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Iowa News Headlines: Wed. Jan. 8th 2014

News

January 8th, 2014 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa City students are set to return to school after 18 days off. The students were last in class December 20th before leaving for Christmas break. They were to return to school Monday, but then classes were canceled because of subzero temperatures. They were called off yesterday, too. School will now end June 3rd instead of May 30th.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A water pipe burst at a downtown library in Dubuque due to frigid temperatures, and officials shut the building down for much of yesterday. The damage at the Carnegie-Stout Public Library was confined to a staff lounge area and maintenance space. A city spokesman says officials received at least 30 reports of frozen water meters or pipes.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Federal prosecutors have dropped a lawsuit against Des Moines and MidAmerican Energy after the city changed an ordinance so a fee was charged to the utility and not the government. The federal government sued last year, arguing a franchise fee levied against the Department of Veterans Affairs violated a constitutional provision against cities taxing federal agencies.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Fair will shift to a new ticket system for buying food and drinks this summer instead of cash. A fair spokeswoman says it will be a more secure system that will make it quicker to buy food because vendors won’t have to make change. The fair begins August 7th.