The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 15

The Des Moines Register Thursday, Jixy 30, 19')S 3M CitySuburbs POWs Remember the Past Suburban Report 7fT i- AMI KfC A Slater's water still in question NORTH AFRICAN' umt-t i if a rvv Del Bertlinghaus of West Bend, above left, who was captured during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, exchanges notes with Dean Leddington of Des Moines, a member of the Iowa World War II monument committee, Wednesday morning as members of the Iowa POW chapter visited the memorial near the Iowa Statehouse. At left, former prisoner of war Melvin Wile of Pomeroy snaps pictures of the monument. 1WM S3 -VW irtw-W presenting a boundary change plan by September. If approved, it could be implemented the following school year. In keeping with that time frame, the school board is planning a public hearing Aug.

13 on the transition plan. The plan will be one of the keys to working out a solution with Urbandale, Wise said. Teachers' Concerns A citizens committee has approved an outline for the transition plan as a method of reassigning students, but has concerns about separating seventh and eighth grades in terms of curriculum and activities in 2000-2001, the second year of the plan. That is one of the issues that Some residents say they didn't get the message about the possible problem. By DAVE DeVALOIS Rfc.istkr Staff Writer "'t Residents of Slater could know as early as today whether their water ia safe to drink.

Until then, a Department of Natu-' ral Resources official has urged res-j, idents to either boil the city's water -or buy bottled water. "We want people to act as if there' may be something in the water 'so there isn't any possibility of anybody getting sick from it," said Jim Strick er, a DNR field office supervisor "We think that's the prudent thing to" do." Both the DNR and the city of SUuV' er are testing the water to see if it' contaminated with coliform bacte ria. Stephen Wesselmann, public works manager, said the bao-' teria were first detected July 16 also was present in tests on July 23U: Strieker said the DNR did not is; sue a boil order, but strongly en- couraged the city to do so. "We hayp advised them to advise their citizen's-to either boil the water or drink hot-1 tied water until we can be sure the water is in fact safe to drink." Wesselmann said the city first sued a warning Monday about the; water tltrough local media and alsg posted a written warning in the, town's post office and at a convex nience store. But some residents of the town o( 1,268 people said the message didn'J get through.

"I feel totally uninformed," said Louella Larson, owner of Main Street Hair Design. "If we weren't supposetf. to drink it, why didn't they tell us' that?" Larson said she heard many dif ferent versions of the water from her customers before she read an official notice at the post office; "It's a big long paragraph of legal jargon. Alter reading that, it's just, embedded in your head, 'Should I drink it or Larson said she finally decided td, buy bottled water. Dorene Miller, owner of Good Times Saloon bar and grill, said she called City Hall after hearing media reports.

"They didn't tell any of th6 businesses that there was a problem with the water," she said. Miller said she is informing customers of the' problem and leaving it up to them on whether to drink the water. Meanwhile, Wesselmann believes the contamination is in the humany handled samples and is not present throughout the water system. Reporter Dave DeValois can be reached at (515) 284-8161 or devaloisdnewt.dmreg.com DALLAS CENTER -lv" IfOli NANDKI.IiKwiiSTKK I'iiotos must be worked out. In the meantime, Dallas Center-Grimes teachers have met with Urbandale representatives and will continue to do so to ensure a good relationship, said Bill Stammerman of the Dallas Center-Grimes Education Association.

Teachers are concerned about seniority and the salary levels they would face when applying for new jobs. Those issues will be integrated into any proposal the district considers, school board members said. Reporter Estela Vlllanueva can be reached at villanuovaenews.dmreg.com or (515) 284-8360. 1 1 i I ft? 4 -1 NOR HI AFRICAN 1 "EUROPtANIiltAIHb i at I'M ZBL tosS iUS-. t- Teen-ager's murder trial is delayed By JEFF ZELENY Rmiistkr Staff Writer The first-degree murder trial of Courtney Burnett-Nelson, which was scheduled to begin next week, has been postponed until Sept.

8. During a brief hearing Wednesday, Polk County District Judge Robert Blink granted the delay in the trial of Burnett-Nelson, a 16-year-old accused of shooting Kelsey Rae Bitting. Burnett-Nelson maintains her innocence in the Jan. 2 slaying. Burnett-Nelson is the second person to stand trial for Bitting's death.

Earlier this month, Bobby Joe Morris of Des Moines was convicted of first-degree murder. Burnett-Nelson has said that Morris forced her to the scene of the shooting. The trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 3, but Blink granted the delay after prosecutors changed their legal strategy. In documents filed Wednesday, Burnett-Nelson remains charged with first-degree murder, but she now is accused of committing terrorism during the slaying.

To prove a felony murder charge, which carries a mandatory life prison term, prosecutors must convince jurors that Bitting was killed during the commission of another felony. In this case, Assistant Polk County Attorneys Steve Foritano and Jim Ward allege the felony Burnett-Nelson committed was terrorism. Defense attorney F. Montgomery Brown hasn't disputed that Burnett-Nelson was at the slaying in January, but he said he will tell jurors that she was taken there against her will. Bitting, 20, had been married to Morris for about two months before the shooting.

