days to avoid layoffs.
Gov. Chet Culver announced the deal Tuesday, saying the
agreement would protect 43 union jobs. That includes 20 state
troopers, 20 game enforcement officers, one fire inspector and two
Division of Narcotics Enforcement agents.
The council is the second union to agree to concessions
following Culver's order of a 10 percent budget cut. Leaders of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees also
agreed to cuts.
Members of both unions still must approve the deals.
Besides five unpaid days for the 640 employees covered by the
officers council agreement, the state will suspend contributions to
the employees' deferred compensation plan.
DES MOINES, Iowa, Iowa (AP) - A Polk County District Court judge
has ordered the Iowa Department of Economic Development to issue
$6.5 million in film tax credit certificates to a film company
affected by Gov. Chet Culver's shutdown of the film credit program.
The film company, Iowa Eye, sued the state for failing to issue
a contract for the tax credit certificates for a movie titled
"Clean Out." The company said the film office promised to issue
the certificates but didn't after Culver ordered a halt to the
program in September.
Judge Glen Pille ruled Tuesday that if production is not
restarted before November 27, Iowa Eye will lose one cast member
for at least twelve months and the production will probably
collapse.
Iowa Eye says such a development would probably put it out of
business.
MARION, Iowa (AP) - Police in Marion and postal authorities are
investigating the case of a mail carrier who was allegedly found
drunk inside a residence while on the job.
Police say 46-year-old Kristine Pflughaupt (FLOOG'-howpt) of
Marion, was charged with public intoxication Nov. 3 after she was
found sitting on the kitchen floor of 95-year-old Marie O'Kelly's
house, eating leftover noodles from O'Kelly's refrigerator.
Police Lt. Steve Etzel said Tuesday that Pflughaupt apparently
entered the home through an unlocked front door. He said she was in
uniform and had mail and a mail-carrying bag with her.
Pflughaupt, a 17-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service, was
taken to the Linn County Jail. Marion Postmaster Rick Leyendecker
said Pflughaupt is currently on unpaid leave.
In Nebraska...
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska senators are making massive budget
cuts look easy.
After about two hours of debate, the Legislature on Tuesday gave
first-round approval to bills that would help close a $334 million,
two-year budget gap caused by lower-than-expected revenues.
Lawmakers made no changes to the bills handed to them by the
budget-writing Appropriations Committee.
And the committee made few significant changes to the
budget-cutting plan handed to them by Gov. Dave Heineman.
Heineman disagrees with some changes made to his plan, but
overall agrees with the package.
No senators voted against the budget bills on Tuesday.
The plan relies heavily on across-the-board cuts to state
agencies of 2.5 percent this year and 5 percent next year.
FALLS CITY, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska utilities continued working to
restore power Tuesday in the southeast corner of the state after as
much as 8 inches of heavy, wet snow fell and damaged power lines
and poles.
The three utilities serving the area estimated roughly 1,500
customers remained without electricity, primarily south of Tecumseh
on Tuesday afternoon. At the height of the storm, more than 6,000
customers lost power.
Crews from Norris, Omaha and Nebraska public power districts are
repairing damage.
OPPD officials say barring additional severe weather, the last
of their repairs will occur Thursday night.
National Weather Service observers reported Monday's storm
dropped 8 inches of snow just north of Falls City, and 6 inches of
snow fell in Falls City and Fairbury.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - An investigation is under way after someone
hacked into the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court database and
may have stolen personal information.
Court administrator Glenn Morton said the state agency learned
last week that someone had broken into a server that temporarily
held injury reports.
Morton said the server was shut down immediately.
Workers who have filed court claims or who are collecting
benefits may have had their names, addresses, birth dates and
Social Security numbers compromised.
Morton says investigators will identify the compromised records
and contact the affected people.
Those who believe their records may have been breached are being
advised to monitor their bank statements and request a credit
report.
In South Dakota...
DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. (AP) - Authorities say a Sioux Falls man is
dead after an embankment caved in on him while he was working at a
construction site in southeastern South Dakota.
Union County Sheriff Dan Limoges says the 27-year-old was
unloading wall forms into the ground for a basement with other
workers at about 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Dakota Dunes site. That was
when portions of the embankment gave way. The man was buried in
sand and dirt and it took about four minutes to get him out.
Limoges says the man was unresponsive. Efforts were made to try
to resuscitate him and he was rushed by ambulance to a local
hospital, but was later pronounced dead.
Authorities didn't immediately release the man's name. They were
working to notify his family.
CANTON, S.D. (AP) - The Lincoln County Planning and Zoning
Commission has granted the LifeLight Christian music festival a
permit to hold its annual festival on a 220-acre farm just east of
Worthing next Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-5.
The LifeLight board voted Tuesday morning to approve the new
location.
Alan Greene, CEO and co-founder of LifeLight, says his group
feels like the Worthing land is its permanent new home.
The farmland is owned by Evelyn Pederson, whose husband, Dwayne
Pederson, died about a year ago. Their daughter, Karla Lems, said
she and her mother prayed about what to do with the land.
She says they contacted LifeLight after hearing about the
festival's needs. Lems says it was "a God thing."
Lems was named a Lifelight board member on Tuesday.
The festival has been held near a water park west of Sioux
Falls.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Rapid City officials want to continue
the city's deer hunt.
A state Game, Fish and Parks Department survey last month
counted 282 deer compared with 325 in 2008. But the department says
that number is still high enough to continue hunting them.
Officials say the goal is to keep the deer at a manageable
level.
At its Monday night meeting, the City Council approved $20,000
for the hunt. The deer carcasses will be available to the public.
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