A Cedar Falls woman who wanted to give a gift to charity instead of receiving a gift for her 50th birthday a little over a year ago saw her good will effort snowball into a huge benefit. Dee Vandeventer created a website and an opportunity.Saying she has “a personal passion for philanthropy,” Vandeventer challenged her family and friends to join her in giving 50-thousand dollars more to nonprofit agencies during her 50th year than they gave the previous year. She says it quickly became apparent the goal of 50-thousand dollars in her 50th year was way too low.Mid-year in 2003, they hit the 50-thousand dollar mark. By year’s end, the total had reached more than one-million, 147-thousand dollars. Vandeventer said she was stunned by the generosity of her loved ones, friends and business partners.More than one-hundred people in 14 states contributed to 177 charities and logged their donations on the website “www.givingfeelsgood.org”. Vandeventer is co-owner of “Me & V,” a marketing, communications and fundraising business in Cedar Falls. She says the response to her challenge was, in her words, inspiring, and the “best birthday gift of my life.” She says giving is not a learned behavior and the challenge was to nuture the philanthropic habit of those she knows. Vandeventer’s 51st birthday was December 28th, 2003, and she announced the total just recently at a belated birthday bash.
Woman dies after Des Moines chase
One woman’s dead after a chase last night in Central Iowa, and deputies say they think someone was shooting at them. Chief Polk County Deputy Bill Vaughn says it started a little after eleven P.M., on Des Moines’ northeast side in a community called Norwoodville. The deputy clocked him exceeding the speed limit but the driver, identified as William Pinegar of Des Moines took off, leading the deputy on a chase in what turned out to be a stolen S-U-V. The chase went through Des Moines’ east side and in an intersection the fleeing SUV hit a passing car broadside, rolling it over. A woman in the SUV was thrown out and died at the scene, and deputy Vaughn says the driver’s been charged with several offenses. Charges against Pinegar include homicide by vehicle, 2nd-degree theft, eluding an officer and speeding, and a passenger, Troy McDaniel of Des Moines had warrants out for his arrest including one for possessing a substance used to make meth. And the investigators found they’d been in more danger than they knew while the chase was going on. Vaughn says based on preliminary evidence at the scene and interviews with the suspects, they think the woman, 27-year-old Melissa Sayles, had been shooting at deputies during the chase. They’re offering reporters a look at the squad-car video of the event, and the investigation continues.
Search underway for Ventura man
Friends and relatives of a missing Ventura man are hoping for word about his whereabouts. 42-year-old Phil Dvorak left his home around 5 Saturday morning to go ice fishing. He’d promised to be back three hours later but never showed up. A check of his beach ice house on Clear Lake found the ice still frozen over. Dvorak apparently had intended to return soon, as he’d left his wallet and checkbook at home. Friends on the Ventura fire department have mounted a search for the man. His vehicle’s described as a grey 1987 Jeep Cherokee.
Caucus turnout could surpass record
About 30 precincts of nearly two-thousand haven’t turned in their official numbers yet, but the current tally shows more than 122-thousand Iowans took part in last night’s Democratic caucuses. Back in January of 1988, the caucuses attracted 125-thousand, which Secretary of State Chet Culver says will likely be eclipsed when the final numbers are in from this year.Culver says he hopes this puts to rest the notion that not enough Iowans participate in the process. This is the first time a new computing system has been used statewide that required precinct captains to report the exact number of participants, not just estimates. Culver says last night’s overall total number of participants was double that from the 2000 caucuses. Culver credits the extended efforts in training, education and outreach that brought tens of thousands of teenagers into the fold. He says they tried to break down a lot of barriers to the caucus process with more training. Also, last night, he says between 50-and-75-thousand Republicans held caucuses in Iowa.
Caucus cacophony calms as candidates clear Iowa
No more chanting, no more campaign commercials, no more phone calls. The caucus campaign is history. For many Iowa Democrats, it’ll be safe to answer the phone again. Pollsters trying to track the latest developments in the race for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination found it difficult in the last few days to find Iowans who’d pick up when the phone rang. Some campaign workers will be picking up today and moving on to New Hampshire, Oklahoma or other states which host elections in the next few weeks. Others will catch up on sleep and start thinking about nailing down that next job. All but one of the Iowa campaign managers sat down recently at a forum I moderated. Kerry campaign manager John Norris said at some point, he’d like to be a candidate again. Norris lost a race for Congress in 2002. John Lapp, Gephardt’s Iowa campaign manager, said he may run for office some time. Rob Berntsen, the manager of the Edwards campaign in Iowa, said he’ll probably remain a behind-the-scenes person. No word from Jeani Murray, Dean’s Iowa campaign manager. Murray didn’t attend the forum — she said she was swamped with planning what their campaign called “The Perfect Storm” for Caucus Night 2004.
Former New York Mayor pushes President’s message
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in Iowa yesterday, part of a cavalcade of Republican all-stars who — in Mary Matalin’s words — were trying to “gin up” interest in the Iowa Republican Caucuses. Giuliani says he wanted to tell the other side of the story. Giuliani says only one side of the story’s been told for the past few months. He says that’s understandable, since the Democratic presidential campaign has been playing out in Iowa, but Giuliani says the President has been “effective” and taken the country through one of the worst things that’s ever happened and Giuliani says the country’s emerged stronger. Giuliani will return to Iowa on January 29th to deliver a speech, but he deflects talk that he’s laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign in 2008.Giuliani says his efforts this year are on getting President Bush reelected, and Giuliani says Iowa’s an important state since Bush lost Iowa by a few thousand votes in 2000. Giuliani says he’s not going to think about 2008 until 2004′s over. Giuliani says he thinks “about returning to public service in the future” but he’s focused right now on building his business and doing other things.
Credit cards offer digital choice
If your bank sends you a new debit or credit card ahead of schedule, you’re not alone. Banks and retail stores are shifting the way they honor plastic, in the wake of a big consumer lawsuit last year. Dan Kramer with Shazam, a regional A-T-M network, explains it stems from an “honor-all-cards” rule. Consumers have the right to go into any store and either sign for their card purchase, or punch in the Personal Identification Number, their confidential PIN, but he says “signature-based” deals have higher risk because they’re more prone to fraud. Kramer says it turns out all cards are not created equal. He says PIN-based cards have less risk and, as a result, fees for signature-based transactions were a lot higher for merchants — so they sued, for the right to throw out the accept-all-cards rule and control whether they’ll accept signature or pin-based card purchases. One of the biggest names in retail business helped nudge the change. Wal-Mart announced about two months ago it wouldn’t accept MasterCard signature purchases any more, so anyone who uses a MasterCard to buy goods at Wal-Mart has to use a PIN. You may not notice any difference next time you use plastic instead of a check or cash. And Kramer says many card issuers are offering incentives, like bonus plans to customers who use a PIN instead of signing for the card purchase, to make it more attractive to punch in those numbers.
