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Iowa News Headlines: Thu., March 8 2012

News

March 8th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from the Associated Press…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A group opposed to the development of new nuclear power plants is running more than $8,000 worth of television ads in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City.The advertising campaign from Friends of the Earth comes as a legislative committee prepares to consider a bill Thursday that outlines how utility rates would be set if a company builds a nuclear power plant in Iowa. MidAmerican Energy is considering one that could cost it as much as $2 billion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a chemical spill after a truck accident has closed part of Iowa Highway 7 near Newell in northern Iowa. The Department of Natural Resources says a semitrailer went off the road and rolled early Wednesday, throwing several chemical containers into a ditch, where they leaked or ruptured. There were no injuries. The spill involves three 55-gallon drums of phosphoric acid, three to five 275-gallon plastic containers of sodium and potassium hydroxide mix and one 55-gallon drum of chlorine bleach.

WHITTEN, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a valve malfunction may have a caused an anhydrous ammonia spill at a grain elevator in Whitten in northern Iowa. The Times-Republican in Marshalltown reports three supply tanks began leaking at the Mid-Iowa Co-Op late Tuesday morning. Gundy County Sheriff Rick Penning estimates they spilled about 80 percent of their 28,000 gallons by the time a hazardous materials crew got the leak under control Tuesday afternoon. No one was hurt and no evacuations were ordered, but a nearby highway was closed for most of the day.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Mason City man facing 13 state charges of sexually abusing children has been indicted on five federal charges. Michael Goodale was indicted Tuesday on two counts of aggravated sexual abuse, two counts of interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and one count of accessing child pornography. The sexual abuse charges stem from incidents involving two boys under the age of 12 between 2008 and September 2011.