With KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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Democrat Jack Hatch says if he’s elected governor, he’ll “realign” the Iowa Economic Development Authority advisory board, splitting it into four regions, along the lines of Iowa’s four congressional districts. Each region would get an equal amount of money from the state and the local boards would decide which projects quality for state grants and loans. “As a state, we find our best ideas come when we allow our communities to determine their own destiny and not rely on a top-down model in which government picks winners and losers,” Hatch says. Hatch would forbid any of the members of these advisory boards to be involved in a business that gets a grant or loan from the state.

“It’s now like an ‘old boys club’….You have to know somebody in Des Moines,” Hatch says. “That just leads to abuse and loss of opportunities.” Hatch says the regional boards he envisioned would likely dedicate more state resources to smaller businesses rather than the big corporations Republican Governor Terry Branstad has been courting.

Branstad reconfigured the Iowa Department of Economic Development shortly after returning as governor in 2011, establishing a public-private partnership instead of a strictly state-run agecny. Hatch unveiled his idea for regional advisory boards during a speech in Davenport on Monday.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad says he’s open to continued discussions about how to find new funding sources for road and bridge construction in Iowa, including the idea of imposing the state sales tax on fuel. “That kind of an approach is an approach that has been used now recently by a number of other states and its one that would be more of a permanent soluation,” Branstad says. Charging the six-percent state sales tax on gas would add far more to the cost of filling up the tank than just raising the state gas tax by 10-cents a gallon.

For example, someone buying 10 gallons of gas would pay a dollar ($1) more if the state gas tax went up a dime. But, if the state sales tax were charged on that transaction, the consumer would pay two-dollars ($2) more. “Anything you do, obviously, the users are going to have to pay for it,” Branstad says. The state fuel tax hasn’t been hiked since 1989, when gas was selling for less than two-bucks a gallon. The average price today in Iowa is 3-37 ($3.37) a gallon. Branstad says charging the state sales tax on fuel purchases would keep up with inflation.

“Going away from the old-fashioned gas and diesel fuel tax, to me, makes sense,” Branstad says. But the governor is not calling on legislators to pass a bill that would make the change. Branstad has repeatedly said he’s waiting for a “bipartisan consensus” to develop in the legislature. According to Iowa D-O-T estimates released a couple of years ago, the state is at least 215-million dollars short of what’s needed to maintain and expand the state’s transportation network.

(Radio Iowa)

BLAIR, Neb. (AP) – The siren alert system will be tested Tuesday at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station in eastern Nebraska. Omaha Public Power District says the radio-controlled sirens are placed within 10 miles of the plant. The plant sits on the southeast side of Blair, across from Iowa on the Missouri River and about 20 miles north of Omaha.

OPPD says the sirens will sound for four minutes sometime between 9 and 10 a.m. The annual test may be delayed if the weather is severe.

If something that posed a danger to the public were to occur at the plant, the sirens would sound to signal people that they should tune into local broadcast media and follow Emergency Alert System guidance.

Police in Red Oak arrested two people late Monday night on Disorderly Conduct charges. Just after 10-p.m., police arrested 17-year old Nicholas James Terry, of Red Oak, and 18-year old Daniel John Platt, of Emerson. Terry was arrested at the Red Oak Plaza and later released to one of his parents. Platt was arrested at a residence in the 1600 block of north Broadway Street in Red Oak, and held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of a Red Oak man Monday evening. 35-year old Joseph Smith was charged with Driving While Revoked, Failure to re-file SR-22, having no insurance and no registration.

His arrest was the result of a traffic stop take took place at around 7:50-p.m.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — A California man accused of posing as an actor from the “Twilight” movie series has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual abuse. Thirty-three-year-old David LaVera entered the plea against several charges including third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. LaVera is accused of using his smartphone to record a 12-year-old taking a shower and using the bathroom. He is also accused of recording a 14-year-old using the bathroom.

ATLANTIC, Iowa (AP) — Court documents say a western Iowa woman accused of lying about her daughter’s cancer diagnosis inserted a feeding tube into the girl’s nose and stomach. Thirty-year-old Leatha Slauson, of Atlantic, did not have medical training to properly insert the medical equipment. Police say Slauson told her community that her 5-year-old daughter was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year. An investigation found the child is not suffering from any disease.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three Iowa farm trade groups have formed an organization called the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance to push farmers harder on the implementation of farm practices designed to clean Iowa’s water. The group’s goal is to get more farmers to participate in the state’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy, a voluntary program initiated Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Thousands of Iowa employers will pay less in unemployment taxes next year. Governor Terry Branstad says the average tax rate will drop to 1.2 percent from 1.6 percent. A state senate panel meets this week to review the management of the state’s workforce agency.

A man on a motorcycle was injured Sunday in Pottawattamie County, when the cycle crashed into a ditch. The Pott. County Sheriff’s Office says at around 6:30-p.m., deputies were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident involving a motorcycle on Highway 92 near the 13 mile marker.

The investigation determined 32-year old Jesse Sorensen was driving a 2001 Harley Davidson westbound on Highway 92 near the 13 mile marker, when he lost control of the motorcycle, which then entered the north ditch.

Sorensen was transported to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs. A report on his condition was not available Monday evening. Sorensen was cited for failure to maintain control.

Authorities in Page County say one person was arrested Monday afternoon after the Page County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an abandoned cellular 911 call in the area of Q Ave near the Montgomery-Page County line. Sheriff Lyle Palmer says during the investigation of the 911, call a female subject was located who appeared to be having a medical condition. While negotiating with the female she fled into an adjacent corn field with a handgun. A perimeter was set up around the field by area law enforcement.

At approximately 4:00 p.m. the unidentified woman was taken into custody and transported to Clarinda Regional Health Center by Clarinda EMS. The Page County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by personnel from the Clarinda Police Department, Shenandoah Police Department, Red Oak Police Department, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Clarinda EMS, Villisca Rescue and the Iowa State Patrol.