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Sanderson name I-S-U wrestling coach, Douglas doesn’t speak

March 31, 2006 By

Fighting back tears, Cael Sanderson was introduced today as the new wrestling coach at Iowa State University.He replaces Bobby Douglas who will move into an administrative position after 14 years as the Cyclone coach. He led ISU to a second place finish at the NCAA Tournament three times. Sanderson says, “Today is a very special day for Iowa State University. Our legendary coach, coach Douglas, after a distinguished career is retiring from coaching and moving into administration. I love coach Douglas.”

As a competitor, Sanderson’s achievements are unmatched. He went unbeaten in four years at Iowa State before capturing a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. He takes over a Cyclone program that has not won the national championship since 1987. Sanderson says they plan to build off Douglas’ success and I-S-U’s tradition.

Officially it’s being called a retirement and Cyclone athletic director Jamie Pollard says Douglas first raised the possibility of this transition last fall. Douglas was at the news conference but declined to speak and had associate A.D. Tom Kroeschell read a prepared statement that said “The future of I-S-U wrestling is what I care for the most. And making sure that Cael Sanderson is part of the future is the reason for my talks with Jamie.”

Douglas’ statement said he supports the choice of Sanderson and says Sanderson is the only person to lead the program forward. Douglas coached for 33-years and his 1988 squad at Arizona State captured the national crown.

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Iowa Conference softball race looks to be close again

March 31, 2006 By

The Iowa Conference softball race begins this weekend and another close finish is expected. After a second place finish in 2005 Wartburg enters the conference race 19-3 and coach Kara Kehe’s team may have the best pitching combination in the conference.

Wartburg has a difficult start with a visit to defending league champ Coe on Saturday. Despite a second place finish last year Wartburg did not land a spot in the division three regionals. With more at-large bids available this season the league figures to advance more than just its champion.

Another factor is a conference tournament which will be held for the first time this season. Central coach George Wares says the tourney will help the fourth and fifth place teams, but won’t help the top two teams. Wares says it may hurt the third place team. The Dutch are 15-3 and figure to be a contender after a third place finish in 2005.

Wares says how quickly his team matures will determine whether or not they make a run at the league title. Central opens at home against Cornell on Saturday.

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Iowa House approves bill that would give incentives to border counties

March 31, 2006 By

The Iowa House this week approved a bill that outlines a groundbreaking approach to economic development. The bill would establish pilot projects in four Iowa counties along the state’s borders.

Businesses in an urban renewal area that add at least 10 new jobs or make at least a half-million dollar capital investment in things like machinery or equipment would then figure out what is three percent of the income taxes their employees pay the state. The state, then, would pay that amount to the city, and the city would use the money to do things that would benefit the business — like fix the surrounding street or upgrade the sewer system.

House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, touts the plan, partly because the bill is written in such a way that Woodbury County would wind up as one of the places where this method is tested. “In the border areas, we are a little bit unique,” Rants says. “People are moving those businesses back and forth across the river and so we are trying to look at ways to help those folks.”

But Representative Don Shoultz, a Democrat from Waterloo, says there’s no valid reason to give a tax break to a business merely based on its geographic location. “There are communities all over the state that have unique problems,” Shoultz says. Shoultz calls the bill pork. Shoultz says it will give some communities advantage over others, and the rest of the state will end up paying for what’s given to the four communities.

Rants says that’s the wrong attitude. “I certainly hope we don’t degenerate into a my-district-versus-your-district kind of attitude, otherwise nothing gets done,” Rants says. “We all need to pull together to grow this state economically.” Rants says the bill starts by targeting Iowa’s border areas because that’s where a lot of competitive pressure exists.

Rants says counties along Iowa’s borders are trying to keep businesses from moving into neighboring, lower-tax states and rather than always trying to hand out grants, this is a way to get the businesses involved in the process. If the bill becomes law, one of the pilot projects would have to be a county that borders South Dakota and another would have to border Nebraska. Senate Co-Leader Mike Gronstal is from Council Bluffs and he favors the legislation, which now sits in the Senate.

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Gold Star Museum opens exhibit on Gulf wars, Afghanistan

March 31, 2006 By

The museum at the Iowa National Guard headquarters is opening a new exhibit this weekend devoted to the Gulf Wars. Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood, a Guard spokesman, says the exhibit at the Iowa Gold Star Military Museum tells the story of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and ’91 as well as the latest Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Hapgood says the exhibit contains weapons, uniforms and a host of artifacts from both conflicts including U.S., Iraqi and Afghan gear, and an “enormous” portrait of Saddam Hussein that was captured by an Iowa National Guard unit in an Iraqi army post. He says over the course of 16 years, since the first war in Iraq began, the U.S. military has made a number of advances, though the same can’t be said for our enemies.

Hapgood says in the area devoted to the first Gulf War, visitors will see many Soviet-era items that were used by the Iraqis, and that carries over to the new wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, though some improvements were made as the items were redesigned. Hapgood says the goal of the museum is to tell the stories of -all- Iowa veterans, regardless of how long ago they served or in what conflict. He says this exhibit is a way to teach people about the contemporary soldiers.

