DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa middle school principal is apologizing after denying students pizzas that had already been delivered to their classroom for a pizza party their teacher had promised them. Brody Middle School Principal Thomas Hoffman intercepted the pizzas Thursday, citing the school’s fairness and equal opportunity policy. That led a parent of one of the denied students to post about the incident on social media, drawing thousands of angry responses. By late afternoon, Hoffman had issued a public apology, saying he was “overly strict” in applying the school’s standards. Hoffman says the school will accept pizzas expected to be delivered to the entire school on Friday.

The DNC and CNN, in partnership with the Des Moines Register, today (Friday) released the qualification criteria  for participation in the seventh debate. To qualify for the January debate stage, candidates must demonstrate broad-based support by meeting both a grassroots fundraising requirement and one of two polling requirements. The deadline for qualifying polls and donations is January 10 at 11:59 P.M.

The official threshold rules are below:

QUALIFICATION CRITERIA FOR THE JANUARY DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE

To qualify for the January debate, candidates must meet one of two polling requirements (“Polling Threshold”) and the unique donor requirement (“Grassroots Fundraising Threshold”) as detailed below.

• Polling Threshold. To meet the Polling Threshold for the January Debate, candidates must meet either the “Four-Poll Threshold” or the “Early State Polling Threshold” as described here: Four-Poll Threshold – Receive 5% or more support in at least four polls (which may be national polls, or single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada) meeting the Qualifying Poll Criteria described below.  To meet the Four-Poll Threshold, each one of a candidate’s four qualifying polls must be sponsored by different Qualifying Poll Sponsors, or if by the same Qualifying Poll Sponsor, must be in different geographical areas.; Early State Polling Threshold – Receive 7% or more support in two single-state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and/or Nevada that meet the Qualifying Poll Criteria described below.  To meet the Early State Polling Threshold, any candidate’s two qualifying polls may be in the same or different geographical areas and from the same or different Qualifying Poll Sponsors.

For a poll to be counted towards the Four-Poll Threshold or Early State Polling Threshold, it must meet each of the four requirements described below (“Qualifying Poll Criteria”):

• Each poll must be sponsored by one of the following 16 entities or pairs of entities (“Qualifying Poll Sponsors”): Associated Press; ABC News/Washington Post; CBS News/YouGov; CNN; Des Moines Register; Fox News; Monmouth University; National Public Radio; NBC News/Wall Street Journal; NBC News/Marist; New York Times; Nevada Independent/Mellman Group; Quinnipiac University; University of New Hampshire; USA Today/Suffolk University; Winthrop University. For individual entities that are included only in Qualifying Poll Sponsor pairs but are not listed individually, independent polling by such individual entities or polling conducted in new partnerships with such individual entities shall not meet the Qualifying Poll Criteria.  The DNC reserves the right to add a Nevada-specific poll sponsor to this list in the near future.
• Each poll must be publicly released between November 14, 2019 and 11:59 P.M. on January 10, 2020.
• Each poll’s candidate support question must have been conducted by reading or presenting a list of Democratic presidential primary candidates to respondents. Poll questions using an open-ended or un-aided question to gauge presidential primary support will not count.
• Each polling result must be the top-line number listed in the original public release from the approved Qualifying Poll Sponsor, whether or not it is a rounded or weighted number.

Grassroots Fundraising Threshold. To meet the Grassroots Fundraising Threshold, candidates must submit a certification, executed by the candidate’s campaign Treasurer, by 11 A.M. on January 11, 2019, demonstrating that the campaign has received donations from at least (1) 225,00 unique donors; and (2) a minimum of 1,000 unique donors per state in at least 20 U.S. states, U.S. territories, or the District of Columbia. Qualifying donations must be received by 11:59 P.M. on January 10, 2020. An acceptable certification must provide or attach adequate verifiable evidence to show that the fundraising threshold has been reached and may include verification from ActBlue or NGP VAN regarding the campaign’s fundraising.

(Radio Iowa) — The state agency which oversees liquor sales is reporting an increase in the amount of money spent on alcohol compared to last year. Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Divisions spokesman, Tyler Ackerson, talks about the fiscal year that ended June 30th: “We saw a total liquor sales increase this year of six-point-one percent. We had total sales of 339 million dollars and of that — 126 million dollars was transferred directly to the state general fund,” Ackerson says. He says a bigger product selection could be part of the reason for the increase. “It appears that the number of orders that retailers are placing has remained static — but it looks like they are ordering more in each order,” Ackerson say. “And we’ve also increased our product portfolio so there’s more choice — and it appears that they are taking advantage of that by having larger orders.”

