Iowa coach Steve Alford promised some changes after Saturday’s loss at home to Northwestern but still does not know what they will be. The Hawkeyes play the first of three straight on the road when they visit Minnesota tomorrow night. He says there will be some changes, not a lot, as he says the team is not that deep. Alford says to have any success this season the Hawkeyes must become more consistent. He says that’s the crossroads they’re in, particularly with seniors. Alford says they shouldn’t have to be challenging the seniors, they should know the importance of a Saturday afternoon game with Northwestern after a big win over Purdue.Iowa is 1-1 in the Big Ten.
Stinson wins Big 12 honor again
January 12, 2004 By
For the second time this season Iowa State freshman Curtis Stinson has been named the Big-12 rookie of the week. Stinson was a key in Cyclone Big-12 wins over Missouri and Nebraska. He averaged 18.5 points for the week and is the leading freshman scorer in the conference with an average of 15 and a half points per game.Cyclone coach Wayne Morgan says he knew Stinson was very, very good, but didn’t know he would be quite as good as he is now. He says Stinson has tremendous potential. Morgan says as Stinson becomes a better shooter and lifts weights, he has a chance to be extraordinary.The Cyclones are 7-2 and are at home tonight in non-conference play against Northern Colorado.
Drake’s win streak stopped at Creighton
January 12, 2004 By
Drake’s two-game win streak ended Sunday night at 23rd-ranked Creighton. The Blue Jays pulled away in the second half for a 78-67 victory as the Bulldogs and coach Tom Davis saw their overall record slip to 6-6. He says it didn’t look like the same team from the beginning, as he says they got out of their rhythm. Davis says that’s a sign of their immaturity, and something they need to learn.Davis says the Bulldogs’ inexperience was evident from the outset playing a nationally ranked team on the road. He says they have to learn the hard way. Drake’s leading scorer, Joshua Robinson, was helped off the court after suffering an ankle injury and Davis says it is too early to tell just how long he might be sidelined. He says they have to wait and see how he feels, as he says every player is a little different in how they respond after an ankle injury. Drake returns to action at home Wednesday night against Illinois State. Davis says if Robinson isn’t back, it will hurt them, as they’ll have to move some people around the fill the minutes he’s been playing.
Farm manager confirms high land prices
January 12, 2004 By
Farmland is the Midwest is selling at the highest prices ever, despite the drought in many areas and the lingering effects of economic recession. Lee Vermeer is V-P of real estate operations with Farmers National Company, a firm that manages farms and ranches and handles many sales of farmland. The real-estate market for farms and ranches has been very strong for the past couple years, up 8-percent a year ago in Iowa and nine-percent this past year. Vermeer cites a couple factors that are letting land values in many areas reach record highs.Low interest rates are helping cash flow and helps farmers buy more acres if they want because theirinterest payments on a loan are lower. Vermeer says the last couple years, crop prices have been another factor that helps support the price of farmland. In Iowa in particular, he says we’ve had good soybean and corn yields and despite the recent scare in the cattle market, those prices have been very strong for two years. Who benefits the most from high land values? Those who already own it, and find their equity’s grown. Vermeer says people who lost money in the stock market in recent years are looking at investing in land, since it’s a solid value at eight-percent increase on their dollars.
ISU police in right place to help with A-E-D
January 12, 2004 By
It was the case of being in the right place at the right time for two Iowa State University police officers Saturday. Captain Gene Deisinger says officers Joel Swanson and Derek Doebel were conducting a traffic stop Saturday when another came up the street, weaving and moving into the wrong lane. He says Sergeant Swanson saw the driver of the vehicle slumped down in his seat and apparently unconscious. The car then drove over the curb and the officers check and found the man did not have a pulse. Deisinger says the officers then administered C-P-R to man and used a portable Automated External Defibrillator to shock his heart back into a beat. Deisinger says the unidentified 70-year-old man from Urbandale was lucky in several respects.He says the man lost consciousness right in front of two trained officers, and he says Swanson is the department’s medical officer who was the one that advocated getting the defibrillators for the department’s cars. Deisinger says this is the first time an officer has had to use one of the devices since they were installed in the patrol cars several years ago. He says it certainly drives home the point made by Sergeant Swanson and others about the point of having the devices readily available and appropriately trained officers to be able to save a life. Deisinger says it appears that’s what happened in this case.
Labor Unions rally around mobile billboard
January 12, 2004 By
Labor union members in Iowa are rallying around a mobile billboard that symbolizes hundreds of lost jobs. Tom Buffenbarger is president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and he’s accompanying the so-called Wall of Shame to dozens of Iowa cities through the weekend. Buffenbarger says the large sign is being carried on the back of a 40-foot flatbed trailer. One side of the sign is painted to look like a brick wall and more than a thousand of the bricks carry the names of Iowans who have lost their jobs. He explains how the wall came into being in Cedar Rapids, initially.When the Goss Corporation laid off hundreds of union members, a representative in eastern Iowa came up with the idea to represent all Iowans who’ve been laid off in recent months and seen their jobs go to other countries. Buffenbarger says the wall is being taken to union halls in many Iowa cities for rallies and so workers will add the names of friends and family who lost jobs in what he says is the worst employment crisis since the Great Depression.The wall is in Cedar Falls today after a stop yesterday in Cedar Rapids. Other cities where it will appear in the next several days include: Clinton, Bettendorf, Burlington, Middletown, Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Omaha and Des Moines. For more information, visit “www.goiam.org”.
Legislators say letter from Governor is a call for tax increase
January 12, 2004 By
Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack has sent legislators a rather dour letter, and some lawmakers say Vilsack’s trying to build a case for a tax increase. In the letter, Vilsack said the budget outline he’ll present lawmakers later this week will not include tax increases, and Vilsack says that means major budget cuts in education, health and safety programs. The bleak budget scenario Vilsack paints includes predictions that nearly four-thousand teachers will be laid off and about three-thousand poor children will not have access to health care. Senate President-elect Jeff Lamberti, a republican from Ankeny, says by reading between the lines, it appears the Governor is trying to build some momentum for a tax increase. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows says when it comes to the state budget, the sky is not falling. He says the bottom line is the legislators have to do what all Iowans do, live within their means.Republican House Speaker Christopher Rants of Sioux City says if Vilsack wants to raise taxes, he should come out and say so rather than drop hints. Rants says if Vilsack believes taxes should be raised, he needs to “build that case” tomorrow during the Governor’s Condition of the State message. Rants says it’ll be a tough sell to convince Iowans that “they’re not payin’ enough.” Rants says lawmakers should “do no harm” and a tax increase — in his opinion — would do harm.Rants says it would do harm if the state government were to take more money out of the pockets of Iowans and Iowa businesses at a time when the economy’s poised to recover. Democrats in the legislature, meanwhile, are reluctant to say they’d support any tax increase. House Democrat Leader Pat Murphy of Dubuque says Republicans who control the legislature’s debate agenda because the G-O-P holds a majority of seats in the House and Senate will not raise taxes. Murphy says tax increases are a “moot issue.” He says Democrats want to guarantee that education funding isn’t cut, and that there are no more tax credits. Senate Democrat Leader Michael Gronstal of Council Bluffs says Republicans in the Legislature have “creating a rising tide of red ink that is drowning” the budgets of local schools, cities and counties and our public universities.” In an interview last week, Vilsack declined to present any details of his budget outline.
