Iowa News

UNI BARGAINING        UNI faculty seek 2-year salary increase        (Information in the following story is from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com)        CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – The Board of Regents of the University of Northern Iowa is expected to respond Nov. 26 to a request by professors for salary increases in each of the next two years.        The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported Monday that the United Faculty bargaining team is seeking a 2.25 percent in increase in base salary and an additional 2.25 percent increase based on the average of all professors’ salaries. The increase would begin in July 2013 and again in 2014.        The team made its request Friday to the Regents bargaining team.        The faculty team also made requests for other areas, including calls for the Faculty Senate to regularly address the Regents and changes in how staff reductions are handled.

CEDAR RAPIDS-STRANGULATION-TRIAL        Jury selection set in Cedar Rapids murder trial        (Information in the following story is from: KCRG-TV, http://www.kcrg.com)        CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Jurors are to be selected Tuesday for the first-degree murder trial of a Cedar Rapids man accused of strangling a 68-year-old woman.        Jurors will be chosen in the trial for 50-year-old Jerome Power, who is charged with killing Doris Bevins in her Cedar Rapids home.        KCRG-TV reports the trial is expected to continue into next week but be completed before Thanksgiving.        Police say officers found Bevins on Sept. 19, 2010, unconscious in her home with flannel pants wrapped around her neck. She died the next day.        A search warrant stated that one of Bevins’ friends called 911 after a telephone call with her was interrupted by a knock on her door. Bevins answered the door and the friend heard a scream.        Power told The Gazette newspapers that he was innocent.

EARNS-LEE ENTERPRISES        Lee Enterprises posts smaller 4Q loss        DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – Lee Enterprises Inc., publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other newspapers, said Monday that it lost $7.7 million, or 15 cents per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of $8.8 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago.        Excluding one-time items, the company lost $334,000, or 1 cent per share, in the July through September period. That compared with income of $8.9 million, or 20 cents per share, a year ago. This year’s results were hurt by higher interest costs.        Revenue grew 3 percent to $180.3 million from $175.8 million. Advertising revenue grew nearly 1 percent to $124.7 million from $123.7 million. Circulation revenue increased 3 percent to $45.2 million from $43.7 million. Lee said that an extra week in this year’s quarter helped its results. Excluding the additional week, revenue would have declined by about 4.5 percent, the company said.        Lee emerged from a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy process earlier this year. The process allowed the company to restructure its roughly $1 billion of debt. In October, the company said it had reduced its debt to $930.6 million.        Lee’s stock closed down 7 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $1.58 on Monday and was unchanged in after-hours trading. The stock has traded between 49 cents and $1.81 in the past 52 weeks.

VICTORIA’S SECRET-HEADDRESS        Victoria’s Secret apologizes for use of headdress        FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Victoria’s Secret has said that it’s sorry for putting a Native American-style headdress on a model for its annual fashion show.        The company responded to criticism over the weekend by saying it was sorry to have upset anyone and that it wouldn’t include the outfit in the show’s television broadcast next month.        Thousands of people commented on the company’s Facebook page after the apology was issued. Some saw the floor-length headdress worn by model Karlie Kloss as art, while others say it displayed ignorance toward Native American cultures and history.        Feather headdresses, or war bonnets, are a symbol of bravery and are worn by Native American leaders in some tribes, including chiefs. Women don’t wear war bonnets.        Kloss has tweeted her own apology.        Paul Frank Industries Inc. and the band “No Doubt” have run into similar criticism and apologized this year for their use of headdresses.

ROCK CLIMBING WALL        Iowa rock-climbing wall closes after accident        (Information in the following story is from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/)        IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The University of Iowa has closed a rock-climbing wall at its wellness center after a student fell about 30 feet and injured his spine.        The Gazette in Cedar Rapids reports that 21-year-old Spencer E. Bean was climbing the wall just before 10 p.m. Thursday when he fell. Bean landed on his feet, and was rushed to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.        Recreation center officials say the wall was closed after Bean fell, and has not reopened.        Bean is originally from Highland Park, Ill. His brother, Josh Bean, tells The Associated Press that the fall crushed two of Spencer’s vertebrae and nearly paralyzed him. Spencer Bean underwent an eight-hour surgery.        University of Iowa public safety officers are still investigating.

IOWA SOLDIER KILLED        Funeral set Thursday for western Iowa soldier        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Services have been scheduled for a western Iowa soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.        The Pentagon says 19-year-old Pfc. Brandon Buttry, of Shenandoah, died Nov. 5 while serving in Kandahar Province.        The Hackett-Livingston Funeral Home says a visitation is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Shenandoah.        The funeral is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at the church.        Buttry was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south-southwest of Tacoma, Wash. He was deployed to Afghanistan in August.

MISSING COUSINS-IOWA        Mother of missing Iowa cousin to appear in court        IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The mother of one of the missing Iowa cousins has been ordered to appear in federal court to face a complaint alleging she violated the terms of her supervised release in a decade-old methamphetamine case.        U.S. District Judge Linda Reade has ordered Misty Morrissey to appear in her courtroom in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, a day after family members will gather to mark the four-month anniversary of the disappearance of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins.        A summons delivered to Morrissey last week says that probation officials have filed a “supervised release violation petition” against her. Court officials have filed the petition and related documents under seal, shielding them from public view.        The girls disappeared July 13 while riding bikes in Evansdale. Police believe they were abducted and continue to investigate.

IOWA ST-HOME STRETCH        Banged up Cyclones brace for home stretch        AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State is beat up after a brutal seven-week stretch that included five losses against Top 25 teams.        At least the weary Cyclones finish the regular season against two teams that are struggling more than they are.        Iowa State (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) travels to face a one-win Kansas team on Saturday. On Nov. 23, the Cyclones finish the regular season at home against West Virginia, losers of four in a row.        Coach Paul Rhoads says the Cyclones were tired last week and that the coaching staff will cut back on practice this week.

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