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Okoboji to be site of "economic gardening" for students

May 2, 2006 By

Two dozen students from Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I will be in Okoboji this summer for a week-long course that its creators call “economic gardening.” David Hensley of the Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Iowa helped develop the upcoming Entrepreneurial Institute at West Lake Okoboji’s Lakeside Lab.

Hensley says the students will divide into teams and simulate start-up companies. “They have to put together production plans, marketing plans, financial plans,” Hensley says. “In the middle of the week, they go through a simulated venture fair where they actually have to present the results of their companies to community venture capitalists who’ll teach them how to present and work with investors.”

Each afternoon there’ll be a briefings about marketing, building a management team and venture financing. The afternoon sessions will be opened to the public. Tom Bedell, a businessman from Spirit Lake who’s a member of the Board of Regents which governs Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I, says this class answers a question state leaders have been pondering. “How do we nuture young people to be able to build successful businesses?” Bedell asks. “Then, how do we commercialize those businesses and turn them into lifetime career opportunities for their families?”

Iowa businesses are picking up the tab for the program, and Bedell says the hope is that some of these students will start a business in Iowa. “It’s a great experiment that we believe is going to demonstrate that rural economic development in Iowa is not only very possible but can be very successful,” Bedell says.

Toby Shine, a businessman from Spencer who’s a member of the state Economic Development Board, says the students have already been selected — eight from each state-supported university. “If we haven’t got enough salesmen in the group that’ll be meeting with them to keep a few of those in the state of Iowa, we’re not doing our job,” Shine says. “I think we can make a great place for these young people to see a start in Iowa and that’s really what it’s all about.”

The students will meet with some of the state’s top business leaders who’ll serve as mentors. Governor Vilsack says it’ll be a bit like the popular TV show “The Apprentice” — but no one will be fired. “This is an opportunity for the State of Iowa to continue its effort to build strong entrepreneurial spirit in the state and to prepare the young people who are being educated at our three Regents universities for entrepreneurial careers,” Vilsack says.

Iowa State University president Gregory Geoffroy says the one-week program might be expanded to other locations around the state. Vilsack says it’s the beginning of an effort to address concerns of western Iowa lawmakers who complain that the state-supported universities do not have a presence in western Iowa. The course begins Sunday, July 30th and ends August 4th.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

Iowa soldier collapses, dies in Iraq

May 2, 2006 By

A 27-year-old soldier from north-central Iowa has died in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Mark Wall died last Thursday in Mosul where he’d been deployed. Wall apparently collapsed and died while he was at his Army base. Wall was a 1997 graduate of Alden High School.

Wall joined an Iowa Falls unit of the Iowa National Guard, attended classes at Ellsworth Community College, then joined the active-duty Army in May of 2000. He was deployed to Iraq in August of last year.

Wall is survived by his parents; two brothers, Tony Wall and James Wall, both of Alden; sister Carissa Meierdierks and her husband, Eric, of Bloomington, Minn.; and two nieces and a nephew.

The funeral is planned for Saturday at the Alden United Methodist Church.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

Man threatens to jump, then injured in fall in Cedar Rapids

May 2, 2006 By

A man who threatened to jump from a public works building in Cedar Rapids and then fell about 30 feet is recovering from his injuries. Cedar Rapids Police were called to the public works facility on the southwest side of the city about four p.m. Monday on the report that a 41-year-old man was on the roof threatening to jump.

After about three hours of negotiations, the man lowered himself down the side of the building, then let himself drop about 30 feet to the ground. The man, whose name has not been released, sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

I-R-S says e-filing is up

May 2, 2006 By

A spokesman with the Internal Revenue Service says there was a big jump in the number of people who filed their federal taxes electronically. Christopher Miller says electronic filing was up six-percent nationwide, and Iowa was part of the trend. He says approximately 905-thousand Iowa returns have been filed electronically — about 72-percent of all returns. Miller says that’s an increase in Iowa by about one-point-seven percent.

Miller says much of the e-filing came from people who did their own taxes. Miller says they saw a surge of e-filing at the end of tax season — particularly from people filing after using software on their home computers. He says the number of people who used software on their home computers was up 18-percent.

Miller says the I-R-S would like to see the number of people using e-file continue to increase. He says Congress is still discussing the goals for e-filing. Miller says they probably won’t ever get to 100-percent, but he says they’d like to reach 80-percent in the next few years.

Miller says once a taxpayer uses e-file, they do it again because of the benefits. Miller says with e-file you get your refund in two weeks compared to four to six weeks with a paper return. And he says the electronic process is more accurate with a less than one percent error rate in the electronic returns compared to 20-percent with the paper returns.

Miller says more people appear to be getting money back. Miller says more refunds are going out compared to last year, as the I-R-S has already issued 85-million dollars in refunds averaging 22-hundred dollars. Iowa was the number one state when it came to e-filing in 2004 — but the numbers for 2005 are not yet complete.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Street pornography trial delayed again

May 2, 2006 By

There’s yet another delay in the trial of western Iowa man charged in a federal child pornography case. For the seventh time in less than a year, a judge has granted a continuance in the federal child pornography trial of 37-year old Brian Patrick Street of Griswold.

Street faces multiple charges, including sexual exploitation of a child, possession of child pornography and coercion of a minor female to cross state lines with the intent to engage in sexual acts.

The charges against him stem from photographs discovered in a safe at Street’s burned-out home, following a fire on March 31st, 2005. Street’s stepdaughter said she set the fire to try and kill Street because Street was molesting her.

In March, Federal District Court Judge Ronald Longstaff granted a request for a change of venue in the case. Street’s trial was to have begun yesterday (Monday), but late last week, the judge agreed to extend the trial date one more month. It will now be held nine-a.m. June 12th, at the Federal Courthouse in Davenport.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Senator says Medicare prescription drug deadline likely won’t be extended

May 2, 2006 By

The deadline to sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug program is less than two weeks away and about one-third of Iowans still haven’t done so. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he doubts the May 15th deadline will be extended and encourages Iowa senior citizens who are interested to get informed and get signed up.

It is voluntary; people don’t have to sign up. Grassley says the national goal of 30-million subscribers has been reached and 400-thousand more per week are choosing plans. He sees a proportionate number of Iowans signing on in the remaining days as well. Enrolling after the deadline will raise costs by about one-percent a month. Grassley says it’s an important decision and help is available.

He suggests calling 1-800-Medicare, a hot-line on which the wait is reportedly down now to less than 30-seconds, as opposed to the hours-long waits reported a few months ago. There’s also SHIIP, the State Health Insurance Information Program. SHIIP volunteers at your local hospital can sit down with clients and, using the Internet, go over how each plan might be of benefit.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Plans to close Sioux City postal facility questioned

May 2, 2006 By

Three members of Iowa’s Congressional delegation will meet Thursday afternoon with the U.S. Postmaster General to discuss plans to close a postal service facility in Sioux City. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s concerned the proposal will result in dozens of Iowa jobs lost.

Grassley says the plan would close the Sioux City mail sorting center and combine it with one in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, eliminating 50-some jobs in Sioux City and not all of the employees would be given the opportunity to move to the other facility if they wanted to. Grassley, Senator Tom Harkin and Congressman Steve King will take part in the meeting.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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