Republicans Chuck Grassley and Steve King were the only two members of Iowa’s congressional delegation to vote against the deal that has ended the federal government shutdown and extended the government’s borrowing authority. King says once spending issues and the debt limit were joined in one bill, the momentum toward passage was inevitable. “The American people have fatigue and I understand that, but it’s worth the fatigue if we can accomplish the goal in the end,” King says. “We didn’t get that done in this battle. This battle is not indicative of the entire war and I intend to continue my efforts to repeal ObamaCare.”

Tom Latham, the other Republican in Iowa’s congressional delegation, voted for the deal to end the D.C. stalemate, but called it “the lesser of two evils.” Latham also said he “could not support an irresponsible path that risks defaulting on the full faith and credit of the United States.” Latham’s colleague Steve King downplays the idea there’s a rift now among Republicans in the House. “I think we’re actually more together than it might appear from that vote…There’s more support here for our leadership than one wouuld thing. There’s less division. There’s very little acriomony of people pointing their fingers at each other and saying: ‘It’s your fault. It’s your fault,'” King says. “Instead they understand that everybody went through their own crucible.”

According to King, Republicans in the House are “tighter” because of the past 16 days. “I think that we’ve identified 25 or 30 emerging conservatives who are going to be a voice for a long time to come,” King says. “So we laid a foundation in order to do good things in future.” King, though, says he shared his doubts about the strategy of shutting down the government with his fellow Tea Party conservatives in congress weeks ago. “But I also said that this will be tried in the court of public opinion and if the American people step behind this thing strongly enough…then I can expect that we’ll see the House Republicans hold strong enough to get this done, at least in a significant way,” King says. “And, you know, instead, too many of them saw that the polls, they believe, were going against them and they decided it wasn’t worth holding the ground and holding the stand that we had taken.”

King also says he’s “troubled by a culture” that cannot live within its means. “I wanted to move a balanced budget amendment…We didn’t get that done. I wanted to address the entitlement spending. We didn’t get that done,” King says. “Those things must be approached at some point and sooner is easier than later because every quarter that goes by this gets harder and harder and more and more painful.” Both of Iowa’s Democratic congressmen voted for the deal, although Congressman Dave Loebsack, of Iowa City, suggested congress merely “kicked the can down the road” and there’ll be another crisis when the stop-gap spending measure runs out January 15th and the new debt limit expires February 7th. Congressman Bruce Braley says he hopes yesterday’s bipartisan deal allows congress to “find the space” to reach long-term solutions.

Iowa’s U.S. Senators split in yesterday’s vote, with Democrat Tom Harkin voting for the deal and Republican Chuck Grassley among the 18 senators who voted against it. Grassley called the measure a “missed opportunity” to reduce the country’s long-term debt. Harkin says the deal will give congress some “breathing room” to make long-term decisions, but Harkin admits the country may be subjected to another cliff hanger in early 2014.

(Radio Iowa)

Copper is used for wiring because of its ability to conduct electricity, but in recent months the value of the metal has created a magnetic appeal to thieves. The electric companies and co-ops across the state have combined for a special Crime Stoppers Program aimed at the copper thieves. Bob Dickelman is a spokesman for the effort. “We’ve had some significant thefts, we’ve some smalle thefts, but they all add up to big problems for the utilities because the usually leave behind a problem that’s fairly expensive to repair,” Dickelman says. He cites the example of thieves who cut a 15 to 20 foot piece of copper wire from a regulator southeast Iowa substation.

“Which caused it to fail, caused other damage to the substation and an outage to 900 customers,” Dickelman explains. Copper sells for around three-dollars-a-pound on the scrap market and the piece of wire was worth about 50-dollars, but the failures at the substation cost 42-thousand dollars to repair, and kept customers without electricity for several hours. They are asking the public to help combat the copper thefts by calling when they sees something that doesn’t look right.

