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TouchPlay prize pick-up deadline nears

May 1, 2006 By

Unless a judge issues some sort of order in response to a lawsuit filed by TouchPlay manufacturers, the Iowa Lottery’s TouchPlay machines are to be shut down by 11:59 Wednesday night.

If you’re holding a winning TouchPlay tickets, time’s ticking for you, too. If you have a TouchPlay ticket that’s worth $600 or less, you’ve got to claim that prize by Thursday, May 4th at the business where the machine you played and won that ticket from is located.

TouchPlay prizes worth more than $600 are to be claimed at a regional Iowa Lottery office by August 29th. There are five — in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Mason City and Storm Lake. Here is a list of the office addresses: 2323 Grand Avenue in Des Moines; 2345 Blairs Ferry Road NE in Cedar Rapids; 2900 Fourth St. SW in Mason City; 822 Flindt Drive in Storm Lake; Omni Centre Business Park, 300 West Broadway, Suite 300 in Council Bluffs.

According to a Lottery statement, the four manufacturers of TouchPlay machines have figured out how to deactivate the machines using electronic commands. Those commands may take some time to work through the system, however, so you may see some TouchPlay machines shutting down in the next few days before that May 4th cut-off.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Immigrants march in Iowa

May 1, 2006 By

They took off work, they took off school, and one of the rallies around Iowa today took place in the Quad Cities, where immigrant workers marched and waved American and Mexican flags. A long line of people came on foot from downtown Rock Island, Illinois, across the Centennial Bridge into Davenport.

One woman said she came out to show she feels Iowa is her home now. She says it’s to show they’re part of America. “We may not have been born here, but we feel like we are part of America. We work here, we want to live the American Dream.” Many marchers freely admitted that they are not legal citizens.

One said it’s time for workers to step forward and show the government how many of them are really in this country. This man was hoping legislators take notice. “We are here to demonstrate to the United States that we’re a force to reckon with,” he said. The marcher wants to show people that they’re “not here to steal, to sell drugs — we’re here to work.”

Another man marching in support of immigration reform said legislators cannot ignore the millions of illegal immigrants in this country. He says there are twelve million Hispanics and other cultures among the illegals, so he says something’s going to have to be done to “bring them into the fold.”

A large crowd of Latinos gathered in Storm Lake about three o’clock yesterday (Monday) afternoon, part of a nationwide pro-immigration demonstration. They met in front of Congressman Steve King’s office in downtown Storm Lake. Mexican native Kathia Berrigan is here legally and has lived in Storm Lake for ten years.
She says the immigrants aren’t hurting anyone, and says if more Iowans thought they should leave they’d have turned out to support her critics. “I mean, look at us,” she says, “look at these numbers.”

Jose Fuentes, who was born in California and has lived in Storm Lake the past four years, urged everyone to come together. Fuentes says they should work to stop the gangs and the drugs, adding “We all belong to Christ, we all belong to one God. God is not divided and neither are we.” Although the rally was in front of Congressman King’s office, the lights were off in the office and no one appeared to be in the building.

Several Mexican-owned businesses were closed Monday in Storm Lake in support of the immigrants, along with the Tyson pork plant. The Sara Lee turkey plant remained open. Both packing plants have large numbers of Latino workers.
A couple hundred latinos chanted, in Spanish and English, saying they’re here to work, not to cause problems. Also on hand was a small crowd of people who said they’d like to see immigration laws enforced.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Governor talks about immigration issue

May 1, 2006 By

Governor Tom Vilsack, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, is weighing in today on the issue of federal immigration policy. Vilsack backs what many Democrats and some Republicans support, so called “earned” citizenship status for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants who live in the U.S. today.

“It makes sense to create a structure and system for those who are unauthorized workers to basically have them pay a fine to acknowledge that they entered this country improperly,” Vilsack says. “Have them pay back taxes. Learn the language. Make sure they understand the civics of this country and then put them at the back of the line to earn citizenship over a period of years.”

Rallies were held today in Ottumwa, Washington, Davenport and Iowa City on this National Day Without Immigrants and some businesses were closed because their immigrant workers staged a walk-out or — in the case of a trendy Des Moines restaurant called Centro — the business closed as a show of support for immigrants

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Former New York mayor campaigns in Iowa

May 1, 2006 By

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani is in Iowa today (Monday) to earn a bit of money for himself and help two Iowa Republicans raise cash for their campaigns. Guiliani has said he wants to continue in some form of public service and that might include running for president.

Guiliani says today’s appearance at fundraisers for G-O-P congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti and gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle are part of his decision-making process. “This is a good opportunity for me to help them. I’m going to do that all over the country and at the same time meet people and sort of file information away to think about this after the 2006 election is over,” Guiliani says. “I can’t give you a timeline or a continuum that I’m on. It’s something that I’m thinking about. It’s something I haven’t ruled out and it’s something that really depends on where things are approximately a year from now.”

While conservatives generally salute Guiliani for his work as a prosecutor and for how he reacted as Mayor of New York when terrorists struck nearly five years ago, they are troubled by Guiliani’s support of gay rights and legalized abortion. Guiliani says the only way to find out if conservatives in the G-O-P could support him as a presidential candidate is to run.

