A new study shows 20-percent of children in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska are at-risk of going hungry. Susan Ogborn, president and CEO of the Omaha-based Food Bank for the Heartland, says the report contains alarming numbers, especially for those under 18.  “We have far more hungry children in particular than what we think is acceptable,” she says. The study, “Map the Meal Gap: Child Food Insecurity 2011,” indicates the most vulnerable people in our region — children — are the ones who are in the toughest situation. Ogborn says many children are facing hunger from the first day they’re brought into the world.

“One out of every two babies being born today is what we call WIC-eligible, that’s Women, Infant and Children, a feeding program for low-income women and their babies,” Ogborn says. “What it looks like is that our up-and-coming population is much hungrier and much poorer than our existing adult population and that’s concerning long-term.” Ogborn says the report shows the food bank will have to work harder to make sure children in the region get the food they need.  “What we will do is try to double our efforts and reach out to areas where we haven’t had contacts yet, particularly in the more rural parts of the state,” she says.

The report shows the most at-risk children for hunger in western Iowa are in Woodbury County, with about 64-hundred, and Pottawattamie County with 44-hundred. The Food Bank for the Heartland is the largest food bank in Nebraska and Iowa, encompassing 93 counties in the two-state region and distributing nine-million pounds of food a year. The agency serves more than 300 food pantries, emergency shelters, after-school programs, senior housing sites and rehabilitation centers.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Branstad has issued an order which forbids most state workers from claiming their bill for lunch as an expense unless they’re spending the night away from home. David Roederer, the governor’s budget director, says the old rule allowed a state employee to be reimbursed for lunch if they ate outside the county in which their office was located.  “So if somebody were in Des Moines and went down to Indianola, just a few miles south, and it was over lunch time, since they were in different counties, then the state would reimburse them for that meal,” Roederer says. “What the new policy is is that you must be on a trip that at least requires one overnight before you would be reimbursed for a lunch.” The new policy on lunch reimbursement is “standard practice” in most private companies, according to Roederer.

“We’re estimating that it could save the state taxpayers up to $1 million a year,” Roederer says. There will be a few exceptions to the new policy. State troopers, for example, will still be reimbursed for the lunches they buy while they’re on the road, patrolling their territory. “There will be exceptions made on a case-by-case basis,” Roederer says. The I.R.S. has a complicated set a rules for businesses that reimburse meals for employees, requiring businesses to count some reimbursement as taxable income for the employee if it exceeds 52-dollars per meal. However, there are other rules which let that reimbursement price rise if the meal is consumed in an area where food costs more, like New York City or Aspen, Colorado.

(Radio Iowa)

Five Republican presidential candidates gathered in South Carolina yesterday (Monday) for a forum and Iowa Congressman Steve King was on the panel, asking questions.  “Hopefully we filled some of the pieces in in the jigsaw puzzle,” King told reporters after the forum. “I was also impressed by the depth of the candidates. When I listened to them talk…even though I know all these candidates, things came out of these candidates that I’ve never heard in the time that I’ve had to be around them.” King posed questions about foreign policy and immigration. King has not endorsed a candidate for 2012 and he told reporters in South Carolina that yesterday’s event didn’t steer him toward or away from a candidate.

“I know I couldn’t stand here and say I didn’t think when Newt Gingrich said the best, first thing to do is pass my repeal of ObamaCare bill, I’m going to fall for that one. That was a good answer,” King said, laughing. “But, not from a substantive way, nothing made it real clear to me.” In addition to Gingrich, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, businessman Herman Cain, Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney attended the event. Governor Rick Perry dropped out at the last minute, returning to Texas to deal with the wildfires there. King hosted his own candidate forum in Iowa back in February and invited South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint to speak as that event’s closer. DeMint returned favor Monday and invited King to be part of the candidate forum DeMint hosted in Columbia, South Carolina.

(Radio Iowa)

A retirement party was held Friday, for a man whose voice has been heard from time-to-time by many in western Iowa, on KJAN and elsewhere, and whose service to the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department has spanned more than 30-years.  Chief Deputy Jim Matthai officially turned in his badge, August 31st. Matthai, who worked with the FBI, U.S. Marshals, Iowa State Patrol, Council Bluffs and Omaha police departments, Douglas County, Nebraska, Sheriff’s Office and other agencies during his career, told the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, that “It’s been a great ride,” and that he’s “Been lucky.”
When he was hired by former Pott County Sheriff Lynn Ford in February of 1980, the 23-year old Matthai was assigned court security as a bailiff, protecting judges. He says that allowed him to work closely with the County Attorney’s Office, learn what they expect law enforcement, and  how the legal system was handled by the courts.

One of the toughest jobs he’s had to handle, was being a traffic accident investigator from 1986 to 2001, especially those which involved serious injuries or death.  He says he saw so many deaths, where if a seat belt would have been used, lives most likely would have been saved. During his career with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, Matthai also worked in the sheriff’s office investigations unit, and  on the SWAT team. He’s served on a bicycle patrol unit.

Matthai rose through the ranks in the sheriff’s department, until January 2001, when current Sheriff Jeff Danker promoted him to Chief Deputy. Danker credited Matthai for his work in making the Sheriff’s Office a progressive, professional agency.  The Sheriff says he hates to see Matthai retire, and that he will be missed.

John Reynolds, a 24-year member of the Sheriff’s Office, will replace Matthai as Chief Deputy.

A western Iowa man is dead after authorities say he had a fight with a roommate. It happened Saturday afternoon in Coon Rapids. The victim, 28-year-old Bill Smith, was taken to a hospital in Carroll before being flown to a Des Moines hospital where he died Sunday evening. Coon Rapids Police Chief Joel Roetman says Smith had been fighting with a roommate when he was injured. Smith’s mother, who live across the street, called 911. “Nobody has been arrested in the case yet,” Roetman told Radio Iowa. “We’re still interviewing the people who were at the residence at the time. There were five people in the home when the altercation began.” The names of the other people in the home are not being released. It’s unclear how the fight started. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.

“If the cause of death is relating to an injury (Smith) sustained, then we’re looking at some kind of charges being filed in the case,” Roetman said. Alcohol was “not a contributing factor” in the incident, according to Roetman. He says it appears the altercation was limited to a fist fight. “It’s believed at this time that there were no weapons involved,” Roetman said. The Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation are assisting the Coon Rapids Police Department in the investigation.

(www.radioiowa.com)