The Iowa Hawkeyes look to snap a three-game losing skid to Northwestern tomorrow night when the Hawkeyes host the Wildcats in Big Ten play. Iowa lost both games to Northwestern a year ago and dropped an overtime decision a couple of weeks ago in their first matchup this season. Iowa’s post season hopes cannot afford another loss. Coach Steve Alford says the Hawks have shown they can be competetive, now they need wins. The Hawks are 3-6 in the Big Ten.
UNI player nears significant mark
February 11, 2005 By
The University of Northern Iowa’s Alex Cook is approaching a big milestone. The six-foot senior forward from Decorah is on the verge of becoming the first player in school history to score 1,000 points in her career and collect 1,000 rebounds. Cook is a player who has consistently recorded “double-doubles” while playing at UNI. Cook has already passed the 1,000 point mark, and is on pace to grab her 1,000 rebound by the end of the regular season. UNI Coach Tony DiCecco says reaching the milestone would be an incredible feat. DiCecco says cook is one of the most versatile players in the Missouri Valley Conference, mainly because of what she does on the defensive end of the floor. Cook is averaging 14 points per game for the Panthers and DiCecco believes Cook could be the Valley’s most valuable player this season. After Thursday’s win over Southern Illinois, Cook had scored 1,085 points and collected 963 rebounds. UNI is 8-3 in the Valley and hosts Evansville Saturday afternoon.ts and 963 rebounds after Thursday’s win over Southern Illinois. UNI is 8-3 in the Valley and hosts Evansville Saturday afternoon.
William Penn men on path to records
February 11, 2005 By
The William Penn men’s basketball team is putting together a record-breaking season. The Statesmen are 17-12 after a Wednesday night win over Mount Mercy which clinched the program’s first winning season since 1987. Now they focus on the next goal. At 9-2, Penn has a one game lead in the Midwest Classic Conference race and are looking for their first conference title since 1983. Penn coach John Henry says with victories in nine of their last 11-games the Statesmen have suddenly taken on the role of favorite.Six-nine senior Danny Lund out of Omaha is the leading scorer and rebounder but Henry says everyone is playing a part. Penn returns to action at home on Saturday against Grand View and Henry says the Statesmen realize they have a tough road ahead.
Deputy’s "fantasy" quip puts job in jeopardy
February 11, 2005 By
A 28-year veteran of the Scott County Sheriff’s Department is fighting to keep his rank of sergeant. Mark Benson was suspended, ordered to attend sensitivity training and demoted to deputy all because of a comment he made in January at a crime scene in LeClaire. A woman who was upset about her boyfriend jumping off the Interstate-80 bridge reportedly said she would put on a wetsuit to conduct a search. Benson allegedly said seeing that was one of his “fantasies.” He says his comment was sarcastic and he didn’t mean for the woman to take it the wrong way and he’s learned from his mistake. “I’ll have to be more professional than I was,” Benson says. The attorney for Scott County says Benson doesn’t understand the effect his words have on other people. A decision from the Civil Service Commission could come next week.
Court says no to medical use of marijuana
February 11, 2005 By
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled against a north central Iowa man who said he smoked pot because it relieved him of the side-effects he suffered from a “cocktail” of powerful prescription drugs. Five of the seven the justices on the Iowa Supreme Court say Iowa law does not allow people who are charged with possession of marijuana to argue in court that they used the pot for medical reasons. Sheriff’s deputies found marijuana plants and bags of pot in Lloyd Bonjour’s Floyd County home, and as a defense, he argued the pot was a medical necessity. A University of Iowa professor of internal medicine testified at Bonjour’s trial that Bonjour took a variety of very “toxic” medications because he has AIDS, and smoking marijuana helped him deal with the nausea and other side effects of those drugs. The doctor went so far as to say that marijuana may have been a life-saver for Bonjour. Two justices on the Iowa Supreme Court say the court should have allowed Bonjour to argue that he used the pot out of “medical necessity.” One of the justices said the state “should allow an individual to seek relief from the agonizing symptoms” caused by the prescription drugs he took to prolong his life.
Top federal immigration official visits Iowa
February 11, 2005 By
The man in charge of immigration issues for the U-S Department of Homeland Security is visiting Iowa today (Friday). Alfonso Aguilar, the Chief of the Office of Citizenship, says his responsability is to promote the civic integration of immigrants into American civic life. “We find Iowa very interesting, because clearly it’s not the traditional immigrant state,” Aguilar says. “But we see that state and local governments are developing innitatives to integrate immigrants into the community.” Aguilar is meeting with various groups in the state and talked with Radio Iowa during a stop in Des Moines. “Clearly in meeting not only with community groups, but also with employers here in Iowa in places like Marshalltown, they’ve expressed their interest and their need for a work force and they need immigrant workers,” Aquilar says. The federal government wants to help them meet that need for immigrant workers, according to Aquilar. Aguilar says the President admits the current system is broken as there are up to 10-million undocumented aliens in the U-S. He says the President’s proposal for a temporary work visa would help. He says the immigrants are not terrorists, they’re good hard working people who’re here to help our economy. He says the worker visa gives them a chance to come in legally and work temporarily. “This is not amnesty, it is not an imediate path to citizenship or anything like that,” he says. “It’s to allow them to work here because we need them.” The U-S House just passed a bill that would make it tougher for illegal aliens to get a drivers’ license. Aguilar says the White House supports the bill. He says we need to know whose in the country as it’s fundamental to the security of the nation. He says it also shows we need to get the up to 10-million undocumented aliens into the system, so we know they’re here. Aguilar says the U-S Citizen and Immigration Office is making progress in meeting the concerns of Iowans. He says the goal is to eliminate backlogs and processing times to six months. He says in Iowa they’re already ahead — with the elimination of backlogs back to eight months. Aguilar says the system is not perfect yet and they’re still working on it.
Business near Eastern IA Airport goes up in flames
February 11, 2005 By
A business near the Eastern Iowa Airport in southwest Cedar Rapids has been mostly destroyed by fire. David Coach, a public information officer for the City of Cedar Rapids, says the name of the business is Custom Cabinets and Millwork. “There’s a lot of wood and combustible materials in there — a spray booth and those type of things that deal with this type of a business, so it does create a little bit more of a hazard for the fire fighters,” Coach says. “We were inside for about an hour, trying to put it out from the interior and the roof started to collapse so the decision was made to pull the fire fighters out for their own safety.” The fire call came in just before seven o’clock this morning. About 30 fire fighters from Cedar Rapids, Ely and Swisher battled the blaze. No word yet on what caused the fire. Fire fighters kept putting water on a home next door to the business, to keep the blaze from spreading. “Fortunately, the winds aren’t too bad today,” Coach says. A few fire fighters fell down on the ice that formed on the streets outside the business, but none were injured. Billowing clouds of smoke rose from the building, but it did not affect flights into and out of the Eastern Iowa Airport.
