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Governor announces security changes for Terrace Hill

October 31, 2005 By

Governor Tom Vilsack says a new bank of surveillance cameras are being installed at the state-owned governor’s mansion. The move comes amidst a review Vilsack ordered, and oversaw, after his son’s car was stolen from the grounds and wrecked October 15th.

Vilsack says several steps have been taken. The “old, out-dated” security camera system is being replaced. Jess Vilsack had left the keys in his car, but his dad says it’s not because Jess was raised in Mount Pleasant where people don’t necessarily lock the doors.

Vilsack says it had been common practice at Terrace Hill to leave keys in cars to let workers at the mansion easily move vehicles around if necessary. The governor says from now on, keys for cars parked at Terrace Hill will be taken to the troopers’ station for safekeeping, and for use if the car needs to be moved.

Finally, Vilsack says the troopers who are assigned to guard the grounds will get more training. He says there was a “fairly rapid transition” for some of the officers assigned to Terrace Hill, and the new officers didn’t realize they were to go on foot patrols on a regular basis. “I think you’ll see individuals at the house who will understand more specifically what their specific requirements are,” Vilsack says.

Vilsack is still not pleased about the security breach. “There were mistakes made,” Vilsack says. “Number one: the security system wasn’t adequate and wasn’t being checked on a regular basis. Number two: individuals who were supposed to be patrolling the grounds were not. Number three: I guess no one really thought about the consequence of people parking their cars and leaving the keys so (the cars) could be easily moved.”

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Governor says lack of "real time" sex offender tracking not a suprise

October 31, 2005 By

Governor Tom Vilsack says legislators shouldn’t have been surprised to learn paroled sex offenders wearing electronic bracelets aren’t being monitored in “real time.”

The topic came up last week during a legislative committee’s review of the state’s new sex offender law. “I’m really surprised they were surprised,” Vilsack says. “At the time we were discussing the appropriation for this it was fairly clear that the amount of money (legislators) were dedicating to this would not be adequate to establish a ‘real time’ system and there were a number of legislators who fully appreciated that.”

A law that took effect July 1st requires electronic monitoring of those who’re on parole after serving time for a sex crime against a child, but no sex offender in the state is being monitored in “real time.”

Vilsack says he proposed spending more money to ensure paroled sex offenders could be monitored 24/7, but legislators balked at the price tag. “A real time system would have required two- to three-times the amount of money that (legislators) appropriated,” he says.

Vilsack says if legislators want to spend more, and it is the legislature that drafts spending bills, he’s willing to sign the spending plan into law. Vilsack says if legislators decide in January to make an emergency appropriationg to buy more expensive monitoring equipment, he’ll back the move. “Real time is obviously better than what we have,” Vilsack says.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Three Republican presidential candidates visit Iowa

October 31, 2005 By

Three Republicans who may be presidential candidates of the future were in Iowa this weekend, but the three offered different views of the performance of the current Republican administration.

Sunday night in Ames, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel gave a wide-ranging policy speech that concluded with a call to end U.S.-led operations in Iraq. Once Iraqis elect their government leaders, Hagel would turn the country over to Iraqis and other advisors in the region. “The United States should take a secondary role and allow Iraq and its neighbors to lead this effort,” Hagel said. “…More missed opportunities in Iraq will be disastrous for the U.S., Iraq and the Middle East.”

Hagel, a veteran of Vietnam, said the U.S. must build stronger alliances with other countries because the U.S. military cannot confront every global threat alone. “Over-reliance on military power and the use of force will lead to deep problems for America,” Hagel said. “It is wrong and dangerous to place upon our military burdens which it cannot carry and objectives which it cannot achieve.” In addition, Hagel criticized the cornerstone of President Bush’s education initiative — the No Child Left Behind Law — calling it “well-intentioned” but “fundamentally bad policy.”

Hagel also warned that country can’t keep piling up huge federal budget deficits. “This is a critical time, a time for responsible governance. This is a time for hard choices and difficult decisions,” Hagel said. “This will require courageous, informed and wise leadership.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was in Iowa this weekend, too, and Gingrich offered a sober assessment of the recent travails of Republicans in power in Washington. “We’re either going to be the party of change, or we’re going to be the party of defeat,” Gingrich said. “People did not hire us to have a big deficit, to have government fail totally in New Orleans which it did for six days, to have an inadequate solution on the border and on illegal immigration, so I think we’ve got to get our act together.”