Bitting, Des Moines' first homicide victim of the year, was shot in a north-side apartment parking lot Reporter Jeff Zeleny can be reached at (515)' 284-8048 or zelenyjwnews.dmreg.com ANKENY Police to begin tobacco crackdown Starting Saturday, the Police Department will crack down on underage tobacco users. Police Chief Paul Scranton announced the strict enforcement policy Wednesday, saying that police have an important role to ensure that youths comply with tobacco laws. Scranton said police will simply start enforcing the state law, which levies a $25 fine for anyone under 18 who has tobacco products. "Currently, we have left it to the officer's discretion and that's not a bad thing. But there are certain infractions that we need to be very consistent in the message we give out.

I just made it mandatory enforcement," he said. The police chief decided to start the policy after a review of underage-tobacco citations made it clear that Ankeny police weren't enforcing the law. "In the last 12 months, I think we have 13 citations on the books," he said. "Based on those numbers, we are doing ourselves a disservice. I have always been a proponent of strict enforcement of tobacco laws.

Tobacco is a gateway dmg." Scranton said statistics show that a child who smokes tobacco is 17 times more likely to use marijuana. CLIVE Improvement project discussed The City Council meets at 7 p.m. today at City Hall, 8505 Harbach Blvd. The items to be discussed include the Northwest 120th Street improvement project and public hearings on plans for work on the new City Hall complex at 1900 N.W 114th St. URBANDALE Four-way stop is approved The City Council Tuesday approved installing a four-way stop at the intersection of Northwest 54th Avenue and 100th Street.

Traffic has increased at the intersection due to the closing of the Iowa Highway 141 interchange, said City Manager Robert Layton. Instead of using designated detours along 86th Street and Douglas Avenue, many motorists choose to use 100th Street to reach Northwest Ej4th Avenue, which takes them to Iowa 141, he said. A traffic study found that about 646 vehicles per hour entered the intersection from Northwest 54th Avenue during an eight-hour period. An additional 285 vehicles per hour enter the intersection from 100th Street. INDIAN0LA 1 I Arts and crafts fcst to be held Saturday i The Indianola Arts and Crafts festival will be held from 9 a.m.

to Ej p.m. Saturday on the town square. I The festival, in its 13th year, will feature more than 60 exhibitors with woodcrafts, pottery, jewelry and other art forms. The festival, which is held as a part of the National Balloon Classic, is sponsored by the Indianola Chamber of Commerce. PLEASANT HILL Districts plan to discuss where to place students Dallas Center-Grimes, Urbandale to meet tonigM The Right College By ESTELA VILLANUEVA Staff Whitkr Where to place students during a six-year transition period if the Dallas Center-Grimes school district changes its boundaries will be the focus of a school board work session at 7:30 tonight at the high school.

For the past few months, Dallas Center-Grimes leaders have met with representatives of the Urban-dale school district to discuss changing boundary lines. Dallas Center-Grimes school leaders started the discussion after voters defeated four bond issues for new schools. Parents', Students' Choice Discussions include having the Urbandale district take over part of the Polk County portion of the Dallas Center-Grimes district. The area, which includes the city of Grimes, has about 1,400 students or 60 percent of the district's student population. Sam Wise, Dallas Center-Grimes school board president, said a transition plan would give parents and students a choice of where their children finish school either at Dallas Center or in the Urbandale district.

The hope is to not break up students and friendships, he said. "We want to provide an opportunity so that doesn't have to happen," he said. By September A time line on the proposal to redraw district lines calls for with the FCC arguing that Minority also neglected to inform federal officials about past criminal activity. Larry Nevilles, a board member at Minority, pleaded guilty in 1996 to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Lawyers for both the center and ACORN, and the FCC did not return phone calls Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Maryum said center officials are "organizing" in an effort to do something about the radio station, but she would not disclose details. "At this point, I'm reluctant to say what we're going to do," Maryum said, "but it is not that we're dead." Reporter Jeff Eckhoff can be reached at 5151 284-8271 or eckhoffjnew. dmreg.com 1 i "HI KUGB remains silent under new leadership Now is the time. You've thought about it for years. You're ready to change the course of your life.

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if Fall classes begin September 8. a. ras- mm Murray named lire chief Leonard "Len" Murray has been named the new chief of the Fire Department, effective Saturday. The City Council on Tuesday appointed Murray after accepting the resignation of Fire Chief Al Snyder, who has started his own business and plans to devote more time to that venture in addition to a full-time job. 'Murray, a department volunteer for, three years and a lieutenant in the, Des Moines Police Department, was endorsed by members of the volunteer Fire Department after Winning a special election Saturday.

Snyder plans to remain a member of the department, serving as a fire medic. In other action involving the Fire Department, the City Council approved a plan by the fire association to spend $500 to fix up the 1937 International firetruck, the first vehicle purchased when the department formed. The rig will be refurbished 'and used to represent the city in area KUCB Continued from Page 1M already had run afoul of the FCC by then, including two periods when KUCB went off the air without government approval. Part of the center's FCC problems were because KUCB co-founder Charles Knox has a criminal record, including a conviction for embezzling federal money intended for the radio station. KUCB officials argued in their last round of appeals that they were being penalized for the past actions of someone who is no longer involved with the station.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument without comment last April. Minority Communications faces similar problems. Both the center and Iowa ACORN Broadcasting Corp. earlier this year filed papers Call us in West Des Moines atS 515-223-8842 or in Indianola-ac 515-961-1614 or 800-362-24S4.

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