The Wartburg men put their ten-game winning streak on the line tonight when they host the University of Dubuque. At 10-0, the Knights have a two-game lead on the field in the Iowa Conference race but coach Dick Peth says Dubuque causes them concern. He says they have one of the top scorers in the nation in Nick Thomas, a sophomore. He says Thomas averages 20 shots a night and 20 points, along with another high scorer. One of Wartburg’s strengths has been shooting, as he says they’re shooting almost 53-percent in league play. He says that includes good shooting from the three-point line.
Key Senator opposes mandatory ethanol use
February 3, 2005 By
Another key senator is weighing in on the ethanol issue. Senate Co-President Jeff Lamberti, a republican from Ankeny, opposes a bill that would force gas stations to offer customers only ethanol-blended fuel. “We’re well over 60 percent usage and growing every year,” Lamberti says. “I don’t see a need for an ethanol mandate. The other Co-President of the Senate, Jack Kibbie — a democrat from Emmetsburg, is sponsoring legislation that would force gas stations in Iowa to pump only ethanol-blended fuels. Lamberti says if you want to boost ethanol use, take the ethanol stickers off the pumps. “Most people buy based on two things: price and octane,” Lamberti says. “(Ethanol) has a better octane and it’s lower priced. Most retailers you talk to say if you removed the sticker, you would actually drive sales up.” Lamberti says. But wouldn’t that hoodwink some customers who do not want to buy ethanol?”No, I don’t think it’s a matter of fooling ‘em, but why do we have a law saying we have to put a sticker on (pumps that dispense ethanol-blended fuel)?” Lamberti says. “It was designed as a promotional item, thinking it would actually drive usage up. Well, it has actually had the effect of putting a cap on usage.” Lamberti’s father founded the Casey’s convenience store chain.
Shut down extended for Tyson workers in Denison
February 3, 2005 By
Workers at Tyson meatpacking plants in three states, including Iowa, learned today they aren’t being called back from a furlough any time soon. The company last month idled workers in Denison and at plants in Nebraska and Idaho. Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson says at the time it was expected to last three to five weeks. The temporary suspension of operations will continue through a fifth week, February 12, and perhaps one more week and he says they’ll pay qualified workers for another week off the job. Mickelson says the company’s been forced to suspend work because there aren’t enough cattle coming to market to keep the slaughter plants busy. He says the company knows it’s been hard on workers and their communities. Market conditions haven’t improved enough to warrant resuming operations, he says, as the packers need more cattle to run their plants and they have far more slaughter capacity than available cattle to slaughter. He says reopening the U.S. border to Canadian imports is important and he says it should happen as scheduled. The meatpackers including Tyson are making no secret of the fact that they’re eager to resume imports of meat and live cattle from Canada, despite the discovery recently of two more cases of Mad Cow Disease in that country. Mickelson says meatpackers also anticipate the day when we resume exports of beef products to major trade partners like Japan and Korea. Some livestock producers say while it’s a goal to start selling U.S. beef again, we shouldn’t resume Canadian imports yet because they need to prove their supply of animals is safe. They maintain we won’t be able to prove U.S. meat is safe in turn, and that would actually block resumption of U.S. sales to countries that lack confidence in our products. Mickelson was asked if the plants will shut down if their supply remains too low to restart slaughter operations. Mickelson says he’s not aware of any plans to permanently close plants, and the current plan’s to resume operations when market conditions show improvement. “However if conditions remain unfavorable, we’ll have to consider all options available to us.” The plants where operations were suspended January 10 are in Denison, in Norfolk and West Point Nebraska, in Boise Idaho, and Pasco, Washington. The workers were asked to take a week of their paid vacation time, then were paid for a 32-hour week the past couple weeks and for now their benefits like insurance, for those who qualify, will continue.
