Governor Tom Vilsack today (Monday) renewed his call for an increase in the state tax on tobacco. Last week, Senate Co-Leader Stewart Iverson, a republican from Dows, said it was a “big lie” to say the state had to raise the cigarette tax to cover a predicted shortfall in Medicaid — state-paid health care for the poor and disabled. Vilsack says if the tax isn’t raised, other priorities will have to be sacrificed in the republicans’ “bare bones” approach.”The numbers are what the numbers are,” Vilsack says. Iowans have “spoken clearly” — according to Vilsack, and want teacher salaries raised and more state money plowed into the state universities and community colleges to tuition doesn’t go up precipitously. “I not only feel that way. The people of Iowa feel that way, importantly,” Vilsack says. Vilsack says raising the cigarette tax will also prompt some Iowans to quit, and keep younger Iowans from taking up the habit
General acknowledges effort of Iowa Guard soldiers
The Iowa National Guard’s adjutant general today (Monday) honored his soldiers and told lawmakers the Guard now faces the challenge of replacing equipment left on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Major General Ron Dardis delivered his annual “State of the Guard” message to Iowa lawmakers earlier this afternoon and gave special recognition to two soldiers who’d been wounded and are now back in Iowa. The 150 members of the Iowa Legislature stood and applauded Specialist Michael Johnson of Red Oak and Sergeant Kenneth Lukes of Protivin. Both have received Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars for the actions in Afghanistan. “They represent bravery, heroism, and valor above and beyond the call of duty,” Dardis says. “They’re great patriots, for sure.” Dardis also recognized Jerry Wheatley of Des Moines, a soldier who just returned Saturday from his second tour of duty in Iraq. Thirty soldiers with Iowa ties have died in the war on terror. “A special tribute today to the families of the 30 young men who have given their lives in defense of freedom. These families lives are forever changed…the void left in their hearts by their loss must at times seem impossible to fill,” Dardis says. “My profound hope is that they sense the love and support of so many and they realize our eternal gratitude for the price price that they have paid.” Dardis says 16-hundred Iowa soldiers and airmen are on active duty in the war on terror. About one-hundred soldiers are preparing for overseas deployment. About 17 percent of the Iowa Guard is deployed today. Dardis says an “unprecedented” number of Iowa Guardsmen and woman have been called to active duty since September 11th, 2001. At one time, 80 percent of Iowa Guard members were on active duty and more Iowa Guard troops have been deployed in the past three and a half years than were deployed during World War II. “Simply put, Iowa is one of the most combat ready states in the nation,” Dardis says. “We have quality men and women who get the job done.” Dardis says they have left equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan and replacement and repair of that equipment is a “paramount” concern for him. “We understand that this is a long and protracted war on terror and we will be involved for some time to come.” Dardis thanked his “commander in chief” — Governor Tom Vilsack — for his support of the Guard, for attending send-off and welcome home ceremonies for activated soldiers, and for talking with the families of troops who are not coming home. “Governor Vilsack always makes that first and most difficult call,” Dardis says. “Miss Iowa” saluted the troops by singing a patriotic tune just before Dardis spoke.Dardis oversees 96-hundred Army and Air Guard members that serve in 105 Guard units throughout the state. The Iowa Guard was number one in the country last month in recruiting.
DHS releases report on child abuse
Iowa’s Department of Human Services today (Monday) released the annual report on child-abuse statistics. D-H-S spokesman Roger Munns says its summary already has influenced the agency’s policies. In almost half the cases when a child-abuse case has been found worth looking into, the children involved are five years of age, or younger. It underscores a decision made in the redesign of the child-welfare system, to use age as one of the factors in deciding to offer the agency’s services. Those are services like counseling and drug rehab for anyone in the family who can benefit. Beginning next month, in every case where there’s a “founded report” involving a child under six, the family will be offered services, or the option to go to court. The overall level of abuse in calendar-year 2004 was flat from the previous year, in contrast to the 2003 report which showed a very sharp increase in reported cases from the year before. While it’s too early to tell if this is a trend downward in child abuse, he says over the last decade all the categories have steadily been rising up till now. As usual, the largest category of abuse is neglect, or “denial of critical care,” which made up 68-percent of all the agency’s cases. The next-largest category, physical abuse, accounted for 14-percent of cases and sex abuse, which continues to decline, makes up 6-percent. Drugs caused a lot of problems for the caseworkers. There were 1,700 cases of children found with illegal drugs in their blood, 200 more than the year before, and of those, two-thirds were under age six and 20-percent were under age one. That means, he explains, they were born with illegal drugs in their systems. As more law-enforcement agencies report their problems are fueled by methamphetamine, the DHS has noted cases where that’s a factor. Manufacturing a dangerous substance in the presence of a child was noted in 299 cases, compared with about 400 the previoius year — but Munns says “This does not mean that we’ve conquered the meth problem by any means.” Instead, most cases influenced by meth appear in that category of Denial of Critical Care. Narrowing the focus on the most helpless, the agency will make sure its most urgent response is in cases where the youngest kids may be at risk.
Union issues Waterloo Police Chief "No Confidence" vote
Results of a union vote by Waterloo police officers and sergeants on police chief Tom Jennings were released today. In a statement released today by the Waterloo Police Protective Association, union president Randall Hammitt said the majority of the officers who voted last week do not have confidence in Jennings’ leadership as chief. The results of the vote come just days after Waterloo mayor Tim Hurley publicaly voiced his support for Jennings. On Friday, Hurley said there are no plans to replace him as chief. Union members hope the “no confidence” vote shows the mayor and city council that there are some serious leadership issues that need to be resolved within the police department. Union leaders plan to meet with Hurley this week to discuss their concerns regarding Jennings, who’s been Waterloo’s chief since 2000.
Davenport may use cameras to catch speeders
After four months, Davenport’s red light cameras have brought more than 850 citations. Two-thirds of them have been paid, hauling in 36-thousand dollars. The money is being split between the camera vendor and the city. Police Chief Mike Bladel wants city council approval for “speed” cameras and has support from Alderman Bob McGivern. He says they look at how much an officer costs, and he says to take those resources to write 12 or 15 tickets to try and change behaviour is not feasible.Chief Bladel says cameras that would nab speeders make the most sense and would require the hiring of one person to operate them and an officer to oversee the issuing of citations. Bladel says it’s too soon to know if the “red light” cameras have cut the numbers of crashes at the four intersections they serve. He says there’s not enough data yet to see what kind of impact the cameras have had.The cameras take pictures of cars and their license plates when red lights are run. The plates are traced and vehicle owners are sent a “notice of violation” in the mail, along with a 65-dollar fine. McGivern says his “big brother” concerns aside, Davenport’s red light cameras are working and it’s time for cameras An Iowa D-O-T study found in a three-year period, red light violation crashes in Davenport resulted in one death, 583 injuries and more than 11-million dollars in property damage.
UNI wins 19th seeks 20th win Wednesday
The UNI Panthers will be looking for their 20th victory of the season on Wednesday when they visit Missouri Valley Conference leader Southern Illinois. The Panthers improved to 19-8 on Saturday with an 86-75 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday as part of the “Bracket Busters”. Coach Greg McDermott says it’s been awhile since they’ve played that consistent through 40 minutes. He says they played good defense in the second half and were consistent on offense. Ben Jacobsen had a big day with 29-points. McDermott says Jacobsen “loves to play when the lights are on.” He says the team did a good job of getting clear outs for Jacobsen, and he says when Jacobsen gets hot, sometimes you just have to get out of the way and let him go.
