The ban that prevents utilities from turning off services to those behind on their bills ends Tuesday (April 1st). The ban only covers those who are signed up for the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Iowa Utilities Board spokesman, Rob Hillesland, says those not in LIHEAP may also be behind on their bills and the best thing to do is to work out a payment agreement. “It’s vital that customers who feel they cannot pay their energy bills contact their local utility for help in avoiding potential service disconnection,” Hillesland says.

The record cold this winter has pushed heating bills up for everyone and led to a record amount of unpaid bills. Hillesland says regulators and the utility companies are trying to help Iowans deal with the bigger bills. “The board has met with representatives of many of the utilities recently and they’re doing extra things this year to try to reach out to customers and communicate that they need to enter into payment arrangements — or find means to try to avoid service disconnections,” Hillesland says.

He says the utility companies across the state would rather work something out than pull the plug. “Disconnection is always the last resort for representatives of utilities,” he says. But, Hillesland says you have to do your part and try to work something out. “One of the large energy utilities serving Iowa reported that it had done an internal study of its customers that had been disconnected recently. And it indicated that a majority of those customers had left options on the table that could have avoided disconnections,” Hillesland explains.

The state can help if you feel you can’t come to an agreement with your utility. “If there’s unresolved issues with their utility, they can call the Iowa Utilities Board customer service staff. There’s a toll free number 1-877-565-4450,” Hillesland says. “The Iowa Utilities Board does have rules that govern when disconnections can occur.”

He says they also have rules governing the payment agreements between customers and utilities. The board report showed that there were just over 243-thousand households in Iowa who had a past-due balance on their utility accounts at the end of February. Those households owed a record of just over 46-million dollars.

(Radio Iowa)

SAC CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Florida man suspected killing a northwest Iowa man in 2009 has been returned to face a murder charge. Authorities say 54-year-old John Green arrived Friday night and is being held without bond in Sac County Jail. He’s scheduled for a hearing next Monday. It’s unclear whether he has a lawyer. He was arrested Tuesday at a dog track in Orange Park, Fla.

Green is accused of killing 58-year-old Mark Koster, of Sac City. Police say Green briefly lived with Koster in 2009. Relatives say they last saw Koster that year. Koster was reported missing in 2010. His skeletal remains were found buried in the basement of his Sac city home in 2012.

Two people were arrested Sunday on drug charges in Shenandoah. According to the Police Department 27-year-old’s James Johnson and Courtney Schlegel, both of Shenandoah were taken into custody. Both were arrested for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. They were each cited and released.

In areas once considered beyond saving, new development is emerging and spawning renewal in places such as Des Moines, Iowa City, Greenfield and Ottumwa. Some of those community reinvestment projects are now being honored by 1000 Friends of Iowa. Doug Adamson is a landscape architect in Des Moines who sits on the board for 1000 Friends. He says the awards recognize projects that use what are called smart-growth principles.

“Which is basically a sustainable approach to design. It reduces sprawl. It preserves farmland from sprawl and development and really concentrates on increasing the quality of life.” Adamson says a project that stood above the rest was the restoration of the Hotel Greenfield, originally completed in 1920 and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“They could have easily went out to the highway and promoted a developer to develop a standard chain hotel out there on the highway, but instead they connect with the Downtown Development Corp and just did an amazing job and made it successful.”

A building once considered for demolition in Ottumwa a revitalization effort that began with a restaurant and brew pub in 2009. The last phase was completed last year with the addition of four loft apartments. The Appanoose Rapids Brewing Company says the project helped inspire development from other businesses, and is among the winners of the 2013 Best Development Awards from 1000 Friends of Iowa.

The other winners of the 1000 Friends of Iowa development awards were the Historic Packaging and Provision Building in Iowa City and Central Iowa Shelter and Services in Des Moines.

(Iowa News Service)