Fairfield News

KEOSAUQUA ? The Van Buren Community School Board approved a resolution to study the question of reorganizing with Harmony Community School District during the Van Buren school board meeting Feb. 10.Harmony is scheduled to vote on the resolution at a special meeting Wednesday. The motion to study reorganization anticipates that the reorganization would occur on or before July 1.Last month, the two school ...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? On a cold winter?s night, volunteers and charity officials fanned out across the Omaha metropolitan area to count the homeless people who took shelter in urban caves and crevices instead of finding warmth and comfort on a charity cot or bunk.About 50 volunteers went out Thursday night in Douglas and Sarpy County in Nebraska and in Pottawattamie County across the Missouri River in Iowa.?They ...

MARSHALLTOWN (AP) ? The former director of the Marshalltown Convention and Visitors Bureau has been accused of embezzlement.Shannon Espenscheid is charged with theft and ongoing criminal conduct. There was no answer today at a phone listed for her, and online court records don?t list the name of an attorney who could be contacted to comment on her behalf.Police say Espenscheid made at least $10,000 in personal ...

PELLA (AP) ? A day care provider is scheduled to be sentenced in April for her role in the death of a 17-month-old child.Online court records say 32-year-old Valerie Wackerly, of Pella, pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter. The child was found unresponsive June 10 at Wackerly's in-home day care. The child died later at a Des Moines hospital.Authorities say Amelia Smith died of mechanical or ...

ROCKFORD (AP) ? The president of a northern Iowa school board has quit, saying he shoved a student.Tim Trettin said Wednesday that he lost his temper a few weeks ago and shoved the student in the school's weight room. Trettin says he thought the student had cursed at him.The Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock School District board accepted Trettin's resignation at its Jan. 18 meeting. Trettin had served eight years on ...

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A U.S. appeals court today gave new life to a lawsuit by a group of Holocaust survivors seeking damages from Hungary for its role in the deaths of more than 500,000 Jews during World War II.The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said a 1947 peace treaty between the Allied powers and Hungary does not give Hungarian officials immunity from the lawsuit. A ...

CAVINTI, Philippines (AP) ? With a mournful bow, Emperor Akihito paid his respects in a war memorial in the Philippines today to the largest number of Japanese invasion troops who died outside their homeland in World War II.Clad in black and accompanied by Empress Michiko, he and Michiko each laid a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, Japan?s imperial symbol, and silently prayed near a marble cenotaph in the ...

MOSCOW (AP) ? A romance that enchanted Russia may be over: Timur the goat and Amur the tiger have had a fight and aren't together anymore.In November, the goat was placed in the tiger's compound in a wildlife park near Vladivostok with the expectation that the big cat would eventually kill and eat him. But the two not only tolerated each other, they appeared to become friends. The odd couple became a popular ...

PHOENIX (AP) ? Members of a satanic group will give the opening prayer at the Feb. 17 Phoenix City Council meeting.Some council members have objected, but city attorney Brad Holm says the government cannot exclude a religion from praying under such circumstances.Satanic Temple member Stu de Haan says the group doesn't intend to do anything offensive. He says the Satanic Temple doesn't believe in a literal Satan ...

FORT DODGE (AP) ? Volunteers have taken part in an exercise to help Iowa law enforcement learn how to detect drunk drivers.The Messenger reports that six volunteers began drinking around 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Iowa State Patrol's District 7 headquarters as part of the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement exercise. The training exercises have been held for the past six years.Officers from Webster County ...

NEW DELHI (AP) ? India took a step toward modernizing its cities today by awarding 20 with funds to solve problems from shoddy sewage treatment to snarled traffic.The government eventually plans to spend $15 billion to remake 100 cities over five years, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said. The first 20 to receive financing include the capital of new Delhi, the western cities of Pune, Jaipur and ...

MUNFORD, Tenn. (AP) ? An eye-popping, unprecedented $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot that became a national fascination will be split three ways, by mystery winners in Florida, Tennessee and California. The lucky trio did not immediately identify themselves today, but they bought their tickets in Munford, a town of about 6,000 in Tennessee; the modest Los Angeles suburb of Chino Hills; and at a supermarket in ...