“If someone sees something suspicious going on at an electric utility substation, or around any of their other equipment, or even a power pole or a meter at a residence or a business or a farm — we would ask them to call Crimestoppers at 800- four-five-two-one-one-one-one,” Dickelman says. For those thieves who are stealing copper wire, Dickelman says you could be risking your life for a small amount of money as cut ground wire can unleash an explosive 69-thousand volts of static electricity.

“We’ve had several cases where somebody cuts a wire and it causing a giant arc — even and explosion,” according to Dickelman. “We’ve had cases where concrete has been burned away eight inches deep.”
Dickelman says after you call in your tip and the information leads to an arrest, you can be rewarded. He says you can call Crimestoppers back to get instructions for receiving and award of up to one-thousand dollars.

The state’s largest utility companies, MidAmerican Energy Company, and Alliant Energy are part of the effort as are the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities.
Dickelman says they are hoping more attention to the issue will lead to the capture of thieves and help stop the damage being done to electrical systems.

(Radio Iowa)

Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies investigating the disappearance of a 16-year old female from Massena located the injured teen in a ditch Wednesday morning. Authorities say they received a call at around 9:50-a.m. about the missing teen. At around 12:40 p.m., Cass County K9 team Deputy Corey Larsen and his K9 partner Mufasa located the girl in a road ditch on 3rd Street in Massena. She has suffered minor head injuries from falling and hitting her face. The girl was transported to CCMH by Massena Rescue. Officials say her injuries are not considered to be life-threatening.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office reports a Pottawattamie County woman was arrested Tuesday on numerous drug charges. 22-year old Alicia Arlene Dellaca, of Avoca, was taken into custody on charges of OWI 3rd Offense (D Felony); Possession of Controlled Substance – Marijuana (Serious); Possession of a Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine (Serious); Interference with Official Acts (Simple); and Driving Under Suspension (Simple). Dellaca was taken to the Cass County Jail where she is being held on $5000 bond.

Police in Red Oak report they received several reports of vehicle burglaries having occurred overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning. Several items were taken from each vehicle. Officers with the Red Oak P-D strongly encourage residents to secure their vehicles when not in use. The incidents remain under investigation.

Two Red Oak men were arrested this (Wednesday) afternoon following an alcohol-related fight. According to Red Oak Police, 54-year old Robert Anthony Marron, Jr. and 49-year old Kevin Leon Simmons, both of Red Oak, were charged with Public Intoxication.

Authorities say officers and Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported fight between the men in the 100 block of west Grimes Street, at around 1:40-p.m. Upon arrival, they determined Marron and Simmons were highly intoxicated in public. The men were brought to the Montgomery County Jail and held on $300 cash bond, each.

A Clarinda man was arrested Tuesday on a fraud-related charge. Police Chief Keith Brothers says 21-year old Dakota Dean Grimes was taken into custody on a Page County District Court warrant for Unauthorized use of a credit card.

And, early Wednesday morning, 33-year old Bryan Scott Casey, of Clarinda, was arrested for Public Intoxication. The Chief notes Casey was arrested for the same offense on two consecutive nights.

(12-p.m. News)

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A former manager at one of the nation’s largest grain cooperatives has reached a plea agreement on charges that he accepted $480,000 in bribes from an Iowa farmer in exchange for deep discounts on crop seed. Chad Hartzler, former sales manager at West Central Co-Op in Ralston, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Sioux City for a plea hearing Thursday.

He was charged last week with wire fraud. His attorney, Chris Cooklin, said Wednesday that his client has reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the detail of which have been filed under seal. A charging document says Hartzler accepted $480,000 in bribes from 2005 to 2011 from Lake View farmer Bill Wollesen.

Wollesen hasn’t been charged and denies any wrongdoing, saying the payments weren’t bribes.

The Cass County Board of Supervisors and local authorities today (Wednesday) briefly discussed the possibility of outsourcing 911/Public Safety Communications to a New Jersey-based company. As we reported last week, Board Chair Mark Wedemeyer  said he had been in contact with iXP Corporation officials regarding their services.

