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Iowa State downs Nebraska

February 25, 2010 By

Iowa State erased a 10 point deficit to edge Nebraska 78-74 in Big 12 play as the Cyclones snapped a six game losing skid. Cyclone coach Greg McDermott says the rally was sparked by the bench. Mc Dermott says they did it without Craig Brackins and Dionte Garrett on the floor and the bench was a big factor in their ability to win the game.

Iowa State trailed 41-34 at the half but picked up the defensive intensity in the second half. McDermott says he was disappointed with the first half defensive effort as they were slow to get to the shooters and traps. Craig Brackins led the Cyclones with 21 points and ten rebounds.

Scott Christopherson added 17 points as ISU claimed its third conference win. Chritsopherson says it feels good to get back on the winning track and they hope to carry the momentum through the last three games and into the tournament.

The Cyclones even their overall record at 14-14.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Iowa returns to action against Northwestern

February 25, 2010 By

The Iowa Hawkeyes return to Big Ten action tonight with a visit to Northwestern. The Hawks are 3-11 in the in the Big Ten and have not played since an overtime loss to Michigan back on February 16th.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says he hopes they’ve taken advantage of the rest and are ready for the stretch run. The Hawks beat the Wildcats in convincing fashion in Iowa City, their most complete effort of the season. He says they will probably have to play a lot better as he says there were some things they did very well against his team in the last game.

Iowa is 9-18 overall. Northwestern is 6-9 in the league race and 17-10 overall.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

Accused Middle East assassins have tie to Iowa bank

February 25, 2010 By

Some of the accused assassins who allegedly took out an Islamic fundamentalist leader last month reportedly booked their flights and hotel rooms with the help of an Iowa bank. Credit cards issued by a northwest Iowa-based financial institution were used by a Middle Eastern hit squad.

According to officials in Dubai, 14 of 26 suspects in the murder of a senior leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas were in possession of credit cards issued by Storm Lake-based MetaBank. Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed on January 19th. Two of the suspects are being held in Dubai.

Warrants have been issued for the others. MetaBank is owned by Meta Financial Group, which also owns Meta Payments Systems, a major provider of credit cards. MetaBank officials haven’t commented pending a review of the situation.

By Joel Hermann, KAYL, Storm Lake

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Adams County men charged with sexual exploitation

February 25, 2010 By

Two Adams County men, including a former teacher, were arrested Wednesday on charges of sexual exploitation. Sheriff’s officials say the men, 49-year-old James Carl Wiechman and 34-year-old Brent Romer, both of Corning, were taken into custody following an on-going investigation.

Authorities say Wiechman was arrested on one-count of sexual exploitation of a minor, while Romer faces charges that include five-counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, three-counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee, and one-count of sexual abuse in the third-degree.

The charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and third-degree sexual abuse are class c felonies, punishable by a sentence of up to 10-years in jail and a fine not to exceed $10,000. Sexual exploitation by a school employee is a class “D” felony, punishable by a maximum of five-years in prison and a fine of up to 75-hundred dollars. Both men were booked into the Adams County Jail and posted bond later in the day.

Romer is a 1993 graduate of the Corning School District and a former fourth-grade teacher, Administrative Assistant, and Junior High Track Coach at the Cumberland-Anita-Massena School District. He resigned from his position in July, 2008.

By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

DHS announces final two regional offices

February 25, 2010 By

Department of Human Services Director Charles Krogmeier announced Wednesday the final two regional offices that will remain open under his plan to streamline the agency from eight to five. D.H.S spokesman Roger Munns says the decision was made based a variety of logistical reasons.

Munns say the final two will be in Davenport and Council Bluffs, and the offices that will be closing are in Ames, Dubuque and Sioux City. Munns says this won’t impact other D.H.S. offices. He says the decision doesn’t impact the hours of operation or location of the local county officers, as he says workers will continue to investigate child abuse and neglect and provide help to those seeking government aid. Munns says it will just mean less regional oversight on those local offices.

Munns says there are other streamlining decisions still ahead. Munns says the director wants to consolidate the regional child abuse intake function of the offices as they now have intake units in each of the eight regions and that needs to be centralized. Munns says the childcare payment and eligibility programs are also being reviewed for consolidation, and there are some decisions that will be made after the legislature takes action.

Munns says they don’t know how many of the county offices will be less than full-time, as he says right now one-third of the offices are not full-time. He says there “could be many more than that”, but that all depends on the legislature and the budget money available. Each of the five new regional D.H.S. offices will have fewer staff than any of the current regional offices, which have between eight and 10 employees each. The realignment takes place April 1st.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Bill offers incentives for selling “local” food

February 25, 2010 By

Iowa grocers would have a new incentive for stocking Iowa grown foods under a bill filed by a Democratic lawmaker from Iowa City. Senator Joe Bolckom’s bill would enact a tax credit for stores which buy local fruits, vegetables, dairy products and meats. Bolckom says grocers want to support small local producers but it’s not always easy to do so.

“Providing some sort of incentive to them because of the additional hassle they have to go through to interact with local producers rather than one distribution warehouse is what’s behind the bill….creating some kind of incentive to see more Iowa products end up in places like HyVee, Fareway and Wal-Mart,” Bolckom said. Bolckom introduced the bill at the urging of economic development leaders who want to encourage Iowa food processors as well as Iowa growers.

“The average meal in Iowa travels about 1,500 miles to get here,” Bolckom said. “I think many people around the state who are working on local food issues see great economic development potential from Iowa consumers consuming more Iowa grown vegetables, fruits, dairy and meat products.” Bolckom admits the bill will have a hard time this year because of pressure on the state treasury, but he says it was worth introducing to see if there’s support.

Filed Under: Agriculture Tagged With: , ,

Huckabee speaks of political “revival”

February 24, 2010 By

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was back in Iowa Wednesday, helping raise campaign money for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats and raise funds for a group that has endorsed Vander Plaats.

During a meeting with reporters in Cedar Rapids, Huckabee said Vander Plaats and other Republican candidates should benefit from the so-called “Tea Party movement.”

“I think the Tea Party has energized a whole new political group of people,” Huckabee told reporters in Cedar Rapids. “I think it’s been 100 percent positive.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,
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