In high school football tonight two of the three teams tied at the top of the class 2A district three standings collide as second rated North Fayette hosts Osage for its annual homecoming game. North Fayette coach Ron Wymer says this will be a tough matchup for his team, as they’re big and physical, have a good quarterback and running back, and play stingy defense. Osage coach Lon Lawler says they need to contend with the Hawks’ speed. He says they have big play potential at numerous spots, so his team has to contend and not give up the big plays. Two of the teams that are unbeaten in class 1A district three matchup as Algona Garrigan hosts fourth rated Lake Mills. Garrigan coach Marty Wadle says the Bulldogs deserve their ranking. He says they have a lot of kids back and have a lot of experiences. He says they’re a good team that’s very sound. Lake Mills coach Bill Burns says defense has been the key. He says that’s been a little bit of a surprise that they’ve been able to shut people down early.
Eight people injured in Council Bluffs crash
Eight people were taken to local hospitals after a crash in Council Bluffs Thursday afternoon. Officer Jason Bailey says it happened at a highway intersection on the south side of town a little before two P.M. A semi collided with a Southwest Iowa Transport bus carrying elderly residents home after a function they’d been attending. The officer says both witnesses and the semi driver himself tell police the truck driver failed to stop in time at a red light, started to slide, lost control, and hit the bus. Eight people in all were taken to hospitals, though none seemed to have life threatening injuries. Officer Bailey says the big rig jacknifed when the driver hit the brakes, and that may have made the crash less serious than it might have been. He says the vehicles “kind of hit sideways” and that dissipated the force of the crash. He says if the semi hadn’t jacknifed, the rig probably would have hit the van’s passenger area directly.
North Carolina soldiers make the most of stay in Iowa
A group of North Carolina National Guard soldiers in the midst of a deployment to Iowa that began in June are finding ways to keep busy in their off hours. The 180 soldiers are repairing guard equipment from around the world at Camp Dodge in Johnston. Captain James Sasser of Four Oaks, North Carolina says they know it’s a better assignment than being in the Middle East, but he says it’s still tough being away. He says because they’re in the U.S. and have easier access to home, they tend to sometimes think of home more. He says when you’re overseas you tend to get a mental picture that you’re not going to be home for awhile and you tend to focus more. One soldier is anxiously awaiting the birth of a new baby, while another is missing his son’s final high school football season. But, Sergeant Howard Clark of Lorenberg says they’re making the most of their stay in Iowa. He says, “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been real good, the people have been real nice.” He says they went to Boone and went on an innertube ride down the river. The soldiers work almost 12-hour days, but have evenings and weekends free. Sergeant John Smith of Kenston says they’ve taken advantage of nearby Saylorville Lake. He says one of the guys has a pontoon boat and they go out and catch catfish. He says they also have a weight room and play softball. 20-year-old Specialist Anne Marie Moxley of Elkin says she spends hours reading. She says she also enjoys heading out in a car with a friend to check out the Iowa countryside — as she’s never been outside the east coast before. She says she lives in the foothills of the mountain country in North Carolina and says Iowa is flat but nice and “very pretty country.” Moxley was one of several of the soldiers that visited the Iowa State Fair. She says she goes to the Dixie Classic fair every year at home and says the Iowa fair was similar, but bigger. She says she only went once, but would’ve gone back if she had a chance. While they’ve enjoyed their time in Iowa thus far, all the North Carolinians say they’re not looking forward to winter. They say they’re not looking forward to the cold and dread that part of it. Although some say they plan to take the innertubes they used earlier and use them to ride down a hill if it snows.
