Authorities in Taylor County said Monday that a Lenox man has died from injuries he suffered after a gas can exploded while he was burning debris.

According to the Lenox Police Department, 75-year old James M. Wurster died at the Burn Treatment Center at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City, early Saturday morning.  Wurster had been burning debris at around 11:20-a.m. Friday, when fumes from a nearby five-gallon gas can ignited, causing the can to explode, showering Wurster with flaming gasoline.

The man was transported by ambulance to the hospital in Corning before being flown to Iowa City where he died at around 3-a.m., Saturday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad wants Iowa to be in the top 10 states for student standardized reading and math scores by 2019.  Branstad laid out the goal during a news conference Monday, as he continued to push lawmakers to approve his $187 million education reform plan.

Arguing that the state needs “world class schools,” Branstad noted Iowa now ranks 25th in the nation for eighth grade math and 29th for fourth grade reading. He said he wants to get those scores into the top 10 by boosting minimum teacher salaries and pay incentives to senior teachers who take on tasks like mentoring.

Lawmakers are reviewing Branstad’s proposal, but there has been some conflict with Democratic legislators who want to first set a general level of school funding.

(This is a correction to a previous posting which indicated the meeting is Feb. 11th)

The Atlantic Parks and Recreation Department’s Board of Directors will hold a special meeting Tuesday evening (Feb. 12th), at City Hall. Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring released the meeting agenda late this morning. During the session, the Board will take action on the contract and plans with Snyder and Associates, for the Parks and Rec Dept. office and Maintenance Building after they are presented for approval. The Board will also act on the Master Plan for the Schildberg Recreation area.

The meeting takes place at 5:15-p.m. in the Council’s Chambers at City Hall.