Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The DOT reported a computer system outage early Tuesday afternoon. Officials say the system supports the issuance of driver’s licenses and vehicle registration, and the problem caused interruptions in service.

The DOT says the outage was fixed about two hours later, and the system is operational again.

There was no immediate word on what caused the outage.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Terry Branstad is making another change in leadership at the Iowa Board of Parole, tapping a western Iowa county prosecutor to serve as its chairman.

Branstad on Tuesday named Dickinson County Attorney Jason Carlstrom of Spirit Lake to lead the board starting Sept. 3.

Carlstrom will replace Doris Kelley, who was elevated from vice chair to chair earlier this year when Branstad demoted longtime chairwoman Elizabeth Robinson.

Kelley will return to her role as vice chair and Branstad praised her “outstanding work during this transition.”

Carlstrom says he will “look to find effective, efficient and streamlined operations” that follow through with Branstad’s push to improve the board’s services.

The five-member board makes decisions on when inmates should be released from prison in favor of work release or parole.

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DECORAH, Iowa (AP) — One of the American bald eagles born this year in northeast Iowa and watched by millions via the Decorah eagle cam has died.

The Gazette in Cedar Rapids (http://bit.ly/P7c7bWhttp://bit.ly/P7c7bW ) says the eaglet was found Sunday morning at the base of a power pole near the nest at the Decorah Fish Hatchery.

Bob Anderson of the Raptor Resource Project says it was probably electrocuted.

Anderson says Alliant Energy has now installed insulation shields on several poles near the nest to prevent future problems.

Three eaglets were born in March. The one who died was D12, the first to hatch. It’s the first known death of the 14 eagles born in the Decorah nest.

Anderson says he saw the other two on Tuesday, D13 and D14, and both are fine.

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OMAHA, neb. (AP) — The Omaha school board has selected a company to conduct another nationwide search for a superintendent following the resignation of a former Iowa superintendent over emails to a lover on her district computer.

The board on Monday hired Proact Search of Wilmette, Ill.

It was one of two firms the school board interviewed, but didn’t select, in last year’s original search to replace Superintendent John Mackiel, who’s retiring this summer.

The board hired Nancy Sebring, the superintendent of the Des Moines school district. She abruptly left her Iowa job in May. She lost the Omaha job after the emails were made public.

Omaha school board President Freddie Gray says the board wants “some fresh eyes” on the selection process. She says they have no timetable yet on the search.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s fire marshal said Tuesday he is considering whether to review the arson conviction of a man serving a life prison sentence for a fire that killed his wife and child, a case a prominent defense expert says was based on debunked investigative techniques.

Ray Reynolds’ office has received a request for the review from an attorney for Stephen Keyes, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and arson in a 1996 fire at his home in Springville, near Cedar Rapids.

Reynolds said he was consulting with the Iowa attorney general’s office to determine whether to grant the review, which would be the first of its kind since his office implemented a policy last year designed to prevent wrongful arson convictions in the face of changing fire science. The policy came after the case of Cameron Willingham, a Texas man who was executed in 2004 for a deadly fire that some experts now believe was accidental, and a national push for higher standards.

“Certainly the Willingham case is weighing on our mind as we’ve been asked to review this case,” Reynolds said. “If there are serious issues with the case, our policy stands that we will notify the prosecutor.”

The policy requires Reynolds to inform a prosecutor if he “has reason to believe” an arson conviction was based on science or methods that have been invalidated, and to offer help to determine whether a new look at the case would yield exculpatory evidence. The Innocence Project has praised Reynolds for adopting the policy, which requires his office to retain records related to arson investigations and use best practices developed by a national association whenever possible.

Prosecutors say Keyes set fire to his home on the day after Christmas in 1996 and prevented his wife and 2-year-old son from leaving by removing smoke detectors and putting a table in front of an exit. The two were found dead in a second-story bedroom, while Keyes and two other children escaped.

Prosecutors say Keyes was having an affair and money problems. Keyes has always maintained his innocence, and his lawyer argued at trial that he was ashamed that he didn’t try to rescue his wife and son.