Iowa State coach Dan McCarney expects Brian Jansen to handle the kicking chores when the Cyclones host Northern Illinois on Saturday. The walk-on connected on a 41-yard field goal but missed three others in a 17-10 loss at Iowa. Regular kicker Ton Yelk is still nursing a pulled muscle he suffered during the summer. He says that was in July, and Yelk’s been bothered since then. McCarney says Yelk has kicked some in practice but has not been able to shake off the effects. He says he feels good for a couple days, and then is sore again.McCarney says there is no time table for when he could be ready. McCarney says it remains day-to-day and they have to get ready without him. He says it’s not like other injuries where you can get an idea about healing time.
Convoy will drive for Special Olympics
A special driving event this weekend will bring some big engine-power together in Des Moines. Jeanette Steinfeldt is an associate director for Special Olympics and she explains it’s nothing like a race although it’ll be quite a show to watch. It’s the second annual “World’s Largest Truck Convoy” taking place at separate locations in 23 states for Special Olympics. The Iowa participants will gather at a westside junction of Highway 5, and drive across Des Moines to the state fairgrounds. There’ll be lunch, music and “goodie bags” for participants. Registration’s Saturday morning on Des Moines’ west side. For more information surf to specialolympics-dot-org.
West Tarkio Lake lawsuit dropped
One of the legal obstacles to a proposed lake in southwest Iowa no longer exists. A group of Page County farmers calling itself “Citizens for Responsible Choices” has dropped its lawsuit challenging a 12 million dollar state grant for the West Tarkio Lake project. Mark Thompson, an attorney for the state, has seen the document filed by the group. Thompson says the dismissal itself is a two-sentence statement saying the group is dropping the lawsuit, but he says it doesn’t say why. The lawsuit had held up the Page County project as well as other projects that got state “Vision Iowa” grants that day, including plans for the Cedar Valley in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. The lawsuit charged that the state’s Vision Iowa board hadn’t engaged in full and open discussion about the project before approving the grant. The group also charged the project was really a plan to provide water for Clarinda and Shenandoah and was just being disguised as economic development. Thompson, who serves as the staff attorney for the state’s Vision Iowa board, says it’s his understanding that the farmers behind the lawsuit own or rent farmland in the area that would be covered by the proposed lake. Thompson says since the lawsuit’s been dropped, Clarinda and Shenandoah can sign a contract now to get the “Vision Iowa” money. Thompson says a draft of the contract has already been written, and it should be reviewed then approved by the Vision Iowa board and both the Clarinda City Council and Shenandoah’s City Council. Another lawsuit filed against the cities was thrown out by a district court, and that decision’s been affirmed by the state Supreme Court.
SCOLA expands network
Another expansion is in the works for an Iowa-based educational network that offers up a world of news to schools nationwide. SCOLA uses a satellite downlink to collect broadcasts and share them with colleges and universities, but starting this week will also offer Internet access. SCOLA’s Dave Decker says they offer four channels ’round the clock, with news in some 70 languages from about 80 regions of the world. It’s now based in McClelland, Iowa, northeast of Council Bluffs. Decker says SCOLA was created by a Creighton University professor who got hold of a satellite dish and realized what a resource the newscasts from other countries could be for students of foreign languages. Professors told the company they want the local daily news, “the Dan Rather or Peter Jennings of that country,” so they pick up prime-time newscasts in dozens of foreign countries and let students in the U.S. learn from them how the language is spoken, complete with colloquialisms, slang and new words. Decker says SCOLA convinced local cable companies to use their satellite dishes, so schools didn’t have to set up their own to get the programs. That’s why in Iowa and all over the country some cable-TV customers can tune in the foreign-language news on an educational-access channel of their own cable system. They’re on in 70 “fairly good-sized markets,” and cable companies put SCOLA on a public-access channel any subscriber can tune in, including Cox Cable in Omaha and local systems in Iowa City, Ames and other cities in Iowa. Starting this week, SCOLA will also offer its four channels of foreign-language newscasts over the internet…for a price. Decker says private subscribers can buy the streaming service just like schools do. The colleges and universities finance SCOLA, paying for the service so the company can buy satellite time. Beyond that it’s looking for grants or other funding, as a nonprofit. The network gets daily news videotaped and mailed from Afghanistan, and even carries the sometimes controversial programming of the Arabic al-Jazeera network. Nobody’s objected to that, though Decker says viewers of south Florida cable networks that carry SCOLA did call in to ask why it’d picked up Cuban news programs. He says it’s part of the language-teaching mission behind SCOLA’s creation. He says people speak Spanish in 12 countries around the world and their versions of the language are different, and he adds some called in to thank the network for carrying Cuban news, assuring them they could tell for themselves what part of the broadcasts were that country’s propaganda. The contract he’s proudest of is getting the daily news from Afghanistan, where people have been taping the news and mailing it to SCOLA daily since the end of the war there. Decker says they have the less commonly-taught languages from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan — “we’ve got almost every ‘-stan’ there is, I think.” In addition to languages, students use the foreign-news service to study telecommunications technology, political science, business, history, sociology and more.
