FAIRGROUNDS 5K
PANTHERS ADVANCE
Union County youth are taking an active role in fundraising for the “Building on Tradition” campaign by holding a 5K race. For more information, see page 2A. >>
The Creston boys soccer team advanced in postseason play with a 3-2 win over Riverside Monday. For more on the Panthers, see SPORTS, page 8A. >>
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Creston PD plans for new K-9
Gov. Branstad leaves Iowa with new voter ID, anti-union laws DES MOINES (AP) — Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad’s upcoming departure to Beijing marks the end of a career in state politics that Branstad spans several decades.
CNA file photo
Creston Police Officer Jayrd Merritt and K-9 Minko give a short presentation to high-school students in October 2016 in the Creston Community High School gym. The presentation came toward the beginning of Red Ribbon Week and focused on how students can live a drug-free life. Minko, who can sniff out nine different narcotic odors, then gave a demonstration of his skills by smelling out a narcotic odor from a box set up toward the back of the gym.
Minko, the former K-9 used in Creston, retired at the end of December. ■
By BAILEY POOLMAN ing and receiving donations, CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
Creston Police officers will have the chance to work alongside another furry unit soon. After fundrais-
the officers will purchase a K-9 capable of sniffing drug odors. The previous K-9, Minko, was handled by Creston Police Officer Jayrd Merritt and retired at the end of
December because of age. Minko turned 8 in January, and Merritt said the officers wanted to give Minko a chance to be a dog. If Creston is to get a K-9 unit, it won’t be immediately. The cost for a new animal is near $7,500 for single purpose, and $12,500 for dual purpose. A single-purpose animal is specialized
in narcotic detection, while a dual-purpose animal is specialized in narcotic detection, handler protection and tracking, which was Minko’s title. According to Merritt, the decision will depend on how much money the department can bring in, but he believes it is leaning toward a single-purpose K-9 K-9 | 2A
As the longest-serving governor in the U.S. at more than 22 years, Branstad oversaw Iowa throughout the farm crisis of the 1980s that brought financial ruin to many farmers and during the Great Flood of 1993 that inundated communities throughout the Midwest. But the 70-year-old who’s leaving to be President Donald IOWA | 2A
Iowa schools to stop using $14M testing software after audit DES MOINES (AP) — The Iowa Department of Education plans to end its contract with a testing software vendor after a technical audit found the $14 million system was “unfit.” The Des Moines Register reports the 91-page audit found that the TIER testing platform, which is designed to give reading tests to students, was a “dense and disjointed” system and would likely experience technical failures in the future.
The software was created by nonprofit tech group TIES. TIES attorney Susan Mussell has disputed the audit’s findings. Mussell says the system has supported Iowa teachers and students. The state hired a third party to investigate the TIER testing platform in the fall after teachers administering reading exams to elementary students expressed frustration with the system. State officials plan to terminate the contract June 30.
Trump administration sending Congress $4.1 trillion budget WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump Tuesday is unveiling a $4.1 trillion spending plan that relies on faster economic growth and steep cuts to programs for the poor in a bid to balance the government’s books over the next decade. The proposed 2018 budget was already under attack by Democrats and even some of GOP allies declared it dead on arrival. The proposal is laced with cuts to domestic agencies, food stamps, Medicaid, highway funding and medical research. “It’ll face a tough sled here,” said veteran Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky. The Senate’s No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, said the Trump plan joins a tradition of White House bud-
gets that are “basically dead on arrival.” The proposal projects that this year’s deficit will rise to $603 billion, up from the actual deficit of $585 billion last year. But the document says if Trump’s initiatives are adopted the deficit will start declining and actually reach a small surplus of $16 billion in 2027. However, that goal depends on growth projections that most economists view as overly optimistic and a variety of accounting gimmicks, including an almost $600 billion peace dividend from winding down overseas military operations. The government hasn’t run a surplus since 2001 and deficits spiked during former president Barack Obama’s first term in the aftermath of the Great Recession.
CNA photo by RYAN KRONBERG
Back to state: Creston/Orient-Macksburg girls golf team members, from left, sophomore Sadie Green, senior Hayley
Osmun, junior Ashton Carter, sophomore Taylor Buxton, freshman Sydney Hartsock and junior Sophia Groumoutis celebrate Monday after the Panthers took second place at the Class 4A regional girls golf meet at River Valley Golf Course near Adel. The Panthers’ second-place finish allowed them to advance to the Class 4A state tournament as a team for the second consecutive season. The Class 4A state tournament will be played next Tuesday and Wednesday at Elmwood Country Club in Marshalltown.
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