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Self report leads to New Albin clerk audit

March 19, 2010 By

Self reported embezzlement by the former city clerk of New Albin in northeast Iowa’s Allamakee County led the State Auditor to find thousands of dollars of misused money. Tami Kusian of the of the state auditor’s office says they discovered nearly $33,000 in improper disbursements.

Kusian says the majority of that money was for personal purposed made by the clerk for household items that included nine digital cameras, four camcorders, computers, jewelry and t-v’s that were all purchased with city funds. Kusian says the former clerk, Stephanie Ahles, admitted in her resignation letter that she had “embezzled” the funds. She says that did leAd to the investigation, as the city council asked for the state audit after receiving the resignation.

Kusian says they don’t often have someone admit the wrong doing before they get to the audit. Kusian says she can remember only one or two instances where that has happened. Another unique aspect of this case involved the failure of the former clerk to file the proper paperwork to collect the city property taxes.

Kusian says the city then asked the residents to donate the money. Kusian says since the paperwork was not filed, the city would not have gotten any property taxes, so they asked the citizens to donate the same amount to the city. The city would have gotten $139,600 in property taxes had the paperwork been filed, and they ended up getting about $140,000 in donations.

Kusian says the information from the audit has been turned over to the Allamakee County Attorney’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office and the Division of Criminal Investigation, to determine what charges might be filed against Ahles.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Governor signs law allowing clearing of alcohol offenses

March 19, 2010 By

A new state law will help some Iowans wipe a “youthful indiscretion” from their criminal record. The governor has signed a bill into law that would let some people convicted of possessing, buying or trying to buy booze when they were under the age of 21 get that conviction erased from their criminal record.

It wouldn’t be available to everybody, however. The person trying to get that crime “expunged” from their record would have to essentially accumulate two years of “good behavior.” They cannot have been convicted of another serious crime if they want to get that alcohol-related conviction erased from their record.

Backers of the bill say having an alcohol conviction on your record can prevent some young adults from being accepted to graduate school, or even from being employed in certain careers.

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

Actor spends “Happy Days” at Iowa car show

March 19, 2010 By
Henry Winkler as "The Fonz"

Henry Winkler as "The Fonz"

The actor best known for his character “The Fonz” on the top-rated TV series “Happy Days” during the 1970s and 80s is in Iowa this weekend in hopes of inspiring others to chase their dreams.

Henry Winkler will turn 65 this year and says he grew up being nothing like the iconic thumbs-up Arthur Fonzarelli, King of Cool — as he had dyslexia. Winkler says: “Math was hard. English was hard. History was hard. I was great in lunch. School was unbelievably difficult for me.”

Winkler persevered and eventually found huge fame through acting. Since “Happy Days” left the air in 1984, he’s acted steadily, as well as produced and directed, while doing a lot of public speaking. “I was told I would never achieve,” Winkler says, “and if I can do it, anybody can do it.”

Based on his early struggles, Winkler has written a popular series of children’s books that have sold millions. The 17th and final book in the series comes out next month, though Winkler says he intends to create another series of books for kids.

A recent television success for Winkler was on the Fox series “Arrested Development.” He says his character, a twisted lawyer named Barry Zuckerkorn, will be featured in the upcoming feature-length movie, based on the series. One of the leather jackets Winkler wore as The Fonz on “Happy Days” is now in the Smithsonian Institution where it’s on display as a symbol of Americana and television history.

“My parents escaped Nazi Germany and they came with me when I presented the jacket,” Winkler says. “My wife and I were there in Washington at the Smithsonian and it was one of the greatest honors of my life, outside of my children.” Winkler and his wife of 32 years, Stacey, co-founded the Children’s Action Network in 1990, which works to find homes for children in foster care and provides free immunizations.

In his role as a public speaker, Winkler is appearing at World of Wheels events across the U.S., including this weekend’s show at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. “I get to meet my fans and I have my children’s books with me, ‘Hank Zipzer, The World’s Greatest Underachiever,’ and people come to say hello and then they come and see these incredible cars.” This is Winkler’s second visit to Iowa. His first trip here was to speak before — true story — a convention of funeral home directors. Referring to this weekend’s engagement, he says, “This is a much more joyful event.”