Cass County Board of Supervisors

Wedemeyer said he received a letter from iXP, whose officials said there are only five counties in the country and four or five-municipalities who are utilizing their services.  Wedemeyer said he chose to explore the matter because he thinks the County has “The fiduciary responsibility to look into the possibility.”

iXP’s Ben Archer-Clowes, Regional Director of New Business Development in Cranston, NJ, told Wedemeyer that the information Wedemeyer provided to the company was not enough for them to investigate the potential savings for the County, and a study would be needed. The study would cost $12,500.

The Board and other local officials, such as Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren and Atlantic Police Chief Steve Green, may hold a conference call with iXP to get some of their questions answered. Green said he wanted “ample time” to conduct more research and contact other departments to find out what their current wage and benefit scales are now, as opposed to what they were before iXP came. He said he has a hard time believing it would be cost effective unless the company comes in and lowers the wages, but Wedemeyer said the company has assured him that’s not the case.

Wedemeyer said also, iXP “Has a complete array” of options for how their service can run for the County. He says it’s possible for the company to own the equipment and a local site. They would also likely hire the current staff. Archer-Clowes said while iXP is very interested in talking with County officials more, they have never used their services for a county as small as Cass.

Wedemeyer said since the news Cass County was investigating the potential of privatizing 911/Public Safety Communications, one other, unidentified county in Iowa has called him to inquire about the same thing. Cass County Sheriff Darby McLaren said he and Chief Steve Green are curious to know if the County can actually save money by moving the service to a private company, and if the quality and control would remain as it is now.

Wedemeyer said they expect to increase the quality of service, or “at least keep it as good as it is.” Green also wondered about the ability of his officers to deal with any issues that might arise between the Communications Center and law enforcement out on the street, when a private company is in control. He says right now, he has local input from the Sheriff and 9-1-1 Director when there’s a problem. Wedemeyer said the issue of local control would be included in an agreement with the company, that also stipulates that iXP would be penalized if they don’t meet the qualifications that are set out in the terms of the contract.

Among the concerns some from the community have expressed, is would 9-1-1 calls be directed to the company in New Jersey, or locally. Wedemeyer said it would be local. Another question was how much money would it save the County? Wedemeyer said they don’t know, and that’s part of the research that is underway. It might cost the County more than it currently pays in wages and benefits for 911 Operators and dispatchers.

County Recorder Joyce Jensen asked whether it was prudent to explore a company out of state to provide the service, and that someone in New Jersey might not be aware of “How things in Iowa work.” Afterward, Atlantic City Councilman Steve Livengood said he has sat on the Public Safety Commission for 8-years, and to his knowledge, the issue of privatizing emergency communications was never brought up, but Wedemeyer did bring the matter to the Commission during its meeting on September 23^rd, although it was just to gauge how they would feel about him looking into the matter further.

Students with the Atlantic High School will be scattered throughout the community today (Wednesday), volunteering their time to help spruce-up the town and at the same time, help out the Atlantic Food Pantry. AHS Principal Heather McKay says the “Service Learning Day” is held every other year, opposite of “Career Day,” but this is the first time the event has been held in the fall. She says the project started many years ago, and began with former AHS Principal Roger Herring. McKay says it’s an opportunity for the kids to give back to the community.

The event is normally held in late April, but bad weather, conflicts in scheduling and a demonstrated need by residents in the community for help with winterizing their homes in the fall, prompted the change. JoAnn Runyan, District School to Work Coordinator says the 444-high school students dressed in their gold and black Trojan gear will be divided up into 30-groups and will be doing volunteer work at various venues, with the assistance of local groups and the Parks and Rec Department.

The students will be scattered out throughout the community until noon. Runyon says in addition to the clean-up jobs they will be handling, students will be collecting non-perishable items for the Atlantic Food Pantry. She says seven groups of seminar students will be out until 11:30-a.m. to collect food for the pantry.

If you’re not going to be home to donate food, you can place your non-perishable food items on the porch or front step for the students to pick up, or bring them to the Atlantic Food Pantry.