Le Mars Police Want People To Be Aware Of Counterfeit Currency
(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Police Department wants people to be aware of the possibility of counterfeit $20 bills that are circulating the Midwest.
Police Chief Kevin Vande Vegte says his department was recently made aware of the problem. Vande Vegte says there hasn’t been any report of the phony money showing up in Le Mars, but he wants people to be on the alert.
Vande Vegte says the feel and texture of the counterfeit bills will be different than what you are used too.
The Le Mars Police Chief says there are also some other more obvious signs showing the money is fake.
If you suspect having received a fake currency bill, you are asked to either take it to the police, or to your bank. Both entities have procedures they follow of notifying federal authorities.
Reynolds Selects McDonald As Iowa Supreme Court Justice
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa Court of Appeals judge has been named by Gov. Kim Reynolds as the newest justice on the Iowa Supreme Court.
Judge Christopher McDonald said Wednesday he will move to the
state’s highest court in the next few weeks.
Born in Thailand to a Vietnamese mother and a Scottish/Irish father, McDonald says he embraces the expectations placed on him as the court’s first minority.
McDonald, who is 44, is Reynolds’ second supreme court appointment and lets the conservative Republican governor replace a Democratic governor’s appointee. Justice Daryl Hecht, who retired in December, was appointed by Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2006.
Reynolds and McDonald took no questions at the announcement.
The appointment comes as legislators consider a bill supported by Reynolds that would reshape the way judges are selected by giving legislative leaders greater control over appointments to a judicial nominating commission.
House Republicans Modify Their Plan For Selecting Judges
(Des Moines) — House Republicans have scaled back their plan to change the commission that nominates judges for district courts, the Iowa Court of Appeals and the Iowa Supreme Court. Drew Klein, a lobbyist for American for Prosperity, says the amendment making those changes is still a good step
toward making the commission more accountable to Iowans.
Late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, all but one Republican on a House committee voted to let lawyers continue electing fellow lawyers to the Judicial Nominating Commissions for DISTRICT COURTS, but legislative leaders from both political parties would start choosing half the members of the
commission that selects nominees for the Iowa Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says the bill may get more tweaks as it advances to House debate.
Representative Andy McKean, a retired attorney from Anamosa, was the only Republican to vote against the changes.
Republican Governor Kim Reynolds yesterday (Wednesday) revealed her second pick for an opening on the Iowa Supreme Court. James Carney, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Bar Association, says that shows the current system for
choosing Iowa judges works well.
The retirement age for Iowa Supreme Court Justices is 70. Democrats in the legislature are opposes to changing the system for nominating judges, but Republicans hold a majority of seats in the Iowa House and Senate.
Commission Rejects Environmental Groups Suggestions As Being Too Expensive
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa commission has rejected a proposal from two environmental groups to adopt stricter standards for the state’s nearly 160 recreational lakes, saying the effort would be too expensive.
The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Environmental
Protection Commission rejected the proposal Tuesday because of the $205 million estimated cost.
Jon Tack is the water quality bureau chief for the state Department of Natural Resources. He says the cost “per capita would be astronomical.”
The Environmental Law & Policy Center and Iowa Environmental Council filed the proposal in November.
A state analysis found that 93 percent of the state’s lakes would be declared impaired with the new standards.
Josh Mandelbaum is an attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center. He says that percentage is troubling because many lakes are also a source of drinking water.
—
Nationwide Insurance Lays Off More Employees Than Earlier Announced
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Nationwide Insurance has more than doubled the number of Des Moines job cuts it announced last fall.
Nationwide said in November that about 80 workers in Des Moines would lose their jobs as part of a company effort to eliminate about 1,100 positions across the country – around 3.6 percent of its workforce.
The company issued 191 layoff notices this month, however.
Nationwide spokesman Joe Case told The Des Moines Register that, “as we’ve continued to implement our business plans, we are realizing a larger impact in Des Moines than what we originally shared in November.”
Nationwide has said it is taking advantage of new technologies as it positions the organization for long-term success and growth.
—
