Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle expects President Bush to find some ways to save money in the federal budget in order to afford the “luxury” of expanded space exploration. Nussle, who’s a republican, is chairman of the Budget Committee in the United States House. Nussle says he doesn’t consider placing a base on the moon and sending man to Mars “a top priority” within the federal budget. He says it’s a “luxury” and there should be sacrifice in order to pay for it.Nussle says it should be done by cutting out waste in the budget. Nussle does describe himself as a “child of the Apollo program.” Nussle says he remembers — as a nine year old — watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. Nussle says lots of technological advancements can be traced back to the space program, things like cell phones and M-R-Is. Nussle says that was all good for the economy, and created jobs.He says a “pitch” can be made that expanding the space program is good for economic development. Still, Nussle says it’s important to find budget cuts to offset the new space spending so the federal budget deficit doesn’t grow larger.
Grocery store chain pulls drugs used in meth making from shelves
An Iowa-based grocery chain made a move overnight to restrict the public’s access to more than a dozen over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines. Hy-Vee spokeswoman Ruth Mitchell explains what’s happened, effective this morning. Hy-Vee took 14 products, including Sudafed tablets, Dimetapp and Drixoral, and moved them behind pharmacy counters or to customer service areas. Customers will have to ask for them and sign a log book to document the purchase — and they’ll be limited to two packages per visit. Mitchell says they’re the products law enforcement officials tell them are most used in producing meth. The medications all contain pseudoephedrine, a common decongestant found in all sorts of sinus remedies, but it’s also a necessary ingredient in making methamphetamine, an illegal, highly-addictive and potentially-deadly drug. Mitchell says they regret if any customer feels this is an inconvenience or imposition, but she says the Governor’s office and law enforcement feel this is something that’s important, so they felt it was something they need to do to stem the production of methamphetamine. The Des Moines-based chain has 219 stores in seven states.
Dons to don shoulder pads and take up football
For the first time in its 48-year history Gilbertville Don Bosco High School will field a varsity football team when the season begins in August. Tom Yuska has been hired to become the Dons’ coach. He has been a head coach before, having led North Tama from 1989 to 1994. He says he always thought it would be a place where they could be successful with football. Yuska says there are a lot of details to attend to when starting a program from scratch. He says they have to buy equipment and do a lot of other things, as well as meet with the kids and decide where they will play and practice. Don Bosco will play 11-man football as a class-A school. Yuska says 45 boys have already signed up to play. He says there are some kids who have played youth football, but there will be some kids who haven’t played since eighth grade. Yuska says he’s had that type of inexperience before and will work with them.In recent years, students at Don Bosco were allowed to play football at Waterloo Columbus, but the sharing agreement between the schools was not renewed when it expired last Fall.
Iowa women start key homestand
The Iowa Hawkeye women open a three game homestand tonight with a Big Ten matchup against Indiana. The Hawks are 1-2 in the league race after losses at Penn State and Minnesota. They will host Wisconsin on Sunday. Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says the Hawks need to take advantage of the home court against two teams they beat at home last year. She says last week they could’ve pulled an upset, but didn’t, so this week they need to win to maintain their position.Bluder says to win they must cut down on turnovers. They had 29 turnovers against Minesota, 13 of which she said were passing decisions that shouldn’t have been made.Iowa is 7-7 overall.
UNI downs Creighton in the Dome
For the second time this season UNI has toppled a nationally ranked opponent. The Panthers used the long-ball Wednesday night to down 24th ranked Creighton 82-73. Freshman Brooks McKowen scored a carreer high 24 points as the Panthers poured in a UNI-Dome record 12 three pointers.UNI coach Greg McDermott says the Panthers set the tone on the defensive end, as he said their philosophy was bend not break. He says they knew they’d give up some things, but he says they moved the ball well offensively and shot a great percentage. It was the first loss for Creighton and coach Dana Altman after 12 victories to begin the season. He says UNI shot the ball well and some of that was due to his team’s lack of aggressiveness.
ISU women stun second-ranked Texas Tech
A stunner in Hilton Coliseum. Ann O’Neil’s 15-foot jumper with two-tenths of a second remaining lifted Iowa State to a 64-63 win over top-ranked Texas Tech.Coach Bill Fennelly said on his post game show that the “Good Lord gave us one more basket.” He says the crowd helped push the ball in the basket too. Fennelly says it was the greatest team effort they’ve had at I-S-U in a long, long, time. He says the team did everything they wanted them to do.They Cyclones improve to 8-5 overall.
Drake wins another MVC contest
Drake shot just 17-percent in the first half of play but the Bulldogs rallied in the second half to down Illinois State 59-55 in the Knapp Center. The game was not secure until guard Chaun Brooks made a pair of free throws with three-point nine seconds remaining. Brooks says better ball movement ignited the second half rally, as that was something the coaches stressed at halftime. He says the coaches told them if they moved the ball around, they would get better shots than if they tried to move themselves.Brooks says Illinois State had a lot to do with Drake’s early struggles as they hit some good shots early. Bulldog coach Tom Davis says it was a hard fought victory. He says he told them it was a great win because of how hard they played after struggling early. The Bulldogs played without leading scorer Joshua Robinson who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Davis says it’s hard to measure how much you’ll miss a player and Davis says Robinson has been a steady performer that is missed in more ways than just his scoring. Drake is now 7-6 on the season.