Gingrich, who spoke to reporters during a stop in Grinnell on Saturday, said he’s out traveling the country to try to spur his party to action. Gingrich said voters gave Republicans the White House and a majority of seats in the U.S. House and Senate, and they expect Republicans to deliver. “We have to have profound change in the way government operates,” Gingrich said. “I look down the road at the potential threat from Avian flu, and I’m not reassured by anything I’ve seen.” Gingrich said Bush’s real challenge this coming week will be picking the right person to be his next nominee for the Supreme Court.
“The president, if he’ll just relax and focus on getting a good, competent person with a good record, two or three weeks from now this will all be gone,” Gingrich said. “Presidents…sometimes hit a trough, and right now he’s in a trough.”

But during a speech in Davenport on Saturday, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney dismissed the indictment of a top White House aide and the withdrawal of President Bush’s choice for the Supreme Court as “irritating bug bites” that will not deter Republicans from their course. After the speech, Romney spoke with reporters. “I don’t like bug bites, but you keep on fighting and you keep doing what you’ve got to do,” Romney said. “Politics is a business with ups and downs and good days and bad days. This hasn’t been a great…week for the Republican cause, but it’s not going to dissuade us from the course we’re on.”

But Romney said when he compared the indictment of the Vice President’s chief of staff to a bug bite, he was just joking. Romeny called the indictment ” very serious” but he said it involved just one person, and the rest of the Republican party — from the president on down — would continue to move forward despite the trouble. “Politics has become a gotcha sport. It’s been that way for a long time,” Romney said. “It’s true on both sides of the aisle.”

Romney promised to return often to Iowa to campaign on behalf of the Republican candidate for governor in 2006 because there’s only one Democratic governor in the country who isn’t seeking re-election, and it’s Iowa’s Tom Vilsack. Eight potential presidential candidates for the 2008 race have visited Iowa this month.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Be wary of cars that could be damaged by hurricanes

October 31, 2005 By

Buying a used car is never easy — and the process just got a little more hazardous. The Iowa Attorney General is warning consumers and car dealers to be on the lookout for vehicles that were flooded in recent hurricanes, cleaned up and shipped to Iowa for sale.

Bill Brauch, chief of the Attorney General’s consumer protection division, says potential buyers should follow a few basic steps to avoid driving home a lemon. Brauch says to always take the vehicle to a mechanic or repair shop who you trust and have it fully checked over. He says “Never, ever buy a used car from somebody who won’t allow you to do that before you agree to purchase.”

Brauch says before you even go that route, inspect the vehicle yourself — using your eyes and nose. Start with the car’s interior and then check the trunk and under the hood. Lift up the carpeting in the trunk, look under the carpeting and around the spare tire. Look for any signs of moisture, mold or mildew, or evidence of dirt, water or even grass. Do the same thing in the engine area.

Brauch says consumers can spend a little to save a lot by having the records of the used car pulled through an on-line database. Often, he says, it only takes the “VIN” or vehicle identification number. Companies like CarFax or AutoCheck allow you to find out a lot about the vehicle’s history. There’s a fee for the service but Brauch says it’s not very expensive. Under state law, pertinent information about the vehicle cannot be concealed from the potential buyer by the seller.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Law professor says sex offender laws need some fine tuning

October 31, 2005 By

A new state law cracking down on sex offenders wasn’t tough enough for some Iowa towns and counties, which continue to write ordinances of their own in the effort to make areas off-limits for anyone identified and convicted as an offender. Drake Law professor Bob Rigg says a few recent high-profile incidents involving child kidnapping or killing in the news drove the push to make penalties harsher. As a result, he explains, lawmakers want to react, so they pass laws even though some don’t “make a lot of sense and may not achieve what they’re trying to do,” but they go ahead and pass the laws. Rigg says right now we have some new laws on the book that probably aren’t going to accomplish what their creators hoped for. He says some of the new laws cast “a very wide net.” When most people think of a “sexual offender,” they think of a child molester, but the wide-open laws being written today would include cases known under older laws as statutory rape. The definition of statutory rape, as it used to be termed in older laws, included a difference in the age of the participants and the fact that they both agreed — it was consenting sexual activity, but because of the difference in age legislatures made it a crime. Now, he says, that and other situations are all included in the category of sexual abuse. He says the Iowa Code ranks many offenses, and makes people convicted of them all be named in the state’s sex-offender registry. There’s sexual abuse in the first, second and third degree, there’s a charge of “lewd and lascivious acts,” there’s “indecent contact with a minor,” and probably 20 or 30 types of offenses that would be covered by the sex-offender registry. He gives as an example a charge like indecent exposure. It’s something that might typically happen on a college campus, where an act like public urination would commonly bring a charge of indecent exposure. Though it’s only an aggravated misdemeanor, it would make the culprit have to sign up for the sex offender registry. Rigg says Iowa’s newest set of sex-offender rules lack some details necessary to properly enforce them, and will likely need some further fine-tuning.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

