Akron Man Arrested On Assault Charge
(Akron)–A rural Akron man was arrested yesterday after the Plymouth COunty Sheriff’s Deputies served a warrant from Union County, South Dakota. Jake Benton, 29, was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, interference with emergancy communications, false imprisonment, and contributory abuse or neglect. Bond was set at $5,000. Benton is currently awaiting extradition to Union County.
George Woman Involved In Crash
(George)– A George Iowa woman was taken to the hospital after she was involved in a single car accident three miles north of Boyden. Heather Woodbury, 27, was driving a 2003 GMC pickup southbound on Kennedy Avenue when she lost control of the vehicle, entered the east ditch and rolled. Woodbury was transported by Boyden Ambulance to the Sanford Sheldon Hospital for treatment of her injuries. The vehicle sustained approximately $10,000 in damages. Woodbury was cited for failure to maintain control of her vehicle. The Sioux County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Boyden Fire Department and the Boyden Ambulance.
Man Arrested After Police Chase
(COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A 33-year-old man has been arrested in Omaha after a chase that began with officers’ gunshots in Council Bluffs.
The Council Bluffs Police Department says that around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday officers spotted a stolen Corvette at an apartment complex. The officers say the Corvette driver accelerated toward them, so they opened fire before the Corvette struck their cruiser. Neither officer was injured.
A chase began but ended a few minutes later across the Missouri River in Omaha, when officers lost sight of the Corvette. It was later found abandoned. The man suspected of driving it was arrested nearby. He was identified as 33-year-old Jesse Wilkinson.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds.
Legislators Unhappy With Department Of Education
(Des MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Some Iowa legislators are unhappy with the Department of Education’s decision to stop letting school districts getautomatic waivers allowing them to begin classes earlier in the summer.
The Des Moines Register reports lawmakers from both parties say they would support legislation reducing state oversight and letting districts decide when school should begin.
Iowa law says districts must begin school no earlier than the calendar week that includes Sept. 1, but nearly all seek and receive waivers to start earlier.
Earlier this month, Education Department Director Brad Buck informed districts that the agency would stop automatically approving waiver requests. The move came after Gov. Terry Branstad complained districts weren’t abiding by the law.
Iowa’s tourism industry and state fair have long complained they were hurt by early school starts.
Iowa State University To Add 235 Faculty And Staff
(Ames)–Iowa State University’s president says enrollment at the Ames school has been growing at a “record pace” and that’s why he’s on a hiring spree. Last year, I-S-U president Steven Leath approved hiring 105 new faculty members.
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According to the American Institutes for Research. Iowa State is the only university in the country to have reduced administrative costs while increasing the number of faculty hired over the past eight years. That trend started with former I-S-U president Gregory Geoffrey and continued with Leath when he took over as I-S-U’s president nearly three years ago.
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Nearly 70 percent of all I-S-U classes have fewer than 20 students and to accommodate both record enrollment and more faculty, Leath ordered some administrative offices that had been on the central campus to move off campus.
State Lawmaker Proposes Change To Primary Elections
(DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) —A state lawmaker who lost a congressional bid earlier this year wants to change primary election rules in Iowa so voters decide certain contested races, rather than political party delegates.
Sen. Brad Zaun, an Urbandale Republican, said Tuesday he’s submitted a bill to change the primary process if no candidate receives 35 percent of the vote. Under his plan – which would impact statewide, congressional and state legislative races – there would be a runoff election between the top two vote-getters.
Currently, when no candidate meets the primary threshold, party delegates pick a nominee.
This year Zaun received the most votes in a six-way Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District. But he didn’t reach the threshold. Fifth-place finisher David Young won at the convention and was elected to Congress.
Iowa’s Population Is On The Rise
(Des Moines)–Iowa’s population has grown by about 60-thousand people since the 2010 census according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Iowa’s population is now just above three-point-one million. Gary Krob, coordinator of the state library’s State Data Center program, says that’s a two percent increase in the past four years.
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The total U.S. population grew by three-point-three percent. Iowa’s two percent jump in population since 2010 is higher than several neighboring states.
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Nebraska’s population also grew more than Iowa’s, by three percent compared to Iowa’s two percent growth. South Dakota’s population grew nearly five percent. Minnesota’s population grew by just under three percent. Slower growth states in the Midwest were Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois. Iowa’s birth rate and people who moved here from other countries fueled Iowa’s growth, according to Krob.
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The U.S. Census estimates there over 160-thousand babies born in the state during the past four years and over 21-thousand people moved here from another country. Those gains offset the number of deaths during that four year period, along with the loss of 45-hundred people who moved to another state.
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North Dakota is the fastest growing state, with a nearly 10 percent increase in its population since the last census. West Virginia was the only state to lose population since the 2010 Census.