Fuel prices also impacting train travel
Federal energy officials are urging Americans to fight back against rising energy prices by doing things like parking their cars and taking other mass-transit options. At the same time, the country’s only passenger railroad has announced it’ll charge more for a ticket. Amtrak’s Mark Magliari says it shouldn’t make much different to the train-riding public.After spending some time talking to passengers, Magliari says the railroad decided to go ahead with its plan to raise fares in October. He says for most customers here in the Midwest, the price difference will be less than ten dollars a ticket, and probably less than five. Speaking on a cellphone while he rode a train to Chicago, Magliari said the ticket-price increase is blamed on the rising cost of fuel.He says the railroad’s cost of doing business is going up, just like everyone else’s. The locomotives run on diesel fuel, which is one of the products going up steeply in cost, and he says the ticket price hike is one way of coping with that increased expense. A lot of businesses face the same issues Amtrak does, and a lot of car drivers do, too. Magliari says the increase in the cost of an Amtrak ticket pales by comparison with the increase people are seeing in what it costs to fill the tanks of their cars and trucks. The ticket price increase will take effect in October. In Iowa, Amtrak stops in Fort Madison, Burlington, Mount Pleasant, Ottumwa, Osceola and Creston.
Business leader says quality/availability of preschool big issue
The co-chair of the Iowa Business Council says improving the quality and availability of preschool in Iowa is the “biggest” economic development issue facing the state today. Max Phillips, the Iowa president of Qwest who is co-chair of the Iowa Business Council, says the group’s members started pressing state policymakers for action on the issue last year. Phillips says the Iowa Business Council is a “non-partisan” group that represents the 23 largest businesses in the state. Those businesses employ 150-thousand Iowans. The Council was successful in helping persuade the 2005 Iowa Legislature to spend over 20 million more state tax dollars on preschool. “There needs to be a greater look and more attention on early childhood education,” Phillips says.He says it’s a debate about “today and tomorrow” and the Iowa Business Council believes “this is the biggest economic development issue and opportunity facing the state of Iowa.” Phillips says it’s especially critical since 77 percent of the Iowa parents who have kids under the age of six are working, and need quality childcare.According to Phillips, every dollar that’s invested in preschool is multiplied and provides economic benefits to the community and to the businesses in that community. On Thursday, Phillips helped lead a forum in Des Moines that focused on the issue. “The Business Council is committed to try to further and encourage the debate and we’re looking for partners,” Philips said. The business group held a similar event on Tuesday in Iowa City.
Morningside looks for 4-0 start
Morningside will bid for its first 4-0 start since 1957 when the Mustangs entertain Nebraska Wesleyan for their annual homecoming game. Mustang coach Steve Ryan says they’ve set a goal to win all their home games and that’s where their focus is as the head into the second home game. Morningside has posted some eye-popping numbers so far this season by averaging just under 50-points and 556 yards of offense per game. Ryan says those numbers have overshadowed a defense that is also off to a great start. Ryan says the defense has given the offense great field position and he says that’s been critical in the course of game. He says they’ve outscored their opponents by a huge margin and the play of the defense has inspired the offense. Morningside is ranked fourth in the latest NAIA poll.
ICLU asks court to throw out sex offender living restrictions
The Iowa Civil Liberties Union has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to toss out the Iowa law that forbids convicted sex offenders from living within two-thousand feet of a school or daycare. Iowa Civil Liberties Union executive director Ben Stone says the law is “misconceived.”
Stone says the law applies to people who’ve done nothing wrong for decades and are labeled a “sex offender” for convictions that are 20 or 30 years old. Towns in Iowa are starting to pass ordinances that restrict where sex offenders may live, too, and Stone says it means that within a few months, there may be no where left for a sex offender to live in Iowa, except a prison.
Supporters of the law say it is just one way to try to keep sexual deviants who prey on children away from schools and daycares, but Stone says the law so broad it applies to people guilty of simply “flashing” someone at a high school party. “Someone gets inebriated at a party and exposes themselves, they can be covered (by the new living restrictions) and it could have happened 20 years ago,” Stone says. “The law goes back very far in time and it covers a great deal of offenses beyond the typical one that people think of, the child molester.”
Stone says the I-C-L-U is arguing the law is a new version of the old-fashioned practice of “banishment.” “You know, the old days when towns would banish someone from their town, the Supreme Court of the United States has found that is a cruel and unusual punishment,” Stone says. He says police and sheriff’s deputies in Iowa are wasting a lot of time trying to track down the whereabouts of people who’re aren’t dangerous “child molesters” because the law’s too broad.
The U.S. Supreme Court will probably decide by the end of the year whether to hear the I-C-L-U’s case. Iowa is one of two states in the country to have a law on the books that restricts where convicted sex offenders may live.
