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Nebraska gives grant to South Sioux City

October 31, 2008 By

Nebraska’s governor has announced a community development block grant for South Sioux City. Governor Dave Heineman says South Sioux City will receive $400,000 to help Specialty Protein Producers LLC start up a soybean protein extraction plant.

The project will create at least 60 new jobs. The company will use nearly $408,000 to purchase machinery and equipment for its Green Planet Farms operation in South Sioux. The company markets the soy proteins for a range of food products. The grant will be combined with about $92,000 in funds that were repaid to the city from a previous CDBG project.

Specialty Protein Producers has also been awarded an $810,000 loan from the USDA to help purchase equipment for the facility.

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Iowa Soldiers given sendoff in five cities

October 31, 2008 By

Family and friends gathered in five Iowa cities Thursday to say their goodbyes to 310 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers who are bound for Iraq. Members of two transportation companies leave today.

Almost half of the soldiers were involved in a previous deployment to Iraq nearly four years ago. More than 725 people met at the high school in Audubon to send-off 65 members of the Army National Guard’s 1168th Transportation Company.

Unit Commander Captain Sarah Lee Sickles is a 23-year Army veteran who grew up in Ackley but lives in Polk City. Captain Sickles says being away from her loved ones is something you never get used to. In fact, she says, "It’s terrible."

Sickles says: "Getting shot at is really not that big of a deal, but it’s really hard to be away from your family and your loved ones. My daughters and my mother, I e-mail every day. It just makes them feel better to know that everything is okay."

Veterans of other wars had to rely on "snail mail" to get the latest news from home, but emails keep today’s soldiers instantly in-touch. Sickles says she couldn’t live without email while she’s on active duty. She says: "It’s wonderful to get letters and cards. Everybody loves to get mail and getting email isn’t the same, but just knowing that your family is okay and being able to communicate instantly if there is an issue, I can’t imagine it being any other way."

Another sendoff was held Thursday night at Mason City High School for the 115 departing soldiers from that area. Several members of the 1133rd Transportation Company were with the unit when it was called to active duty to support Operation Iraqi Freedom in January 2003. One of them is Chad Hayes of Albert Lea, Minnesota. Hayes says he was glad to see the community support.

Hayes says: "I know it’s hard on a lot of families. I myself am not married and don’t have kids but I know it’s hard for my sisters and my mom, dad." Also shipping out with the 1133rd, Nichole Funk of Mason City says she’s not the only family member in the unit. She is married to a fellow soldier in the 1133rd and her little brother is also in the unit — all three are deploying.

Five communities across the state hosted the sendoff ceremonies for the units on Thursday — Audubon, Iowa City, Mason City, Perry and Marshalltown.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

Corallville woman charged with killing son

October 31, 2008 By

Authorities say a Coralville woman will be arrested for killing her 2-year-old son when she’s released from a hospital. Buchanan County Attorney Al Vander Hart says investigators believe Michelle Kehoe is responsible for the death of Seth Kehoe and causing the injuries to her 7-year-old Sean.

He announced at a Thursday afternoon press conference that Michelle Kehoe, 35, will be charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and child endangerment causing serious injury.

An autopsy revealed Seth died from cuts to the neck. Sean also had cuts to his neck, but is now out of the hospital. The boys’ mother is considered the only suspect. "We have no reason to suspect or believe that anybody else has been involved or there’s any risk or danger to the public," Vander Hart said.

The county attorney refused to talk about details of the case, saying authorities want to assure Kehoe receives a fair trial. "Premature disclosure of evidence jeopardizes that," Vander Hart said. Court documents, however, provide gruesome details of how Michelle Kehoe planned to kill her children several weeks before the three of them were found Monday morning in a remote, wooded area near Littleton.

According to an affidavit, Michelle told investigators she purchased duct tape and a knife one month ago. She admitted covering the boy’s eyes, noses and mouths with the tape and cutting their throats. Kehoe claimed it happened on Sunday before 1:30 p.m. and she couldn’t explain why she had done it. Investigators were called to the scene and Kehoe told them she and her children were attacked by a man with a knife.

The knife was recovered from a pond, along with hand written note in the van detailing the abduction of the mother and her children.  Investigators say Sean told them his mother caused his injuries and killed his younger brother. Michelle Kehoe allegedly confessed to writing the note more than two months ago.

 

The search for the Kehoe family began when the father, Eugene, reported them missing after his wife and kids failed to show up to their destination in Sumner on Sunday. Vander Hart offered his condolences to the family on behalf of all the investigating agencies. "It is our prayer that the Lord will bind their wounds and heal their broken hearts in the face of this tragedy," Vander Hart said.

 

The extent of Michelle Kehoe’s injuries are not being released. It is believed she attempted suicide. Investigators say Kehoe told them she "wanted to die or be locked up where she couldn’t hurt anyone else."

 

Last December, Michelle Kehoe and her sons were rescued from the Iowa River in Iowa City. She told investigators she was distracted by her sons, lost control of the van and ended up in the water. Iowa City Police Sergeant Troy Kelsay said this week he reviewed the report from the December crash and didn’t see anything that would indicate it was anything other than an accident.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

First hearing on smoking ban violation is today

October 31, 2008 By

The first hearing against an Iowa bar for violating the state’s new smoking ban is today at the State Alcoholic Beverages Division in Ankeny. The Attorney General filed a complaint against Otis Campbell’s Bar and Grill in West Burlington after the state received nearly 50 complaints against the bar and police officers witnessed violations.

