DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The search for a missing 15-year-old Iowa girl abducted Monday after getting off her school bus was continuing this (Wednesday) morning near Dayton in northern Iowa.  A news release from the Iowa Department of Public Safety says the search is focusing on four areas, all within 20 miles of Dayton.
 
Searchers will focus on the area around the bus stop where Kathlynn Shepard and a 12-year-old girl were abducted, the area in rural Pilot Mound, Iowa, where the 12-year-old girl escaped and an area near Dayton where the body of 42-year-old suspect Michael Klunder was found Monday night. Searchers will also search the area near Klunder’s Stratford, Iowa, home.
 
More than 300 people searched for Shepard on Tuesday. Authorities say more volunteers are not needed today, but could be later.

Legislators in Iowa have hammered out a tentative deal on education reform, one that creates a commission to study teacher evaluation methods and grants new independence for home schoolers. Representative Ron Jorgensen, a Republican from Sioux City is chairman of the House Education Committee and one of 10 legislators who’ve been trying to resolve the differences between Republicans and Democrats. “I’m very, very optimistic we’ll get something done today,” Jorgensen says. Under the proposal, home schooling parents would be able to teach their kids driver’s ed and would be able to teach four unrelated students in the home. The plan also removes the state requirement that parents who home school their children file regular progress reports with the school district in which they live. Jorgensen says some kids just don’t do well in the “larger settings” of a public school classroom.

“We just want to provide parents with options that we feel they should have a right to on who educates their kids, how their kids are educated and stuff and not a one-size-fits-all type scenario,” Jorgensen says. The package sets a new, minimum Iowa teacher salary of 33-thousand-500 dollars and offers stipends to talented teachers chosen mentor or coach others. The governor has said the ultimate goals are to improve the teaching profession and improve student achievement. Jorgensen says the deal meets those goals. “This will do it,” Jorgensen says. “I’m very pleased with where we’re at right now.” Public school districts that implement teacher mentoring programs would get about 310 dollars per student to finance the effort, but it would be optional, something Jorgensen and other Republicans insisted upon.

“We’re wanting to put in some safety valves for school districts that get into the program,” Jorgensen says. “We don’t want any unfunded mandates.” Weeks ago legislators agreed this plan would include the equivalent of a four percent in general state support for schools in the 2013/2014 school year and a four percent increase the following year. Legislative leaders suggest today (Wednesday) could be the last day of the 2013 legislative session, but there are a host of issues to resolve before midnight, as House rules prevent votes from occurring in the wee morning hours.

(Radio Iowa)

U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, today (Wednesday) announced loan and grant funds will be provided to applicants in 11 states, to support businesses, improve the quality of medical care, and create or save hundreds of jobs. Funding is provided through the USDA’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program. In the KJAN listening area, the Central Iowa Power Cooperative received a $1-million loan to construct a dormitory for Southwestern Community College, in Creston.

Vilsack says the USDA’s action is one part of the Department’s efforts to strengthen the rural economy. Funding of each recipient of the grants and loans is contingent upon the recipient meeting the conditions for the grant or loan.