Hapgood says museums usually focus on things that are older while this exhibit is designed to bring people into more current times, the 90s and the early 21st century, to educate people about modern combat veterans. The museum at Camp Dodge, just north of Des Moines, is holding an open house for the new exhibit Saturday from 9 to 5.

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Grinnell being explored as site for ethanol plant

March 31, 2006 By

A co-op group from Burlington is looking at Grinnell as a possible location for a new 100-million-gallon-a-year ethanol plant. Bill Menner, director of Poweshiek Iowa Development, says they like the location, Menner says, because it’s about fifty miles from three OTHER ethanol plants. He says in the ethanol business, that’s the perfect place to be.

They also found a grain surplus in Poweshiek County, just the supply of corn they need to make 100-gallons of ethanol a year. One thing that may be a deciding factor is whether the plant can get enough water to meet its production needs. It’d take about a million gallons of water a day, about twice what Grinnell currently uses, and has the city talking about whether it would be able to supply that much.

Other issues being discussed are electric and natural gas capacity and transportation. With all sorts of conversations like that going on, Menner says “it’s fair to say that everyone’s exploring the possibility.” Menner says the status of the project is exploratory.

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Lottery C-E-O not talking about potential TouchPlay lawsuits

March 31, 2006 By

The Iowa Lottery Board met in a closed session for an hour this morning (Friday) during their regular meeting to talk about possible lawsuits surrounding the shutdown of the TouchPlay machines.

Lottery C-E-O Ed Stanek would not elaborate on the board’s discussion. Stanek says the agenda said they would discuss “potential or imminent litigation, and that’s what we discussed, and as a result of that I can’t comment on it.” Stanek spoke with reporters for the first time since the governor signed legislation March 20th shutting down the machines. He was asked what economic impact the shutdown will have on the Iowa Lottery. He says, “Because it’s in the context of potential litigation, I don’t think I can comment on it.”

Stanek was asked to comment on how he thought the Iowa Lottery might be viewed after developing the machines, and then having the Legislature shut them down. Stanek says, “The Legislature can exercise its prerogative. No legislature can bind a future legislature. Our job is to do what the legislature and governor tell us to do.” Stanek says there are approximately 64-hundred of the machines in around two-thousand locations in the state, and they will have to be shut down by midnight on May 3rd.

The Iowa Lottery had estimated the machines would reap 45 million dollars for the state in the next budgeting year. Stanek says the lottery hasn’t looked at developing something to replace the TouchPlay machines. Stanek says, “There’s not any type of game that could replace it, in terms of magnitude of income.”

Stanek says the Iowa Lottery is moving forward with plans to shut the machines down.
Stanek says they’ve just begun and have issued notices to the machine’s manufacturers, and the businesses that own them.

The Lottery Board today also approved a rule that TouchPlay tickets can be redeemed no more than 90 days after the machines are shut down. Stanek says if you purchase a winning ticket with a prize over 600 dollars on the last day, you have 90 days to redeem the ticket. Stanek says the many of the TouchPlay machines can be shut down via computer from the Iowa Lottery headquarters. He says others will have to be manually shut down.

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World Cup Triathlon coming to Des Moines in June

March 31, 2006 By

The Iowa-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee plans to put up seven-hundred-thousand dollars in prizes to draw the world’s top professionals to a World Cup Triathlon in Des Moines on June 17, 2007. Hunter Kemper finished second in last week’s World Cup Triathlon in Australia and he intends to compete in Des Moines in 2007. “It’s a great lifestyle for me but it’s also a great sport that I truly enjoy,” Kemper says. “I started doing triathlons when I was 10 years old.”

Kemper says he enjoys racing and competing — and the Olympic distance. “For me, it’s all about the Olympics,” he says. Race organizers expect athletes from around the world because the professionals who participate will earn points to help them qualify for the Olympics in 2008.

Susan Williams, a bronze medalist in the Olympic triathlon in 2004, plans to compete in Des Moines next year, too. “It’s just a wonderful lifestyle. I actually met my husband, Tim, through the sport…so it’s a big part of our life,” Williams says. She says it’s provided the couple with wonderful opportunities for travel, including her trip to Des Moines today (Friday) for the kick-off announcement of the 2007 event.

Williams says she’s developed special friendships with lots of other athletes, and on Friday morning she met with members of the Des Moines Triathlon Club. The Iowa event will offer the richest purse in the history of professional triathons and Des Moines will become just the fourth American city to ever host a World Cup Triathlon, which Kemper says is huge. “It’s a huge deal, I don’t know if you guys truly understand,” Kemper told reporters at a news conference this (Friday) morning on the steps of the Iowa statehouse. “Compared to golf, it’s going to be the masters of triathlons so to speak.” The triathletes will swim, run and bike through Iowa’s capitol city. Hy-Vee plans to host other health and wellness events on the race weekend, including a triathlon for amateurs and kids’ race.

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