KWIT: Regional News for 7/30 (2008-07-30)

In Iowa...

OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) - Testimony in the James Bentley sex abuse
trial has begun with a clinical therapist telling jurors that
Jetseta gage once drew a picture of a tornado destroying Bentley's
house.
Bentley, of Vinton, is charged with sexually abusing the
10-year-old Cedar Rapids girl, who was later kidnapped and killed
by Bentley's brother Roger, who is serving a life sentence for the
crime.
The therapist, Joan Tatarka, testified that Gage told her that
she slept with James Bentley during a camping trip.
Tatarka testified that Gage said she didn't like sleepovers, but
wouldn't explain other than to say she slept with Bentley, who was
her mother's ex-boyfriend.
She also said that Gage wouldn't discuss the abuse, other that
to say she was hurt and angry and felt that it was her fault.
Tatarka also testified that Bentley had threatened her and her
sister.
James Bentley is currently serving a 100-year federal prison
sentence for sexual exploitation and child pornography for taking
sexually explicit pictures of Gage and a 1-year-old girl.
The trial was moved from Benton County to Osceola because of
pretrial publicity.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A rapid rise in river levels has closed
several roads in central and southern Iowa.
Storms that dumped 4 to 6 inches of rain in some areas Sunday
caused river levels to rise to near or above flood stage in some
locations.
Iowa Highway 28 south of Norwalk and U.S. Highway 65 in Lucas
County were closed. U.S. Highway 34 west of Chariton and Iowa
Highway 92 east of Ackworth were closed but have since reopened.
Fleur Drive near downtown Des Moines also was being threatened
by flooding on the Raccoon River.
National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Teachout says most
rivers have crested and had begun falling.
The state will dry out toward the end of the week with hot and
humid weather in the forecast.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Great Ape Trust and Drake University
are collaborating to bring primate studies to the Des Moines
school.
Starting this fall, Drake will offer primate studies as part of
a joint program that also will allow Drake students and faculty to
collaborate with scientists and scholars at the ape conservancy on
the southeast side of Des Moines.
Visiting scholars also will teach courses at Drake.
Officials with Drake and the Great Ape Trust say the partnership
will help develop an awareness and understanding of primate mental
abilities, evolutionary history, behavior and conservation through
Drake education and research projects.

In Nebraska...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Nine people in southeast Nebraska have tested
positive for E. coli infection in unrelated incidents.
Vicki Duey of the Four Corners Health Department says five
people have tested positive for E. coli infection since her office
was alerted last week.
She's looking at whether food served at a public event may have
sickened people. She won't say where the event took place.
Her department covers Butler, Polk, Seward and York counties.
Meanwhile, state epidemiologist Tom Safranek says there are four
confirmed cases of E. coli infection in the Auburn area of Nemaha
County. He says three of the four sick people live in the same
house, and the fourth came in contact with them.
The cause of those illnesses is under investigation.

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) - An Ohio family bought 130-year-old
windmill maker Dempster Industries Inc.
Wallace Davis and his family from Centerville, Ohio, bought
Dempster, which is based in Beatrice, Neb. Davis said Monday he
paid about $2 million for Dempster, but he wouldn't discuss
specific terms of the deal.
Dempster makes windmills, submersible water pumps and other
agricultural products, but Davis plans to develop new products
related to wind energy.
Davis says he expects the company to first make small wind
turbines that could be used on homes before building commercial
turbines.
Dempster has 25 employees and a distribution center in
Springfield, Mo.
Davis plans to hire 10 new sales and marketing employees to
promote Dempster's products.

In South Dakota...

FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - A 200-mile Old West trail ride kicks
off today at Fort Pierre. Three-hundred people on horseback and in
horse-drawn wagons will make the trip to Deadwood over the next 17
days.
The Fort Pierre-Deadwood trail was used in the 1800s, first by
American Indians, then fur trappers, the cavalry and later by
miners when gold was discovered in the Black Hills.
The trail was last used in 1908. Wagon ruts, gravesites and the
remains of stagecoach stops are still visible along the route.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer is winning
praise from environmental groups for deciding not to allow farmers
and ranchers to withdraw their land from a popular conservation
program penalty-free.
Some farmers and ranchers had hoped to withdraw their land from
the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays producers to set their
land aside, after severe floods hit the Midwest last month. But
Schafer said Tuesday that the damage to corn and soybean crops was
less than originally feared.
Schafer says those who do withdraw from the program will still
have to pay a penalty.
The Environmental Working Group and the Izaak Walton League of
America immediately praised Schafer's decision, as did Senate
Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat.

FREEMAN, S.D. (AP) - Algae poisoning is suspected in the death
of 21 cattle from a herd in Hutchinson County.
Official lab reports are pending, but State Veterinarian Sam
Holland said it sounds like a case of toxic algae that was
concentrated in a water source for the cattle.
They died last month while on grazing land leased from the
state.
Holland says some cases of algae poisoning are reported in the
state every year. This would be the first of the summer.