KWIT: Regional News for 8/25 (2008-08-25)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Barack Obama's aides say that former
Iowa Rep. Jim Leach, a leading Republican moderate, will speak
tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Leach, who represented eastern Iowa for three decades, broke
ranks with the Republican Party and endorsed Obama earlier this
month.
Obama aides say that Leach chose to take that endorsement one
step further by making a highly symbolic speech tomorrow night -
the opening night of the Democratic convention.
Obama spokesman Brad Anderson says Leach's move is an indication
that Obama can appeal beyond the Democratic Party establishment.
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for John McCain's campaign, says
Leach is backing a failing agenda by putting his support behind
Obama.
Leach was elected to Congress in 1976 and served 30 years before
losing a re-election bid in 2006 to Democrat Dave Loebsack.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The state's new $58 million resort opens
next month at Rathbun Lake in south-central Iowa.
It's Iowa's first resort park venture and has been in the works
for decades. It has a hotel-style lodge, golf course, indoor water
park and restaurant and bar.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources operation is modeled
after successful ventures in Nebraska and other states. It will
employ 120 full- and part-time workers.
The resort opens on September 19th.

ROBINS, Iowa (AP) - A man has been injured in a paraglider
accident at an eastern Iowa airport.
Authorities say 44-year-old Nick Brightside, of Marion, was
attempting to take off from the McBride Airport in a powered
paraglider when he lost control before leaving the ground.
Linn County sheriff's officials say he was taken to a local
hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
The accident happened on Saturday.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - A Cedar Rapids man has been arrested
by the FBI on fraud and consipracy charges.
Richard Pundt appeared in U.S. District Court this week. The
64-year-old was indicted on three counts of mail fraud, six counts
of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.
The indictment, filed in U.S. Central District of California
Court, alleges that Pundt and others promoted a fraudulent
high-yield investment program scheme.
Officials say Pundt is a former FBI agent and former prosecutor.
He is the president and CEO of enlighten technologies, inc., in
Cedar Rapids. The company runs a private legal communications
network with voice, videoconferencing and data capabilities.
He was released on a his own recognizance and an arraignment
date hasn't yet been set.

In Nebraska...

UNDATED (AP) - Corn and wheat are piling up at grain elevators
across the nation waiting for rail cars to haul the harvest to
market.
Some grain can sit for a month or more on the ground, exposed to
wind, rain and rats.
It's the dark side of the booming global demand for U.S. corn,
wheat and soybeans. The surge in exports is revealing
inefficiencies in the country's railways, highways and rivers that
carry the grain that helps feed the world. And those bottlenecks
are costing farmers, shippers and ultimately consumers millions of
dollars a year.
A surprisingly large harvest this fall is expected to test the
system even further. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts
farmers will produce the second largest corn crop and fourth
largest soybean crop in history.
Some agribusiness groups worry the bottlenecks could hurt the
United States' standing as a global food provider.

RAVENNA, Neb. (AP) - A neighbor has bought the former Zion
United Methodist Church at auction.
The church about 10 miles southwest of Ravenna closed last
December because of declining membership.
Former Zion member Wayne Urwiller says the 1,700-square-foot
building and three acres of land sold for $6,000 to William
Hunsperger.
Hunsperger owns the land about one mile west of the church.
Urwiller says he thinks Hunsperger plans to convert the church
into a home.
Urwiller says it was hard to see the church building and its
furnishings sold.

In South Dakota...

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota State Fair Manager Jerome
Hertel (HUR'-tel) has only been at the reins since March but
believes he's got a good handle on preparations for the annual
event, which begins Thursday and runs through Labor Day.
More than 500 vendors have registered for the 123rd State Fair,
and Hertel anticipates good attendance by the public.
He says high gas prices that have forced people to stay closer
to home may provide a boost for the fair if more people decide to
make it their vacation or getaway this year.
The huge Dakotafest farm show this past week in Mitchell
competes with the State Fair, but Hertel says there's room for
both.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Be prepared for higher heating bills this
winter. That's the word from the South Dakota Public Utilities
Commission.
The Energy Information Administration expects increases in
residential heating costs in the Midwest of 50 percent for natural
gas, 37 percent for heating oil and 32 percent for propane.
The PUC says the price of crude oil has a direct bearing on
heating costs.
Commissioner Dusty Johnson says it's not too early to get a
fill-up of heating oil, do some home weatherization, and consider a
balanced billing option that spreads monthly heating bills over the
entire year.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - It's been more than seven weeks since
the state and South Dakota's counties switched to a new computer
system for license plate renewal, and Minnehaha County Treasurer
Pam Nelson the lines finally are returning to normal.
The new system registers the plate with a person rather than a
vehicle.
Many patrons in Minnehaha County have waited more than two hours
to renew their plates under the new system. Wait times for
customers now are down to one hour or less.
Nelson says four times as many patrons are now doing business
online. Those services were discontinued but went back up Aug. 4.