I-S-U researchers work with Kentucky on livestock air study

October 31, 2005 By

Iowa State University researchers are collaborating on a study in Kentucky that could have an important impact on air quality standards for livestock operations.

Robert Burns is associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at I-S-U and says the study involves monitoring the air in chicken broiler houses. Burns says they’re measuring some specific emissions. He says they’re monitoring ammonia emissions, hydrogen sulfide, non-methane hydrocarbons and three different sizes of dust.

Burns says this study will eventually help the E-P-A figure out ways to deal with emissions. He says the E-P-A will use this data as a baseline to determine the magnitude of the emissions. He says this study won’t look for ways to reduce the emissions, but that’s the long-term goal. Burns says the I-S-U work is based on monitoring the exhaust fans that push the air out of the chicken houses. He says broiler houses are one of the more challenging to monitor because they can have very short cycles when the fans run.

Burns says they have a high-tech system to monitor the chicken houses in Kentucky from the Ames campus. He says the facilities are at two different locations and they monitor them through and Internet link and design and acquisition system that they designed. Burns says the Kentucky project is the first and will lead into projects to gather emissions data from hog farms and manure storage facilities, poultry houses and dairy facilities across the country. He says they’ll collect date for one year and then report to the E-P-A.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

High School Football Scores – October 29, 2005

October 31, 2005 By

CLASS 4A
CIML Central
Ankeny 42, Southeast Polk 7
Dowling Catholic 34, Urbandale 0
Indianola 10, Johnston 6

CIML Iowa
Ames 43, Fort Dodge 8
Newton 39, Marshalltown 27
West Des Moines Valley 45, Mason City 0

CIML Metro
Des Moines Lincoln 35, Des Moines East 14
Des Moines North 25, Des Moines Hoover 7
Ottumwa 35, Des Moines Roosevelt 27**Des Moines Lincoln wins the conference

MAC
Bettendorf 31, Davenport Central 10
Davenport Assumption 37, Pleasant Valley 0
Muscatine 44, Davenport West 13
North Scott 27, Clinton 8

MVC
Cedar Rapids Kennedy 30, Linn-Mar 7
Cedar Rapids Prairie 28, Cedar Falls 17
Cedar Rapids Xavier 30, Iowa City West 0
Dubuque Hempstead 34, Waterloo East 6
Dubuque Wahlert 29, Waterloo West 12
Iowa City High 15, Cedar Rapids Washington 13

PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS:
WEST
DOWLING CATHOLIC
WEST DES MOINES VALLEY
SIOUX CITY HEELAN
AMES
DES MOINES LINCOLN
SIOUX CITY EAST
ANKENY
FORT DODGE

EAST
IOWA CITY HIGH
CEDAR FALLS
DAVENPORT ASSUMPTION
BETTENDORF
CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE
CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY
NORTH SCOTT
CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON
…………………..
CLASS 3A

DISTRICT 1
HUMBOLDT–CHAMP
LEMARS–RUNNER-UP
Estherville-Lincoln Central 33, Storm Lake 6
Lemars 39, Algona 10
MOC-Floyd Valley 18, Humboldt 7
Spencer 42, Spirit Lake 7

DISTRICT 2
BOONE–CHAMP
CLEAR LAKE–RUNNER-UP
Ballard 20, Webster City 6
Boone 52, Nevada 9
Clear Lake 36, Iowa Falls-Alden 0
Hampton-Dumont 35, Forest City 14

DISTRICT 3
DECORAH–CHAMP
NEW HAMPTON–RUNNER-UP
Charles City 32, Crestwood 7
Decorah 10, Waukon 7
New Hampton 33, Independence 9
Oelwein 32, Waverly-Shell Rock 13

