Drake roared out to a 39-23 halftime lead over Creighton and cruised to a 74-57 victory in Des Moines on Sunday which knocked the Blue Jays out of a share of the Missouri Valley Conference lead. Drake coach Amy Stephens on her post-game show on KRNT said Creighton is a very good team that can score a lot when they want to, so she says she was never comfortable. Stephens had to make a change in her starting lineup. Bulldog guard Erin Dohrmann was battling the flu and saw limited action.Brandy Dahir (dare) had 24 points to lead the Bulldogs who improve to 5-6 in the Valley and 10-11 overall.
New surgery uses artificial disk for back
February 14, 2005 By
Doctors at University Hospitals in Iowa City have become the first in the state to perform a new type of back surgery. Dr. Timothy Ryken, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Iowa, says he and his team implanted an artificial disk in the patient’s spine last week. Ryken says it won’t be a dramatic cure for all patients with back pain but some patients, with lumbar or lower spinal problems, may benefit. The surgery was performed on February 9th and lasted about seven hours, though with practice, he expects that time to be cut almost in half. Ryken says the artificial disk is inserted between two back bones or vertebra. There are two titanium plates that fit into where the diseased disk has been removed and between them is a polyethylene disk which should allow for natural motion. Other surgeries in that area would involve fusing the bones, which would halt movement. Ryken says this surgery was rather unusual, in several ways.To best access the spine, doctors enter through the abdomen, not the back. Ryken says it takes a carefully coordinated team of surgeons. While he doesn’t expect this will be a high-demand surgery, he expects to start doing them on more of a routine basis, perhaps one or two a month.
Grants seek to help increase local food markets
February 14, 2005 By
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University has awarded grants to 19 projects to help people who grow and sell food locally. Rich Pirog oversees the projects for the center and says one of the goals is to help farmers and growers to find new markets that make it profitable to sell their wares. He says a second area helps producers enhance and develop their business and entrepreneurial skills. He says that includes a grant to Indian Hills Community College so they can create a curriculum for producers at the school’s Centerville campus. Pirog says a third phase of the grants tracks the projects to see if they’re effective. He says they want to see what the impact is to the community and the state. He says they want to know if they’re creating new job opportunities, and what kind of economic impact they’re creating. One of the grants looks to help grape growers and wineries in eastern Iowa create the state’s first American Viticultural Area. He says the American Viticultural Area or A-V-A is a geographic-based viticulture area that would be much like the Napa Valley in California. He says there are 170 such areas in the U.S. Pirog says the A-V-A has certain requirements. He says 85-percent of the grapes used to make the wines for the branded identity have to come from that geographic area. He says that gives the grapegrowers something unique they can produce that can’t be made somewhere else and called the same thing.
Fog blamed for accidents in Western Iowa
February 14, 2005 By
Dense fog is partly to blame for two separate accidents that occurred within minutes of each other this morning in western Iowa’s Pottawattamie County. One person was hurt when her vehicle collided with another on Highway 92 between Carson and Treynor. A few minutes later, a semi-truck was on its side between Treynor and Council Bluffs and 15 other vehicles were involved in a chain-reaction wreck, though no serious injuries were involved. Westbound Highway 92 was closed for about an hour for wreckers to remove the vehicles.
Republicans rally for passage of Social Security reforms
February 14, 2005 By
Republican party officials around the country — and in Iowa — are staging events today to pressure democrat members of the U.S. Senate to take up the Social Security reforms their republican president is proposing. Amy Houston Miller, a 28-year-old Republican attorney from Des Moines, spoke at the Iowa capitol. “I respect and appreciate President Bush’s willingness to confront Social Security’s financial and fairness problems,” Houston Miller said. “The system is broken and we do need to fix it.” Houston Miller says Harkin would be “short-sighted” and “terribly unfair” to her generation if he does not support what she called “meaningful reform.” State Representative Steven Lukan, a republican from New Vienna, says while today’s effort was organized by republicans, he expects some democrats to sign the G-O-P petition drive that supports the President’s Social Security reforms. “I don’t really see this, I guess, as republicans ganging up on Senator Harkin,” Lukan says. “I think that this is a way for (Harkin) to understand…that it’s an issue for younger Iowans and younger Americans.” Lukan, who is 26 years old, is the youngest member of the Iowa House.
One man shoots another to death at Glenwood bowling alley
February 14, 2005 By
A southwest Iowa man is dead after a shooting last night in a bowling alley. Mills County Sheriff’s officials say shortly after 6:30-p.m. Sunday, a white male in his 40’s walked into the Midwest Lanes bowling alley in Glenwood, and began firing at another white male, who was also in his 40‘s. Witnesses — who identified the victim as Mark Mayberry, of Glenwood — said Mayberry was shot in the chest at close range. At least four shots were fired before two men jumped the shooter and subdued him until police could arrive. Mayberry was pronounced dead at a local hospital and the man who allegedly shot him was taken into custody. Around thirty people were in the bowling alley when the incident unfolded, including numerous children. Glenwood police Chief John O’Conner told reporters a team of counselors have been called in to help witnesses deal with the incident, which is under investigation by the Iowa D-C-I, Glenwood Police Department and Mills County Sheriff’s Office.
Lawmaker wants to make companies take back old cell phones
February 14, 2005 By
An Iowa City lawmaker wants to ensure cell phones — and the attached batteries — don’t wind up in the landfill. Senator Joel Bolkcom, a democrat from Iowa City, is sponsoring legislation that would force cell phone companies to accept old cell phones. The companies then would “properly dispose” of the cell phones. “Proper disposal will include those going to a recycling facility or a facility that is specifically in the business of handling batteries,” Bolkcom says. Cell phone use is skyrocketing, with some folks disconnecting their land lines and using a cell phone exclusively. “It’s important now that we start talking about a system that provides for collection and proper disposal (of cell phones),” Bolkcom says. He says cell phone batteries should not be thrown in the landfill because batteries eventually leak. The heavy metals used in cell phone batteries contaminate water when they’re buried in a landfill and start leaking, according to Bolkcom. He predicts the cell phone industry will be “apprehensive” about his proposal.
