Obituaries

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) ? As they try to understand what prompted a 12-year-old boy to open fire at his school, district officials were examining an anti-bullying video that includes a dramatization of a child taking a gun on a school bus to scare aggressors.The video, which uses the scene as an illustration of the wrong way to respond, was being studied as students and faculty members prepared to return to Sparks ...

BISMARCK, N.D. ? North Dakota, the nation?s No. 2 oil producer behind Texas, recorded nearly 300 oil pipeline spills in less than two years, state documents show. None was reported to the public, officials said.According to records obtained by The Associated Press, the pipeline spills, many of them small, are among some 750 ?oil field incidents? that have occurred since January 2012 without public notification.?...

DES MOINES (AP) ? Tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz took nothing short of a victory lap in his state of Texas this week, appearing before wildly supportive crowds that overlooked the fact that the Republican who led the charge to kill money for President Barack Obama?s health care law had failed.Now he?s coming to Iowa, where Republicans who will have the first say in the next presidential race are certain to ...

Amid incidents of pets dying from dog treats, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing long-awaited rules to make pet food and animal feed safer.The rules stem from a sweeping food safety law passed by Congress almost three years ago. Like rules proposed earlier this year for human food, they would focus on preventing contamination before it begins.The announcement comes as the FDA says it hasn?t yet ...

Iowa business owners can begin applying for a new property tax credit that was part of a tax reform package approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year.The property tax credit applies to certain commercial, industrial, and railroad properties.The Legislative Services Agency has estimated that the maximum first year credit amount will be about $523.Lawmakers set aside $50 million to ...

DNA tests have confirmed that a Bulgarian Roma couple are the parents of a mysterious girl in Greece known as Maria, authorities said today.Genetic profiles of Sasha Ruseva and her husband, Atanas, matched that of the girl, said Svetlozar Lazarov, an Interior Ministry official.Ruseva has said she gave birth to a baby girl four years ago in Greece while working as an olive picker, and gave the child away because ...

Oregon-based Reser?s Fine Foods is recalling pre-packaged products that may be contaminated with Listeria.The items were made at a Topeka, Kan., plant. They vary widely and include such items as cole slaw, pimento spread and potato salad. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the items also include 22,800 pounds of products containing chicken, ham and beef.The company and federal officials announced Tuesday ...

CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) ? Neighbors rescued two small dogs from a house on fire in Cedar Rapids before firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze.Fire department spokesman Greg Buelow says Steve Jordan looked out a living room window Sunday evening and noticed smoke coming out of roof vents of a house across the street.Jordan and another neighbor noted the homeowners, Josh and Becky Kuntz, were gone so opened ...

ARNOLDS PARK (AP) ? Renovation on an old wooden roller coaster at Arnolds Park Amusement Park in northwest Iowa is almost complete.Officials started dismantling The Legend roller coaster a few weeks ago to replace one of the tracks this winter. That?s aimed at matching a track that was replaced last spring.Additional work on the more than $500,000 project will include replacing the catwalk and adding several ...

Libertyville Savings Bank receives Excellence AwardLibertyville Savings Bank has been selected for the 2013 Iowa Excellence Award among all its peers and competitors by the Small Business Institute for Excellence in Commerce.Each year the SBIEC conducts business surveys and industry research to identify companies that have achieved demonstrable success in their local business environment and industry category. ...