American flags are flying over the northern Iowa town of Kanawha today, honoring all veterans and one local soldier in particular. Today is the 35th birthday of Sergeant Dean Michelson and his friends and neighbors found a way to celebrate, even though the Iowa National Guardsman is thousands of miles away serving in Iraq. Kanawha city clerk Sharon Grimm says the city council voted to make this a holiday in the town of 763.She says being in a small town, everybody knows everybody and they’re all thinking about Dean “over there and what he’s doing for us back here at home.” Grimm says the day also recognizes Kanawha’s close-knit community.Sergeant Michelson is serving with the National Guard’s 1133rd Transportation Company. Birthday cards are available to sign at the Kanawha grocery and Kanawha Pronto store which will be presented to him when he returns in April. His grandfather, Harold Michelson, is also a veteran and celebrated his 91st birthday earlier this month. The elder Michelson served in World War Two and can remember his neighbors going off to fight in the first World War. He says he’s proud of his grandson, but he’s also worried.Harold Michelson says “He’s in more danger than I ever was in. Every day that goes by, it’s a pretty dangerous situation. It’s a different kind of a war. We didn’t have that kind of war back then. We knew who our enemy was. Now, they don’t know who their enemy is. It could be the guy standing next to you and he’s ready to blow himself up and you along with him.”
Program helps low income Iowans buy fruit and veggies
State Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge says a program that helps low-income Iowans buy fresh fruit and vegetables continues to grow in popularity. Judge says Iowans in the Seniors Nutrition Program and the Women Infant and Child Nutrition Program, or WIC (wick) are given coupons they can redeem at Farmer’s Markets during the summer. She says over 20-thousand seniors and 50-thousand in the WIC program participated in the program in 2003. Judge says over 800 farmers participated in the program. She says they do require the farmers that’re participating to be trained to handle the coupons, so they know the coupons have to be used for fresh fruit and vegetables. Judge says the federal program helps both sides in the transaction. She says it really gives them the opportunity to incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables into diets where that may not necessarily be the food choice without the program — which she says will lead to a healthier lifestyle. She says it also increases the market opportunities for a number of Iowa farmers who work with the farmer’s markets. Judge says those who start using the fresh fruit and vegetables get hooked on them, and there are many who prefer to go back to a time when everything didn’t come out of a can. She says she thinks that’s why the program is so popular with seniors, as a lot of them used to cook with a lot of fresh fruit and produce. Judge says over 433-thousand dollars worth of coupons were redeemed in 2003. The coupons cannot be used to buy fruits and vegetables in supermarkets.
Events ready to roll at Surf
The annual event at Clear Lake’s Surf Ballroom will kick off next week. This year fans of Buddy Holly, fifties rock’n roll and Iowa entertainers will pack the Surf Ballroom for a three-night celebration dubbed “Fifties in February.” Owner Kevin Schoeneman says he’s almost old enough to remember the Buddy Holly era, and always enjoys hosting the midwinter event that commemorates his last appearance in Iowa.It’s from Thursday night through Saturday at one A.M. and each day in between. It’s all music from the fifties, and there’s a sock-hop Thursday and live music each night. Iowa bands and groups that played through the Midwest decades ago will be performing live throughout the three-day, three-night event, and Schoeneman says people come from other states and many foreign countries. He says people are looking for “the innocence of their youth,” as they come, reminisce and sometimes remember their youth as being even better than it was. It was 45 years ago Buddy Holly left after a performance in Iowa, and died in a plane crash just a few miles away from the Mason City airport. For ticket information and directions to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, surf to its website, http://www.surfballroom.com/
Guiliani says visits to Iowa are not a prelude to Presidential campaign
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has made two trips to Iowa this month, but he says it’s not a prelude to a presidential campaign for 2008. Giuliani says one of the many lessons of the 2004 Iowa Caucuses is how politics can change in two weeks. He says no one knows who’ll be running for president in four years. Giuliani says his decision about a return to public service will be made “far off in the future.” Giuliani says he doesn’t want to focus or speculate on 2008 before the 2004 election’s over. He says his political agenda for 2004 will be reelecting President Bush. Giuliani is chairman of the Republican National Convention in New York, and he says he wants to “focus, without any competing agenda, on being able to do that right.” Giuliani was keynote speaker last night at a Greater Des Moines Partnership banquet, and he talked about his book on leadership, a book he began shortly after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Giuliani says he started writing the book, then September 11th happened. Giuliani set the draft aside, and when he went back to it, Giuliani says it was a “very strange experience.” Giuliani and several of the city leaders who served in his administration have formed a consulting business on emergency response issues. Giuliani says he survived being trapped inside a building on September 11th with the group of aides, and they just wanted to continue working together after he left his post as Mayor of New York.
Bill to ban picture phones from lockerrooms passes first hurdle
Lawmakers have given first-round approval to a measure that would ban those new cellphones with cameras in them from locker rooms and restrooms. The bill’s sponsor, state representative Kevin McCarthy, says it won’t affect many people. He says not many adults have them, and you can still use a normal cellphone, but if you’ve spent the extra money to get one with a hidden camera, you have to leave it in your gymbag if you’re in an area where people are nude. McCarthy’s a lawyer and says he wrote the bill after a constituent complained of people using the cam-phones inappropriately. McCarthy admits even if your picture was snapped you’d probably never know it. If someone asks “isn’t there a law” to prohibit photos in a gym or restroom, he points out right now the answer is no, and he thinks there should be a law. The bill forbids even simply talking on one of the new phones unless you leave the locker room. But a fellow lawmaker, Wayne Ford of Des Moines, says he can foresee unintended consequences. A lot of bills start with good intentions, he says, and he doesn’t want anyone surreptitiously snapping pictures, but banning phones in the shower room could prevent someone making an emergency call and he finds it confusing. Ford says “big brother and big sister” will soon be telling us all what to do. The bill’s sponsor says it does contain exceptions for emergencies and law enforcement.
Bike ride route revealed
The route for the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa — RAGBRAI — was announced today. This will be the 32nd annual trek from west to east, border to border. The ride this summer will start in Onawa on July 25th and will end in Clinton on July 31st. Other overnight stops will be in Lake View, Fort Dodge, Iowa Falls, Marshalltown, Hiawatha and Maquoketa. Ride organizers say the route covers 490 miles. Over 10-thousand bicyclists are expected to take part in the event. Last year’s route went through southern Iowa, from Glenwood to Fort Madison.
Iowan on Super Bowl team
A year ago at this time, Bruce Nelson was just hoping he would be taken in the NFL draft. On Sunday, he will take part in the biggest football game of them all — Super Bowl 38 — as a member of the Caqrolina Panthers. Nelson was part of the Iowa offensive line in 2002 that led the Hawks to a Big Ten title and a trip to the Orange Bowl. He’s listed as the backup center for the Panthers during his rookie season.Nelson says the biggest adjustment for him has been the speed of the game. He says the big guys and the little guys both move extremely well. During his time at Iowa, Nelson saw the team improve from one victory to a Big Ten title and Carolina has made similar gains as just two years, ago the Panthers only won one game. He says it call comes down to hard work. Nelson began his career at Iowa as a walk-on.
