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November 28th Afternoon News

Governor Branstad Names Lowe As Transportation Director

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Terry Branstad has named an interim director to oversee Iowa’s transportation department after its last leader resigned.
The governor’s office says Mark Lowe will formally take over the Iowa Department of Transportation on Tuesday. Lowe gave an agency budget presentation on Monday following an announcement of his new post.
Lowe replaces Paul Trombino, who resigned earlier this month. Trombino, whose last day on the job is Monday, says he stepped down so he could consider taking a private sector job.
Lowe has led Iowa DOT’s motor vehicle division since 2009, and he previously served as the department’s general counsel. There is no timeline for naming a new Iowa DOT director, though officials are now accepting applications.

 

Auditor Asks For ISU Leath’s Travel LogĀ 

AMES, Iowa (AP) – An auditor has examined Iowa State University President Steven Leath’s log book detailing when and where he has flown planes in recent years.
The Board of Regents is auditing flights taken by Leath, following a damaging hard landing during vacation.
One question was whether Leath would turn over his log, which pilots are required to keep. He told students earlier that he didn’t believe it was a public record.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that auditor Todd Stewart requested the “complete and unredacted” log from Leath.
Leath asked Stewart if non-university flights had to be divulged, and Stewart responded they did. Board spokesman Josh Lehman says Leath later provided the log unredacted, and Stewart reviewed but didn’t take possession of it.
It’s unclear when the review will finish.

 

University of Iowa Receives $45 Million Donation

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa says a $45 million donation will fund a center to research diseases that affect the brain and nervous system.
The Iowa Neuroscience Institute will investigate causes, preventions, treatments and cures. It will be led by Ted Abel, a University of Pennsylvania professor who will join Iowa’s faculty in January.
The gift comes from the university’s largest donor, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, which has now given $195 million. It was founded after the 1981 death of Carver, a Muscatine businessman and philanthropist.
The center will bring together top researchers from across the university, including biologists, computer scientists and engineers. The donation will support laboratories, research projects and faculty salaries.
Medical school dean Jean Robillard says the gift will foster “a new era of scientific innovation.”

 

Former Temple President Is UNI Finalist

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – A former Temple University president who was recently forced out by the school’s board is a finalist for the University of Northern Iowa presidency.
The Iowa Board of Regents says Neil Theobald will visit the Cedar Falls campus Tuesday.
The regents are searching for a replacement for Bill Ruud, who left this summer to become president of Marietta College. Two other finalists will be announced this week, and the board is expected to make its choice next week.
Theobald led the Philadelphia-based Temple since August 2012. Its board took a no-confidence vote in him in July, announcing its intent to dismiss him.
He reached a resignation agreement days later.
The board had been critical of Theobald’s handling of a $22 million financial aid shortfall and his removal of Temple’s provost.

 

Supporters of Medical Marijuana Wants Iowa To Expand Law

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Medical marijuana supporters are hopeful the Iowa Legislature could expand the state’s limited cannabis oil law.
Republican Rep. Clel Baudler plans to propose a bill that would allow the production and distribution of medical cannabis oil in Iowa.
The Legislature passed a law in 2014 that allows Iowa residents to possess cannabis oil for the treatment of epilepsy. That law is set to expire in July. A separate law currently makes it illegal to manufacture or distribute that oil in the state, while federal law prohibits its transportation across state lines.
Threase Harms, who lobbies on behalf of the Epilepsy Foundation and the upper Midwest chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, says the organizations will continue to try and educate lawmakers about the issue to build broader support.

 

Council Bluffs Officials Trying To Eliminate Mussels In Water Pipes

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Council Bluffs officials are trying to determine how far invasive zebra mussels have spread from one of the basins where the city draws drinking water from.
The mussels were found during maintenance this fall, but it’s not clear if they have begun to colonize and clog the pipes leading into the city’s water treatment plant.
Water Works CEO and General Manager Doug Drummey says the zebra mussels don’t threaten water quality, but they can require costly repairs to clear pipes.
The invasive mussels reproduce quickly and then attach themselves to hard surfaces.
Drummey says most of the mussels found in September died because the water level was lowered for maintenance. But the pipes leading into the pond will be inspected this month.

 

Galt Man Found Dead In Lake

GALT, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a 55-year-old man has died after being pulled from a northern Iowa lake.
Wright County officers sent to Big Wall Lake on Thursday afternoon to check a report about someone in distress found the man face down in about 2 1/2 feet of water around 200 yards from shore. He was treated at the scene, but authorities say he succumbed later at a hospital. Authorities think he died from
exposure and hypothermia.
The Iowa Natural Resources Department identified him as Kevin Simons, who lived in Fort Dodge.
The department’s Ken Lonneman said Monday that officials don’t know what Simons was doing in the lake. Lonneman says Simons didn’t have any hunting gear with him.
The lake sits about four miles southwest of Galt in Wright County.