KWIT: Regional News for 7/28 (2008-07-28)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Areas of Iowa were hit hard yesterday by
high winds and heavy rain. The bad weather left nearly 14,000
MidAmerican Energy customers in Des Moines without power.
MidAmerican's Web site says that 13,812 customers in Des Moines
and 285 in Fort Dodge had lost power as of 7:45 p.m.
Spokesman Mark Reinders says the company estimates it will take
8 hours before power is restored to all customers in Des Moines and
Fort Dodge.
National Weather Service meteorologist Ken Podrazik (Pod-RA-zik)
says law enforcement officers reported a tornado had touched down
in Newton. Podrazik says no damage was reported due to the tornado
as of 7 p.m.
Podrazik says the storm caused considerable tree damage in
Monroe and Davis counties as the storms moved through southeast
Iowa and into Missouri. Reports say that wind gusts northeast of
Bloomfield in Davis County reached 70 miles-per-hour.

POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Hundreds of immigration protesters
marched through the streets of Postville yesterday, bringing a
national debate to an isolated corner of northeastern Iowa.
Busloads of protesters from the Twin Cities and Chicago as well
as hundreds of others from around the region rallied in this city
of about 2,200 to protest a federal immigration raid of the
Agriprocessors plant in May.
Many residents sat on their lawns and gaped as approximately
1,000 people walked, stomped and chanted a route about a mile long.
The rally started at St. Bridget's Catholic Church, winding its way
through town and pausing near the driveway of Agriprocessors.
Sunday's protesters included hundreds of Hispanics but had a
diverse collection of ages, races and genders. Elderly white women
marched next to young Hispanic men and Jewish men from Minneapolis
and Chicago. They clutched banners and signs like one that read,
"United for immigrant and worker rights."
The protesters circled the streets of Postville before returning
to the center of town. They passed a much smaller group of
anti-immigration protesters along the way, outshouting them during
their march.

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - The flooding that swamped large areas
of the Midwest took with it some of the region's most valuable
resource: soil.
Now farmers and environmentalists are at odds over what to do
with erosion-prone land. They can take their chances planting crops
on marginal land in hopes of good yields and high grain prices - or
plant trees, native grasses or ground cover that act as a natural
flood buffer.
The floods may have caused up to 3 (b) billion dollars in crop
losses in Iowa and 800 (m) million dollars in crop damage in
Indiana. That's according to estimates from agriculture secretaries
in those states.
Erosion damage is harder to tally.
In Wisconsin, flooding damaged about 2-point-8 (m) million
dollars worth of conservation structures, such as dams, levees,
ditches and waterways. Some land in Illinois is still submerged.

In Nebraska...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee
Barack Obama says funeral duty is not something his vice president
will need to worry much about.
Obama refused during an interview that aired yesterday on NBC to
give hints on whom he might pick for a running mate, but he did
describe the qualities he's looking for. Shyness and blind loyalty
are not among them.
In a separate interview on CBS, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel
downplayed the idea of a cross-party ticket. The Republican said he
expects Obama to choose someone in his own party.
Hagel has not endorsed Obama or Republican John McCain, and
there has been speculation that if Obama were to pick a Republican,
it might be Hagel.
Hagel isn't seeking a third term in the Senate, and he says he
expects to be a private citizen next year.

MIAMI (AP) - Miami has secured the bottom spot - Number 50 among
major U.S. cities - in new rankings of the percentage of adults who
volunteer.
A report released yesterday by the Corporation for National and
Community Service says that nationally, the volunteer rate fell in
2007 for the second year in a row, to 26.2 percent. It showed Miami
with a volunteerism rate of 14.5 percent, replacing Las Vegas in
last place among major metropolitan areas.
By region, the Midwest had the highest volunteer rate at 31.1
percent, followed by the West at 26.1, the South with 24.7 and the
Northeast at 23.4.
By state, Utah had the highest rate -- 43.9 percent -- followed
by Nebraska with 39.8 percent. Nevada had the lowest state rate at
17.7 percent.

In South Dakota...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Rules are in place that allow children as
young as 10 to hunt this fall under adult supervision.
The Legislature passed a law establishing mentored hunting for
youth ages 10 to 15. The Game, Fish and Parks Commission recently
approved a framework of rules to oversee it.
The young hunters must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or
designated mentor who does not carry a weapon and has successfully
completed a hunter safety or hunter education course.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - School administrators are finding that
the budgeting process is a little more complicated with gas prices
on the rise.
Al Leber (Lay'-ber) is the superintendent at Dakota Valley
Schools at North Sioux City. He says it used to be a case of just
adding a little increase each year for transportation to band
concerts, athletics games and other extra-curricular activities.
Now, he says, there's no way to know where the price of gas and
diesel fuel is going.
Leber says Dakota Valley increased its budget for
extra-curricular transportation by 17 percent this year, to
$55,000.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota high schools might have to
take a second look at their athletic schedule if gas prices keep
rising.
Aberdeen Central High School frequently plays nonconference
games in Rapid City, Spearfish, Sturgis and Sioux Falls. Trips to
Rapid City are 335 miles one way.
Athletics director Gene Brownell says there are several schools
in North Dakota that are closer.
Brownell says some hard decisions will have to be made if school
boards start telling admininstrators to cut travel costs for
sports.