If Iowa Ag Secretary Patty Judge learns she has the authority, she is”inclined” to establish a mandate that ethanol be the only fuel dispensedfrom Iowa gasoline pumps.Yesterday, Judge talked for the first time in public about the issue, whichwas sparked when a group led by Senator Charles Grassley petitioned her tomake the “ethanol only” move. It’s a move which stalled in the legislature.Judge said if she does draft an “ethanol-only” rule, she would give thepublic a chance to sound off.Judge said even if she’s told she has the authority to enact the ethanolmandate, the legislature could overturn her rule.
Governor others given scare in Taiwan earthquake
September 21, 1999 By
Governor Tom Vilsack and a delegation of Iowans traveling in the Far Eastwere not hurt in yesterday’s earthquake in Taiwan. Vilsack and the 15 other Iowans were awakened as the earthquake rumbled, butnone were injured in their hotel. A nearby hotel was demolished and otherbuildings destroyed in the ‘quake, which was about the same strength as theone which struck Turkey last month. The group of Iowans, includingrepresentatives from farm groups, is on a 12-day trade mission to Taiwan,Japan and China, touting the purchase of Iowa-grown meat.Governor Tom Vilsack says he prayed after being shaken awake by theearthquake in Taiwan. The earthquake hit at two am. Newton RepresentativePaul Bell was staying on the 17th floor and says he at first thought it wasstrong winds from a storm. But once he learned it wasn’t winds he was scaredto death the building was going to collapse. Bell says things got worse after the first tremors ended as there wereseveral aftershocks. The governor has called off the Taiwan portion of thetrip as officials there are now too busy to talk trade.
Task force issues ideas on keeping workers
September 21, 1999 By
A task force of state officials and Iowa business leaders today issued a setof generic proposals aimed at fixing the state’s labor shortage. Iowa’s unemployment rate sits below two percent — and businesses arefinding it difficult to find workers. Here are a few of the task forceideas for fixing that: having businesses or the state pay college graduatesto take a job in Iowa — or having businesses or the state pay more of thecosts of child care and transportation. The report was released by Iowa’sLieutenant Governor, Sally Pederson.Pederson says government can’t resolve the labor shortage on its own.Pederson says she and Governor Vilsack will develop more specificrecommendations for the legislature.U-S Labor Secretary Alexis Herman says Iowa’s labor shortage is a bitunique among the states.Herman and Pederson headlined a business luncheon today in Des Moines.
Poll favors campaign finance reform
September 21, 1999 By
A poll by a non-profit research and lobbying organization shows Iowanswant campaign finance reform. The Iowa Citizens Action Network polledsix-hundred Iowans — half republican and half democrat — who said they werelikely to vote in the Iowa caucuses. ICAN (i-can) Executive Director RickKozin says 60-percent of the republicans and 58-percent of the democratssaid the current campaign finance system is broken.The poll did not ask participants to rank campaign finance in their list ofpriorities, however, and other polls show the issue falls far below othersin importance to voters. Kozin says that more than half the people polledbelieve contributions from special interest groups will influence the nextpresidential election. I-CAN supports taxpayer financing of presidential campaigns with spendinglimits, so candidates can’t accept money from private sources.
Cyclones set to open Big 12 season at home
September 21, 1999 By
The Iowa State Cyclones prepare for their Big-12 opener this weekend at homeagainst 15th ranked Kansas State. Cyclone coach Dan McCarney says theCyclones will need to step it up a notch this week against the Wildcats.McCarney says it is fun to have the “big game” feeling in practice.McCarney hopes the program is to the point where this will be a competitivegame.
Hawkeyes enjoy a week off
September 21, 1999 By
After posting their first victory of the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes have thisweekend off before starting Big Ten play at Michigan State. Iowa coach KirkFerentz says the bye week comes at a good time.Ferentz says 1-2 is not where the Hawkeyes want to be or hoped to be buthe says the attitude has remained good.Ferentz says the off-week will allow the Hawks to break things down and workon details.Ferentz says the team got Monday off but will put in a full week ofpractice.
Longtime high school coach dies
September 21, 1999 By
A long-time Iowa high school basketball coach has died. Dennis Tassel hadretired as superitendent of schools at Sentral of Fenton last year. Tassel was not only Sentral of Fenton’s superintendent, he was the head girlsbasketball coach, taking Sentral to the state tournament in 1996 and ’97. Before working in north central Iowa, Tassel was a superintendent and coachat Diagonal, a tiny town in southwest Iowa. He coached both the girls andboys teams there in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, and took three of his teams tostate. He is one of only 11 Iowa coaches to take a girls AND a boysbasketball team to a state tournament. Tassel is fourth on the list of mostwins for an Iowa high school basketball coach.
