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RICHARD “RIC” MYERS, JR., 54, of Manning (Svcs. at a later date)

Obituaries

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

RICHARD “RIC” MYERS, JR., 54, of Manning, died Sat., March 31st, at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Memorial services for RIC MYERS, JR. will be held at a later date. Hockenberry-England Funeral Service in Audubon has the arrangements.

RIC MYERS is survived by:

His mother – Margaret (Dean) Manning, of Willis, TX.

His children – Anne Bailey, of Bremen, IN; Peter Myers, of La Paz, IN; Franlin Myers, of MS; Amanda Jones, of Plymouth, IN; Richard Myers III, of Manilla; Janice Adkins, of Egg Harbor, NJ: & Michael Myers, of La Paz, IN.

His brother – Robert Myers, of Hawarden.

and 14 grandchildren.

SW Iowa Forecast (Cass & area Counties): Tue., April 3rd 2012

Weather

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

328 AM CDT TUE APR 3 2012

TODAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. MUCH COOLER. HIGH IN THE MID 60S. NORTH WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOW IN THE UPPER 40S. NORTHEAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

WEDNESDAY…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. HIGH AROUND60. NORTHEAST WIND AROUND 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 25 MPH.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS. LOW IN THE MID 40S. EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGH IN THE UPPER 50S. EAST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.

THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 30S. HIGH IN THE LOWER 60S.

FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE UPPER 40S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 40 PERCENT.

SW IA Boy recovering from head injuries from ATV accident

News

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A 4-year old southwest Iowa boy is recovering from serious head injuries following an ATV accident Saturday night, in Mills County. According to Omaha television station KETV, Kolbe Klindt, of Henderson, was flown from the scene of the accident near Treynor, to Creighton University Medical Center, where he was listed in stable, but critical condition.

The boy’s father, Erik Klindt, told the television station the family was spending the evening with friends on a farm in Mills County and enjoying a barbeque, when four-year old Kolbe suddenly darted in front of a 4-wheeled ATV, which hit the boy and flipped him into the air.

While his injuries were severe, the boy is expected to recover. The Mills County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident. Donations to help the family with Kolbe’s medical expenses, are glady being accepted in the name of Kolbe Klindt, at all Rolling Hills Bank and Trust locations.

Iowa GOP pushes limits on local tax trick

News

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

All 15 Republicans in a House committee have approved a bill designed to limit the ability of Iowa cities and counties to create special taxing districts that have been used to finance everything from sewers to swimming pools. Representative Chuck Soderberg, a Republican from Le Mars, says the aim is to get a handle on just how much property tax money is being diverted from general purposes to these special projects. “There needs to be more transparency, more accountability, more auditing,” Soderberg says.

Developers say the districts help cities, because the property taxes in those districts are used to pay off bonds that finance the improvements, like new sewers and roads, that lure businesses to the area. Critics say cities have abused the concept and officials in at least 22 Iowa cities have declared all property in their city as one of these special districts. The bill would no longer let cities use this financing tool to pay for things like swimming pools or hospitals, but it could be used to finance police and fire stations.

Representative Dave Jacoby, of Coralville was one of the 10 Democrats who voted against the bill. “Why is this any of the state’s business in the first place?” Jacoby asked during Monday afternoon’s committee meeting. Others argued the bill would create too many limits on communities, making it impossible to quickly come up with a deal to lure a new business to town or to keep an expanding business from leaving. The issue has flared this year due to a situation in eastern Iowa, as Coralville is trying to lure a department store out of Iowa City, using this particular tax gimmick.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Lawmakers debate school start date

News

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Iowa schools would be able to start on the 4th Monday of August, but no earlier under legislation pending in the Iowa House. Representative Peter Cownie, a Republican from West Des Moines, urged members of the House Ways and Means Committee to endorse the bill late Monday afternoon. “We’re trying to solve a problem here and we’re trying to mend a relationship between government, business and schools,” Cownie says. Existing state law forbids schools from starting before the week in which September 1st falls, but most Iowa schools apply for a waiver from the state and start far earlier in August, some as early as August 15th.

Governor Branstad is irked at his own education department – the state agency granting those waivers. “I believe it’s a mistake to just give wholesale waivers to everybody,” Branstad says. “My daughter teaches in Waukee. She’s not even going to be able to go to the State Fair because teachers have to start on the 9th of August. I think this is unconscionable.” The state’s entire tourism industry complains about lost customers, as families quit traveling in August since practices for fall sports and other school activities often begin before classes resume for the fall semester.

Branstad supports legislation to establish a uniform school starting date in Iowa “that’s around Labor Day.”  “I believe the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin and other states — high achieving states, a lot of states in other parts of the country have a school start date that’s Labor Day or later,” he says. The bill that’s now eligible for debate in the Iowa House would allow schools to start no earlier than the 4th Monday in August, but they’d have to pay a 100-dollar fee to the state Education Department to process their waiver request to start before September 1st. Representative Jerry Kearns, a Democrat from Keokuk, ridiculed the Republicans who were supporting this new fee.

