KWIT: Regional News for 5/6 (2008-05-06)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A second audit has again concluded that
the state lost money on its effort to improve efficiencies.
The report by state Auditor David Vaudt came after an audit last
year found that state paid a consultant 3.7 million dollars to
recommend efficiencies that saved the public only 2.7 million
dollars.
The latest audit focused on other agencies and found that the
state paid A.T. Kearney of Chicago nearly $900,000 for
recommendations that resulted in about $50,000 in savings. The
consultant claimed it had targeted more than 1.5 million dollars in
savings.
Gov. Chet Culver has ordered that payments to the consultant be
halted will the matter is studied and the state has denied a bonus
to the firm for its work. Oversight of the issue has been shifted
to the Department of Management, putting the issue more directly
under the governor's control.
Agencies included in the second wave of consulting included the
Department of Corrections, Department of Transportation and the
Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Governor Culver has signed into law a
measure that tightens protections for students getting college
loans and ensuring that there's no sweetheart arrangement between
lenders and college financial aid officials.
Culver signed the measure yesterday (Monday) at Iowa State
University, where students graduate with the heaviest debt load of
the state's three public universities.
Culver says the state took another important step to help young
people. He says the bill is a great example of what can happen when
partisan politics are pushed aside.
The new law was inspired in part by reports in other states that
lenders gave gifts to college financial aid officials who steered
students to their firms. It bans lenders from offering gifts "in
exchange for any advantage or consideration of its educational loan
products."

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - With renovations at Kinnick Stadium
complete, University of Iowa officials are looking indoors for more
improvements.
The Hawkeye football team's indoor practice facility -- more
commonly known as "the bubble" -- has been around for more than
20 years.
Officials believe it needs to either be replaced with a more
permanent structure or upgraded.
Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta says building a new indoor
football practice facility is high on his to-do list, though plans
are still in their preliminary stages.
Barta says improvements to the Jacobson Athletic Complex, which
houses the football coaches' offices, the strength and conditioning
facilities, the team's meeting rooms and the locker rooms, is also
on the to-do list.

In Nebraska...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A commission that enforces campaign rules
has dismissed complaints made by the Republican Party against a
state senator.
The GOP had alleged that Sen. Tom White of Omaha, a Democrat,
used public money for political purposes. Among the allegations was
that White paid for a political mailing with taxpayer money and
that he used his Capitol office and staff for political purposes.
But the commission found there was no probable cause to
investigate whether campaign laws were broken.
White says the mailing was a one-page announcement of a town
hall meeting for constituents that referenced a Web site he paid
for with personal funds.
And he says that a poll Republicans criticized did not mention
political candidates or ballot issues.

DENVER (AP) - The Denver Zoo has euthanized a popular
22-year-old polar bear named Olaf after discovering he had terminal
liver cancer.
Olaf arrived from Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo in 1987. He fathered
four cubs.
Zoo veterinarians found the cancer on Friday during a biopsy
they performed after noticing Olaf had been lethargic and wasn't
eating well. He was euthanized Saturday.
The zoo says Olaf was known for his "distinguished palate"
because unlike most bears, he didn't like eating fish heads. He
would remove them before eating the torso and tail.
The zoo says polar bears have a life span of 20 to 25 years.

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A Nebraska woman has received a 10-month
prison sentence for submitting fake claims seeking assistance after
Hurricane Katrina.
Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade sentenced Lisa Fenimore
last week in Mobile.
The 42-year-old Fenimore also was later arrested on a new charge
in Nebraska for alleged misuse of a credit card.
Fenimore admitted to calling an assistance hot line claiming
damage to a rented mobile home she was no longer living in when
Katrina struck.
FEMA paid her nearly $10,000 and provided a travel trailer for
her to live in for about six months.

In South Dakota...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - At its annual meeting, TransCanada
officials said they are planning another crude oil pipeline that
would bring oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast - and the possible
route could go through western South Dakota.
Hal Kvisle, president and CEO of TransCanada, says Keystone
Phase Two would go from Alberta to Nebraska and then turn south to
Port Arthur, Texas.
Kvisle showed shareholders a map with the pipeline entering the
U.S. in northeast Montana and running diagonally to northwestern
South Dakota and leaving the central part of the state at the
southern border with Nebraska.
Shareholders were told that TransCanada is stockpiling pipe at
many locations along the route for Keystone One -- and that it
should be up and running by the end of next year.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A federal judge says convicted murdered
Donald Moeller can continue to seek information about South
Dakota's method of execution as part of his fight against the death
penalty.
Federal Judge Lawrence Piersol says Moeller can seek information
to determine whether South Dakota's method of lethal injection is
similar to the one recently approved by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 55-year-old Moeller was convicted and sentenced to death for
the 1990 killing of Becky O'Connell of Sioux Falls. The state
Supreme Court has upheld his conviction and sentence, and Moeller
is now appealing in federal court.
Moeller argues the lethal injection law in effect when he was
convicted is unconstitutional because it could lead to excruciating
pain. He contends a new law passed last year cannot be applied to
him retroactively, so his death sentence should be converted to
life in prison.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Bryan Gortmaker, who has held several jobs
in the state Division of Criminal Investigation, has been appointed
its director.
Attorney General Larry Long announced the appointment yesterday.
Gortmaker takes over the job June 10 - the day after current
Director Jim Vlahakis retires.
Gortmaker, a Brandon native, started as a Minnehaha County
sheriff's deputy in 1988 while working on a criminal justice degree
at Augustana College.
After graduation, he became a DCI special agent. Gortmaker was
promoted to director of law enforcement training in 2002 and most
recently held the job of assistant director.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Snow measured in feet and significant
rain last week trimmed the time South Dakota farmers and ranchers
could spend doing their jobs.
The weekly crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
says the weather slowed spring planting and caused problems for
livestock.
The storms did improve soil moisture, with 94 percent of the
topsoil moisture in the state rated as adequate or surplus.
The report also says three-fourths of the spring wheat, 73
percent of the oats and 60 percent of the barley crops are seeded.
Ten percent of the corn has been planted, far behind the five-year
average of 32 percent.