Iowa News

ONLINE TAX PAYMENTS        State partners with company to pay bills online        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Tax season is in full swing, and an Iowa tech company will soon provide a new online payment option to some state taxpayers.        Gov. Terry Branstad announced Tuesday that Des Moines-based Dwolla will be offered as a way for about 50 businesses to pay cigarette taxes. Dwolla lets users transfer money or pay for things through their smartphones or online for a flat fee of 25 cents per transaction.        State officials hope to eventually expand the number of taxes that can be paid through Dwolla. Those 50 businesses pay about $100 million in cigarette taxes annually. Currently those transactions are all done on paper.        Dwolla advertises itself as a cheaper alternative to credit card fees and other online payment methods. The company will not get any state funding for this effort.

PARENTS ACCUSED        Iowa man reaches plea deal in child abuse case        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A Des Moines man accused of sexually abusing three of his nine children has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.        Television station KCCI reports the man pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of second-degree sexual abuse. He will be sentenced in March.        The man had previously pleaded not guilty to nine counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of child endangerment.        The man was arrested in April in Chicago after a nationwide search. His wife was arrested in April in Des Moines. She was sentenced in October to up to 30 years in prison on three child neglect charges. Prosecutors say she failed to do anything to stop the abuse.        The Associated Press is not using the couple’s names to protect the privacy of the children.

LOCK AND DAM STRUCK        Barge damages Miss. River lock gate, idles traffic        GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) – Mississippi River traffic was halted near St. Louis Tuesday as crews tried to sort out how to fix an auxiliary lock’s gate damaged by a barge.        Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Mike Petersen says the accident that occurred around 5 a.m. Tuesday damaged the backup lock near Granite City that’s about half the size of the adjacent main one. That main lock was closed for repairs early last month.        Petersen says the auxiliary lock could be closed for another day or two.        U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Colin Fogarty says no one was injured in the Tuesday accident, but by that afternoon the traffic jam had grown to 16 tows with a combined 87 barges, all waiting to get through.

NURSING HOME-FINE        Iowa nursing home fined $15,000 after deaths        (Information in the following story is from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com)        CENTERVILLE, Iowa (AP) – A nursing home in northern Iowa has been fined $15,000 following the death of two patients.        The Des Moines Register reports that state inspectors say the Golden Age Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Centerville has repeatedly failed to provide the minimum level of nursing care for its residents.        It’s the third time in seven months that the home has faced the violation.        The newspaper reports the $15,000 fine is connected to the November death of a 91-year-old woman. An 89-year-old woman died around the same time. The home was fined $8,000 in September after a 64-year-old woman died while in respiratory distress.        Owners Stanley and Patricia Birchem of Leon say they plan to appeal the fine. Patricia Birchem also says issues regarding the two latest deaths have been absolved.

TRAIN DERAILMENT        Iowa officials: No one hurt after train derailment        (Information in the following story is from: KCCI-TV, http://www.kcci.com)        GOWRIE, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say no one was hurt after a train derailment in north-central Iowa.        Television station KCCI reports that a Union Pacific freight train derailed early Tuesday morning near Gowrie.        The train was loaded with corn and was bound for Texas. The station reports corn was scattered around some of the damaged freight cars.        Additional information was not available. Authorities are still investigating the cause.        Gowrie is located about 80 miles northwest of Des Moines.

IMMIGRANT DRIVER LICENSES        Branstad: Immigrant license policy under review        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa civil rights activists say new information from the federal government should prompt a change in the state’s policy barring driver’s licenses for young immigrants allowed by a federal rule to live in the United States.        On Friday the federal government issued new guidance clarifying that young people allowed to remain in the country by a policy enacted by President Barack Obama are considered to be authorized residents. Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration announced in December that the federal law didn’t give people the legal status to get a driver’s license.        Immigrants allowed to receive renewable, two-year deportation reprieves must have been brought into the U.S. as children and must meet specific age, residency and education requirements.        Branstad said on Tuesday that his administration was reviewing the new federal guidance.

CLEAR LAKE TOWER        Clear Lake to tear down old lakefront water tower        (Information in the following story is from: Globe Gazette, http://www.globegazette.com/)        CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (AP) – Clear Lake officials have decided to tear down a 500,000-gallon lakefront water tower that has loomed over the city’s downtown for 64 years.        The Mason City Globe Gazette reports the Clear Lake City Council accepted a bid from Michigan firm Iseler Contracting to demolish the tower. Work is expected to begin in February and will be completed in May.        City officials say it will take several days to cut the tower into sections and have it lifted by a crane. The removal of footings and piping will take longer.        The old tower, which was drained in April, has exterior lead-based paint that’s peeling. The city decided it was more cost effective to tear down the tower and build a new one. The second tower was built in 2009.

IOWA-TICKETS        Iowa keeps ticket prices steady in ’13        IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa isn’t raising the cost of football tickets next season.        The Hawkeyes say tickets and parking fees will remain the same as they were in 2012, when the team dropped six straight games and finished 4-8.        Season tickets for the seven-game home schedule will cost $388 for the general public, $318 for university faculty and staff and $175 for current students.        Single-game tickets will go on sale in early July.        Iowa opens the 2013 season on August 31 at home against Northern Illinois.

IOWA-HYDE        Iowa’s Hyde looks forward to NFL Draft        DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – There were few bright spots for Iowa last season as the Hawkeyes stumbled to their worst record in more than a decade.        The program’s struggles didn’t affect cornerback Micah Hyde’s play.        Hyde closed out a stellar career by being named the Big Ten’s defensive back of the year for 2012. He was also the only Iowa player to be named a first-team All-Big Ten pick by the league’s coaches and media members.        Hyde is hoping his next step will be to play in the NFL. He’s working out at a football training center in San Diego in preparation for the NFL combine and, hopefully, the April draft.

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