KWIT: Regional News for 7/7 (2008-07-07)

In Iowa...

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) - Two people were injured after strong winds
ripped through a state park in western Iowa on Sunday.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says that four camping
vehicles and several trees were also damaged at Lewis and Clark
Start Park in Monona County.
The injured men were treated at the Burgess Health Center in
Onawa and released.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - School officials say the problems
caused by flood waters at eastern Iowa colleges likely won't keep
students away this fall.
The obstacles created by the floods range from small scheduling
headaches to multimillion dollar facility damage. But officials at
the University of Iowa, Kirkwood Community College, Coe College and
Mount Mercy College said the reaction from incoming students and
their parents has been positive.
Officials say they're optimistic that fall enrollment numbers
will remain steady.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Record flooding has caused delays for
Waterloo's downtown renovation projects.
Contractors were forced to halt work on a $5.5 million river
wall and dam rehabilitation project when the Cedar River began
swelling to record depths in early June.
Project manager Doug Schindel says it's unlikely the work, which
started last May, will be finished by the original completion date
of December 31st.
Waterloo was awarded a $7.3 million Vision Iowa grant in 2003 to
help pay for a $20 million downtown face-lift. It includes putting
a rubber bladder on a dam, constructing a trail loop along the
river downtown and building a riverfront plaza and amphitheater.
City officials are hoping the public investment in the downtown
area will generate more visitors and spur additional private
investment.

POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Most of the business owners in Postville
have reported diminishing sales. That's after federal agents
arrested hundreds of workers in an immigration raid on the
Agriprocessors meat-processing plant in May.
They expressed confidence they can survive as long as the plant
stays open. But those who cater to the town's Hispanic population
report a grimmer outlook.
With no end in sight to shrinking sales, some expect to close in
the coming weeks.
At the Sabor Latino grocery store and restaurant, five workers
have been laid off. Just around the corner at El Vaquero, a
downtown clothing shop, the doors sometimes remain locked even
during normal business hours.
Cesar Jochola (YO-cola), who owns a restaurant in town, say he's
seen his sales drop 75 percent. But Jochola intends to do
everything he can to stay in Postville.

In Nebraska...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Utility officials say crews have restored
power to everyone who lost electricity in the June 27th storm that
hit the Omaha area.
The Omaha Public Power District reports that service was
restored Saturday morning to the few remaining customers who didn't
have power.
The storm initially left about 126,000 OPPD customers in and
around Omaha without power.
OPPD officials say it was one of the worst storms in the
utility's history.
Winds of up to 115 mph damaged trees, power lines and homes, and
killed two teenagers in Council Bluffs, Iowa, when a tree fell on
their car.
The cleanup of fallen tree limbs and other storm damage will
likely continue for weeks in the Omaha area.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) - Sarpy County authorities say a cache of
illegal fireworks exploded at Hansen Lake, injuring a teenage girl.
According to sheriff's deputies, the fireworks were being stored
under a boat, and they were ignited Friday by a stray firework that
landed nearby.
Neighbors reported seeing a ball of fire. The explosion burned
the boat and shattered nearby windows.
A girl who was nearby was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center
with burns to her legs.
A relative of the girl, 38-year-old David Losole, was arrested
on suspicion of harboring illegal fireworks.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A neo-Nazi group staged a protest against
illegal immigration in south Omaha, the heart of the city's
Hispanic population.
The rally Saturday afternoon by the National Socialist Movement
was focused on Thrift World, a business that the group say hires
illegal immigrants. Members of the group destroyed a Mexican flag
and traded insults with counter-protesters.
Brian Holland, the National Socialist Movement's candidate for
president, says he respects people's heritage, but has a problem
with illegal immigration because it's illegal.
A federal indictment issued in April accuses the owner of
American Clothing, an Iowa company that distributes secondhand
clothing to stores such as Thrift World, of knowingly hiring
illegal immigrants.
Both businesses refused to comment on the rally.

In South Dakota...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A South Dakota lawmaker says Governor Rounds
made it more difficult to patch up relations with the Legislature
when he recently said the Legislature rejected one of his proposals
out of ignorance.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Jerry Apa (AY-puh) of Lead (LEED)
says lawmakers knew what they were doing when they defeated the
bill. He says he hopes communications improve between the governor
and the Legislature.
Rounds and some lawmakers have disagreed recently on several
issues -- including funding of laptop computers for high schools
and the calculation of taxes on blends of ethanol fuel.
The governor acknowledges he should used other language instead
of saying lawmakers acted out of ignorance on the fuel tax issue.
But he says the recent spats have not harmed his relationship with
the Legislature.
Senate Democratic Leader Scott Heidepriem of Sioux Falls says
the governor seems to be going out of his way to pick fights with
the Legislature.
Rounds says he has taken the right positions on the issues, but
he believes he and the Legislature can do a better job of
communicating.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Convicted sex offenders in South Dakota who
are transients or homeless must now disclose their locations to
police.
The requirement that went into effect July 1 closes a loophole
that apparently allows footloose sex offenders to avoid disclosure
of places where they can be found.
The statewide sex-offender registry also is being expanded to
include the names and addresses of those who've been convicted of
intentionally exposing sex partners with the AIDS virus.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - It won't matter much at today's prices, but
the state tax on biodiesel fuel sold in South Dakota may be going
down in the future.
This year's Legislature passed a measure that will reduce the
22-cent-a-gallon tax that's currently on the books to 20 cents.
That's the same tax break that's given ethanol.
The 2-cent reduction will be provided on biodiesel that contains
at least 5 percent soybean or other plant oils.
But the tax cut will not begin until biodiesel production
capacity in South Dakota reaches 20 million gallons a year.