The Harlan City Council, Tuesday night, recognized a special member of the Harlan Community. Sanitation Superintendent Steve Kenkel received a Waste Environment Association Operator Advancement Award for his outstanding work with the Waste Water Treatment Plant, from the Iowa Environmental Association. Harlan Mayor Gene Gettys read a letter from the IEA that came with the award, which described Kenkel’s accomplishments, including the upgrades on the Waste Water Treatment facility, maintenance to the lift-station and his work with the Shelby County Cookers.

Kenkel helped the Cookers plant correct their compliance issues. In the letter, Scott Carlson, CEO of Westin Foods, said Kenkel was the key to helping the long term compliance for the city, state and federal regulations. Kenkel told the council how appreciative he was of them and what they do. He also praised his staff.

The Council Tuesday approved a request for an additional allocation of 100 pounds per day of biochemical oxygen demand or BOD from Shelby County Cookers. The cost for 100-pounds of BOD is $1,280 per pound, and 5-pounds of TKN is $3,600 per pound.

The Harlan City Council also accepted an agreement with Verizon Wireless to place a tower near 4th Street and Cyclone for additional cell phone coverage during RAGBRAI. The term of the agreement is from July 5th to July 30th, 2013. Verizon will pay a $500 fee to place the tower on a 75’ by 75’ parcel. Verizon is making similar agreements with host cities for the 2013 RAGBRAI event.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Republican Congressman Steve King is among a group holding a six-hour-long press conference today (Wednesday) in Washington, D.C. to insist on securing the southern border before any reform of the immigration system. King is one of what’s been dubbed the “Gang of 70” in the U.S. House who’ve lined up in opposition to the immigration reform plan being touted by the “Gang of Eight” in the U.S. Senate.

King says it’s “dumb” not to realize a fence is needed all across the U.S. border with Mexico. During a recent interview with Glenn Beck, King said a “horse high, hog tight and bull strong” fence like Iowa farmers build would keep people on the right side of the border. King has long opposed what he calls “amnesty” for “law-breakers” who came into the country illegally. King says it’s time for opponents to “stand their ground now” to ensure immigration reform is never considered in the U.S. House.

King hints there may be retribution from House Republican leaders against him and the other Republicans who oppose immigration reform. King bills today’s event as the “longest press conference in the history of the U.S. congress” to make the argument against immigration reform. It began at 8 a.m. Iowa time. There will be a two-hour break over midday and then the event will resume at one o’clock Iowa time for another three hours.

(Radio Iowa)

Officials with the Iowa Lottery say a Harlan woman won $30,000 in an instant scratch game after buying a ticket for her husband’s birthday. Misty Robertson, accompanied by her husband, Eddy, claimed their jackpot prize off the Iowa Lottery’s Crossword scratch game. It was the 58th of 97 top prizes for the Crossword game.

The 34 year old Robertson told the lottery her husband enjoys playing the scratch tickets on his birthday. They ended up buying only 2 tickets, with the first being the $30,000 winner and the 2nd a $3 winner. Eddy Petersen said at first they thought they won $3,000 but his wife showed him there were more letters and called the whole experience very emotional. The couple took a few days to get everything together before claiming there prize. As Misty said, they didn’t want to go crazy with it.

Robertson claimed her winnings last Thursday at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. She purchased her winning ticket at the Country Store 618 Durant Street in Harlan. She said they will use the money to fix up the house, buy a car and save some back.

Thirty nine top prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Crossword, along with sixty-one $3,000 prizes. Since the lottery’s start in 1985, players have won more than $3.1 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.4 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans.

The Director of the Family Crisis Support Network (FCSN) in Atlantic is dispelling rumors the shelter for abused women and their children is closing due to a loss of approximately $240,000 in state funding, and a failure to receive other forms of grants or funding. Richter says there are no plans to close the shelter at this time. Speaking before a meeting of the Cass County Board of Supervisors this (Wednesday) morning, in Atlantic, Richter addressed some questions that have arisen over what the shelter can and cannot do at this point. 