“No one ever knows who or what the electorate wants until you offer yourself as a candidate. You can do polling. You can do focus groups and…meetings with people…and sort of get a sense of that, but you only find out about any candidate until they actually run,” Guiliani says. “We’ve had lots of surprises either way. We’ve had people elected where you never thought they’d get elected. We’ve had frontrunners who have fallen way behind. But the only way you find that out is if you run.”

One of the issues that divides the Republican Party today is immigration. Guiliani says it must be dealt with “practically.” “If you were to deal with it through either extreme, I think you’d make a terrible mistake,” Guiliani says. He says opening the borders to all comers would make the U.S. a more dangerous country but Guiliani also contends that passing a law making it a felony to be in the country illegally would make the U.S. more insecure. “That would be very dangerous,” Guiliani says. “You’d take 11 million people, 12 million people. You’d drive them further underground. You’d push them more toward criminal activities.”

Guiliani estimates there were about 400,000 illegal immigrants in New York City when he became mayor, while the federal government only deported between 1500 and 2000 illegals every year. “The real answer here is much more security at the borders, much better and more advanced technology which now exists…to identify people, know who they are, look at their backgrounds,” Guiliani says. “And then a way of people earning citizenship over some period of time.”

Guiliani says he wouldn’t rule out anything as part of a compromise, but discards the idea of building a fence along the U.S./Mexico border as the only solution.

Guiliani was paid to be one of the headliners at a motivational seminar in Des Moines, and the mayor says he understands the difference between popularity with that ticket-buying crowd and popularity that will convert itself into votes. “It’s always nicer when people cheer for you than when they boo you, but that doesn’t mean they go and vote for you,” Guiliani says.

Guiliani was the keynote speaker at a noon-hour event that grossed about $40,000 for GOP third district congressional candidate Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny. Later today Guiliani will help Republican Jim Nussle raise money for his campaign for governor. About 400 are expected to attend and give a total of about $25,000 to the Nussle campaign.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Iowa Bar participates in "Law Day"

May 1, 2006 By

This is national “Law Day” and the Iowa Bar Association is taking part in the effort to educate people about the law. Bar Association communications director Steve Boeckman says one of today’s events was a three-lawyer panel that talked with Johnston High School students about their rights as they reach legal age.

He says they talked about rights related to drinking and driving, possession of controlled substances, and entering into contracts such as credit cards. Boeckman says the attorneys used a book written to show students how the law can protect them — but also how they need to observe the law as adults.
He says the book title is “Your Legal Rights and Responsibilities” and that’s what the lawyers talked about.

Boeckeman says the law impacts everyone, every day. Boeckman says some people are probably more aware of the impact than others, but he says “it’s and attempt by a civilized society to foster and promote harmony, and the ability to get along with each other.” Boeckman says you can find out more about Iowa law and lawyers by surfing to: www.Iowabar.org, or by calling the Iowa Bar Association at 515-243-3179.

Related web sites:
Iowa Bar Association website

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Imaging center opens in former arsenal building

May 1, 2006 By

A two-and-a-half million dollar document imaging technology center has opened in the Quad Cities in a building that was first used to store ammunition during World War One. AmCad Digital Conversion moved into the restored building on the Rock Island Arsenal. Thom Hart, president of the Quad City Development Group and a former Davenport mayor, says it shows the Arsenal is still a vital part of the local business community.

Hart says A-D-C needed high security and more room and says “Guess what? The Arsenal has people with guns at the front door. It’s a perfect match because there’s room and (the Arsenal) has very high security.” The company now has 65 employees but plans to hire 50 more.

Alan Wilson, the Arsenal’s garrison manager, says it’s the first private document imaging service to be located on a high-security active military base. Wilson says it’s a World War One-era warehouse that’s been converted to a modern office facility, adding, “It’s amazing what can be done with effort, a little money, and to take something that was just sitting here idle and now made it into a productive activity that benefits the Arsenal and that benefits the Quad City community.” The building was first opened in 1918 as a place to store artillery.

Filed Under: Business, Military

Iowa Western continues rolling up baseball wins

May 1, 2006 By

The Iowa Western Community College baseball team has won 17 of its last 19 games in moving into the national junior college top ten. Winning streaks are nothing new, though, for a program that finished third in the country in 2005.

Iowa Western coach Marc Rardin says the biggest thing they’ve been proud about is after they won 28 games in a row, he said it would never happen again. But he says they’ve gone on another streak and have been consistent.

His team is 27-7 after making it to the junior college world series last season. Rardin felt it would be a tough act to follow because the expectations of yourself are the toughest thing. Rardin says it was tough for the sophomores because he said he made it a point not to compare this year’s team with last year and expecting to duplicate everything.

Rardin says consistency in all phases is a must in a lengthy winning streak. He says you can’t look at the umpires, bad weather, or bad hops. He says you have to develop yourself to make the basic plays every day, and then any spectacular plays are a bonus.

Rardin says with the success the program has enjoyed they have also become a target in every game. He says that’s tough sometimes as a coach and a team, because there is no off day. The Reivers return to action on Tuesday when they open a series at Muscatine Community College.

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