Bar owner Larry Duncan told a legislative committee a few weeks ago that he ignored the ban on purpose. Duncan says, "I’ve been a law abiding citizen for 67 years, nine years on a local school board, five as president, I have not abused the law — but this law I felt was unconstitutional to start with." Duncan told the legislators he looks forward to his day in court.

"I got into this to start with because I personally felt the law was unconstitutional. I went across the street to our police department and mayor -told them I didn’t want to show them up in any way shape or form and I asked them if we could just cut through this and get the three warnings get a citation get it to court let the people decide and I felt this would have all been taken care of 90 days ago," Duncan says.

Duncan believes the law wrongly hurts his business. He asks why he should as a small businessperson be forced to come up with thousands of dollars to defend something he thinks is not right. The case will be heard by an administrative law judge, and the judge will then recommend a penalty to the Alcoholic Beverages Division Administrator. The Administrator could levy up to a one thousand dollar fine, or suspend or revoke Duncan’s liquor license.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine Tagged With: ,

Iowa wins "Gulf Guardian Award"

October 30, 2008 By

The five-states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have given a “Gulf Guardian Award” to an Iowa program that aims to improve water quality here. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey says Iowa farmers have made strides in keeping fertilizer from draining off farm fields, rolling down the river and ultimately creating a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Certainly we’re very interested as well in what it can do to impact the water quality within the state of Iowa,” Northey says. “But (the EPA and Gulf State leaders) are very high on (the Iowa program’s) ability to expand not only in the state of Iowa, but to go to other states.”

Darryl McLaren, executive director of the Farm Service Agency’s Iowa office, says the project uses state and federal resources that are available through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. “I don’t think we can afford to be anything but proactive in Iowa and I think a word that we can adopt is coexistence,” McLaren says. “We need to be able to carry on our agricultural activities without bothering the economic well-being of another part of the country.”

Dean Lemke of the Iowa Department of Agriculture says because the program, 72 wetland areas have been developed around Iowa to filter surface water and remove the nitrates that come from farm fertilizers.”We estimate over the life time of the wetlands those 72 sites will remove 54,000 tons of nitrate,” Lemke says. Those nitrates, then, will never make their way to the Mississippi River watershed and down to the Gulf of Mexico.

Rick Robinson of the Iowa Farm Bureau says Iowa State University Extension, soil and water conservation districts and other organizations have been participated in the project. “There’s been a number of people involved in this and it just shows you how far you can get with some voluntary programs,” Robinson says. Iowa farmers have signed up for government grants to help convert over 80,000 acres of cultivated farmland to wetland areas. 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment & Conservation

Redemption centers to make improvements with state grants

October 30, 2008 By

Cans ready for recycling. Nearly 100 independent beverage container redemption centers in the state are preparing to make improvements to their operations with grants from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

State officials hope the improvements will ultimately benefit Iowans with shorter wait times and increased convenience.

Vicki Kincer and her husband run redemption centers in Sheldon and Orange City that will split roughly $20,000 in grants. “Here in Sheldon, we are in bad need of a new roof for our building. We also need a new water heater,” Kincer said. She says they plan to add manual can counters at both locations and replace the engine in their collection truck.

“Without the grant funding, we didn’t know what we were going to do,” Kincer said of fixing the truck. “Between 60-and-75% of our business comes from doing pick-ups from consumers and businesses.” Don Franey owns a redemption center in Jefferson. He’s planning to add a part-time employee and make improvements to his building.

“We’re going to try to knock down our utilities bill by adding insulation and putting in a different furnace. Then, we’ll try to hire another person for 20 hours (a week) which will take about $7,500 a year,” Franey said. The redemption centers collect a penny on every can or bottle.

Franey says some of his monthly heating bills last year were in the $500 range, meaning he needed to redeem 50,000 cans just to cover the bill. A total of 93 redemption centers are splitting $965,000 in grants from the D.N.R.

A complete list of the centers that are receiving grants and their plans for the money is available via the D.N.R’s website .

 

Filed Under: Business, Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Company reaches agreement over collecting student information

October 30, 2008 By

A national company has reached an agreement with Iowa and 35 other states to stop offering teachers gift cards as an incentive to have students fill out surveys. Bill Brauch of the Attorney General’s Office says Educational Research Center of America, has approved the agreement to settle a lawsuit.

Brauch says the company is one of several that collect information from students and then turn around and sell the information. The can sell the information to colleges, or to credit card companies, or companies selling magazine subscriptions.

Brauch says the states brought the lawsuit to gain more accountability from the company. He says the companies don’t collect financial information such as Social Security numbers, but he says they feel if the students want to receive solicitations, that should be a know choice on their part. Brauch says part of the settlement requires the company to be clear that students don’t have to complete the forms.

Brauch says it ensures that parents get advanced notice, and they can let the child refuse to fill out the survey. Brauch says they can’t release the exact number of Iowa students who may’ve filled out the surveys.

He says they have some information on Iowa students, but the agreement with the company requires them to keep it confidential. Brauch says nationwide there are thousands of students who fill out such surveys.

The New Jersey-based company did not admit to any wrongdoing, but did agree to pay the states $200,000 for the costs to investigate the case.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Education
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