KWIT: Regional News for 8/15 (2008-08-15)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Des Moines police are unraveling a
shooting and hostage situation that left two women dead.
That included a neighbor who stumbled upon the killing and was
shot when she intervened.
The matter began just before 6 a.m. yesterday and ended more
than two hours later. That's when a police tactical team stormed a
house on the city's north side and rescued three children.
They were in an upstairs bedroom with their father, who police
said shot at officers as they rushed into the home.
Police charged 32-year-old Nath Inthaboun (in-THUH-boon) with
two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted
murder.
Killed were his common law wife, 32-year-old Bounpamh
Xayavogchanh (BOON-pahm ZYE-uh-VON-chun) and a nearby resident,
60-year-old Amalia Vasquez.
Inthaboun was being held in the Polk County Jail. Information
about a court date and when an attorney would be named wasn't
immediately available.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A former Iowa Board of Regents president
and adviser to Republican governors has died.
Marvin Pomerantz was 78 years old. He died yesterday at
University Hospitals in Iowa City of complications from a stroke
and heart attack he suffered in June.
The Des Moines businessman contributed millions of dollars to
the University of Iowa, which named its business school library and
career center after him.
University President Sally Mason says in a statement that
Pomerantz's leadership, insight and his generosity have been
crucial to the school's success.
Pomerantz twice headed the state Board of Regents. He is one of
only six Iowans inducted into the Horatio Alger Association of
Distinguished Americans. He is also a member of the Iowa Business
Hall of Fame.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Officials say the sexual abuse case
against a former University of Iowa football player likely won't be
ready to go to trial on its scheduled date.
Assistant Johnson County Attorney Anne Lahey says it's likely
that neither the defense nor prosecution in the Abe Satterfield
case will be ready by the November 3rd trial date.
Satterfield is charged with third-degree sexual abuse and aiding
and abetting second-degree sexual abuse.
Judge Marsha Beckelman ruled this week that Satterfield's
attorney must see a list of all text and phones messages between
Satterfield and the woman he's accused of assaulting at a campus
dorm last October.
Officials indicated that Satterfield sent the woman a text
message hours after the alleged incident, and that she responded
with a message. Satterfield reportedly sent another text, but the
woman didn't respond.
Beckelman says she'll rule later on other motions in the case.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has
identified at least 20 levees in Iowa that need repairs following
June's devastating flooding.
The corps' Jerry Skalak told a recovery task force that met this
week in Johnston that communities with damaged levees are at risk
for future flooding.
He says there's a high priority of returning the levees to at
least their pre-flood levels of protection before flood season next
spring.
Skalak says the most dire problems will be tackled first, such
as the levee breach near Oakville.

In Nebraska...

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) - Grand Island needs $3 million by Oct.
1 to meet the plan timetable for the relocation of the State Fair.
The Hall County supervisors say they are hoping for both private
and public funding to help raise the money by the deadline.
A state law authorized moving the fair to Grand Island by 2010.
That will empty the current fairgrounds in Lincoln for development
by the University of Nebraska.
The Board of Supervisors pledged $1 million Wednesday to support
the relocation of the State Fair, but the Grand Island State Fair
Funding Committee still needs $7.5 million.
As part of the relocation plan, the committee must come up with
$8.5 million of the $42 million expense.
The second $3 million must be committed by February. The full
$8.5 million is due by next July 2009.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The expansion of Nebraska Beef Limited's
latest recall yesterday serves as a reminder of the importance of
cooking meat properly.
The Omaha-based company is recalling more than 1 million pounds
of beef because it has been linked to an E. coli outbreak in at
least 10 states and Canada.
Symptoms of E. coli infection include stomach cramps and
diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days.
But cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of at least
160 degrees should kill E. coli bacteria, if they are present.
Officials recommend that people use meat thermometers to verify
they have cooked meat thoroughly.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Times are tough for the Nebraska man who once
weighed more than 1,000 pounds. But Patrick Deuel says he's trying
to keep a positive outlook.
Deuel and his wife Edie moved from Valentine to Alliance last
year. Edie lost her job as a school counselor, and both are
unemployed. There also have been recent deaths of family and
friends.
Though Deuel has put on about 100 pounds in the past year and
now weighs 540, his health is generally good. That's according to
Dr. Fred Harris of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who performed gastric
bypass surgery on Deuel in 2004.
Before the surgery, Harris said Deuel was a week to 10 days from
dying. The fact that Deuel can walk without assistance and drive a
car shows that the surgery was successful.

In South Dakota...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government says traffic deaths in the
United States last year were at their lowest level in more than a
decade.
South Dakota was among the states showing the most improvement.
The state's 146 traffic deaths last year was 45 fewer than in 2006.
South Dakota and Vermont each showed a 24 percent decrease, the
largest percentage reduction in the nation.
Nationwide, more than 41,000 people were killed in highway
crashes. That was down by more than 1,000 from 2006.

BELLE FOURCHE, S.D. (AP) - The monument marking the geographic
center of the nation when Alaska and Hawaii are included will add
flags from all 50 states at a ceremony Saturday.
The Center of the Nation Monument in Belle Fourche (bel-FOOSH')
was dedicated a year ago. The 21-by-40 foot compass rose made of
South Dakota granite is on the bank of the Belle Fourche River.
The second phase of the plan is to add the flags that will line
the monument and walkway in order of when the states joined the
union.
The last phase of the project planned for next year will add a
park.
That will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the center
designation that came with the 1959 additions of Hawaii and Alaska
to the union.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - It's a big day for the Canyon
Lake All-Stars from Rapid City. They're playing today in the Little
League World Series in Pennsylvania -- the first South Dakota team
to get to the tournament.
Canyon Lake's opponent today is from Tampa, Florida. Game time
is 1 p.m. Central.
The tournament is set up so each team has at least three games
in what's called "pool play." Teams with the best records in each
pool then go into the semifinals.
There are eight teams from the U.S. and eight teams from other
countries.