The three month window to reserve a state park campsite for a Friday arrival on Memorial Day weekend opens Saturday, Feb. 27th. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says more than a few campers will plan their arrival for the weekend before Memorial Day and stay through the holiday, which means their window will open Saturday, Feb. 20th.

Most parks will have nonelectric sites available for the Memorial Day weekend. Not every campsite is available on the reservation system for advanced reservations. Parks maintain between 25 and 50 percent of the electric and nonelectric sites as non-reservation sites, available for walk-in camping.

Information on Iowa’s state parks is available online at www.iowadnr.gov including the link to the reservation website. Campers may log on directly to http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com; enter their preferred amenities and requirements, dates and/or parks to see what sites are available and make a reservation, or they can call 1-877-427-2757, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturday and Sunday to place their reservation.

Campers are encouraged to note closures when making reservations. Some campgrounds may be closed Memorial Day. Currently, Springbrook State Park campground is closed through June 9th for road and bridge repair. Red Haw, Lake Wapello, Lake Manawa, Fairport and Lake Keomah state parks are all currently closed for campground renovations. No advanced reservations are available at Union Grove State Park due to the lake draw-down.

Weather will play an important role in how soon projects will be completed and a how soon campgrounds will be back online. Closure information is current on the DNR website and reservation system. Closure information can be found at www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks-Rec-Areas/Closure-Information and on individual park webpages.

The area’s top news at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A WellCare executive says the company has ended legal actions to regain its contract to manage Iowa’s Medicaid program. The contract was terminated by Iowa in December after WellCare was disqualified for unfair bidding practices, an allegation that WellCare denied. WellCare later joined a lawsuit that alleged the bidding was deeply flawed and should be reopened.

The Des Moines Register reports that in a ruling released Monday, Judge Robert Blink rejected WellCare’s arguments, as well as arguments from Meridian Health Plan that the bidding was flawed. Meridian’s Raymond Pitera and WellCare’s Blair Todt told the Register that their companies don’t plan any additional appeals.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest early this (Wednesday) morning, of 52-year old Scott Timothy Brown on drug charges. Brown, who is from Grant, was taken into custody at around 1:15-a.m. in the 3100 block of 115th Street in Montgomery County. He was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance/3rd or subsequent offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond at the Montgomery County Jail, was set at $2,000.

And, at around 11:40-p.m. Tuesday, Deputies in Montgomery County arrested 54-year old Rodney Gene Lukehart, of Red Oak. Lukehart was taken into custody on a valid Adams County warrant charging him with Failure to Appear at the Probation Violation Hearing. Lukehart was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail, pending an appearance before the magistrate.

Two people, and man and a woman, were arrested Tuesday night on drug and other charges, following a verbal altercation at a hotel in Red Oak. Following a brief investigation that began at around 10:40-p.m., Red Oak Police arrested 23-year old Krystal Marie Ann Frock, of Livermore. The woman was charged with Child Endangerment, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Cocaine, Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Frock was also wanted on two active Marion County warrants for Driving While Suspended, Operating (a Vehicle) without owners consent, and Criminal Mischief in the 4th degree. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Also arrested at the scene was 21-year old Tyler Christian Palmer, of Red Oak. Palmer faces a Possession of Controlled Substance/Marijuana, charge. His bond was set at $1,000.

The child involved was turned over to the Department of Human Services, for temporary Foster Care.

After two weeks of searching for a new Superintendent for the Tri-Center Community School District, the District’s Board of Education has offered the job to one of their own administrators. According to the Daily NonPareil, Angela Huseman, secondary principal for the Tri-Center Community School District, has accepted the offer, and will take over as superintendent July 1st, replacing Tony Weers. Weers has resigned to take a job across the Missouri River as director of secondary education for the Millard Public Schools, in Omaha.

Dr. Anegla Huseman (Image from the Tri-Center web site)

The details of a contract, including a salary, will be worked out in the coming days before being presented for board approval. Huseman has been the district’s high school principal for more than 17 years, and this year she added the middle school to her responsibilities. Her daughter Savanna is a senior at the high school and grew up in the Tri-Center schools.

Community college students in Iowa can expect to shell out more money for their tuition next year. The Daily NonPareil reports colleges under stress of producing a budget are basing tuition increases on Governor Branstad’s proposed 1.5 percent increase in State Aid for community colleges. The Iowa Legislature may up that to somewhere between 1.5-and 3-percent, but most educators are preparing for the at least the lower figure. In addition, enrollment at Iowa Western is down 5-percent. Those two significant factors could shift the budget up or down.

A preliminary budget however from Iowa Western Community College presented Monday afternoon, anticipates a $10 per credit hour tuition increase to address the shortfall largely created by an anticipated 5 percent enrollment decline. Odds are the state’s other community colleges also will consider tuition increases, after each of the 11 institutions raised rates for this school year. Iowa Western’s $11 a credit hour jump last year was the second largest in the state, representing a 7.2 percent increase compared to Western Iowa Tech Community College’s 13.2 percent hike.

