Another group of part-time soldiers called to active duty in Iraq has returned home to Iowa, and a member of the Iowa Senate is among them. State Senator Chuck Larson, Junior, of Cedar Rapids is a JAG — a lawyer in the Reserve. Larson was called to active duty in November of 2003 and — except for a two-week leave last fall — he’s been in Iraq since last February. His wife, Jennifer, greeted him when he got off the bus in Des Moines.”I’m happy to have him home in one piece.” The Larsons then told reporters some big news — they’re expecting a baby in late July. “God has doubly blessed us,” Chuck Larson said. “Today is the beginning of a new life, an exciting new life with a brand new baby on the way.”Larson also told reporters he loved the feel of the cold air when he got off that bus. “After having lived in 140 degree weather for so many months, it’s nice to be home,” Larson says. “The crunch of the snow beneath my feet — it’s a good feeling.” Larson will be formally released from duty on Thursday and will return to his job as a voting member of the Iowa Senate afterwards. “I’m looking forward to returning and to serving in the Iowa Legislature and I thank the people of Iowa who were kind enough to allow me to leave and serve, and to both the republican and democrat legislators who picked up the slack in my abscence and got the job done,” Larson says. Larson helped spearhead a fund drive for Iraqis.Over $100,000 worth of school and medical supplies were collected from Americans in 25 states, but Larson says the bulk of that money came from Iowans. The soldiers sorted the stuff into packets which they distributed to 17,000 Iraqi kids. Larson was also the chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa when he was called to active duty. The party did not fill his position but his term as party leader was up just last month. Larson’s father is in Baghdad ’til June as he’s advising the Iraqis on the set-up of a judicial system. Charles Larson, Senior, is the U-S Attorney for Iowa’s northern district. There were 53 other soldiers in the unit who returned to Iowa last night besides Larson. Diane Clevenger of Indianola was on hand to welcome home her 20-year-old son, Jeff. She says the network of support from other military families helped her through the time apart.
Upper Iowa football coach moves on to new job
Upper Iowa University is looking for a new football coach. Courtney Messingham resigned as head football coach to take an assistant coaching position at the University of Southern Mississippi. Messingham had been the Peacocks head coach for two years — a time the school was going through N-C-A-A Division Two provisional membership. He had a 3-17 record at Upper Iowa.
Iowa continues looking to fill void left with Pierce gone
The Iowa Hawkeyes lost Saturday in their first game without leading scorer Piere Pierce who was kicked off the team, and coach Steve Alford says they’ll continue working to find someone to fill the void. Two freshmen, Alex Thompson and Carlton Reed, could eventually fill that role. Alford says both will develop and he says Thompson needs more playing time. Alford says Thompson is better playing along the baseline right now, as physically he’s not ready yet. He says Reed is the same way, as he says Reed looks like Pierce looked when Pierce was a freshman. Iowa is 3-5 in the Big Ten, and the conventional wisdom has been that a team had to finish at .500 to get into the N-C-A-A Tournament. Alford says he’s not gonna set that goal for his team. He says he’s not putting a number on it, as he doesn’t want to put more pressure on this team. He says there have been major conferences where a 7-9 record in conference play has been good enough. He says that’s not something he’s figured out. Alford says they have 12 strong non-conference wins, which should help. He says he just wants the team to finish out the conference schedule strong. He says he knows and can sense that there’s enough pressure on them and he doesn’t want to put more pressure on them. Alford says they have eight regular season games left and then the conference tournament, so they have plenty of games left and they just have to go out and win some. Iowa — which is 15-6 overall — plays at Wisconsin Wednesday.
Two classes change at the top in RI basketball poll
There are a pair of new rop-ranked teams in the latest Radio Iowa High School Boys Basketball Poll. Sioux City Heelan moves back into the top spot in 3A after previously top ranked Harlan lost twice over the weekend. The defending state champion Cyclones had their 41-game winning streak snapped with a two point loss to Clarinda on Friday and one night later lost a close one to class 4A third rated Sioux City East. Crestwood is second, Centerville, Central DeWitt and Waverly-Shell Rock complete the top five. Harlan falls to sixth. Maquoketa Valley is the new top ranked team in 2A after previously top ranked Bondurant-Farrar lost to fifth ranked Nodaway Valley. Unity Christian is second. Battle Creek-Ida Grove, Clarinda and Nodaway Valley complete the top five. Bondurant-Farrar is seventh. The othe top ranked teams remain the same. Linn-Mar leads in 4A. Bettendorf is second followed by Sioux City East, Davenport Central and Marshalltown. Bellevue Marquette is top rated in 1A. North Mahaska is second. Iowa Mennonite, AR-WE-VA and N-U High complete the top five.