She says the can no longer serve victims of crimes, because that option has been taken away from the state. Richter says those agencies that have been serving crime victims, are only recognized as doing so. The FCSN is a member of two coalitions which allows their staff to work with victims of crime, but effective July 1^st, any entity not funded by the state will not be recognized as a Crime Victim Service Agency. 

Richter says because the FCSN is a private, non-profit agency governed by a local Board of Directors, there is no reason to shut the shelter down. She says conversations with other entities within the County have been held to determine if there is a need to keep the shelter open. The final decision she says, will come with time. 

Last month, Richter said they have enough money in their “Rainy Day” fund to keep the shelter open. She says one option they could consider, is becoming a “Transitional Housing” facility, instead of a “Shelter.” She says there are numerous grants that can be applied for if they change the basis for their service, but the FCSN is not making a decision on that at this time, and it will stay open as a shelter until such time as it is no longer financially feasible to do so.

(Updated 6/20/13 w/edits)

A head-on crash that occurred during the early morning hours of June 9^th in Dallas County has claimed a second life. Family members report 20-year old Jesse Leeper, of Adair, died early this (Wednesday) morning at a hospital in Iowa City. Leeper was the driver of a car that was struck head-on by an SUV that was heading the wrong direction on Interstate 80. The driver of the SUV, 24-year old Megan Wakeham, of West Des Moines, also died in the crash that happened about a mile east of Earlham.

A third person, 49-year old Lori Wallace, of Greenfield, was injured in the crash when her SUV hit the rear of Leeper’s car. Two passengers in Leeper’s car suffered non-life threatening injuries.

w/ Ric Hanson

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JEFFERSON, Iowa (AP) – Casino supporters have turned in petitions calling for a public vote on gambling in west-central Iowa’s Greene County.  A group called Grow Greene County submitted more than 750 signatures on Tuesday. Only about 460 verified signatures are needed to force supervisors to schedule a vote. An Aug. 6th election is expected.
 
Greene County Supervisor Guy Richardson backs the casino and says the county must grow in order to thrive.  The Rev. Julie Poulsen of First United Methodist Church in Jefferson is a leader of No Casino Greene County. She says she opposes gambling because of the harm to individuals and families.
 
A Greene County casino likely would be developed at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 4 in Jefferson.

Authorities in Pottawattamie County say a woman from Oakland was transported to the hospital by helicopter in criticial condition following a collision Tuesday afternoon between a car and a semi, just east of Oakland. Officials say 27-year old Jessica Luke failed to yield to a westbound semi at the intersection of 450th Street and Highway 6. After the two vehicles collided, the car ended-up beneath the trailer of the semi. Oakland and Carson Rescue responded to the scene of the crash, which happened at around 1:45-p.m., Tuesday, about three-miles east of Oakland.

Luke was extricated from her vehicle and flown to the Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. The driver of the semi, Daniel Mueller, of Griswold, was not hurt.

A former state legislator and candidate for governor says he’s considering a run for the U.S. Senate. Fifty-five-year-old Rod Roberts served 10 years in the Iowa House, representing the Carroll area, before he ran for governor. Roberts got about nine percent of the votes cast in the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary that Terry Branstad won. Roberts says he doesn’t want to be “impulsive” about running for the U.S. Senate and will announce his decision by the end of the summer.

“In a field of multiple candidates in a compressed timeline, you really have to think about the potential support that’s out there, the resources to put a viable campaign together,” Roberts says. “So now it’s: Can you do it in kind of a sprint to the finish line?” Roberts says just as he felt “called” to be an ordained minister in the Church of Christ, he feels a “calling” to public service. “When that’s in your background and that’s kind of how you’re wired, this comes very naturally to me to consider an opportunity like this, especially when you place a high regard on what others are saying to you,” Roberts says. “You know as that comes to you, you don’t just ignore it or disregard it. You think about it pretty seriously and I am.”

Governor Branstad appointed Roberts to serve as director of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, a job Roberts would have to leave if he runs for the senate. “I do have a job I enjoy and people I enjoy working with and that weighs in my thinking, too,” Roberts says. Roberts is active on the online social network Twitter and his recent Tweets have addressed federal issues like immigration reform and the need for a “conservative candidate” to run for Iowa’s U.S. Senate seat in 2014.

(Radio Iowa)