For the current school year, resident tuition is $149 per credit hour, and nonresident tuition is $154. If the rates assumed by the preliminary budget ultimately are recommended, a $10 per credit hour increase would translate to a 6.7 percent overall increase to resident tuition. Iowa Western does receive proportionally less state support and more local support – tuition income, largely – than the community college system as a whole. Property taxes only account for about 5 percent of overall funding.

The property tax levy for Iowa Western will grow next year, although that’s largely a one-time increase to pay for an early retirement program that will net $650,000 in savings annually for the college’s general fund, representing a tax savings going into future years, according to Eddie Holtz, IWCC’s vice president of finance. Property taxes are slated to go up by 37.602 cents per $1,000 in taxable valuation next year, with about 90 percent of the increase connected to early retirement buyouts. The college can replace those senior employees with new hires who command significantly less in salary, and other positions could be left vacant to save costs as well.

Holtz said Iowa Western will continue to look for cost savings in the next few months, as the Iowa Legislature works on setting how much community college and other educational institutions – both K-12 schools and the regent institutions – will receive in funding next fiscal year. The board is expected to vote on adopting the budget next month and likely will set tuition rates in the spring, probably at either the April or May board meetings in Council Bluffs.

A public hearing on the budget is planned for the college’s meeting on Monday, March 14, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Shelby County Center, 1901 Hawkeye Ave. in Harlan.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — One of three men initially charged in the death of a Council Bluffs man has pleaded guilty to lesser charges as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Twenty-two-year-old Sarael Duncan, of Omaha, Nebraska, pleaded guilty to theft. He was originally charged with murder in connection with the August death of 20-year-old Jacob Combs but that charge has been dropped.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The Black Hawk County Gaming Association board has given $750,000 to Waterloo’s Fourth Street canopy bridge project, although few members offered resounding support of it. The board gave its unanimous approval to split the grant into two payouts, which will fund about 50 percent of the $1.5 million project. The project, set the start this spring, will rehabilitate the walkway portion of the Fourth Street bridge that crosses the Cedar River.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Lottery officials say the record Powerball jackpot in January helped send lottery ticket sales soaring to new records. The Powerball jackpot grew for more than two months before it reached a world-record level of nearly $1.6 billion. It was split three ways in the Jan. 13 drawing by tickets purchased in California, Florida and Tennessee. Iowa lottery sales in January exceeded $54 million, topping the previous monthly sales record of $42 million set in February 2006.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Senate panel has advanced a bill that would make it a hate crime in Iowa to commit an offense against a person because that person identifies as transgender. The bill would make it a hate crime if an offense is committed against a person or their property because of the person’s gender identity or gender expression. Current language in Iowa code includes multiple characteristics, including sexual orientation.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — One of three men initially charged in the death of a Council Bluffs man has pleaded guilty to lesser charges as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Twenty-two-year-old Sarael Duncan, of Omaha, Nebraska, pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft. He was originally charged with murder in connection with the August death of 20-year-old Jacob Combs but that charge has been dropped.

Caine Peterson, of Council Bluffs, and Christopher King of Lincoln, Nebraska, also were charged with murder but have agreed to plead guilty to amended charges. They are accused of robbing Combs of marijuana. Officials say Combs jumped onto Petersen’s vehicle as the three men fled but then fell or was thrown, suffering head injuries. Combs died in a hospital on Aug. 15.

Student leaders at the state’s three public universities are asking for expansion of mental health counseling services on the campuses in Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City. Katie Evans of Dubuque, the president of Northern Iowa Student Government, says two U-N-I students committed suicide last semester and a recent U-N-I graduate she knew committed suicide in December.

“Some legislatures across the country are beginning to make a priority of mental health and hopefully Iowa will follow along,” Evans says. University of Iowa student body president Elizabeth Mills of Johnston got mental health counseling on campus during her first two years at the universities. “Unfortunately our counseling services are gravely underfunded and are needing help and seeking assistance from our university and our state,” Mills says. “At this time a student who needs help, needs that dire assistance, has to wait two to three weeks in order to be seen by qualified staff.”

Josh Schoenfeld — a fifth year medical student at the University of Iowa — is president of the student government for graduate and professional students on the Iowa City campus. He says depression is even more prevalent among graduate-level students than undergrads. “I personally have known three students who have committed suicide during my four years on campus,” Schoenfeld says. Iowa State University student body president Daniel Breitbarth of Saylorville says the stress of “an astounding amount” of student debt is taking a toll.

“This has resulted directly in an increase on the pressure on our counseling staffs at all three institutions,” Breitbarth says. “On average, Iowa State students have to wait an average of 30 days to meet with a mental health service…staff member and this is just way too much time to wait if you are in dire need of help.” The student leaders made their comments during a statehouse news conference Tuesday afternoon.

(Radio Iowa)