The National Weather Service in Des Moines says a large storm system may impact the central US toward the end of next week. Officials say the system could potentially bring accumulating snowfall to much of the area, with significant snowfall amounts possible. Gusty winds are also of concern with this system.

The Weather Service says it’s still too early to determine at this time, specifics as the exact track, strength, and timing of the system, but persons should continue to monitor the forecast for the latest details in the coming days. Prior to this system, very mild air will move into the area this Sunday sending temperatures well above average.

The National Federation of the Blind (NFBI) in Iowa has issued a position statement saying the organizations is not in favor of the proposal by the Board of Regents to combine the services given to blind and deaf students. The Board of Regents voted on February sixth to give preliminary approval to the recommendation of a study committee to create five regional centers to serve both blind and deaf students. N-F-B-I president, Michael Barber, says advocates for the blind have several issues with the proposal. “The first concern of course is, whenever programs for the blind — no matter what they are for adults or for children — get merged with anything else, it’s been our experience that programs for the blind take a back seat to the other programs. And that’s just been a longstanding experience,” Barber says.

The regional proposal would keep the School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs and school for the blind in Vinton as two of the regional centers while adding three new centers. Barber says N-F-B-I is concerned that Patrick Clancy who oversaw the school for the blind, was also named superintendent of the school for the deaf and the merger of services proceeded. “I guess we’re just concerned about the way that this was done,” Barber says. “We just kind of thought that the Board of Regents had already made up their mind that this was going to be merged, and that was the way it was gonna be, and that was the way it looked to us.”

Barber acknowledges the N-F-B-I had a representative on the committee during the five-month process that led to selecting recommendation for the regional service concept. Barber says the group did not get on the agenda for the February sixth Regent’s meeting and then were denied an opportunity to speak before the board voted to move ahead with the pilot for the proposal. “Keep in mind that this is an open meeting, it was a public meeting, and yet we consumers were not allowed to make public comment. We take umbrage with at that, we’re not happy with that, we think it’s a very questionable practice. We are going to be looking into that, because we do not think consumers should be treated this way by a public body.” He says the N-F-B-I would like to see the issue go in a whole new direction.

“We want the education of blind students to be taken away from the Board of Regents and given to the Department of Education. We feel that they are the ones who would really would be better suited for this. The Board of Regents, they do a great job with higher education. They are not experts in programs for the blind,or for the deaf for that matter.” Barber says his organization will pursue the plan to move the oversight of blind students. “We’ve already talked to the governor and told him what are intentions are. And I’m not saying that we have his full support right now, because I can’t say that. But he knows that we’re dissatisfied and he knows what our plans are. I have talked to the governor about this,” Barber says.

The Regents directed Superintendent Clancy to proceed with setting up a pilot program to test the regional concept for service to blind and deaf students and gave him a deadline of no later than September. The committee reports the regional plan would eventually save money in providing services for blind and deaf students in the state.

Board of Regents Executive Director Robert Donley issued this statement in reply to N-F-B-I’s concerns: “The Board of Regents appreciated the thoughtful comments made by Michael Barber on behalf the Iowa chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. The Board approved the recommendations of the Regents Feasibility Study and Planning Committee which represented all key stakeholders from the deaf and hard of hearing, and vision-impaired and blind communities. The Committee gathered information from public hearings throughout the state, as well as respected national experts. The Board unanimously approved the recommendations from the study and is very proud of the advances we have made in the services that benefit these two communities under the leadership of Superintendent Patrick Clancy.”

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Mandatory water cutbacks may be employed this summer in some parts of Iowa if the drought lingers.  Tim Hall is bureau chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ geology and water survey staff and he told a legislative panel on Thursday that the situation was worst in northwest Iowa.

The state has the power to prioritize water use based on a system developed in the 1950s. Hall says the system has never been used and won’t be used this summer either. He says conservation decisions are best left to local communities because situations vary so widely from one county or part of the state to the next.

The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says nearly a quarter of Iowa remains in severe or extreme drought.

A Villisca man was arrested Thursday night in Montgomery County, on an OWI charge. Sheriff’s officials say 44-year old Ronald L. Borem was arrested as a deputy responded to an “unknown situation” call at Borem’s residence. Borem was brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center and held on $1,000 bond.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A registered nurse and former congressional candidate from northeastern Kansas has been chosen to head a four-state region of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Department Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the appointment of Stephene Moore as director of HHS Region 7 on Thursday. The region covers Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.

Moore, of Lenexa, KS,has been a senior adviser at HHS for the past year. She is the wife of Dennis Moore, a Democrat who spent six terms in the U.S. House representing Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. Stephene Moore won the Democratic nomination to succeed her husband in 2010 but lost the general election to Republican Kevin Yoder.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Authorities in Adams County say a car reported stolen from an undisclosed location in Cass County on February 2nd, was recovered Tuesday morning in a ditch west of Prescott. The vehicle was found near the intersection of  150th and Orange Streets. The 4-door Mercury has since has been returned to the owner.  Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the Adams County Sheriff’s Office at 641-322-4444.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The Mills County Sheriff’s Office reports two recent arrests.On Wednesday, Feb. 13th, 30-year old Keith Alan Wilson II, of Glenwood, was arrested in Glenwood, on a warrant for Probation Violation. Wilson was being held in the Mills County Jail on $5,000 bond. And, on Tuesday, deputies in Mills County arrested 56-year old Steven Craig Severin, of  Glenwood,  for Driving while Barred. Severin’s bond was set at $1,000.