The final stage is about to begin on the Iowa Hall of Pride, which will be part of the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines. Jack Lashier of the Iowa High School Athletic Association has been working on the project for several years and he says work on the interior will begin in April. There’ll be 26-thousand feet of “interactive space” and Lashier says it seems “almost surreal” that after seven years of work, the Hall of Pride will soon become reality. The Hall will include memorabilia as well as interactive exhibits and Lashier has been scouring the state trying to get all of the state’s 402 high schools to take part. About 310 schools have responded, and they’ve developed websites and collected school fight songs. “If you grew up in Iowa and you graduated from an Iowa high school, you are going to want to go to the Hall of Pride because it’s all about those growing up years,” Lashier says. Bernie Saggau, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, says they expect to open late in the year. “We want to make sure she’s really ready to go,” he says. “We want to make sure we work the bugs out.”

The Iowa mens basketball team closes out the home season tomorrow against Minnesota in Big Ten play. The Hawks are 7-6 in the Big Ten after a lopsided loss at home to Illinois and coach Steve Alford says the Hawkeyes need to bounce back. “We’ve got three huge games left,” Alford says. “Our guys fully understand everything that we’re playing for.” The Hawkeyes are in a three-way tie for fourth in the Big Ten standings and need a strong finish to the regular season. Alford says the team was a llittle down yesterday as Illinois “came in and put the hurt” on the Hawkeyes. Alford says it wasn’t a good “thinking game” for his squad, and that’s why the team’s excited to get back on the floor again to prove themselves worthy of post-season play. The Hawkeyes are 14-10 overall.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today released a key part of its master plan for managing the Missouri River system. Brigadier General William Grisoli says the environmental impact statement must be approved before the “Master Manual” can be finalized, and the document released today is the best balance to serve the purposes authorized by Congress, meet treaty obligations to tribes, and comply with federal laws on the environment and endangered species. Grisoli says the Corps is committed to improving the survival of the endangered plants and animals, providing predictability to the Missouri basin, and lessening the impact of drought by keeping more water in the reservoirs. A US District Court Judge in Minnesota has ordered the timetable be shortened to 14 days, from March 5th to the 19th. The plan does NOT include high water in spring or lower flows late in summer, the pattern recommended by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as being closest to natural and best for endangered species like the pallid sturgeon. Grisoli says the environmental impact statement and revised Master Manual describe new drought-conservation measures to save more water in the upriver reservoirs earlier in a drought than they do now. He says we wouldn’t be in this situation if we’d already had such conservation measures, because reservoirs would be several feet higher right now — and he says conserving more water “up front” is important to the river basin. Control of the dams has been the subject of several lawsuits as upriver states demand the water be kept for boating, fishing and recreation, while downriver states like Iowa and Nebraska say the dams should release more for their barge shipping, farming, drinking and power-plant water needs. Grisoli said part of a plan to restore wildlife habitat is taking “oxbow” lakes that once were bends in the river, and re-connecting them as Missouri backwaters that can provide wildlife habitat. He names Decatur Bend, one in a series of waterways cut off from the river that are being restored, and says the agency’s working with the Fish and Wildlife Service and wants to monitor that agency’s work to make sure it’s being done right.

Iowa’s Attorney General has filed charges against a fundraiser accused of bringing in lots of money — and keeping it. A-G’s spokesman Bob Brammer says a professional fundraiser hired by a charity allegedly raised money but put checks into his own account, not the charity’s. The suit names Paul Ackerman, a Sioux City man doing business as A&A Marketing in Sioux City and Waterloo. Brammer says he was hired to raise money by telemarketing. Brammer says for many years, since the mid-1990s, he solicited money for AmVets, a veterans organization, under an agreement that he’d keep 80-percent of the money he raised and give 20-percent to the charity. The attorney general is charging that even that generous share wasn’t enough for the defendant, who put money into a secret account of his own without giving a share to the AmVets organization. Brammer says in 2003, Ackerman put $234,000 into an account of his own without sharing with the charity. Brammer says it’s a cautionary tale for charities who “lend their good names” to professional fundraisers who take the lion’s share of money they raise. When you get that telemarketing call, he says you have a right to ask questions like “Are you a professional fund raiser?” and “What share of my dollar will go to the charitable purpose you’re talking about?” Law doesn’t require them to offer you that information, but you can ask for it, and even ask them to send you some written material about the charity and the fundraiser, including how much of the money they raise will kept for the professional’s “fundraising expenses.”

A legislator from Winterset has reached a big milestone in her other career in the Iowa National Guard. Jodi Tymeson has been named a Brigadier General. House Republican Leader Chuck Gipp of Decorah says Tymeson is an accomplished public servant. Tymeson is a native of Boone County and holds a B-A from the University of Northern Iowa and a masters from Drake in public administration. She is currently a state representative and serves as chair of the House Education Committee. Tymeson enlisted in the Guard back in 1974, and has won a number of awards and promotions in the past 30 years. Tymeson was officially promoted to Brigadier General in early December, and is the first woman in the Iowa Guard to become Brigadier General.

Although cold and flu season is almost over, doctors say another similar illness hits many Iowans at this time of year, usually kids. It’s called Fifth Disease — as in the number five. Iowa state epidemiologist Dr. Patty Quinlisk says it’s -not- considered a big risk. She says it’s very common, to the extent almost every Iowa adult will have had it. Symptoms include a slight fever, sore throat and runny nose. There can also be bright red cheeks and a rash on the palms, arms, legs and torso. Quinlisk says it’s often so mild, kids won’t even feel like they need to stay home from school or daycare. She explains the origin of the rather unusual name. People knew about measles and rubella and other rash-causing diseases — this was simply the fifth one that was distinctive from the others. Quinlisk says the symptoms usually fade within a few days or as long as two weeks. While it’s not usually a major risk factor for adults, she says pregnant women who haven’t had the disease before can be more seriously impacted by it. It can also be more severe for people with chronic blood diseases and anyone on chemotherapy

The State High School Wrestling Tournament resumes this morning with the quarterfinal round in class 1A. Pocahontas area leads a close team race in 1A after advancing four into the quarterfinals. Coach Mitch Parker says team success is more than just the winners bracket. He says it’s all about who can bounce back from losses as well as getting as many competitors into the semis as possible. Belle Plaine is one of three teams tied for second, two points behind. Coach Bob Yilek’s team sent six of eight wrestlers into the quarterfinals. Yilek says his team is “peaking at the right time.” Again this week, the tournament is playing to large crowds in Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines. With eight mats going at once, the traffic can be heavy, especially with the students who like to roam from one match to the other. Despite the traffic jams, the crowds are well behaved according to Bernie Saggau, the executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association. Saggau says the crowds enjoy the atmosphere that goes with the tournament. Saggau says it’s “organized confusion” and a celebration of the schools which have athletes in the competition. The ability to move around is one of the unique features of the tournament. Saggau says Iowa’s high school wrestling tournament is the biggest in the country.