DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As budget talks drag on in the state Capitol, educators are growing increasingly frustrated. School funding has been a central point of conflict throughout the legislative session, with the Democratic-led Senate seeking to provide more new dollars than the Republican-controlled House for the 2015-2016 academic year. The two sides are about $50 million apart on funding.

Paul Gausman, superintendent of the Sioux City Community School District, says his district removed about 20 instructional assistant jobs from its payroll as it waits for word about additional money. David Benson, superintendent for the Cedar Rapids Community School District, says the impasse has forced his district to keep about 30 teaching jobs on hold.

Legislative leaders say they are making progress on reaching a budget deal. They’ll resume negotiations this week.

MORAVIA, Iowa (AP) — An Oskaloosa man was killed when the boat he was operating rolled at a southern Iowa lake. The Department of Natural Resources says 50-year-old Gregory Alan Williams died Saturday morning after he and a passenger were in a boat that overturned, throwing them into the water at Rathbun Lake, west of Moravia in Appanoose County. The passenger wasn’t seriously injured. The DNR says investigators believe the 33-foot boat rolled after making a sharp turn.

LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — A former Missouri Valley fire chief accused of lying to police about two suspected arsons has been given a suspended jail sentence. The Omaha World-Herald reports that Johnnie Walker pleaded guilty to providing false information to authorities. In return, prosecutors dropped a charge of interfering with official acts. On Friday, Walker was given a 30-day suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay $120 in court costs.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A state board has approved $13.2 million worth of tax incentives for a proposed $264 million pork processing plant in Sioux City. The Sioux City Journal reports that the plant is a joint venture between Merriam, Kansas-based Seaboard Foods and St. Joseph, Missouri-based Triumph Foods and will provide at least 1,100 jobs.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Police are crediting a teenage girl with saving her younger brother from being kidnapped from the family’s home in Ames. The Des Moines Register reports that police responded to a report of attempted child abduction at the home just before 1 a.m. Friday. Family members told police that a male suspect came into the home while the family was sleeping and pulled the child out of a basement window. Police say the suspect also hit the boy in the face. A 17-year-old boy who lives in the neighborhood into custody and to hospital for a mental health evaluation.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says millions of Iowa birds killed or destroyed in the wake of a bird flu outbreak should be disposed of or incinerated within the next week. The dead birds are piling up at poultry facilities. Vilsack told The Des Moines Register that the disposal by next week will happen barring another large outbreak. In the past week, two landfills — one in northwest Iowa, the other in southwest Iowa (near Malvern) — have agreed to take some of the estimated 25 million birds either stricken by avian influenza or killed to stop the spread of the disease.

The president of the Greater Iowa Better Business Bureau is urging Iowans to do their research before contributing to a charitable organization. Chris Coleman’s advice is in response to a federal lawsuit involving all 50 states against four phony cancer charities. The complaint states the organizations collected $187 million in donations over a five-year period and very little of the money actually went to help cancer victims.

Coleman said “It gives all of us real heartache because of all of us know family members or friends who are victims of cancer or have suffered through that disease.”  The defendants in the lawsuit include Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, Children’s Cancer Fund of America, and the Breast Cancer Society. Most donors, upon hearing the charity’s name, probably felt comfortable making a donation. “They borrowed a name of a good charity, I’d say they hijacked it,” Coleman said. “They steal the good reputation of many charities.”

The complaint claims a large majority of the contributions to the sham charities benefited only the defendants, their families and friends, and professional fundraising groups.”If this causes consumers to do more research to verify the legitimacy of charities before they make a contribution, that will help all good charities and we feel confident about that,” Coleman said. “We want our information to spotlight the best charities so people know where to contribute and where their gift can make the most difference.”

Charities can be checked out at the Better Business Bureau’s “Wise Giving” site: www.give.org.

(Radio Iowa)

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy is joining with his Republican colleague Chuck Grassley of Iowa to back patent legislation designed to encourage developers of technologies for use in poor nations. This week’s bill introduction comes as the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to consider broader patent legislation. Leahy and Grassley say the Patents for Humanity Improvement Act expands an existing program to encourage small businesses to participate.

The broader legislation also tries to crack down on patent trolls, who critics say shake down businesses by threatening them with lawsuits based on often spurious allegations of patent violations.

The trial in the case of a Pottawattamie County man who faces 10 felony counts of Sexual Abuse in the 2nd Degree in Cass County, has been delayed again.

Roger Allen Ericksen (booking photo courtesy Cass Co. Sheriff’s Dept.)

The trial for 55-year old Roger Allen Ericksen, of Underwood, was to have taken place in Cass County District Court on Wed., May 27th, but Judge James Heckerman on Friday, set the date as July 7th. A pre-trial conference, which was to have been held this Tuesday, has now been postponed until June 1st. It’s the third time the pre-trial conference has been delayed, and the second postponement of the trial.

Ericksen was arrested on February 23rd in connection with acts that allegedly happened with a minor child in 2011. He has entered a written plea of Not Guilty to the charges. Ericksen remains held in the Cass County Jail on $25,000 cash bond. On May 11th, Ericksen’s lawyer, Jay Mez, filed for a Waiver of Speedy Trial and a request for a continuance.

In December 2012, Ericksen, who resided in Lewis, pled guilty in a prior case in Cass County District Court to Sexual Abuse 3rd Degree.