For details, visit “www.iowaeventscenter.com“. While Winkler will turn 65 in October, he has no plans to retire, saying he intends to “continue to work as an actor until my walker no longer helps me.”

Hear Matt Kelley’s interview with Henry Winkler here: Winkler interview 7:00 MP3

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

House votes to stay out of Maid-Rite feud

March 19, 2010 By

The Iowa House spent over half an hour debating the way meat is cooked at a Maid-Rite restaurant in Marshalltown and, in the end, decided legislators shouldn’t wade into the controversy.

The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has told Taylor’s Maid-Rite in Marshalltown to change the way it cooks the hamburger for its loose-meat sandwiches. Food inspectors say raw meat is cooked in the same receptacle used to store the cooked meat before it’s served to customers. 

Last week, the Iowa Senate voted to give Taylor’s Maid-Rite in Marshalltown a reprieve, but late today the House has voted to let state inspectors make the decision. Representative Ralph Watts of Adel argued legislators shouldn’t be deciding food safety issues and he warned of the financial risks to other Maid-Rite restaurants if a case of e-coli is confirmed.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Heated sidewalk proposal moves ahead

March 19, 2010 By

A state-financed experiment to test new ways to conserve electricity and water has survived one budget battle at the statehouse. Last year the cities of Woodbine and West Union received half a million dollars through the state’s “Greenstreets” program. West Union hopes to eventually test whether heated sidewalks can be an alternative to using sand, salt and manpower to clear ice and snow.

Representative Chuck Soderberg, a Republican from Le Mars, says that’s not a good use of tax dollars, or electricity. “The activity we’re talking about would actually put some underground pipes under the streets and the sidewalks and actually melt the ice and the snow from the streets,” Soderberg says. “I don’t think that’s an appropriate use of money to actually promote inefficient use of electricity.”

Representative Scott Raecker, a Republican from Urbandale, was harshly critical of the idea when the House debated the proposal earlier this week. “Pink slips are going to go out and teachers are going to lose their jobs, but today we’re going to decide that it’s important to pay for heated sidewalks and heated streets as part of an economic development package,” Raecker said.

But Representative Andrew Wenthe, a Democrat, says no money’s been spent on heated sidewalks and there are no plans to do so in the immediate future either as other projects are higher on the “do list.” “Looking at all sorts of comprehensive ways to become more energy efficient, to be more responsible about where their rainwater runs off to and the heated sidewalks is one part of their large project,” Wenthe says.

According to Wenthe, if the communities install heated sidewalks, the funding for those projects won’t come from the state as West Union and Woodbine have secured $4-million from private foundations and from federal grants. And Wenthe says heated sidewalks won’t be installed unless it makes sense.

“They wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t energy efficient in the net,” Wenthe says, “you know, if — in the overall — there’s a good return on investment for doing this.” Wenthe was born in West Union, one of the two communities that are participating in the “Greenstreets” program. He now lives in Hawkeye, but West Union is in his legislative district.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Narcisse will not run as a Democrat in governor race

March 19, 2010 By

Former Des Moines School Board member Jonathan Narcisse has abandoned his plans to run against Governor Chet Culver in this June’s primary. Narcisse told The Des Moines Register Thursday that he’s traveled the state, and Iowans want an “independent voice,” someone who’s tied to neither the Democrats nor the Republicans.

Narcisse said he intends to run as an independent candidate for governor in the fall election. Narcisse held a news conference in late February and, back then, he told reporters he would submit his petition signatures this past Monday to place his name on the primary ballot as a Democratic challenger to Culver. Narcisse indicated he had handed the project of collecting petition signatures to his newly-hired campaign manager and volunteer coordinators around the state.

“There are just certain things that I trust my campaign leadership to handle,” Narcisse said on February 27, “and I don’t need to be in the minutia.” In a statement released to The Des Moines Register last night, Narcisse said as he traveled the state since then, he heard Iowans tell him “they do not want me to run as a partisan, but as an Iowan.”

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Supreme Court suspends Floyd County attorney for ethical violations

March 19, 2010 By

The Floyd County Attorney has had his license suspended for at least six months after a 5-2 decision today by the Iowa Supreme Court. The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board alleged that Jesse Marzen committed numerous violations of Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct by engaging in a sexual relationship with a client, disclosing client confidences to the public and making a misrepresentation to a judge.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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