DISTRICT 4
WEST DELAWARE–CHAMP
MOUNT VERNON–RUNNER-UP
Maquoketa 27, Central Clinton 17
Mount Vernon 8, Marion 6
West Delaware 21, Vinton-Shellsburg 13
Western Dubuque 34, Anamosa 7

DISTRICT 5
OSKALOOSA–CHAMP
WASHINGTON–RUNNER-UP
Chariton 34, Keokuk 28
Oskaloosa 51, Mount Pleasant 24
Washington 40, Fort Madison 13

DISTRICT 6
GRINNELL–CHAMP
WILLIAMSBURG–RUNNER-UP
Carlisle 21, Clear Creek-Amana 12
Grinnell 34, Williamsburg 7
Pella 47, South Tama 6

DISTRICT 7
WAUKEE–CHAMP
WINTERSET–RUNNER-UP
Waukee 56, Saydel 20
Winterset 47, Dallas Center-Grimes 6

DISTRICT 8
HARLAN–CHAMP
CRESTON–RUNNER-UP
Atlantic 33, Denison-Schleswig 19
Carroll 41, Council Bluffs Lewis Central 21
Glenwood 16, JSPC 6
Harlan 37, Creston 7
…………………………….
CLASS 2A
DISTRICT 1
SHELDON–CHAMP
WEST LYON–RUNNER-UP
Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 35, Western Christian 0
Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 41, Sibley-Ocheyedan 0
Sheldon 20, Sioux Center 19

DISTRICT 2
FORT DODGE ST. EDMOND–CHAMP
EMMETSBURG–RUNNER-UP
Emmetsburg 7, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 6
Manson-NW Webster 27, Okoboji 24 (2OT)
Battle Creek-Ida Grove 47, Eagle Grove 0

DISTRICT 3
NORTH FAYETTE–CHAMP
CLARION-GOLDFIELD–RUNNER-UP
Clarion-Goldfield 42, Union 35
North Fayette 42, Sumner-Fredericksburg 0
Osage 27, Garner-Hayfield 7
Waterloo Columbus 35, South Winneshiek 0

DISTRICT 4
SOLON–CHAMP
CENTER POINT-URBANA–RUNNER-UP
Maquoketa Valley 27, Center Point-Urbana 15
Monticello 46, Camanche 3
Solon 38, Dyersville Beckman 7

DISTRICT 5
WILTON–CHAMP
MID-PRAIRIE–RUNNER-UP
Durant 42, Highland-Lone Tree 0
Mediapolis 26, Columbus Junction 13
Mid-Prairie 56, Louisa-Muscatine 0
Wilton 39, West Liberty 36

DISTRICT 6
SIGOURNEY-KEOTA–CHAMP
ALBIA–RUNNER-UP
Albia 13, West Burlington-Notre Dame 0
Eddyville-Blakesburg 31, Van Buren 0
Sigourney-Keota 62, Davis County 14

DISTRICT 7
PCM–CHAMP
NORTH POLK–RUNNER-UP
Gilbert 41, Ogden 7
North Polk 26, Grundy Center 20
PCM 40, Bondurant-Farrar 22
Roland-Story 41, CMB 22

DISTRICT 8
CARROLL KUEMPER–CHAMP
CLARINDA–RUNNER-UP
Carroll Kuemper 62, West Central Valley 0
Clarinda 55, Shenandoah 21
……………………………………..

CLASS 1A
DISTRICT 1
LOGAN-MAGNOLIA–CHAMP
ST. ALBERT–RUNNER-UP
Logan-Magnolia 21, Underwood 7

DISTRICT 2
POCAHONTAS–CHAMP
SIOUX CENTRAL–RUNNER-UP
Pocahontas 14, South O’Brien 0
Sioux Central 21, Hinton 8
West Sioux 49, Akron-Westfield 8

DISTRICT 3
APLINGTON-PARKERSBURG–CHAMP
ALGONA GARRIGAN–RUNNER-UP
Algona Garrigan 40, North Butler 0
Aplington-Parkersburg 20, Saint Ansgar 10
Lake Mills 48, Belmond-Klemme 6
Mason City Newman 46, Rockford 14

DISTRICT 4
DIKE-NEW HARTFORD–CHAMP
GLADBROOK-REINBECK–RUNNER-UP
Dike-New Hartford 35, Turkey Valley 0
Gladbrook-Reinbeck 30, Nashua-Plainfield 8
Jesup 36, Hudson 28

