UNI faces its first one-double-a test on Saturday by hosting nationally ranked Stephen F. Austin. This has the making of a high scoring game and Panther coach Mark Farley says his defense needs to make sure it isn’t. He says they need a great defense more so than a great offense as Stephen F. Austin is a good football team.UNI is 1-1 after a win at home over Minnesota State. Farley says they’ve made progress, but need to make more progress. He says they’re playing a top team that has a tough schedule and high expectations. If past history is any indication this will be an entertaining game. Farley says UNI has been fortunate the last few years to come out on top, as they both have good talent.
McCarney to stick with two quarterbacks
September 14, 2004 By
Iowa State coach Dan McCarney won’t change the rotation at quarterback for this weekend’s game at home against Northern Illinois. Bret Meyer has started the first two games and Austin Flynn has also played in a victory over UNI and a loss at Iowa. He says both have done good things, although he says both have room for improvement.McCarney expected the defense to be much improved this season and that has been the case through two games. He says they’re playing more guys and have more depth. He says the defense knew last year they played well at times, they just needed a little more support from the offense. McCarney says he stayed with the defensive coordinator and now they’re leading in some defensive categories.McCarney says they no longer plan to redshirt Iowa City West product Greg Coleman who entered preseason workouts at running back. He will play this weekend at fullback. He says Coleman is a Big 12 football player that deserves to be on the field, but he says Coleman needs more work and they need to get him on the field.
Iowa loses another runningback to injury
September 14, 2004 By
The Iowa Hawkeyes are getting thin at running back. Hawkeye coach Kirk Ferentz says Albert Young will be lost for the season after suffering a knee injury in Saturday’s 17-10 win over Iowa State. Young missed all of last season after injuring his knee in pre-season practice. Ferentz says he suffered an A-C-L tear, but it is something that can be fixed. He says it’s difficult to have two season ending injuries.Marcus Schnoor’s season came to an end with a knee injury in the opener against Kent State. That means Davenport native and Nebraska transfer Marcus Simmons will be the backup to Jermelle Lewis. Ferentz says Simmons has the ability and potential, and showed that in the Spring, and now they have to continue moving him along.Iowa heads to Arizona State this weekend and Ferentz says the Hawks will need to improve in several areas if they hope to win. He says the lowlight of the game was special teams as he says there are several areas there that are lacking. Ferentz says if they don’t shore up the special teams then they’ll be in trouble.
Monroe man dies in accident outside store
September 14, 2004 By
Police have now released the name of a man killed by a passing car Monday in the central Iowa town of Monroe. The Iowa State Patrol says the fatal pedestrian accident happened just after 6:30 this (Tuesday) morning outside a grocery store. The investigators say 69-year-old Donnie Kalman of Monroe was hit by a passing pickup truck while crossing Highway 14 and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the pickup’s been identified as 61-year-old Jerry Finlow of Monroe. The highway near Monroe was blocked off for about three hours after the accident.
DHS looks to reduce number of African Americans in child welfare
September 14, 2004 By
The Iowa Department of Human Services announced a new program today designed to reduce the number of African American children in the state’s child welfare system. D-H-S Director Keven Concannon says the disparity of minority children in Iowa’s system is troubling and worrisome. He says not only in Iowa, but nationally there is an overrepresentation of minority children who end up in the child welfare system. He says while they can’t solve the national problem, they’re trying to make a change in Iowa. The D-H-S is launching a nine-month pilot project to beef up services to African American families. The Department is providing 75-thousand dollars to local support agencies in both Des Moines and Sioux City so they can reach out to families were one case of abuse has been found, and where other children may be at risk.) He says African American children make up about three percent of the population in Iowa, but they’re about 14-percent of the children in the child welfare system. Concannon says there are things that lead to children coming to the attention of the D-H-S. He says poverty is one of the major factors, as is domestic violence, substance abuse and limited parenting skills can be another. Vernon Johnson is the director of the Pace Juvenile Center in Des Moines and says it’s important to treat the entire family. Johnson says local agencies can do a better job than the state at providing culturally sensitive social workers. He says it is their contention that the services being offered will be offered by people who absolutely will reflect their race, color and their capacity to assist them through family crisis to social strength. Vernon says D-H-S will evaluate the project’s success after nine months based on several factors.He says they’ll evaluate how well the young people are doing in school, how well are they doing in the community, have they come to the attention of the courts for some act, and complying with the day-to-day expectation of the mother or father. Concannon says if the goals are met, the pilot project may be expanded to other areas of the state with large minority populations — like Waterloo and Davenport.
Iraqi woman talks of good done in her country
September 14, 2004 By
A 42-year-old Iraqi woman who is now working in her country as a journalist is on a p-r campaign in Iowa today. Ahood Abbas is from Basra, in southern Iraq and she’s traveling the U.S. for the Iraq-America Freedom Alliance, a group that’s trying to spread a more positive message about what’s happening in Iraq. Abbas says her life story was “a very black story, a very dark story” under Saddam Hussein’s reign. Three of her brothers were killed because they opposed Hussein, and her husband was jailed for three years because his mother was from neighboring Iran. Abbas herself spent three months in prison, with her children. Abbas went to college in Baghdad and got a degree in mass communications, but was relegated to being a stay-at-home mother under Hussein. After Saddam was ousted, she says she got a new life. Abbas says she now writes for her local newspaper and is a member of her local governing council. “I go outside and I have all this energy and I do many, many things,” she says. Abbas says Saddam tried to kill the human being inside her, but now she and her country have experienced a sort of rebirth. “My life has changed from a mother sitting in the home and now I do many, many things,” she says. “I am very, very busy.” Abbas says a small minority in her country oppose the U.S. presence in Iraq, a minority she says is mostly composed of outsiders and criminals Saddam let out of prison. Tamara Sarafa Quinn was born in Baghdad but fled to the U.S. 35 years ago and lives in Tennessee now. She’s also in Iowa, a representative of the Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq. “The message here is really to tell the American people that many good things are happening in Iraq,” Quinn says. “Please go to www.untoldiraq.org to learn a bit more about the good things that are happening, the schools that are up, the hospitals that are open.” Quinn will accompany Abbas around Iowa, then go on to Wisconsin and Michigan — states which, like Iowa, are considered too close call in the presidential race.
Hospitals look for better care for heart attack victims
September 14, 2004 By
A dozen central Iowa hospitals are teaming up to provide faster, better care to heart attack victims. Research has shown minutes can make a significant difference in saving a cardiac patient’s life. Susan Johnson-Brown, director of the Level One Heart Attack Program, says redundancies and time-wasters are being eliminated to get immediate, complete treatment for people who come into the hospital with chest pain.In the past, it might have taken hours or the next day before the patient was fully diagnosed and treated, which could have contributed to patients’ complications and even death. Now, Johnson-Brown says, the goal is 90 minutes door-to-door. Patients who enter a rural central Iowa hospital with a possible heart attack will be put on a fast-track and treated more like a trauma victim, according to Dr. Mark Tannenbaum, medical director of the Des Moines-based program.Dr. Tannenbaum says “That patient will be transported as quickly as possible by either ambulance or helicopter directly to Mercy Medical Center (in Des Moines) and that individual will be taken directly to the cath lab and bypass our emergency department in order to expedite their care.” Mercy is working with: Mercy Capitol in Des Moines, Boone County Hospital in Boone, Pella Regional Health Center, Skiff Medical Center in Newton, Mercy Medical Center in Centerville, Dallas County Health Systems in Perry, Davis County Hospital in Bloomfield, Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Knoxville Area Community Hospital, Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center and Story County Medical Center in Nevada.
