w/ Ric Hanson

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SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A 23-year-old Sioux City man has been given 10 years in prison for slamming his two young daughters’ heads against a floor.  On Wednesday Christopher Schmidt pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment resulting in serious injury. Prosecutors dismissed another child endangerment count and three counts of willful injury in return for Schmidt’s pleas.
Court documents say Schmidt’s daughters were 2 years old and 7 months old when they were injured last October. Police say Schmidt acknowledged grabbing the girls by their faces and slamming their heads into the floor, fracturing their skulls.

Officials with Harlan Municipal Utilities discussed at length Thursday, the next step to find a new Chief Executive Officer. The HMU Board of Trustees talked about several options. Chairman David Tyrell says one search option is to use an executive recruiting organization or firm. “This has been brought to my attention by a lot of people so I contacted Mycoff Fry and Prouse group and they sent us two proposals. The idea is they are a professional search team that practices in the utilities area. They have a large group of contacts. The positives they can move quickly. They have a lot of prescreened. They have expertise in this field. The negative is they are expensive and there is some cost involved.”

Tyrell says the second option would be to use the employees at HMU for an internal process. “The second suggestion is to create an internal search team and use ads on numerous websites including the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities and the American Public Power Association and various state organizations similar to IAMU and surrounding states.”

Board member Terry Arentson said he was for hiring an external search group because they would ask the right questions and hire the right person. Board member Michael Jones, however, disagreed. “My personal take is the second option would be the better option for our rate payer’s money. I do not mean this in a derogatory way to you Darrell, but this is the same firm that contacted Darrell and paid by Waverly to contact Darrell. And then we are going to turn around and give them several thousands of dollars to replace an employee that they took from HMU. I have a hard time not at least putting faith in the department heads that Tom (former CEO Tom Gaffigan) put in place when he was gone for health issues. I think he put the right people in place to do things here. I would like two board members to meet with the department heads. I have a hard time writing a check to the people that put us in this position in the first place.”

In his rebuttal, Tyrell said that it was in fact current CEO Darrell Wenzel who is leaving that put HMU in the position to look for a new CEO not the hiring firm. In the end it was Arentson who made a motion. “So I will make a motion to make a committee consisting of two board members and the management team to investigate the options. Jones seconded.”

The board approved the motion and will discuss the issue at their next board meeting on Thursday, February 27^th.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Federal Reserve says the value of agricultural land dropped a percentage point in the last quarter of 2013 and a total of 2 percent for the year. The drop suggests the surge in farmland prices over the past few years may be coming to an end, depressed by lower commodity prices that have reduced farmer income.

Iowa State economics professor Chad Hart told The Des Moines Register that “we’ll likely see lower farm values tied to those lower farm incomes that we’re going to experience in the next year to year and a half.”  An Iowa State University survey suggested that land values might have peaked in some parts of the state last year, with prices dropping in northwestern Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it has taken enforcement action on a Crawford County business. The DNR ordered Farmland Foods to pay a $10,000 penalty for past wastewater violations. The administrative consent order reports Farmland Foods has consistently violated the terms of the industrial treatment agreement since September 2010. The violation was primarily exceeding the nitrogen, biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids.

Denison Municipal Utilities is also mentioned in the order as they issued notices of noncompliance and assessed surcharges against Farmland for the violations of the treatment agreement. To date, Farmland Foods told the DNR they have spent more than $3.7 million on corrective action projects and maintenance since 2010. The processing plant continues to give DMU progress reports bimonthly according to the order.

COUNTIES: SAC-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD

403 AM CST FRI FEB 14 2014

…SNOW TO IMPACT THE MORNING COMMUTE…

AREAS OF SNOW WILL MOVE NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS IOWA THIS MORNING AFFECTING THE MORNING COMMUTE WITH SNOW COVERED AND SLICK ROADS. THE SNOWFALL INTENSITY WILL VARY WITH GENERALLY LIGHT SNOW BUT ALSO INCLUDE SHORTER BURSTS OF MODERATE SNOW AS WELL. THIS WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD ACCUMULATIONS OF AT LEAST AN INCH AND LOCALLY UP TO TWO INCHES. VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED TO UNDER A MILE DURING THE PERIODS OF HEAVIER SNOW.

MOTORISTS SHOULD PLAN FOR EXTRA TRAVEL TIME THIS MORNING…SLOWING DOWN…DRIVING CAUTIOUSLY…AND ALLOWING FOR EXTRA DISTANCE BETWEEN VEHICLES.

The Omaha World-Herald reports an Iowa judge has granted the state’s request to appoint a receiver for two southwest Iowa care homes to ensure the government gets money it says it’s owed. The State alleges Faith Ridge Life Center of Malvern and Kevington Lane in Sidney owe the Iowa Department of Human Services hundreds of thousands of dollars in Medicaid funds. District Court Judge Mary Pat Gunderson also has ordered the homes to disclose all of their property and liabilities and ordered them to not transfer any property.Faith Ridge is a 51-bed nursing home, and Kevington Lane is a 21-bed residential care  facility, serving those who need a lower level of care than a nursing home. Both properties are owned by Mary Morse-Bolton of Plattsmouth, Neb. Iowa has already suspended payment of Medicaid funds to the facilities.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press …

A Shelby County man was injured and fled the scene of a crash Thursday night on Interstate 80 in Pottawattamie County. The Iowa State Patrol says 37-year old Ryan Schwery, of Earling, was found at the Country Inn in Shelby following a collision between his SUV and a van on I-80 westbound, about a mile west of the Shelby exit at around 8:45-p.m.  Schwery was transported to Myrtue Memorial Hospital in Harlan for treatment of minor injuries before being taken into custody and transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail. The Patrol’s report did not indicated what charges were filed against Schwery.

Officials say the 1991 Chevy Blazer Schwery was driving, was experiencing engine problems and was traveling below the posted minimum speed (40-mph), when a 2008 Dodge Sprinter van driven by 24-year old Tyler Mark of Lincoln, NE, approached from behind. Mark swerved to avoid hitting the SUV but was unable to prevent the collision. The impact spun the Blazer off the road to the right before it rolled over into the north ditch and came to rest upright. The van spun out and came to rest in the north ditch.