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Chiefs Sign Ex-Jets DE Pitoitua

Sports

May 9th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs have signed former Jets defensive end Ropati Pitoitua. The team announced the move Tuesday. Pitoitua was a free agent after playing in 22 games over the past two seasons with the Jets. The former Washington State defensive end joined New York as an undrafted free agent in 2008, spending his first season in the league on the team’s practice squad. Pitoitua played in eight games in 2009 before playing in 14 games last season. He has 22 tackles and one sack in his career.

Beltran’s 2 HRs, 6 RBIs Lead St. Louis to 6-1 Win

Sports

May 9th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

PHOENIX (AP) — Carlos Beltran homered in his first two at-bats, including a grand slam, for six RBIs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Arizona 6-1 on Tuesday night, handing the Diamondbacks their fourth loss in a row. Beltran, who had one of the Cardinals’ five homers in their 9-6 series-opening win on Monday, hit a two-run homer off Ian Kennedy in the first, then cleared the bases with a shot into the swimming pool area in right-center in the seconds, his 10th career grand slam. Jake Westbrook (4-2) blanked the Diamondbacks on four hits through seven innings. Kennedy (3-2) threw five scoreless innings after Beltran’s slam but the Diamondbacks lost for the sixth time in seven games. They have dropped nine of their past 11 at home.

Iowa early News Headlines: Wed., May 9th 2012

News

May 9th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY (AP) — State officials have nixed a $2.5 million grant for a firm proposing a technology to make fertilizer from corn cobs at a plant near Menlo. Iowa’s economic development agency said Tuesday that SynGest, Inc. defaulted on its contract by not disclosing in its 2009 application that Chairman Serge Randhava had been sued for racketeering and fraud.

HUXLEY (AP) — A semitrailer hauling pudding cups caught on fire on Interstate 35 in central Iowa. It happened Tuesday in the southbound lanes near the Huxley exit about 8 miles south of Ames. Pudding cups littered the interstate and both southbound lanes were blocked for over an hour as crews cleaned up the scene. Nobody was hurt.

IOWA CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court has held up an earlier ruling that could make it harder for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to pursue class-action sexual harassment cases against companies in the Midwest. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 ruling today dismissing most of EEOC’s claims on behalf of female truckers who claimed they were sexually harassed while working for Cedar Rapids-based CRST, Inc.

IOWA CITY (AP) — Lawyers have selected jurors in the trial of the director of an Iowa City neighborhood center charged with failing to report allegations of child sexual abuse for a teacher she oversaw. The Iowa City Press-Citizen says the jury was seated today in the case against Susan Freeman-Murdah in Johnson County District Court. Freeman-Murdah, director of the Broadway Neighborhood Center, was arrested in February.

Iowa axes $2.5M grant for energy firm’s Menlo plant

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials have canceled a $2.5 million grant for a firm proposing a technology to make fertilizer from corn cobs at a plant near Menlo. A spokeswoman for Iowa’s economic development agency said Tuesday that SynGest, Inc. defaulted on its contract by not disclosing in its 2009 application that Chairman Serge Randhava had been sued for racketeering and fraud.
The agency released a copy of the default notice to The Associated Press, which reported on the lawsuit last month. The case was settled in 2009 along with another lawsuit in which Randhava was part of an investor group that accused others of fraud and racketeering. SynGest answered “no” to a question asking whether there were “any judgments or court actions completed or pending” against officers.  SynGest CEO Jack Oswald says the cancellation “appears to be a knee-jerk reaction” and the company hopes to convince the state to change its mind and resume the grant funding. Randhava declined comment.

Kurt Busch to Double Dip at Iowa Speedway in 2012

Sports

May 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kurt Busch says he’s planning to run both Nationwide series races at Iowa Speedway this season. Busch says he’s slated to run both the May 20 and August 4 races in Iowa this season in the No. 54 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, has tested at Iowa but hasn’t raced there. Busch says that Iowa’s short oval reminds him of similar setups in Richmond and Phoenix. Kyle Busch won a Nationwide race at the Iowa Speedway in 2010. Kurt says his brother has told him the key to success at Iowa is to maneuver the car through bumps in the track’s first two turns.