DISTRICT 5
STARMONT–CHAMP
TIPTON–RUNNER-UP
Bellevue 8, Clayton Ridge 0
North Cedar 17, Tipton 6
North Linn 16, Midland 13
Starmont 51, Northeast 12

DISTRICT 6
WEST BRANCH–CHAMP
IOWA CITY REGINA–RUNNER-UP
Iowa City Regina 27, Pekin 0
West Branch 42, Belle Plaine 6

DISTRICT 7
AGWSR–CHAMP
ELDORA-NEW PROVIDENCE–RUNNER-UP
AGWSR 43, Woodward-Granger 0
Eldora-New Providence 34, Prairie Valley 18

DISTRICT 8
PLEASANTVILLE–CHAMP
MOUNT AYR–RUNNER-UP
Mount Ayr 20, I-35 14
Panorama 28, Corning 3
Pleasantville 31, Central Decatur 16
………………………………………………

CLASS A
DISTRICT 1
WEST BEND-MALLARD–CHAMP
NEWELL-FONDA–RUNNER-UP
Schaller-Crestland 27, Clay Central-Everly 0
West Bend-Mallard 22, Southern Cal 13

DISTRICT 2
WEST HANCOCK–CHAMP
RICEVILLE–RUNNER-UP
North Iowa 28, Clarksville 7
Northwood-Kensett 72, North Central 0
Riceville 76, Rockwell-Swaledale 0

DISTRICT 3
VALLEY, ELGIN–CHAMP
POSTVILLE–RUNNER-UP
Lansing Kee 19, Dunkerton 0
Postville 20, Central Elkader 0

DISTRICT 4
LISBON–CHAMP
EDGEWOOD-COLESBURG–RUNNER-UP
Cedar Falls NU High 27, Alburnett 22
Central City 47, East Central 0
Edgewood-Colesburg 36, Olin 30 (OT)
Lisbon 53, Springville 7
Preston 28, East Buchanan 0

DISTRICT 5
NORTH MAHASKA–CHAMP
WACO–RUNNER-UP
BCLUW 69, English Valleys 0
GMG 35, Tri-County 6
North Tama 27, Winfield-Mt. Union 7
WACO 32, HLV 20

DISTRICT 6
MADRID–CHAMP
MARTENSDALE-ST. MARY’S–RUNNER-UP
East Union 49, Lynnville-Sully 6
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 42, Colo-Nesco 22
Southeast Warren 35, Van Meter 0

DISTRICT 7
AHST–CHAMP
GUTHRIE CENTER–RUNNER-UP
AHST 12, Treynor 7
Boyer Valley 48, West Harrison 13
Guthrie Center 28, Woodbine 7
Manning 13, IKM 7

DISTRICT 8
LEMARS GEHLEN–CHAMP
GALVA-HOLSTEIN–RUNNER-UP
Wall Lake View Auburn 14, Galva-Holstein 6 (OT)
Lemars Gehlen 47, River Valley 0
Woodbury Central 34, Westwood 6
………………………………………………

8-PLAYER
DISTRICT 1
NORTHEAST HAMILTON–CHAMP
Northeast Hamilton 68, Nora Springs-Rock Falls 36
Woden Crystal Lake Titonka 62, CWL 14

DISTRICT 2
NORTH KOSSUTH–CHAMP
North Kossuth 62, Ruthven-Ayrshire 40
Sentral 28, Pomeroy-Palmer 6
Twin River Valley 43, Harris Lake Park 7

DISTRICT 3
WHITING–CHAMP
Remsen-Union 56, Charter Oak-Ute 21
Whiting 42, Remsen-St. Mary’s 28

DISTRICT 4
GLIDDEN-RALSTON–CHAMP
Coon Rapids-Bayard 44, Elk Horn-Kimballton 25
Glidden-Ralston 55, Ar-We-Va 13
Exira 44, East Greene 0

DISTRICT 5
WALNUT–CHAMP
Walnut 54, Stanton 30

DISTRICT 6
ESSEX–CHAMP
Essex 64, Hamburg 22

DISTRICT 7
LENOX–CHAMP
Lamoni 14, Murray 8
Lenox 74, Adair-Casey 12

DISTRICT 8
MELCHER-DALLAS–CHAMP
Melcher-Dallas 42, Twin Cedars 40
Harmony 1, Moravia 0 (forfeit)

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