KWIT: Regional News for 4/30 (2008-04-30)

In Iowa...

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - Governor Chet Culver had a look at
flooding that's hit eastern Iowa with a stop along Muscatine's
riverfront.
The Mississippi River at Muscatine has a flood stage of 16 feet.
Earlier yesterday it was over 20 feet and rising. Some parks and
roads were under water.
Culver says Muscatine is well prepared, having learned from past
floods. Culver also viewed flood damage in Cedar Rapids and
Davenport.
Meteorologist Dan Ferry (FUR'-ee) says in the last 30 days,
about 10-15 inches of rain has fallen in eastern Iowa, from north
of Dubuque to Waterloo - and it eventually flows into the
Mississippi.
Due to the heavy rains, Culver has added Jones County to a list
of disaster areas in eastern Iowa. Monday he declared Blackhawk,
Bremer, and Louisa counties as disaster areas, allowing the state
to help move pumps and sandbags to areas affected by flooding.

WASHINGTON (AP) - An international group of food scientists says
countries should not use food crops to produce biofuels during a
world food crisis.
Three scientists with the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research say if nations stop turning corn into ethanol
this year, it would cut 20 percent from the price of corn next
year.
Instead of using grains, the international group is calling on
the U.S. and other countries to shift biofuels production to
nonfood crops such as switchgrass.
Ohio Sate University soil researcher, Rattan Lal, an often
critic of the international group, agrees. Lal says "we need to
feed the stomach before we feed the car."
President Bush, in a White House press conference yesterday,
says it is in the nation's best interest that American farmers grow
energy instead of relying on foreign oil.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Environmental groups aren't overly
excited about what the state Legislature accomplished this session.
They say lawmakers did not adequately address environmental
issues. Even more, environmentalists are upset lawmakers approved a
five-year study on preventing odors at livestock facilities -- but
didn't fund the study.
Matt Ohloff is an organizer with Iowa Citizens for Community
Improvement, a grassroots environmental group. He says even if the
study was funded, it wasn't needed because others have already been
done. Ohloff says technologies already exist to reduce odor and
that lawmakers should have taken real action this session.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are defending their agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and House Speaker Pat Murphy
both say the Legislature had accomplished all that it could on
environmental policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A private commission says agriculture has to
move away from large, industrial farms.
The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production reports
that large farm facilities "often pose unacceptable risks to
public health, the environment and the animals themselves."
The commission's chairman, former Kansas Governor John Carlin,
says the panel is not advocating a return to "what is perceived to
be the good old days of the small family farm."
Carlin's group looked at issues such as the impact of livestock
waste on lakes, streams and soil, the human health implications of
the use of low-level antimicrobials for animal growth and the
impact factory farms have on rural life.
Among its recommendations: the panel wants to see the phasing
out of the widespread use of antimicrobials, which are thought to
contribute to human resistance to antibiotics.

SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa (AP) - Three men accused of killing a South
Dakota man at a bar fight in northwest Iowa have pleaded not guilty
to first-degree murder.
The suspects include John Swan, Scott Adair and Michael
Friedrichs. They are accused of fatally beating 25-year-old Matthew
Begtrup of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The incident occurred April
4th outside Zippers Gentlemen's Club in Milford.

In Nebraska...

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) - A Scottsbluff school official says a
semiautomatic handgun was found in a high school bathroom, and
authorities are investigating how it got there.
High school Principal Galen Nighswonger says two students
reported finding the unloaded gun in a boys' bathroom about 11:30
a.m. Monday.
Nighswonger says there was no note with it, and there has been
no known threats against any students.
Captain Kevin Spencer with the Scottsbluff Police Department
says officers will trace the serial numbers on the gun to find out
who it belongs to. They'll also send the weapon to a crime lab to
try to get a fingerprint off of it.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A background check of Democratic
congressional candidate Max Yashirin shows he was cited for drunken
driving and was later jailed for driving without a license.
The offenses were reported yesterday by the Lincoln
Journal-Star, which does routine background checks on political
candidates.
Yashirin, who's running for Nebraska's 1st Congressional
District seat, says he used bad judgment, "but it was a wake-up
call and put me back on the right path."
His record shows he was cited for drunken driving and operating
a vehicle without a license in 2002, when he was 19. He was given
probation and was ordered to pay a $400 fine.
Later that year, Yashirin was caught driving while his license
was revoked. He served 10 days in jail and was ordered to surrender
his license for one year and pay a $250 fine.
Yashirin is running unopposed in the May 13 primary. He'll face
Republican incumbent Jeff Fortenberry in November.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A Douglas County district judge is
considering whether the Omaha City Council must hire a new public
safety auditor.
Judge Sandra Dougherty heard yesterday from city attorneys who
say the court can't order the council to spend money on the hire.
Earlier this month, Dougherty had ordered the council to hire an
auditor or show why it doesn't need one. Her order was in response
to a lawsuit filed by ACLU Nebraska that says there has been
several problems between Omaha police and the city's minority
populations since the last auditor was fired in 2006.
Dougherty has taken the case under advisement. She hasn't said
when she'll issue a ruling.

In South Dakota...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is sending a message to
lawmakers working out details on a massive farm bill.
At a White House news conference, he called on Congress to
reform the current system, including lowering payments to
multimillionaire farmers and "nonfarmers." During a time of
rising food prices, he accused lawmakers of preparing a "bloated
farm bill that would do little to solve the problem."
Negotiators have reached a tentative agreement on how to pay for
the measure, which would cost almost 300 billion dollars over five
years. A remaining sticking point is how much money farmers would
be paid in a time of record crop prices.
Bush has threatened to veto the bill and shows no sign of
changing his mind.
Negotiators met behind closed doors yesterday after postponing a
scheduled public meeting in the afternoon. Current farm law expires
at the end of the week after a series of short-term extensions, and
lawmakers have said another one-week extension may be necessary.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Legislative leaders say South Dakota can no
longer depend on adequate federal funding for roads and must do
what it can to ensure that road needs are met without placing too
large a burden on taxpayers.
Just how to accomplish that, however, is a monumental task.
The issue of road funding is so critical that state lawmakers
have decided it should be the only topic studied by a legislative
panel this summer.
Typically, several interim committees are appointed after the
winter lawmaking session to study various issues.
Federal money typically has paid for 75 percent of highway
construction in South Dakota, but those funds are uncertain in
tight budget times.
State lawmakers say a long-term plan must be developed to
finance the 84,000-mile network of state and local roads in South
Dakota.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A federal appeals court has refused to
reinstate a lawsuit that sought to strike down a law that denies
federal financial aid to college students convicted of drug
offenses.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on
behalf of students who lost eligibility for college loans. It
argued the law amounts to double jeopardy because it subjects
students to a second criminal punishment after they have already
served a court-imposed sentence.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the temporary loss of
student loans is not a second criminal punishment.