w/ Ric Hanson

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(Update 11-a.m. Wed.)

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says a Union County man escaped injury after the pickup he was driving left the road and caught fire Tuesday evening. 56-year old Dennis James Case, of Creston, was traveling on Oxford Road, between 640th and 650th Streets, when he fell asleep at the wheel of his 2001 Chevy S-10 pickup. The vehicle entered the ditch and caught the dry grass on fire. The flames consumed the truck, which was considered to be a total loss. Case was cited for Failure to Maintain Control and No Proof of Insurance. Officials say the accident, which happened at around 6:30-p.m., remains under investigation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A consultant’s report says base pay for 18,500 state of Iowa workers is nearly 18 percent higher than comparable workers in the marketplace.  The report from Aon Hewitt says pay ranges for 11 Iowa positions were higher than the market, while ranges for seven positions were below market. The report released Tuesday also says pay ranges for Iowa’s employees are significantly higher than those in other states.

Administrative Services Department director Mike Carroll says the study was commissioned primarily because state officials have never done a comprehensive examination of state employee pay and benefits.  Danny Homan is president of the largest state employees’ bargaining unit, and he says the study lacked credibility and was designed to convince the public that state workers are overpaid.

Thousands of hunters are moving through the fields and woods of Iowa now with several hunting and trapping seasons underway. The coordinator of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources “Turn in Poachers” or TIP hotline, Steve Dermand, is asking hunters to help ensure all the activity is legal. Dermand says those who are not hunting can also help out by reporting activity or people who don’t seem right. “A landowner who comes across a big deer carcass lying in his field with the head removed, you know wondering about a buck that was probably poached there on his property. We encourage people who see things, who see other individuals who are doing things that are maybe contrary to the law,” Dermand says. You can call the TIP at 1-800-532-2020 and anonymously report what you saw.

He also encourages hunters and those who fish to be ready to warn the D-N-R of people they see breaking the law. “Have the cellphone number of your conservation officer programmed in your cellphone so that you can hit it quickly on a speeddial, and when you come across that (illegal activity) it’ll be something that you can report immediately,” Dermand says. “The one thing we’ve learned over time in this business as far as fish and wildlife poaching goes — the long you wait — the less likely we are to make a case.” He says it’s important to write down information like a description of the person involved, the license plate number and color and make of a vehicle, and the area where the crime happened. That way you won’t forget it later and the investigators won’t be left without key information.

“It just seems like evidence will disappear, or it gets cold and you are not able to find the things you need to find in order to make a case,” Dermand says. You may not think it’s a big deal if someone shoots an extra deer illegally, but he says helping stop poachers protects the rights of those who legally hunt and fish and even those who just like to enjoy nature. “The big deal about the fish and wildlife and deer included is that they are our Iowa natural resources, they are the things that are out there in the field that belong to all of us. Every citizen, every individual in this state,” Dermand explained. “And we should be proud of that. We should be proud of the resources that we have available to us, for viewing, for harvest by legal means, and just enjoyment.”

The TIP number is a 24 automated system. You can also report poaching online at: www.iowadnr.gov/tip, and it will send a report directly to the local officer. In cases where officers investigate and write a ticket, the individual who reported the violations can be eligible for a reward.

(Radio Iowa)

Republican Congressman Steve King says he will not give the Federal Emergency Management Agency a blank check to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  “I want to get them the resources that are necessary to lift them out of this water and this sand and the ashes and the death that’s over there in the east coast and especially the northeast,” King says. “But they need to come with a plan on how to spend it.” When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, King voted to immediately send 10-and-a-half billion dollars to the disaster zone, but King balked at a second installment of nearly 52-billion for things like temporary trailer homes and preparing for future disasters.

“Can you imagine in the middle of a disaster to ask for appropriations for mitigating future disasters?” King said. “That’s why I said no on that second round of appropriations for Katrina…because they spent it on Gucci bags and massage parlors and everything you can think of — in addition to what was necessary.” King made his comments last night (Tuesday) during a debate in Mason City and Christie Vilsack, King’s Democratic opponent, immediately responded to that Gucci remark. “Comments like that, Congressman King, are heartless,” Vilsack said. “You were one of 11 congresspeople who voted against flood relief in Hurricane Katrina and you said it was the proudest vote that you ever took.” Vilsack suggested that’s not “who we are in Iowa.”

“I hope that he will show the kind of kindness that Iowans do when we take care of people and when we have a disaster here as we have in past years with flooding,” she said. “How can we expect people to come in and take care of our disasters if we’re not willing to come in and take care of theirs?” King said he was willing to “take some lumps” over refusing to support disaster relief for Katrina damage since some of the money was ultimately misspent.

“Congressman King, your positions are extreme,” Vilsack replied. “In Iowa, we take care of people.” Last night’s debate was the seventh and final face-to-face meeting of the two candidates in Iowa’s new fourth congressional district. The debate was co-sponsored by K-G-L-O Radio, The Mason City Globe-Gazette and K-I-M-T television.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

Officials with the Obama for America campaign announced Tuesday, that President Bill Clinton will hold campaign events in Council Bluffs, Mason City and Waterloo on Wednesday, October 31st. The event will be held in Council Bluffs, at the Mid-America Center at 1 Arena Way. No ticket is necessary. Doors will open to the general public beginning at 9:15-a.m., with Clinton scheduled to speak shortly afterward.

While in Iowa, the President will fire up supporters and urge them to help get out the vote for President Obama and Vice President Biden. He will also lay out what the Obama campaign says is the “Clear choice facing Iowans in this election between moving forward with an economy built to last, and returning to top down economics that failed middle-class American families in the past.”

The Page County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of a tree stand. A tree stand is comprised of a platform, seat, or other  devices for the purpose of hunting deer or other game animals from an elevated position. Sheriff’s officials say a Clarinda man reported Monday, that the tree stand was taken from property he has permission to hunt on. It was set in-place in July on the property, located in the Harlan Township, Section 22, and not discovered missing, until late Monday morning. The loss was estimated at $150. The incident remains under investigation.

No injuries were reported after a vehicle driven by a Shenandoah Police officer struck a car while the officer was on patrol early Tuesday morning. According to the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Ethan Johnson was traveling through the parking lot of the Essex Post Office at around 1:35-a.m., and checking the license plate on a vehicle parked in the lot, when the 2012 Chevy Impala he was driving side-swiped another vehicle that was also parked, and unoccupied.

The Impala Police Cruiser, owned by the City of Shenandoah sustained damage to the front passenger door and front fender.  The parked vehicle Officer Johnson struck was a 1990 Olds cutlass owned by Jerry Meyer of Shenandoah.  Meyer’s vehicle sustained damage to the rear end. A dollar amount of the damage amounts was not immediately available.