Ackerson says flavored products continue to expand. “American vodkas were the top category of liquor sold during the fiscal year. And with those vodkas you tend to see a lot of different flavors,” according to Ackerson. “It’s an increase in the product portfolio itself with more choice and stores seem to be taking advantage of that because of customer demand.” Black Velvet Whiskey was once again the top selling spirit, followed by Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, Tito’s Handmade Texas Vodka, Hawkeye Vodka and Five O’Clock Vodka. Ackerson says some people are spending a little more and getting more expensive brands. “We have seen some premization — but a lot of Iowans pick their brand and they stick to it. I think you can see that by Black Velvet Whiskey being the top,” he says.

He says there was a change in the Iowa produced spirits. “A Clive-based distillery has taken the number one spot for an Iowa-made spirit. It’s the Blue Ox Vodka by Dehner (Day-ner) Distillery,” Ackerson says. “For a long time Templeton Rye was the number one — but they have been surpassed by this Dehner Distillery.” The Blue Ox Vodka sold 12-thousand-618 cases to Templeton Rye Whisky’s four-thousand-259. Ackerson says they saw a little increase in the number of license to sell alcohol. Mostly in those licensed to sell products that are consumed elsewhere. “The biggest chunk of those comes from convenience stores — that’s the fastest growing sector we’ve seen in that area of licensing. We continue to see growth, but we don’t know when of if it will stop growing,” Ackerson says.

A former employee of the I-A-B-D has filed a lawsuit claiming the agency charged too much for the alcohol. Ackerson would only say this about the lawsuit. “The allegations that have been made are untrue, but I cannot go into specifics on them,” Ackerson says. The full annual report can is only at the I-A-D-B website.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man charged in the killing of an 18-year-old high school student 40 years ago is seeking to exclude from his trial DNA evidence used to arrest him. The Des Moines Register reports that an attorney for 65-year-old Jerry Burns filed a motion this week to exclude DNA evidence police lifted from a straw Burns had discarded last year. Attorney Leon Spies says in his motion that police didn’t have a warrant to seize the tossed-out straw. Police arrested Burns last December for the stabbing death of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko.

The Creston Police Department reports the arrest of 34-year old Colan Hanner, of Orient. The Adair County man was arrested after a traffic stop in Creston for Driving while Suspended. Hanner was cited for failure to yield and failure to provide proof of financial liability. He was seen by a magistrate and released.

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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A Red Oak man was acquitted Wednesday, of two charges stemming from his arrest on Aug. 16 (2019). 41-year-old Matthew Walter Riley was found not guilty of second-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit sexual assault. following a two-day trial.  An additional charge of third-degree forcible sexual assault was dismissed in October. Riley’s attorney says his client had been charged with a felony offense based primarily on the testimony of a single witness. After the 12-person jury rendered their unanimous verdict, Riley was allowed to walk out of the courtroom a free man.

(Radio Iowa/KJAN) — The next two weeks represent the most difficult time of the entire year for the LifeServe Blood Center, as donors become scarce due to things like holiday travel, flu season and the winter weather. Danielle West, a spokeswoman for LifeServe, says they’re taking donations six days a week at seven Iowa donor centers, in addition to mobile blood drives across about 90-percent of the state. “We have a lot of fun blood drives going on — on Christmas Eve, the day after Christmas, the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s,” West says. “We’re just trying to remind people that we still need blood donors to come in because unfortunately, there’s still a lot of people in hospitals that need those blood transfusions.”

A single blood donation can save the lives of up to three local hospital patients. “We really could use all blood types, definitely the O-negative and O-positive, those are used most often in hospitals, so we truly bug our O donors pretty often,” West says. “Platelets are always in need as well. It takes a bit longer to make a platelet donation but a lot of those go to cancer patients.” LifeServe Blood Center is the sole provider of blood to more than 120 hospitals across Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska. “If you’ve never done it before, it takes 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish to give that pint of blood,” West says. “We take that and separate that out into red cells, platelets and plasma, so it truly is going to impact three different lives in this community because we’re the only ones supporting these local hospitals in our areas.”

LifeServe has donor centers in: Ames, Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Marshalltown, Mason City, Sioux City and Urbandale.

Here are some American Red Cross blood and blood platelet donation opportunities:

Adair County:

• Orient – 1/15/2020: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., at the Orient-Macksburg High School.

Audubon County:

• Audubon – 12/27/2019: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m., at St. Patrick’s Parish Center (2050 Hwy 71 N)

Cass County:

• Atlantic – 12/26/2019: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Cass County Memorial Hospital; 12/29/2019: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Cass County Community Center.
• Griswold – 1/10/2020: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Griswold High School.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa man has died in Norfolk, Nebraska, after the Jeep he was driving crossed a raised median and crashed into a truck. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office says the crash happened Thursday morning when 30-year-old Donovan Rasmussen, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, apparently lost control of a Jeep on Highway 81. The vehicle crossed a raised median and hit a cargo truck. Rasmussen died in the crash. The driver of the truck was 34-year-old Westley Lyon, of Columbus, Nebraska. He was treated for minor injuries. The crash forced the closure of Highway 81 for about four hours.