A New Vienna native who has been the state’s drug czar has been appointed by Governor Kim Reynolds to take over as the executive director for the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs. Steve Lukan replaces Jodi Tymeson who announced her retirement last month. “I am very excited for the opportunity, we have a great team here and I’m looking forward to helping veterans here in Iowa and to working with people and hopefully we can do some good things,” Lukan says.

Lukan is a veteran who joined the U-S Navy after graduating from Dyersville Beckman High School. He served four years, earning four promotions and obtaining the rank of Petty Officer Second Class. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal and Navy Achievement Medal. Lukan says appreciation for the military has always been important to him and his family. “I’ve come from several generations where we’ve all served in the military and extended family has served in the military,” Lukan says. “I think it’s just a wonderful opportunity to help those people who have served out country, and I like to think of them as some of the finest men and women out there, and I’m just thankful for the opportunity to do it.”

While serving as a state representative for Delaware and Dubuque counties, Lukan championed the creation of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and enacted legislation to help disabled veterans through the establishment of the Veterans Trust Fund. Lukan says he is looking into proposing a few changes to some of the existing laws, but wants to get settled in to his new position before releasing details.

(Radio Iowa)

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have charged a northwest Iowa man with forgery and insurance fraud totaling nearly $29,000. Court records say 39-year-old Scott Leininger is scheduled to be in court Dec. 4. He didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday at a number listed for him in Le Mars.

Authorities say Leininger submitted false paperwork to back his claim to Homesite Insurance for damage he said his disability equipment sustained during a lightning storm. Court documents say the company discovered that the paperwork was bogus and didn’t pay the claim.

Iowa Congressman Rod Blum voted for the tax package that cleared the U.S. House last week. However, Blum is hoping senators make at least two big changes in the bill. Under the House plan, the wind production tax credit would be reduced. “Keep those incentives in the tax code because Iowa is a leader nationwide. I think a third of our electricity is generated by the wind here in Iowa, which is great,” Blum says. “I’ve talked to MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy and, obviously, they’re concerned.”

Blum, a Republican from Dubuque, says federal tax credits for renovating historic properties should be maintained as well. “Here in Dubuque, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, a lot of the warehouse districts that are being rehabilitated –these old buildings — just wouldn’t be economically feasible if it wasn’t for the historic tax credit,” Blum says, “Because we just can’t charge high enough rents in towns in Iowa to make these projects cash-flow out for the developers.”

The credit is currently worth 20 percent of the cost of fixing up a dilapidated property. “And it pays for itself,” Blum says. “Rutgers University did a study showing that tax credit returns more money to the treasury than it costs.”  Blum says “most deductions had to go” though in order to get a bill that reduces rates and simplifies the tax-filing process.

(Radio Iowa)