Police in Red Oak report the arrest early this (Wednesday) morning of a Shenandoah man on an OWI charge. 31-year old Jonathan Lynn Gray was pulled over at around 1:20-a.m.near the intersection of Highway 48 and 200th Avenue in Red Oak, and subsequently charged with OWI/3rd offense. Gray was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $5,000 cash bond.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office reports a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon resulted in an arrest. Kristen Marie Hughes, of Shenandoah, was pulled over at around 4-p.m., and was allegedly intoxicated. She was arrested on a charge of OWI/2nd offense and brought to the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Center, where Hughes was being held on $2,000 bond.
(Updated 3:57-a.m, Nat’l. Weather Service/Des Moines)
Today: A 20 percent chance of snow before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 16. Wind chill values as low as zero. East northeast wind around 7 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3. Wind chill values as low as -10. East southeast wind around 6 mph.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 24. Wind chill values as low as -5. South wind 6 to 11 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to near 21 by 9pm, then rising to around 27 during the remainder of the night. South wind 8 to 11 mph.
Friday: A chance of snow and sleet before noon, then rain and sleet likely between noon and 3pm, then rain and snow likely after 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 34. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 37.
An inquisitive neighbor helped to thwart the theft of an air conditioning unit from a Council Bluffs church Monday morning. The Omaha World-Herald reports at around 9:30-a.m. Monday, two white men in their 20’s pulled up in a silver SUV to the Lighthouse Temple Church at 1430 Avenue E, and attempted to steal an a/c unit. A neighbor heard the vehicle and went outside to investigate, and police say the men fled when they spotted the neighbor. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Bluffs police at 712-366-2172.
Fire officials in Council Bluffs say a spark in a paint booth was the cause of a fire Tuesday at a company that refurbishes and sells heavy equipment. Authorities told the Omaha World-Herald that an employee at Midwestern Equipment on 35th Avenue was painting equipment inside a booth designed to contain flammable vapors, when a spark caused the paint chemicals to ignite. The incident happened at around 9-a.m.
An extinguishing system inside the booth was activated but was unable to stop the spread of the flames.
Fire crews had the blaze contained within about 10 minutes. No one was injured, and the business’ owner described damage as minimal.
Democrats in D.C. — like Senator Tom Harkin — are pressing to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and Democrats at the state level are championing the issue, too. Senator Tom Courtney, a Democrat from Burlington, has already filed a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to 10-10 an hour. “I just think it’s time for this bill. I think it’s got a shot,” Courtney says. “We’ll see what happens.” The current Iowa minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, set above the national rate in 2007 by Democratic Governor Chet Culver and Democrats in the legislature, but now it’s identical to the national rate of $7.25.
Jack Hatch, a state senator from Des Moines who’s a Democratic candidate for governor, supports raising the minimum wage above 10-dollars an hour. Courtney says raising the minimum wage would benefit the local businesses who complain about the impact of higher wages. “That money doesn’t get spent, you know, on vacation trips to Tahiti or something — or even new Cadillacs. That money gets spent locally,” Courtney says. “Those folks have a little more money, now all of a sudden they can take their families out for a meal once in a while, maybe go buy some clothes for their kids or something like that.”
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia now have minimum wage rates that are above the national rate of 7-25 an hour. Eleven states adjust their minimum wage annually, based on a cost of living formula. Courtney would like legislators to vote to make that kind of yearly adjustment to Iowa’s minimum wage, too. “No one yet has shown me a nationwide statistic that raising the minimum wage actually hurts the economy. It always helps,” Courtney says, “and I believe it will help the people I represent.”
The minimum wage in Washington state is currently highest in the country, at nine-dollars-and-19 cents an hour. Business groups say higher minimum wages lead to job losses, as businesses get squeezed by higher pay for entry-level workers as well as salary hikes because workers already on the job expect higher pay when they see new employees earning more.
(Radio Iowa)
Something farmers often called “trash” could be a new cash crop in 2014 as ethanol plants near Nevada and in Emmetsburg that use the leaves, stalks and cobs of the corn plant will begin operations this year. It’s called cellulosic ethanol production and creates a potential market for the corn residue –or stover. Iowa State University agronomy professor Rick Cruse says stover plays an important role in nurturing soil health and preventing erosion on fields that might otherwise be bare from harvest until planting. He’s confident the companies understand that and make sure enough is left to keep the soil healthy.
“There is a pressure to take more when you have an opportunity to make more money by taking more. And that’s a short-term return,” according to Cruse. Cruse says as farmers consider whether they want to market stover, they should determine which fields can most readily withstand some stover removal. He says cellulosic production could eventually expand to accept other raw materials. “If a technology is used, which we could covert not only stover but other grasses, we might find a market to put things like switchgrass in areas where we should not have corn and beans,” Cruse says.
Cruse says that would give farmers a cash return on land they’ve taken out of production. He says he sees a window of opportunity if producers and industry are willing to look beyond corn stover. Iowa State Extension will hold a series of meetings this month to answer farmers’ question about stover.
(Radio Iowa)
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Senior point guard DeAndre Kane was supposed to be a one-year stopgap for Iowa State. Kane has evolved into one of the most versatile players in the country — and the surging Cyclones look like one of the best teams in the nation because of it. Kane had a season-high 30 points with nine assists, eight rebounds and five steals as No. 9 Iowa State rolled past No. 7 Baylor 87-72 on Tuesday night, setting a school record with its 14th straight win. Melvin Ejim added 18 points for the Cyclones (14-0, 2-0 Big 12), who outscored Baylor 47-34 in the second half and rolled to a surprisingly decisive win over a fellow Big 12 title contender. Gary Franklin and Brady Heslip both had 15 points for Baylor (12-2, 0-1), which saw its win streak snapped at six games.
Baylor couldn’t have asked for a tougher draw to open Big 12 play. The Cyclones had already beaten ranked teams Michigan and Iowa at home this season and entered play 39-3 in Ames since 2011-12. This was the first matchup of top 10 teams in Ames in 13 years.It could end up having a huge say in the Big 12 title race. Though Baylor and Iowa State were picked to finish behind Kansas and Oklahoma State, the prospect of the Bears and Cyclones competing for the league title suddenly looks a lot more realistic than it did in November.
The Jayhawks have already lost four times. The Cowboys dropped their Big 12 opener at Kansas State in their first game without center Michael Cobbins, who’s out for the season with an Achilles injury. Meanwhile, the Bears rolled into league play with just one loss — No. 2 Syracuse in Hawaii — and Iowa State’s start remains the best in school history.
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Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City students are set to return to school after 18 days off. The students were last in class December 20th before leaving for Christmas break. They were to return to school Monday, but then classes were canceled because of subzero temperatures. They were called off yesterday, too. School will now end June 3rd instead of May 30th.
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A water pipe burst at a downtown library in Dubuque due to frigid temperatures, and officials shut the building down for much of yesterday. The damage at the Carnegie-Stout Public Library was confined to a staff lounge area and maintenance space. A city spokesman says officials received at least 30 reports of frozen water meters or pipes.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors have dropped a lawsuit against Des Moines and MidAmerican Energy after the city changed an ordinance so a fee was charged to the utility and not the government. The federal government sued last year, arguing a franchise fee levied against the Department of Veterans Affairs violated a constitutional provision against cities taxing federal agencies.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair will shift to a new ticket system for buying food and drinks this summer instead of cash. A fair spokeswoman says it will be a more secure system that will make it quicker to buy food because vendors won’t have to make change. The fair begins August 7th.
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