“If I had run or if my constituents had said they don’t want any new taxes, any new fees or charges by the state, I’d have to vote against this, wouldn’t I, if I were going to satisfy that constituency?” Kearns asked during the committee’s debate. Kearns and all the Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee voted against the bill, but it passed with the support of 13 Republicans. Two Republicans did vote no, however, including Representative Jeremy Taylor, who is a teacher from Sioux City. Taylor says it’s time to start thinking about “innovations” like a year-round school year instead. “Last year I thought that I could come up here as a freshman legislator and do away with the statutory school start date and I ran into the buzz saw of the State Fair and the tourism industry and football and so on,” Taylor says. Other critics say after three solid months of summer vacation, students have to relearn some of what they were taught the previous semester.

School officials say starting earlier in August allows the fall semester to conclude in December, before the holiday break, plus it gives schools a cushion to hold classes in early June to make up any days that are cancelled earlier in the year, due to snow.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Cards Rest Most Regulars in Final Spring Tuneup, Beat Springfield 3-2

Sports

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals prospect Trevor Rosenthal pitched four perfect innings and the World Series champions rested most of their regulars Monday night in their final exhibition tuneup, a 3-2 victory over Double-A Springfield. Ronny Gil, ticketed for Class-A Palm Beach and subbing for Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay, homered off Springfield reliever Keith Butler in the seventh, providing the difference. The Cardinals open Wednesday night in Miami, the first regular-season game at the Marlins’ new ballpark. Matt Holliday and World Series MVP David Freese played four innings apiece, each getting two at-bats, and reliever Kyle McClellan thwarted a rally by inducing an inning-ending double play in the fifth, the only inning worked by a big league reliever.

Omaha schools offering top job to Iowa candidate

News

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha school board has voted to offer its superintendent’s job to the superintendent of schools in Des Moines, Iowa. The board voted Monday to hire Nancy Sebring. Des Moines school spokesman Phil Roeder told The Des Moines Register, that Sebring accepted the offer “pending successful contract negotiations.” The Des Moines board will meet Wednesday to discuss the search process for a new superintendent. Sebring, who’s in her sixth year in Des Moines, will replace Omaha’s current superintendent John Mackiel, who’s retiring in August. He’s been superintendent since the 1997-98 school year. Other finalists were ReNae Kehrberg, Omaha assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction; and Dan Nerad, superintendent of the Madison (Wis.) Metropolitan School District.

EPA moves closer to approval of 15 pct ethanol gas

Ag/Outdoor

April 3rd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government has taken another step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. While the EPA is moving the process forward by allowing the registration, E15 still has to clear another set of federal tests and become a registered fuel in individual states. Ethanol makers then must convince petroleum marketers to sell it at gas stations. Most ethanol fuel sold for passenger cars and pickups today is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gas. The new blend boosts ethanol to 15 percent. It would only be used in 2001 and newer vehicles. Twenty ethanol makers that have registered to sell E15 are based in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Iowa Evening News Headlines: April 2nd 2012

News

April 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Southwest Airlines says it will begin flying out of Des Moines later this year. The Dallas-based airline said today that transition its AirTran operations to a Southwest operation. Beginning September 30, there will be two roundtrip flights between Des Moines and Chicago’s Midway International Airport. Southwest bought AirTran last year.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former kosher slaughterhouse executive convicted of fraud is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to shorten his sentence or order a new trial. Justices can either hear the case of ex-Agriprocessors Incorporated vice president Sholom Rubashkin or let an appeals court ruling from September stand. He was convicted of creating fake invoices about the plant’s financial condition and received a 27-year prison term.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha, Nebraska, school board has voted to offer its superintendent’s job to Des Moines superintendent Nancy Sebring. A Des Moines school spokesman said today that Sebring accepted the offer “pending successful contract negotiations.” The Des Moines board will meet Wednesday to discuss the search process for a new superintendent.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government has taken another step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. E15 still has to clear another set of federal tests and become a registered fuel in individual states. Twenty ethanol makers that have registered to sell E15 are based numerous states, including Iowa.

Northwest Iowa High School Coach Arrested

Sports

April 2nd, 2012 by Ric Hanson

AKRON, Iowa (AP) — An assistant wrestling coach at Akron-Westfield High School in northwest Iowa has been arrested on a sexual exploitation charge. Thirty-year-old Chad Utesch, of Ireton, was arrested on Monday at the high school in Akron. The Plymouth County sheriff’s office says Utesch is accused of having several inappropriate contacts with a 17-year-old female student during 2011.