(LE MARS) Free trade agreements, taxes and the Farm Bill are issues Iowa Farm Bureau leaders focused on during a National Ag Week visit to Capitol Hill.
Plymouth County Farm Bureau Secretary Vernon Letsche of Remsen, left, joined more than 70 Iowa Farm Bureau leaders on the trip to Washington, D-C.
The group met with Iowa’s Congressional Delegation, representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation and the New Zealand Embassy. (Photo courtesy Plymouth County Farm Bureau)
(ORANGE CITY)–A Northwestern College instructor will teach and do research in Romania as a Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Jennifer Feenstra is associate professor of psychology at Northwestern.
She’s received the Fulbright Scholar grant to research the effectiveness of the youth development work done by the New Horizons Foundation. She will also teach methodology courses in a master’s degree program while on sabbatical from Northwestern.
Dr. Feenstra is a social psychologist with research interests in volunteerism and the development of adolescents and young adults. She participated in a Northwestern summer study abroad course in Romania in 2005.
(SIOUX CITY)-An event in Sioux City to honor women who have survived cancer and heart disease is sold out.
Mercy’s Little Black Dress Event is a project of Mercy Medical Center Red Dress Ambassadors in cooperation with the June E. Nylen Cancer Center and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The March 24th evening event will feature “Hair Theatre Production” by Pat Wynn Brown, a nationally known story teller who talks about her life through health, beauty and hairdos.
(SIOUX CITY)–Plans are underway for the Mardi Gras Festivale in Sioux City.
The annual event is Thursday, June 30th at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Sioux City.
Many Sioux City members of the Krewe De Charlie Sioux went to Louisiana earlier this month to kick off planning for the Sioux City festivities with the Lake Charles Sister City Krewe members.
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) A Yankton company specializing in precision-machined aluminum components for military and commercial aircraft is expanding.
Applied Engineering is adding 25,000 square feet to its 66,000-square-foot facility.
President Tom Bohnet says the company needs more space to keep up with customers’ growing demand. Its major accounts include Honeywell and Rockwell Collins.
The building is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
Applied Engineering moved to the southeast South Dakota town from Minnesota in 1984. It offers plating, painting, silkscreen, chem-film, welding, assembly and special packaging.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) A Waterloo man accused of getting over $10,000 in unemployment benefits when he had a job has been given a deferred judgment and placed on probation.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says Lamaurice Kirk was sentenced this month in Black Hawk County District Court after pleading guilty to first-degree fraudulent practices. A deferred judgment means the conviction will be removed from his record if he successfully completes the probation.
Kirk also was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay over $10,000 in restitution.
Police say Kirk provided information to Iowa Workforce Development that he wasn’t working between October 2009 and May 2010 when he actually had a job. Kirk was arrested last August.
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) The city of Davenport is stockpiling sandbags in preparation for flooding this spring from the Mississippi River.
The city has about 10,000 sandbags ready to go, and workers are filling more this weekend. Volunteers are also being sought to help out.
National Weather Service forecasters have said Davenport is among several metropolitan areas that face a greater than 95 percent chance of major flooding this spring.
City administrator Craig Malin told WQAD-TV that the record flood stage in Davenport stands at 22.63 feet, but the city’s flood plan exceeds that by 18 inches.
Malin says there’s no immediate risk of flooding but the city wants to be prepared for the coming weeks.
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) Two eastern Iowa counties are seeing a spike in the number of cases of child abuse.
The Muscatine Journal reports cases of child abuse dropped 3 percent statewide from 2009 to 2010, but there were more 69 percent more cases in Muscatine County and 50 percent more in neighboring Louisa County. Each case represents one victim, no matter how many times he or she was subjected to abuse.
State and local officials say they’re not sure whether abuse is actually on the rise or if more people are reporting abuse.
Kim Hessel of Family Resources Inc. in Muscatine says economic troubles increases instances of domestic assault, so that could also contribute to the rise in child abuse.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) A Cedar Rapids woman faces 35 counts of animal abuse after nearly three dozen pets were seized from her home.
The Gazette reports 36-year-old Jennifer Wood was also charged Thursday with two counts of unsanitary conditions in the Feb. 17 raid. Animal control officers seized 32 dogs, two cats and a parrot from her home.
An arrest warrant was issued for Wood after she failed to appear in court last week in separate case. She was charged with animal neglect and failing to dispose of animal carcasses after authorities said they found the carcasses of three llamas and a potbellied pig on her farm near North English.
She closed her pet business after a recent inspection found unsanitary conditions and electrical hazards.
No number was listed for Woods.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Thousands of people are expected to flock to downtown Cedar Rapids to watch as the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library is moved to higher ground.
The museum is on the banks of the Cedar River and was flooded in 2008.
The 18,000-square-foot wood-frame building with brick veneer will be moved about 100 yards and elevated so it’s safe from future flooding.
The Gazette in Cedar Rapids says the move is scheduled for late April. Officials expect as many as 10,000 people to show up and they’re trying to figure out where put them. Museum officials have asked the city to close several streets and a bridge.
The museum should be open in May 2012.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) An inmate who failed to return to a Waterloo prison facility after an off-site appointment has been deemed an escapee.
The Iowa Department of Corrections says 28-year-old Christopher Smith was granted a temporary leave but he didn’t return to the Waterloo Work Release Facility. He was put on escape status Saturday.
Smith was serving a five-year sentence for child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance out of Black Hawk County. His sentence started last April, and he was transferred to the Waterloo facility on Feb. 10.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) A Hiawatha man has been sentenced to three years’ probation for incest.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports the 48-year-old man pleaded guilty to charge in January. On Friday, a judge gave him probation and suspended a five-year prison sentence.
Authorities say the man had sex last year with an adult male relative. The Associated Press is not using the man’s name to protect the victim’s identity.
The man was convicted in 1997 for sex abuse of a child under age 12 and served a 10-year prison sentence.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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