Drake basketball coach Tom Davis is pleased with the Bulldogs’ schedule for the upcoming season. Thirteen home games, including a December 20th matchup with Iowa State highlight the schedule. Drake will also take part in the Bracket Buster on February 21st, a day of games designed to give mid-major conference teams added exposure. They go on the road this year and then get a guarantee of a regular home game the next year. Davis says television exposure will depend on the quality of the matchup. He says it’s exciting for Drake, and he says they have nothing to lose and it’s worth the risk.Davis will return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a matchup with Iowa on November 25th.
Improv teams come to Des Moines
August 30, 2003 By
Anyone who’s seen the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” will understand the concept of what’s going to happen on a Des Moines stage tonight. Two teams of improvisational comedians will be facing off in what they’re calling “Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Comedy.” Shawn Wilson is a member of the group called “The Brink” and says audience participation is key. Wilson says the comedians will ask for suggestions from the audience like, “Give me a place that would fit on this stage,” like a kitchen or an amusement park ride, and based on the suggestion, an improvisational scene will be created. The twist to this evening’s show is, the event pits two teams of comedians against one another, working with the same suggestions for a score. The event will feature at least ten comedians from Wilson’s group and from another comedy troupe called The Comedy Xperiment, both based in central Iowa. Wilson says the suggestions often venture into the bizarre, like having to portray Elvis vacuuming the carpet, except the carpet is made of earthworms. He says being thrown into impossible situations and having to make sense of them is the fulfilling challenge of improvisation. The show is at 8 P.M. tonight at the Vaudeville Mews in downtown Des Moines. For more information, call (515) 243-3270 or surf to “http://thebrink.home.mchsi.com”. Wilson says tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door or $10,000,000 if you are the latest Powerball winner.
Grinnell case another reminder of danger of kids and hot cars
August 30, 2003 By
A Grinnell doctor’s quick thinking may have saved a child from injury or death in a hot car this week, after the absent-minded mother made a couple dangerous mistakes. Doctor David Coster says it was not a case of a forgotten baby, though there was an immediate risk to the child on that hot Monday. A patient was in a hurry to make way for another car trying to park out front of the office, and closed the door with her infant daughter inside, not realizing it would lock and she’d left her keys in the car. The forecast Monday was for highs in the 90s. He could see right away there was trouble as the child in the car was very flushed and listless. Alerted by a patient who’d looked out the window, Dr. Coster went to the car where the distraught mother was at a loss. He says the mother was frantic and had called her partner instead of police, and was waiting for help from someone who was 20 minutes away. The doctor broke a window and got the child out of the car, but says anyone who drives with children in the car should consider what they’d do in the same situation. He says you can’t think clearly, but the best advice is to call 911 if it’s possible, and if not to go to the nearest place where someone CAN call for help. The child was taken from the car unharmed.
Governor says manufacturing hasn’t been forgotten
August 30, 2003 By
The first three awards from the state’s new economic development fund have been to companies in the financial services, computer and life science industries. Earlier this month, Wells Fargo received a 10-million dollar grant, and this past week computer software designer got a million and TransOva Genetics received a nine million dollar commitment. But Governor Tom Vilsack is seeking to assure one of the state’s traditional industries that it is not forgotten. Vilsack says state officials “must not and will not forget” the state’s manufacturing industry as he says manufacturing is an important segment of Iowa’s economy. He says state officials have been working with a number of long-standing industries to retain the good-paying jobs, and the Governor says that effort will continue.
Iowa firm gets visit from astronaut
August 30, 2003 By
A southwestern Iowa firm that makes parts for engines including the space shuttle got a visit from a real astronaut Friday. Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore talked with some workers from Fansteel Wellman Dynamics and the chamber of commerce in Creston, about the shuttle. Wilmore says the “elbow” that carries liquid oxygen is made at the Creston plant and plays a big role in getting the shuttle into orbit. Wilmore brought pictures and video clips to show how the technology comes together to help put humans into space. Wilmore says seeing the factory impressed upon him how many workers it takes to get the shuttle off the ground, and he told the workers the flow of fuel is a critical part of his successful mission on the shuttle. If there’s a “hiccup” in the steady flow of fuel it can be catastrophic for the engine, so the quality of workmanship is vital. Wilmore talked with workers Friday in Creston, signed autographs, and talked about his first impressions of Iowa. Having been a Navy pilot for 17 years, Wilmore says he’s flown over Iowa but never driven through the state before and now he’s gotten a look at it, he said “You guys need rain!”Wilmore says it reminds him of a drought year in his native Tennessee. Lockheed Martin, a client of the Creston business, helped sponsor the astronaut’s visit to the Fansteel Wellman plant.
Afton school kids face real fire evacuation
August 30, 2003 By
A fire drill the first full week of classes was more than just practice, for kids at an Afton school. Steve Clark’s superintendent at East Union of Afton and says a fan overheated. It started to smoke and tripped fire alarms and smoke detectors and the volunteer fire department came. Clark says firefighters brought in big exhaust fans to take out the oily smoke from the overheated motor and a school nurse checked students in three nearby classrooms. He says none of the kids complained of any problems, as he says smoke detectors in the school “triggered” so early the kids all got out fast. The school lost only about forty minutes of classroom time in the Friday fire alarm. Clark says they had just decided in an administrative meeting to schedule fire drills next week. The overheated fan motor was in a mechanical closet near the school building’s restrooms. The superintendent praised the fast work of firefighters, who are all volunteers with other fulltime jobs.
Massive Des Moines construction project moves ahead
August 30, 2003 By
Motorists in the state’s largest city have seen some progress on what’s one of the state’s largest ever construction projects. The Iowa Department of Transportation is in the midst of project to rebuild I-235 through the capital city. D-O-T spokesman Bill Lusher says much of the effort this construction season has focused on the bridges along the route. He says all of the bridges over the freeway will eventually be replaces, or widened and improved. Lusher says things have gone well with the project. He says they’re on schedule and have benefited from the dry weather in getting the work done. One of the challenges of the project has been working along one of the most heavily traveled areas of the state without shutting down traffic. Lusher says it seems like they’ve accomplished that.He says they’ve done a lot of coordinating with the city to make changes in traffic flow to keep traffic moving. As for the actual construction, he says crews haven’t come across any major hurdles they can’t work around. He says they’ve run into hitting some rock unexpectedly and high water caused some problems earlier this year. The I-235 project is still several years from completion, and will include removal and replacement of the pavement on the roadway before all the work is done.
