SAC CITY, Iowa | A Sac County murder trial moved to another county once because of media publicity has been moved a second time for the same reason.

District Judge Gary McMinimee on Thursday moved John Green's trial to Boone County in central Iowa. The trial remains set for March 30.

Green's trial initially was moved from Sac County to Webster County, where his first trial in December ended in a mistrial.

Green, 55, is charged in Sac County District Court with first-degree murder for the 2009 death of his former roommate, Mark Koster.

Green's trial was originally moved to Webster County after his attorney, public defender Charles Kenville, had argued that because of pretrial publicity and news coverage of Green's arrest, finding an impartial jury in Sac County would be hard.

Kenville made a similar argument in his Dec. 31 request for a change of venue from Webster County. He said that news coverage of the trial and order for a mistrial would make it unlikely that an impartial jury could be found there a second time. McMinimee ordered a mistrial after Kenville objected to the testimony of Sac City Police Chief John Thompson's use of the term "bad people," a phrase Kenville said mischaracterized Green.

Sac County Attorney Ben Smith consented to the recent change of venue.

Green is accused of choking Koster to death in Koster's home. Koster's body was found hidden in the basement in 2012, when the new homeowner was remodeling the basement.

Green was arrested in March in Florida.

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Sac County murder trial moved to Boone County

A home's price shouldn't be the only factor in your search. Also consider the location and quality of the property.

Buying a piece of real estate is different than buying a home. The former requires getting the legal and financial parts right, while the latter means finding a property that you'll be happy living in. Here are some tips to help ensure that your next house is a place you'll want to stay for years to come:

It can't be overstated: Focus on the location and general quality of the property. Don't go chasing an exact price or a particular feature, be it a deck, a high-efficiency furnace or a finished basement. Price can be worked out in negotiation with the seller (given the right general ballpark), and a good-quality home in a good location can be tailored to your specific needs later.

Start by making a list of your needs and wants. List your dislikes, too.

This will help you zero in on a neighborhood and, together with your price range, will help your agent narrow the field of prospective properties.

If you can't afford what you want where you want it, sacrifice something inside the house rather than sacrificing the location. You can add a second bathroom or install hardwood floors to bring a house up to your standards, but you can't improve the neighborhood single-handedly.

Most buyers begin their shopping online. That's a useful and gas-saving way to familiarize yourself with your market. But remember, photographs and virtual tours can overstate a property's good points and understate its deficiencies. You might also unwittingly dismiss some really great prospects. To get real-world input review, review any listings of interest with your real estate agent.

It's smart to start looking at homes near the bottom of your price range so that you'll have room to bid higher. Also, if you start high and decide you can't or won't want to spend that much, you may end up disappointed because nothing at the lower end is appealing.

Make several visits to any house you're seriously considering. If things are so frenzied that you're likely to lose out if you follow that route, get the most out of every minute you're in the house. Consider yourself a reporter and detective, there to gather as much information as possible about the house and the sellers. Don't forget to take a notepad, tape measure, camera and even binoculars.

At most open houses you will find an information sheet about the house. The most complete ones spell out such things as square footage of lot and house, room sizes, property taxes, average monthly utility bills, and the ages of appliances and major mechanical systems, as well as the number of bedrooms and baths, and other basic data.

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Starting Your Home Search

Aquarion Water Company is reminding customers of a chilling fact every winter, unsuspecting property owners experience catastrophic frozen pipe bursts. Unprotected pipes and water meters can freeze and expand within hours of the onset of frigid weather. Pipes running through uninsulated exterior walls or other unheated spaces usually are at the highest risk, although pipes in heated rooms can freeze if exposed to cold drafts. Frozen pipes can burst resulting in thousands of dollars in damage for remodeling, mold remediation, emergency substitute housing costs, as well as the loss of irreplaceable belongings. To help customers avoid these problems, Aquarions website aquarionwater.com is featuring tips on preventing frozen pipes and meters.

It doesnt take much. Even a tiny split in a pipe can spew hundreds of gallons of water into your home or business in one day, said Donna Parlatore, Director of Utility Operations for Aquarion Water Company. We strongly encourage property owners to review and utilize the frozen pipe and meter prevention tips on our website to prevent this from happening to them.

Keeping cold temperatures away from pipes and water meters with insulation is far easier and less expensive than replacing pipes that freeze and burst. Aquarions website offers information on what property owners can do before freezing weather, signs of a possible frozen pipe or meter, and steps to take in the event of a frozen or damaged water pipe or meter. Some actions customers can take to prevent frozen pipes include:

Letting a faucet fed by pipes exposed to the cold drip to prevent the water inside from freezing.

Never completely shutting off the heat in a building unless all the pipes and toilets are drained first.

Keeping the doors to rooms where the pipes and water meter are located, including sink cabinets, open so warm air can keep temperatures above freezing.

Eliminating cold drafts near water pipes (and, if indoors, the water meter) by filling cracks in walls and around windows, replacing broken glass, and installing storm windows on basement windows.

