KWIT: Regional News for 9/5 (2008-09-05)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Federal court records show that two
illegal immigrants arrested during a massive immigration raid at a
kosher meatpacking in Postville were freed from jail after
testifying against a plant manager.
Josue Muj-Ixen and Antonio Vasquez-Arrendondo were both charged
with misuse of a Social Security number and sentenced to five years
of probation after the May 12 raid at Agriprocessors Inc. They
remain under house arrest and wear monitors as they await a
decision on their immigration status.
The men are identified in court records as witnesses in the
federal government's case against 35-year-old Juan Carlos
Guerrero-Espinoza.
Last month, Guerrero-Espinoza, pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy to hire illegal immigrants and one count of aiding and
abetting the hiring of illegal immigrants.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - A disaster response company has filed
a motion for a temporary injunction to prevent the city of Cedar
Rapids from rebidding a project to demolish homes damaged by
flooding.
Mike Mitchell, president of Bamaco, Inc. of Bunnell, Fla., told
a judge on Thursday that his company was promised it would get the
bid to demolish the first 28 homes if it lowered the price for
concrete.
As part of the verbal confirmation of the contract, Mitchell
says the company was asked if it could start three days later. He
says he spent more than $56,000 to mobilize work crews and
equipment to Cedar Rapids.
Mitchell says he then got an e-mail from Judy Lehman, the city's
purchasing manager, rejecting all bids for the project and saying
it would be rebid for a third time.
Lehman testified that she thought rejecting all the bids was the
only fair thing to do because the scope of the project kept
changing.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) - A Le Mars man charged in a fatal stabbing
has pleaded guilty to reduced charges and will be sentenced next
week.
Jody O'Keefe had been scheduled to go on trial on Tuesday on
charges of first-degree murder in the death of another Le Mars man,
Samuel Toliver.
In court on Thursday O'Keefe admitted to using a butcher knife
to stab Toliver in Toliver's downtown apartment. A judge accepted
O'Keefe's guilty pleas to voluntary manslaughter, intimidation with
a dangerous weapon and two charges of willful injury.
O'Keefe faces up to 40 years in prison. He is being held in
Plymouth County Jail pending sentencing on Tuesday.

FOREST CITY, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Department of Natural
Resources estimates more than 31,000 fish were killed after a leak
from a cattle farm affected a 16-mile area on the Winnebago River.
The DNR says the fish, which included more than a dozen species,
were worth about $63,000.
DNR officials believe the kill occurred after a silage operation
reached the Silver Creek and flowed into the Winnebago river. The
silage reduced oxygen levels in the stream, killing the fish.
The DNR's investigation found that fluid from a containment
basin at a cattle farm owned by Monroe Branstad of Forest City
reached an underground line that lead to the creek and eventually
the river.
DNR officials say they plan to seek restitution for the dead
fish and may consider additional enforcement actions after the
investigation is complete.

In Nebraska...

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Human cases of West Nile virus in Nebraska
this year has reached 23 after the confirmation of 10 new cases.
The state Department of Health and Human Services says the new
cases are in Cedar, Dawes, Holt, Keya Paha, Kimball, Nemaha, Polk,
Saline, Sarpy and Scotts Bluff counties.
Previously, one case had been confirmed in each of the following
counties: Cass, Dodge, Keith, Merrick, Platte, Sanders and York.
There were two cases each in Adams and Douglas counties.
West Nile is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has
picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird.
The health department says 163 cases of the disease were
reported in Nebraska last year.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Republican Neb. Gov. Dave Heineman
disagrees with his party's presidential candidate on whether the
federal government should continue to prop up the ethanol industry.
McCain supports cutting the mandate that requires 9 billion
gallons of biofuels like ethanol be blended into gasoline this year
and about 11 billion gallons next year.
Republicans this week called for an end to mandates for the
corn-based fuel in their national platform.
Heineman spoke yesterday from the Republican National Convention
with Susan McGinnis of CleanSkies.tv, an online news network.
Heineman said ethanol is a key part of reducing the nation's
dependence on foreign oil. Nebraska ranks second nationally in
ethanol production.

In South Dakota...

STURGIS, S.D. (AP) - Sturgis authorities say shootings stemming
from the motorcycle rally in 2006 and this year were the first
major violence since 1990, but outlaw biker gangs are generally no
more violent than usual.
Grand jurors in Sturgis indicted a wounded Hells Angel and five
members of the Iron Pigs following a bar fight at this year's
rally.
And two Hells Angel members are to stand trial in November on
charges they sparked a firefight two years ago at Custer State Park
that injured six Outlaws gang members.
In 1990, an Outlaws member was shot by a rival Sons of Silence
biker in a brawl in which two other Sons of Silence members were
stabbed.
The police chief and prosecutor say the level of violence really
hasn't changed and common offenses include assaults, drugs and
weapon violations.

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) - It's still summer, but cool temperatures
-- and even a bit of frost -- have hit South Dakota this week. The
cool weather comes on the heels of a hot, windy Labor Day weekend.
State Climatologist Dennis Todey (TAH'-dee) says the recent dry
weather can cause temperature fluctuation.
He says soil temperatures have been warm enough and temperatures
haven't been cold enough to cause too many problems for crops.
Topsoil is getting drier, though, and Todey says it could affect
this year's harvest. If it doesn't warm up, he says farmers might
have to harvest crops containing higher moisture levels than they'd
like.
The climatologist says Bon Homme (BAHN'-uhm) and Yankton
counties are especially dry, along with some south central
counties.