KWIT: Regional News for 6/4 (2008-06-04)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Six-term Congressman Leonard Boswell has
easily defeated challenger Ed Fallon in central Iowa's 3rd
District.
With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Boswell had built a
commanding 61-39 percent margin.
Republican Kim Schmett was unopposed for the GOP nomination.
There was a very tight race for the Republican nomination to
oppose Congressman Dave Loebsack in eastern Iowa's 2nd District.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks edged Peter Teahen to claim the nomination
by a 44 percent to 43 percent edge.
Becky Greenwald cruised to an easy victory in the Democratic
primary in northern Iowa's 4th District. She defeated rival Kurt
Meyer by a 51-28 percent margin in a four-way race.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Political unknown Christopher Reed
squeaked out a narrow win over George Eichhorn for the GOP
nomination in the U.S. Senate.
Pending a likely recount, Reed has the chance to deny Democrat
Tom Harkin a fifth term in the U.S. Senate.
With all but one of the state's precincts reporting, Reed had
about 35.29 percent of the vote last night. Eichhorn had about
34.71 percent. Cedar Rapids businessman Steve Rathje had about 30
percent.
State law requires a candidate to claim 35 percent of the vote
in a primary election to get the nomination.
The election is so close that a recount is certain.
Eichhorn served three terms in the Legislature but was defeated
in the 2006 election and was looking for a comeback in the Senate
race.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Four House members overcame challenges
in tonight's primary - a race that's expected to have little impact
on control of the Iowa Legislature.
Democrats Wayne Ford of Des Moines, Geri Huser of Altoona and
Deborah Berry of Waterloo held onto their chance to compete in the
November election.
So did Republican James Van Engelenhoven of Pella - the sole GOP
incumbent to face a primary contest.
No Senate incumbents faced primary challenges.
Republicans appear to be under more pressure as GOP lawmakers
opted against seeking another term at triple the rate of Democrats.
A total of 15 Republican incumbents - nine in the House and six
in the Senate - decided not to run again.
That could make some of those slots more vulnerable in the fall
to Democrats, who have been in control of both chambers since 2006.
When it comes to Democratic incumbents, one state senator and
four House members did not try to retain their seats.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Tornadoes and flooding -- it's all part
of springtime in Iowa. But even weather experts acknowledge this
year has been unusually severe.
Several powerful tornadoes have ripped across the state since
Memorial Day weekend. Now Iowans are bracing for thunderstorms that
could leave some areas underwater in the next few days.
Steve Teachout of the National Weather Service predicts heavy
rain until Friday for much of the state. He says the rain could
leave some areas in -- quote -- "a big mess."
Parts of central and southeastern Iowa have already experienced
flooding after heavy rain fell early yesterday. Boone County had
several roads and farm fields underwater.
The foreboding skies are nothing new to Iowans. The state
endured one of its harshest winters in years and has enjoyed little
respite after the snow melted in April.
The severe weather has included a twister that hit northeastern
Iowa on May 25th, killing seven people. It was the state's
strongest tornado in 32 years.

In Nebraska...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Big bucks are flowing into the fight over
affirmative action in Nebraska as petition circulators gather
signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment.
The Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, the group organizing the
petition, reported raising more than $181,000 in a filing with the
Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.
Nebraskans United, which was organized to fight the petition,
has raised more than $263,000 - including a $50,000 donation from
Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett.
The proposed constitutional amendment would bar preferential
treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national
origin by public entities including universities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The group FairVoteNebraska has filed a
petition to let people vote in November on whether to move the
State Fair to Grand Island.
To get the referendum on the November ballot, about 60,000
signatures would need to be collected by July 16th.
The group says any relocation of the 107-year-old event should
be determined by a vote of the people. They say if the fair moves,
Lincoln and Lancaster County will lose revenue.
And they say splitting the fair from horse racing at State Fair
park in Lincoln could spell the demise of both.
In April, Governor Dave Heineman signed legislation to move the
Nebraska State Fair to Grand Island by 2010.
Heineman's spokeswoman says he continues to support moving the
fair but also supports Nebraskans right to challenge the law.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Norfolk may be getting what developers said
the city needed a year ago when plans for a $40 million soybean
plant were scrapped.
Norfolk officials yesterday announced plans to build a new
54-mile natural gas pipeline that would extend from Columbus.
Nebraska Resources Company plans to build the pipeline. Aquila has
agreed to ship gas through the pipeline to serve customers in
Norfolk.
Last summer, an inadequate supply of natural gas caused
developers to abandon plans to build a soybean processing plant in
Norfolk. They set their sights on South Sioux City instead.
The pipeline must still be approved by the state Public Service
Commission.

In South Dakota...

ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) - Union County voters have approved the
county commission's rezoning of 3,300 acres north of Elk Point for
what would be the first new U.S. oil refinery in more than 30
years.
The measure passed Tuesday 58 to 42 percent, with nearly 6,800
votes cast.
Project executive Preston Phillips with Hyperion Resources says
he was ecstatic with the vote and was not surprised it was close
because it's a big, complex project.
Jason Quam of the group Citizens Opposed to Oil Pollution says
his group will evaluate its next steps.
He says the vote was just one stop in a long process and must go
through numerous environmental permitting steps and he doubts the
company has the financing to get the refinery built.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Gov. Mike Rounds says now the work
really begins on a proposed $10 billion oil refinery in Union
County.
Residents supported the county commission in rezoning land near
Elk Point for the Hyperion Energy Center.
The measure passed yesterday 58 percent to 42 percent. The
margin had been much closer for most of the evening.
Rounds credited volunteers with getting people to the polls.
Late Tuesday, a Hyperion executive said the Elk Point area still
is not the only site being considered and that the site selection
process will continue.
Rounds says Hyperion's project has a long way to go and that if
the company runs into problems, it might need to look elsewhere.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - State Rep. Joel Dykstra of Canton
defeated two other candidates to win the Republican U.S. Senate
nomination in Tuesday's primary.
He'll challenge two-term Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson in the
November general election.
Dykstra won out over Spearfish businessman Sam Kephart and
Charles Lyonel Gonyo of Trent.
Dykstra says he expects the main issues in the campaign to be
the same topics that have dominated the presidential primary such
as gas prices and health care.
He says he knows the race will be a struggle but South Dakotans
know when it's time for a change and he plans to offer positive
solutions.
Dykstra says people want change in Washington but that won't
happen unless voters change the people they send there.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Some veteran state lawmakers lost in
Tuesday's primary, but some new faces advanced to the general
election.
House Republican Leader Larry Rhoden of Union Center was
term-limited in that chamber but easily defeated his GOP opponent
in the District 29 Senate primary.
The state's longest-serving current lawmaker, Republican Rep.
Gordon Pederson of Wall, failed in an attempt to switch to the
Senate. At 80 years old, he's in his 30th year as a lawmaker and is
tied with four others since statehood in 1889 as the
longest-serving legislators.
A former lawmaker who failed in a comeback bid was Ron Volesky
of Huron.
But former Rapid City police chief Craig Tieszen easily won the
District 34 GOP Senate nomination.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The outcome of a legislative race in Yankton
is close enough that there could be a recount.
It happened in a four-way contest for two House of
Representatives seats for District 18 in the Republican primary.
Nick Moser got 41 percent of the vote and a guaranteed spot on
the November ballot. Daniel Rupiper came in second, and Lee Rettig
was just three votes behind.
Secretary of State Chris Nelson says Rettig can ask for a
recount because the spread is less than 2 percent of the total
votes cast for the top two candidates.