Cyclones hit the road with momentum of big win
Iowa State goes back on the road to Nebraska Tuesday after ending a 28-game road losing streak in the Big 12 with a 92-80 upset over then 20th ranked Texas on Saturday. Cyclone coach Wayne Morgan says the victory was a great thing for the team. He says it was probably one of the most jubilant locker rooms he’s every seen and he had a feeling of “pure joy.” He says everyone was happy for Jared Homan who had never won a conference road game. Morgan says he was as happy as when he was at New Orleans and they won a game to get into the NCAA Tournament. Morgan says the win does give them confidence. He says they understand they can’t overlook anybody, but he says they may have a little feeling or rebirth or resurgance, and now feel defensively that they can stop people. He says it’s important for the team to be confident in its defense. He says they have to feed off their defense as he says they’re not the type of team that will outscore people. He says they have to get some stops and then hope to get some scoring opportunities.
Governor proposes change in insurance regulations
Governor Tom Vilsack proposes new regulations for insurance companies, regulations Vilsack says would help make health insurance coverage more affordable for very small businesses. And the Governor also wants to force small business to provide health care coverage to all employees, or none at all, as some businesses today cover some but not all of their workers. Vilsack says loopholes are being used by some employers to “cherry-pick” which workers get insurance. He says that means the number of covered workers shrinks, and it raises insurance rates as a result.”We hope this is the beginning of a discussion and a debate in the legislature that will lead hopefully to more help and assistance,” Vilsack says. Another Vilsack proposal will forbid insurance companies from rating companies based on the number of employees in businesses with fewer than 10 workers. Instead, insurance rates would have to be based on the health of the workers.State Insurance Commissioner Susan Voss. Voss says she’s hearing that insurance companies often base the premium rates for very small businesses based on what may happen in the future with the four or five workers, not what sort of health they’ve had in the past. Vilsack says he’s optimistic legislators will act on these proposals since health care was a big issue in the 2004 campaign. “This is a specific opportunity for legislators to go on record to help small businesses, to make them more competitive,” Vilsack says. The state’s Insurance Division is exploring ways to open state-run plans which provide health care coverage to Iowans who cannot get private insurance, hoping it might help some Iowans get cheaper rates by expanding the number of people in the special system. Vilsack talked about the health care issue this morning (Monday) during a news conference staged at a business in Des Moines that employs 10. “We are taking several steps to make it a little bit easier for small companies and small businesses in the state of Iowa to purchase health care insurance,” Vilsack said. The democratic governor’s ideas must be endorsed by a legislature that’s narrowly divided between democrats and republicans. Senate Co-Leader Stewart Iverson, a republican from Dows, says he’s willing to review Vilsack’s ideas. Iverson says he’s a little bit hestitant to force insurance companies to change the way they calculate premiums for small businesses, but Iverson says he’s willing to consider the idea. Senate Co-President Jeff lamberti, a republican from Ankeny, agrees. Lamberti says legislators are willing to look at anything that would make health insurance more affordable and more accessible.
Opponents of large-scale livestock rally at Statehouse
Opponents of large-scale livestock operations rallied at the statehouse today as they have in each of the past several years, asking state officials to give local cities and county officials authority to restrict the placement and operation of livestock facilities. Rosie Patridge of rural Wall Lake grew up on a farm and has a brother who continues to farm. “We are here today to make our voices heard,” Patridge says. Frank Jones of Bloomfield says calls large-scale livestock operations “factory farms.” “Now’s the time for us as a state to renew our determination to support independent, family farms,” Jones told the crowd. The “Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers” — an organization that represents the Farm Bureau and many other commodity groups — issued a statement criticizing the rally, saying more livestock regulations would divert attention from finding ways to make rural Iowa grow. And a republican Senator who had a hand in writing the most recent livestock regulation bill to clear the legislature doubts the legislature will take up the issue this year. Senate Co-Leader Stewart Iverson, is a republican from Dows. Iverson says legislators are willing to listen, but he says Iowa’s waterways are cleaner today than they were 30 years ago.
