KWIT: Regional News for 9/22 (2008-09-22)

In Iowa...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - After record flooding this summer, a
majority of Iowans want the state to spend money now to prevent
future flooding across the state.
That's according to the Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll, which
was published on Sunday. According to the survey, 63 percent of
Iowans favor spending money now on flood protections.
Those polled say it would be in the state's best interest to
sacrifice now in an attempt to prevent floods in the future.
The survey comes as a commission called for by Gov. Chet Culver
shifts its focus from recovery to recommendations for Iowa
communities.
The Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission is scheduled to meet Oct. 1
in Urbandale to begin discussing long-term projects.

POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) - Postville's city government is examining
the possibility of a housing code.
The move - pushed by some city officials - comes after
complaints about the living conditions faced by workers at
Agriprocessors.
City attorney Anne Loomis says she was surprised when she moved
to Postville earlier this year to see people living in garages and
other odd living arrangements.
She says with no housing code, though, there was nothing the
city could do about it.
Landlords in town say a city Postville's size shouldn't
implement a housing code.
One local landlord, Travis Seibert, says he's concerned that by
looking into a housing code, the city is "sticking their neck in
something that is regulated by tenants."

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - Now that they've survived the flood,
many in the Cedar Rapids area are looking for ways to tell their
story to future generations.
The Carl and Mary Koehler History Center and area libraries are
among groups examining how to preserve memories of a flood that
displaced more than 5,000 families and damaged more than 1,000
businesses in Cedar Rapids alone.
Cedar Rapids historian Mark Stoffer Hunter says it is important
to collect information while the memories are fresh. He says that
it will benefit everyone if people can look at the floods years
from now and get an accurate idea of what happened.
He says the flood could stand out from other events in Cedar
Rapids history, such as the 1905 Quaker fire or the 1919 Douglas
Starch Works explosion, which have relatively poor historic
records.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - A Cedar Rapids man is under arrest and
police have charged him with trying to steal from a flooded home.
Michael Lewis was arrested on Saturday night.
A neighbor called police after spotting someone enter a home in
northwest Cedar Rapids around 6:30 Saturday night. The home's
foundation had partially collapsed because of June flooding that
covered thousands of homes in Cedar Rapids.
Police say Lewis had a certified flood contractor license but
the owner of the home says it was the suspect's brother that was
doing work on the residence. Police say there is evidence copper
piping was taken from the home.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) - Wells' Dairy has opened new contract talks
with an employee committee that represents about 1,400 hourly
workers in the Le Mars area.
Representatives of Wells' Dairy, the makers of Blue Bunny ice
cream, say the company is committed to negotiating a new contract
in good faith.
The current three-year contract is set to expire on Dec. 31.
In March, 56 percent of hourly workers who voted rejected a
deal, negotiated by the employee committee and company management,
that would have trimmed about $5 million in pay and benefits out of
the final year of the current labor pact.

In Nebraska...

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) - A Muslim leader from Omaha says a
Grand Island meatpacking plant is asking its workers to choose
between their religion and their work.
And Mohamed Rage of the Omaha Somali-American Community
Organization says that's not fair.
Muslim workers have been asking for accommodations with break
times to allow prayer at sunset. The issue led to walkouts at the
plant last week - not only from Muslims, but also from non-Muslims
who protested such accommodations as preferential treatment.
Rage and representatives of the Muslim workers met yesterday in
Grand Island to talk about a resolution.
They decided to negotiate with company officials to ensure
workers' constitutional rights aren't violated.
Messages left for a company spokeswoman weren't returned.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Students who are too young to vote may get
to cast ballots anyway.
From October 27th through 30th, students can cast their votes on
paper ballots in a mock election for three federal offices:
president, Senate and House of Representatives.
Results will be reported on the Nebraska Student Vote Web site
and sent to the National Mock Election program.
Run by Secretary of State John Gale and the Omaha World Herald,
Nebraska Student Vote is a program that combines civics instruction
with the mock election in connection with the November 4th general
election.
Teachers can get information about the program and register
their classes online at www.nestudentvote.com. The registration
deadline is October 20th.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Financial Education Coalition
is launching a public awareness campaign to help consumers better
manage their finances.
Free classes and events will be held across the state from
November 10th through November 16th. The group is looking for
businesses, financial institutions, government agencies, schools
and other groups to help educate the public during the week.
They can host events to educate the public on personal finance
topics, provide educational materials or instructors, seminars or
help promote the event.
To become a partner or to learn more about the week, visit
www.moneysmartnebraska.org.

In South Dakota...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota's chief investment officer
says even though last week was a bad one on Wall Street, the stock
market has seen turbulence before.
Matt Clark, whose office is responsible for about $9.1 billion
in state retirement and other funds, points to the Black Monday
stock market crash of 1987. Also, he singles out 1990 and '91, when
a commercial real estate boom and loose credit policies led to a
40-percent commercial vacancy rate that drove many large banks into
bankruptcy.
During the current spate of problems, Clark and his Investment
Office staff have had to monitor the news closely.
The state Investment Office owns stock and bonds in Lehman
Brothers, has had stock and many bonds in mortgage giants Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, and owned stock in embattled insurer American
International Group -- better known as AIG.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Effective Sept. 30, beginning farmers in
South Dakota can request larger loans through a state Agriculture
Department program.
More than 300 South Dakota farmers have received Beginning
Farmer Bond loans since the program began in 1996.
The financing can be used to buy land, buildings, machinery and
livestock.
The average interest rate for those loans was 6.77 percent.
Loans have been limited to $250,000 but that will increase to
$450,000. A $125,000 limit on new agricultural equipment will
increase to $250,000.
Lenders arranging loans for beginning farmers purchase
tax-exempt bonds from the Value Added Finance Authority in the
amount of the loans. The banks offer reduced finance charges
because interest earned on the loans is tax-free.
Interest rates are reduced by up to 2 percent.
Officials say the lower finance charges can help beginning
farmers get started in the business, and make things more
affordable for former farmers who want to re-enter the occupation.

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota Underground Pipeline Task
Force will meet for a second time on Monday.
The group is studying state laws and regulations on pipelines
used to transport water, natural gas, crude oil, ethanol, gasoline
and diesel fuel.
It must make a report by Dec. 1 to Gov. Mike Rounds.
The task force was informed by legal counsel at its initial
session last month that the state cannot regulate the construction
and operation of interstate pipelines.
State lawmakers authorized the study in response to an endeavor
by a Canadian firm to route a crude-oil pipeline through 10 eastern
counties.

MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - Democrats are whittling away at the
Republican Party's advantage in voter registration in South Dakota.
The Democratic Party gained 11,000 voters from April through
August of this year. The GOP gained around 1,300 voters in the same
period.
Some of the Democratic gains probably came because of interest
in the party's presidential primary and visits to the state by
candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
As of September first, the state had 236,921 registered
Republicans, 199,007 Democrats, 77,345 independents and 1,940
members of other parties.