Grassley says expiration of assault weapon ban has no impact
A decade-old law that banned 19 types of assault-style weapons expired Monday and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley predicts we’ll see little-to-no impact from the semi-automatic weapons again being made available. Grassley, a republican, says “not really much was banned” in the 1994 crime-fighting bill. Grassley says “It was passed at a time when there was a hysteria over gun control doing some good and the bottom line of it is that the ban is not needed now and probably is a violation of the Second Amendment.” The weapons that -were- banned include several notorious guns like the A-K-47, Uzi and Tec-9. Grassley says they are not machine guns that continue to fire with a single squeeze of the trigger — these only fire one bullet each time the trigger is pulled. Grassley says “It reaches a point where a ridiculous interpretation of the old law might prevent the use of guns that are used in hunting.” Gun control advocates are against the law “sunsetting” or dissolving, while several law enforcement organizations have spoken out against the semi-automatic weapons again becoming available. Grassley says that’s a natural reaction.”I think if you were a policeman you’d just as soon have a society without any guns because your job would be easier.”
Nebraska woman sues over concrete block death
A Nebraska woman’s suing over the death of a Council Bluffs woman last July. One summer day in 2003 Michelle Fergus was riding in a van on the freeway in Omaha when a concrete block dropped from a bridge smashed through the windshield, killing her. Her mother filed a lawsuit on Monday, naming Omaha, Douglas county and the state of Nebraska as defendants, asking for unspecified damages and claiming the bridge should have had a fence along its sides to prevent such acts of vandalism. Nancy Fergus also says police should have scheduled more patrols of the bridge since there had been problems before with people throwing things from it. A group of teens responsible eventually went to trial and today two of the culprits are facing prison time and a third is on probation.
Energy company warns of volatile natural gas prices
You’re more likely to use your air conditioner than your heater this time of year, but one of the state’s energy companies says it’s time to start thinking about winterizing your home. MidAmerican Energy Company spokesman Alan Urlis says that’s important because natural gas prices are expected to be volatile again this winter. Urlis says the biggest factor in the cost of winter heating can’t be controlled.He says weather is the key driver in how high your heating bill be will be. He says last year is a key example as natural gas prices went up 50-percent, but the winter was warmer than average, so bills were actually lower. Urlis says his company tries to buffer natural gas price spikes by purchasing over 70-percent of the supply before the cold hits. He says in past years they bought 50-percent of the gas ahead of time, then last year increased that to 73-percent, and this year are upping it to 75-percent. Urlis says there are things you can do to make your home more energy efficient. He says one of the best ways to preserve is to install a programmable thermostat that drops the temperature when you’re not home, and raised the temp before you get home. Urlis says that keeps you from heating an empty home. Urlis says his company offers an energy audit designed to tell you how to improve your home’s energy efficiency. He says there’s an audit you can do on your own.He says you can do a home energy audit on-line where you enter information and it tells you how your home compares to the averages when compared to other homes. Urlis says the on-line audit can help you decide if you should have someone come out and do an on-site audit. For more information, surf to www.midamericanenergy.com.