It is the responsibility of property owners to keep pipes and water meters from freezing and making appropriate service calls. If a meter freezes, Aquarion will send a service technician to replace it, but the company will not thaw frozen pipes or repair burst ones.

Parlatore also stressed that anyone trying to thaw a pipe on their own should never use a torch or open flame. We would recommend contacting a licensed plumber.

More information and tips on preventing and dealing with frozen water pipes and meters can be found on Aquarions website, http://www.aquarionwater.com.

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Aquarion Water Company Offers Tips on Avoiding Frozen Pipes and Water Meters

SCOTT COUNTY, Va. -

A popular horse-betting facility in Scott County shut down more than a year ago. Sunday, the building re-opened to the public for the first time since then.

200 TV monitors with nothing but horse racing lined the walls of Colonial Downs. A year later -- a congregation full of excited people fill the space which is now the sanctuary of Uplift Church.

We noticed that it had sat vacant for almost a year and we knew it had closed down. So, we put somebody in charge of finding out if it was available, and if they would be willing to rent it to a church, and they said, yeah absolutely, says Patrick Johnson, pastor.

Johnson and members of his church went right to work remodeling, cleaning and preparing for the grand opening.

We started five weeks ago, and this whole building was totally different. Just to come through every Saturday and see how this has changed is phenomenal, says Britney Miles, church member.

Uplift Church has changed a lot too since Johnson started it back in 2012, when he held services in the basement of his home. We first originally started with five families, he says.

Those five families have grown into this -- with attendance numbers no one anticipated -- but couldn't be more thrilled about. It was just amazing to see 239 people come to Christ today. I was definitely excited, Miles adds.

And so was Connor Lovelace who came to Uplift for the first time. I work with a lot of the people that go here and they just make you feel at home. It's just a really welcoming environment. I love it. I love it a lot, Lovelace says.

All bets aside, it's a celebration of a fresh start and a new beginning. It's taken a whole lot of people. What grew out of those five families have now grown to more than that and they've all pitched in, and I mean just really done an amazing work to get all this work done, Johnson says.

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Former horse betting facility turned church

This bedroom remodel added built-in storage at the headboard to create much needed storage and a focal point for the room.

Brent Murray, Renovation Design Group

As we start another year, it is time to get your life and your home in order. Of course, decluttering and purging is a big part of the organization process. However, once you know what you want to keep, you need a place to put it.

Lack of storage is one of the most common complaints we hear in our architectural firm. The homeowners that come to us know their house isnt working for them anymore. For one reason or another, they have decided it is time to remodel. Almost always, regardless of the motivations behind the remodel, clients explain to us that as part of the new design they want added storage.

Incorporating smart storage into home design is an important and crucial part of residential architecture. The functionality of a home is as important as its style. How residents live in the space from day to day is key for making design decisions. The design must enable the space to work well for the people who live there.

One of the "rules" of organization states that if you use an item every day, it should be accessible in the area where you use it. An example is placing the silverware in a top drawer in the kitchen.

If you use something on a weekly basis, it can be located in a lower cupboard in the kitchen slightly less accessible, but still there when you need it. For example, the cheese grater should be handy but not stored in front of the plates, which are an item you use every day.

The next group of items are things you use monthly. These can be placed on the top shelf of the pantry or kitchen cupboards. These items can be stored fairly out of the way, yet placed so they dont take a great amount of effort to get to when you need them.

Finally, there are seasonal items that you only use only occasionally. These are things such as your Christmas decorations and seasonal sports equipment which can be stored "off site." Good places for items in this category are the basement, the garage or the attic. These items should never be stored in an everyday place because you would just have to move around them to get what you need more often.

Such theories of organizing work well and, if applied, would help any home function better. However, the older the home, the greater the likelihood that storage space is at a premium. On the other hand, some homes have plenty of storage space, though not necessarily placed where it is needed for daily life. It is logical that towels, toilet paper and bathroom cleaning supplies should be stored in the bathroom where they are used. But if you dont have storage cabinets built into the bathroom design, it will not happen. If there isnt room in the bathroom to add such cabinets, then the problem is even more challenging.

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Renovation Solutions: Designing your home with storage in mind

January 2, 2015 Updated Jan 2, 2015 at 1:31 PM CST

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) --- With the New Year finally here and resolutions being made left and right, consider conserving energy to cut down on your utility bill.

Many assume there is little, if nothing, they can do to significantly reduce their energy use and increase the efficiency of their homes.

There are multiple ways people can significantly reduce their energy use and increase the efficiency of their homes.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce strongly recommends having an advanced home energy assessment, or home energy audit, before embarking on home energy improvements or remodeling.

An assessment of how your house is functioning can help decide what needs fixing, upgrading or replacing.

Energy audits will vary by price and the level of detail and types of tests provided. The most comprehensive energy assessment would include the following:

A review of energy bills to help assess home performance and identify opportunities for savings.

A blowerdoor test to determine air leakage.

Infrared scans of walls, attic, and foundation to assess insulation levels and locate sources of air leaks.

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Energy saving tips

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