Senate set to debate making ethanol Iowa’s only gas
February 3, 2005 By
Within the next two weeks a senate committee will debate the idea of forcing people to buy only ethanol-blended at Iowa gas stations. Senate Co-President Jack Kibbie, a democrat from Emmetsburg, is the main senate backer of the mandate to require a 10-percent ethanol blend only. “I think the time to promote ethanol is when it’s flourishing,” Kibbie says. “Today, with cheap corn in Iowa and high-priced gas, the ethanol plants are doing great.” A new ethanol plant will open in Kibbie’s hometown of Emmetsburg this month, and soon Iowa will become the nation’s top ethanol producing state. “So it’s time for us to act on this issue,” Kibbie says. “It ought to be a no-brainer.” Kibbie also wants the state to provide grants to stations that install pumps that dispense 85 percent ethanol fuel — known as E-85. Kibbie says it’ll help get one E-85 outlet in every county. There are about a dozen stations that offer E-85 today, and about 45-thousand “flexible fuel” vehicles in Iowa that can burn the higher-concentration of ethanol. The petroleum industry wants nationwide rather than state-by-state rules for fuels, and ethanol was ridiculed during last week’s episode of the nationally-televised program “West Wing.” Senate Co-Leader Michael Gronstal, a democrat from Council Bluffs, says the show cited faulty data. “I think there really were some legitimate critics of ethanol in the late ’70s and early ’80s, but those folks are looking at numbers that are literally 25 or 30 years old,” Gronstal says. “The numbers now on ethanol clearly show that it’s a net benefit for the environment. It’s a net benefit for our country in terms of less imported oil.”
Legislators try to get Iowa Values Fund restarted
February 3, 2005 By
A group of republicans and democrats in the Iowa House is proposing a starting point in negotiations to recreate the Iowa Values state economic development Fund. Representative Clarence Hoffman, a republican from Charter Oak, and other members of the House Economic Growth Committee say the bill that cleared the House two years ago should be the base on which to build. Hoffman says in its 18 months of operation, the Iowa Values Fund handed out 70 million dollars that helped create 15-thousand new jobs that pay an average salary of over 37-thousand dollars. “What is happening is working beyond any expectation that I ever had,” Hoffman says. The Iowa Values Fund was closed down by a Supreme Court ruling this summer. The Governor has called for resurrecting it and spending 800-million dollars over five years — much of it in large state grants to startup or expanding businesses. Senate Republicans, though, have been an obstacle to the program in the past and Senate co-President Jeff Lamberti today (Thursday) said the ideas he and other senate republicans advanced last week — like not charging Iowans under age 30 income taxes — are superior. “We threw out our ideas, and quite frankly, we think some of our ideas are better,” Lamberti says. Hoffman says he’s “not going to go there.” “I’m not going to say their plan is better or our plan is better,” Hoffman says. Hoffman says he hopes everyone will be open to ideas, and “pick the best out of every plan.”
Weather expert pans Old Farmers Almanac
February 3, 2005 By
One weather expert says Iowans who put stock in the Old Farmers Almanac should consider just listening to forecasts on the radio instead. Ken Duehy from the High Plains Regional Climatology Center says the much-touted accuracy of the Farmers Almanac is mostly bunk. He compared last year’s actual weather stats with the Almanac’s predictions. Our summer was supposed to be hot and dry but it was one of the coldest, coolest and wettest springs and summers in the history of the Midwest. The northeast was supposed to have a hot and dry summer too and it turned out to be their coldest-ever summer and the second or third wettest. Duehy, the chief climatic data analyst at the center, says he only picks up the Almanac for kicks. Duehy says Iowa farmers, at least those worth the price of an ear of corn, should steer away from the Farmer’s Almanac. He says the tome is published two years in advance. He says “If we knew two years ahead of time and whether it was accurate, we could adjust all of our farming activities…and our futures and crops. The reality of it is, we can’t.” Duehy says if the Almanac is based on some sort of science, it’s bad science, given the forecasts it publishes. “It’s exactly the opposite for almost the entire country. The Farmer’s Almanac got it almost exactly wrong. You’d be more accurate just tossing a coin,” as a coin will give you 50-50 odds. He says the Almanac is only right 28-percent of the time. The High Plains Regional Climate Center is based at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and is affiliated with six other schools, including Iowa State University.
Man charged with altering antlers for profit
February 3, 2005 By
A rural Duncomb man has reached a plea agreement on charges he rigged a rack. 64-year-old William Lilienthal of pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to two felony counts of involving the making or submitting false records pertaining to wildlife intended for interstate sale. Lilienthal pleaded guilty to altering a set of deer antlers to increase the antlers overall value. Court records indicate Lilienthal submitted the false records to Boone and Crocket Club in Montana which uses a ranking system to give antlers a score that determines their value. He then sold the antlers with the altered score to a buyer in Maine for five thousand dollars. Lilienthal was given a plea agreement that included five months in prison, three years supervised release and 20-thousand dollars in fines and restitution. Lilienthal’s case was a continuation of another case against George Waters, of rural West Branch. Waters was sentenced in January 2004 to 57 months in federal prison and received a 40-thousand dollar fine for two felony violations involving false wildlife records.
