The smell of bacon will permeate the campus of Iowa State University tomorrow (Saturday). The first ever ISU Bacon Expo is being held in the courtyard of the Scheman  Center. Bacon Expo student co-chair Kristin Liska is a senior at ISU studying animal science, with a minor in journalism. “The idea was founded by our College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council President (Jake Swanson)…bacon is a hot topic right now and it’s just a way to showcase agriculture in general,” Liska says.

Iowa is the top pork producing state in the country. About 30 million hogs are raised in the state each year. Liska says there will be 21 tents filled with vendors and student clubs offering a wide variety of bacon – everything from traditional bacon to bacon cupcakes. “I’ve heard of jalapeño bacon, Cookie’s barbecue bacon, and a maple sugar-pepper bacon that our ISU meat lab is doing,” Liska says.

The event will also include live music and a contest with the theme, “How Do You Wear Your Bacon?”  Liska says the Iowa State Fashion Show has “paired” with the expo and will hold a contest with participants given one hour to construct an outfit made out of bacon on a model. The fifteen-hundred (1,500) tickets for the event went on sale September 6 and sold out in two days.

The inaugural ISU Bacon Expo will run from 1-5 p.m. tomorrow. Liska says discussions are already underway for another Bacon Expo next year.

(Radio Iowa)

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines Area Community College administrator has been chosen as president of North Iowa Area Community College.  The Mason City Globe Gazette reports  the North Iowa Area Community College board of directors approved a contract for Steven Schulz on Thursday. His salary will be $165,000. Schulz has worked as provost at the Carroll campus of Des Moines Area Community College since 2006.  He replaces Debra Derr, who left North Iowa for a position in Oregon.

Schulz attended the board meeting with his wife and two daughters, who are students at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.  Schulz grew up in Franklin County and says he’s honored to be chosen for the position.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 25-year-old man won’t be prosecuted on charges that he shot a foreign exchange student outside a Sioux City bar last year.  The Sioux City Journal reports that authorities say Solomon Harris has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Harris had yet to enter pleas to the charges, which included assault. Harris is accused of shooting 20-year old Natacha Butera, who is from Rwanda. Police say Harris fired the gun while arguing with another man on Nov. 18, but the bullet struck Butera in the chest and an arm.

Harris’ attorney, Greg Jones, says he and prosecutors met with a district judge on Thursday to discuss where Harris should be committed for treatment and safekeeping. Another judge has ruled that Harris poses a danger to the public.

w/ Ric Hanson

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Lincoln, Nebraska man has admitted robbing two banks in Nebraska and one in western Iowa. The Lincoln Journal Star says 53-year-old Cameron Mitchell made his guilty pleas Thursday in a federal courtroom in Lincoln after making a deal with prosecutors.

While being questioned by U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart, Mitchell acknowledged robbing a Union Bank branch in Lincoln on July 16, 2012, a First National Bank branch in Omaha on Aug. 13, 2012, and an American National Bank branch in Council Bluffs, on Aug. 24, 2012.  Prosecutors say Mitchell carried a small-caliber gun during each robbery.

Mitchell agreed that restitution of more than $74,000 would be ordered as part of his sentence. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 14.

w/ Ric Hanson

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The City Council in Audubon will hold a special meeting today (Friday), at noon. The lone item on their agenda, is the approval of a change order pertaining to the Water Tower Project. The cost  increase of $5,275 reflects sealing work necessary on all interior roof seams using an NSF approved sealant.

During the Council’s meeting Monday night, City officials approved a pay estimate for the project amounting to nearly $119,900.  The water tower project includes cleaning the tower inside and out, as well as painting.  Officials say it’s hoped the tower will be refilled by the end of the month.

Sheriff’s officials in Adams County say a Union County man was arrested Thursday evening on Highway 34. Alexander Reidler, of Creston, was pulled over at around 6:50-p.m. for speeding. He was subsequently found to be driving with a suspended license, and having no insurance on his vehicle. Reidler was booked into the Adams County Jail, where his bond was set at slightly more than $1,132.

Police in Red Oak arrested a 69-year old woman Thursday evening, for Failure to Appear in court. Officials say Karen Jean Tuntas, of Red Oak, was taken into custody in the 500 block of Broad Street at around 7:15-p.m., for failure to appear on a Driving While Revoked charge. Tuntas was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

WEST BRANCH, Iowa (AP) — Herbert Hoover’s presidential library has reopened in his Iowa hometown after Congress voted to end the government shutdown. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum and Library in West Branch said yesterday that it is once again open to visitors and researchers after being closed since October 1st, when funding for its activities ran out.

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) — A school official in Grinnell says about 40 students and a teacher were taken to a hospital after being exposed to sewer line gases. Superintendent Todd Abrahamson tells KCCI-TV the students and teacher are from Grinnell-Newburg High School. After being exposed to the gases due to a crack in a sewer line, they complained of headaches, dizziness and nausea and were evaluated at a hospital yesterday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police says they’re investigating the first theft of the rental bicycles commonly used in downtown Des Moines. The Register reports four of the bikes were rented between Monday and Wednesday, and then not returned. The bikes are valued at $4,800. The bikes are rented by swiping a credit card, and the owner of the card used says it must have been stolen.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A pot-bellied pig nicknamed Willie is no longer free. KCCI-TV reports after weeks of roaming an eastside Des Moines neighborhood, residents say Willie was caught in a live trap near a dental office. Animal control workers took the roughly 200 pound animal into custody.