Iowa News

Latest Iowa news, sports, business and entertainment      HOME PRICES        Realtors report says home prices in Iowa are up        CLIVE, Iowa (AP) – A glowing new report is out on the Iowa housing market. It says home prices and sales are up significantly.        The Iowa Association of Realtors says the median sale price for a home was $125,000 in December. That’s a 7.8 percent increase compared with the same period a year before.        The average sale price for a home was about $134,000 in December, a jump of 11.6 percent compared with December 2011. More than 2,500 homes were sold or closed last month, a slight jump compared with December 2011.        The group’s housing trends report shows 34,860 homes were sold across the state in 2012. Just over 31,000 homes were sold in 2011.

MISSING-IOWA MAN        Missing Iowa man stopped in Ga., sought by police        (Information in the following story is from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com)        ATLANTA (AP) – Police are searching for a 33-year-old man who was reported missing and was accompanied with his 5-year-old son during a traffic stop last week.        The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Jeremiah Johnson was stopped after running a red light in Gwinnett County Friday night. The officer checked Johnson’s license information and found that he was reported missing from Iowa. Authorities say Johnson could be homicidal and suicidal after disappearing with his son during a custody battle with the child’s mother.        The officer told Johnson to get out of the car and he drove away then eluded police. Police in Jackson County have recovered Johnson’s personal belongings.        Authorities say Johnson is driving a silver 2003 Volkswagen Passat with an Iowa tag reading 608ZDB. Police say “9/11 Veteran” is handwritten on the car.

BRANSTAD-TUITION FREEZE        Iowa governor endorses funding for tuition freeze        IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A leader of Iowa’s public universities is praising Gov. Terry Branstad for supporting funding to pay for their plans to freeze tuition rates for in-state undergraduate students.        Board of Regents President Craig Lang said Tuesday that Branstad’s budget proposal is “a tremendous win for Iowa’s students and families” and vowed to lobby lawmakers to ensure the funds are approved.        The regents voted last month to keep tuition at current levels next school year for Iowa undergrads at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa. But the freeze is contingent on a 2.5 percent funding increase for the universities and a special $4 million UNI appropriation.        Branstad included both elements in his budget Tuesday to enable the freeze, which would be the first in 30 years.

DOCTOR’S LICENSE SUSPENDED        Council Bluffs doctor regains medical license        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa regulators have reinstated the medical license of a Council Bluffs anesthesiologist and pain expert who’d lost it for a year.        Dr. Michael Prescher had been accused in December 2011 of medical incompetence and of sexual misconduct with patients.        The Iowa Board of Medicine dismissed the sexual misconduct allegation as unproved. But the board fined him $10,000 and suspended his license for violations of treatment standards.        Last month Prescher, who lives in Omaha, Neb., petitioned for his license to be returned. A news release from the board on Tuesday said Prescher showed that he’d paid the fine and had completed a required program on professional boundaries and a course on medical record keeping.        Prescher’s license was reinstated on Friday, but he remains on five years of board probation.

RON PAUL LEGACY        Ron Paul’s GOP legacy growing in states like Iowa        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Ron Paul may be exiting the political stage, but his legions of followers say they are only getting started.        Loyalists of the two-time Republican presidential candidate have quietly taken over key-state GOP organizations, ensuring fights with the GOP establishment as the party tries to heal from its 2012 defeat and laying the groundwork for a future presidential candidate.        Their new relevance, especially in early caucus states Iowa and Nevada, could clear the way for such a candidate, perhaps the Texans’ son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. It’s the next step in the group’s ongoing development, from rambunctious malcontents of just a few years ago into more serious party activists bent on reshaping a party they say has drifted from its conservative roots.

RESERVOIR-WATER RELEASE        Utility to release reservoir water from Iowa river        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A public water utility in central Iowa is releasing water from a reservoir on the Des Moines River for the first time due to concerns about water supply.        Des Moines Water Works announced Tuesday it will release water from the Saylorville Reservoir due to concerns about available amounts and quality. The additional release of 30 cubic feet per second will take place Wednesday.        The utility says testing the release procedure in case it’s needed was driven by last year’s drought conditions.        Water Works invested $2.4 million 30 years ago for reservoir access. They also pay $100,000 annually for a pumping facility.

ALDERMAN CHARGED        Judge rejects ex-Davenport aldermen’s motion        (Information in the following story is from: Quad-City Times, http://www.qctimes.com)        DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) – A former Davenport city alderman accused of threatening his neighbor has lost a bid to have the charge dropped.        The Quad-City Times reports that the judge scheduled a jury trial to begin Feb. 11 for 71-year-old Keith Meyer. Meyer was charged with misdemeanor assault while displaying a weapon. Police say he threatened a neighbor with a gun.        Still pending is Meyer’s motion that says police illegally searched his home without a warrant.        Meyer served as Davenport’s 3rd Ward alderman for several terms. He lost his re-election bid in 2007.

ROBBERY-POLICE CHASE        SD man sentenced for 2-state police chase        (Information in the following story is from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com)        SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – A South Dakota man charged in a police chase that involved two stolen vehicles and two states has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.        Thirty-four-year-old Tyson Wessels, of Chancellor, pleaded guilty last fall to felony injury to property, grand theft and burglary, and prosecutors dropped numerous other charges stemming from the incident last August.        Authorities allege Wessels and his wife tried to steal an ATM from a store in the South Dakota town of Valley Springs before leading police on a chase that lasted several hours and crossed into Iowa. Wessels was accused of striking three vehicles during the chase, including a deputy’s squad car and a state crime bureau agent’s vehicle.        The Argus Leader reports that the court case of Wessels’ wife is still proceeding.

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