TUESDAY, MAY 8th

Trading Post

May 8th, 2012 by Jim Field

FOR SALE: two primitive style garden benches $25 each;  tall wire plant stand with matching two tier plant stand $25 for both; regular size patio table with two matching chairs and a matching two-person glider $50 for all. Call 243-2388 and leave a message.

FOR SALE: Mirror about five by six feet.  Heavy.  Good condition.  $50.00 or best offer.  249.0900

Trumpeter Swans Heading to Southwest Iowa

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says trumpeter swans will be released at two locations in southwest Iowa on May 10th.  Each release will be preceded by a 20 minute program with an opportunity to view the swans up close. The first swan release will be at Rapp Park, north of Shenandoah, at 9:30 a.m. The second site is the Riverton Wildlife Area Jensen Tract, in Fremont County, with a program at Riverton City Park Pavilion, preceding the release, at 2 p.m. 

Four swans will be released at each site.Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl in North America, weighing up to 32 pounds and with a wing span of up to eight feet.  The swans being released are part of the Iowa DNR’s statewide trumpeter swan restoration effort to restore wild, free-flying swans to Iowa.

BOATERS AT LAKE MANAWA URGED TO USE CAUTION DUE TO LOW WATER CONDITIONS

Ag/Outdoor, News

May 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

 The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is warning boaters at Lake Manawa, that low water conditions are creating navigational challenges. The lake level was more than three feet below full pool as of Monday. The low water conditions can create boating and personal watercraft dangers, not normally encountered when the lake is at normal water level. That includes problems launching vessels, and pull behind activities such as skiing, tubing and wake boarding. Much shallower water  and obstructions normally under water becoming potentially harmful hazards to water sports enthusiasts on the lake.

Susan Stocker, boating safety coordinator of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says boaters and users of personal watercraft are urged to to use extra caution. Stocker says “It is worth the extra time from a safety standpoint to make a trip or two around the lake at slower speeds to get familiar with where potential hazards may be.” Stocker said the unseasonably mild winter and spring have left many water bodies lower than normal.

CAM Middle School Class wins $500 prize

News

May 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A video produced by a reading class at the CAM Middle School has won a $500 grant award from the Iowa Department of Education. The award presented to Mrs. Venteicher’s reading class was for the second runner-up place in the “Youth in Action Healthy Iowa” contest, created by the Iowa Dept. of Education. 

The class received a flyer in January related to the theme of healthy living, and highlights how students combine school and getting fit. Mrs. Venteicher’s class exercise 20-minutes each class period, and test at the end. As a result, scores have been going up. Students also spend 20-minutes every morning during the week of Iowa assessment testing, hoping that a raised heart rate would improve test scores. 

The CAM Middle School is sending a health message to their students this week.  With the Award Prize won in Mrs. Venteicher’s Reading class, the students are being treated to a new fruit each day, during the last period of the day.  A fitness class was also created for the current school year, by Mrs. Brown, which allowed students to learn and practice fitness activities and eat healthy snacks. 

With the help of HyVee, the students are to gather each day for a social time and a time to eat a fresh fruit that many have not had in a while. That includes watermelon, Athena Canteloupe, Fresh Pineapple, Mangos and Dragon Fruit as well as fresh strawberries.

Hy-Vee is providing the fruit at cost or slightly below cost, and is assisting in the healthy living planning process.

Sedina pre-trial hearing continued until May 21st

News

May 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

A pre-trial hearing for an Atlantic woman facing a serious misdemeanor charge of Invasion of Privacy-Nudity, scheduled to have taken place yesterday (Monday), has instead been continued until May 21st. According to online court records, Judge Jeffrey Larson granted a continuance Monday, in the case of 35-year old Amanda Sedina, who is accused of taking an inappropriate picture of a bathing 78-year old female resident at the Salem Lutheran Home, in Elk Horn. The incident was reported to authorities on March 22nd

Sedina, who was an employee of the nursing home at the time the alleged incident occurred, entered a written plea of Not Guilty to the charge, on April 18th. Her trial is set to take place May 30th, in Shelby County District Court. The woman remains free on $1,000 bond, pending her court case.