Iowa's Radio News Network
A teenage Oskaloosa boy has died after a double shooting last evening. Oskaloosa police responded to the home at 701 3rd Avenue East in Oskaloosa, where they found 13-year-old Brandon Bunnell, and 17-year-old Joseph Ballantyne of Oskaloosa, both suffering from gunshot wounds.
Ballantyne was airlifted to Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Bunnell was taken to Mahaska Hospital in Oskaloosa, where he died later that evening. Oskaloosa police and the Iowa DCI are investigating.
Iowans are finally getting a glimpse of one of their own, wearing the cape of a famed super-hero. The actor was raised in the Des Moines suburb of Norwalk. 26-year-old Brandon Routh has the title role in “Superman Returns,” the trailer for which is now out, though the movie won’t be released until June 30th.
The former University of Iowa student appeared in TV shows like “Gilmore Girls,” “Will and Grace” and the soap “One Life to Live,” but this role may propel Routh to a new level of stardom. He confirms a rumor — he coincidentally wore a Clark Kent/Superman costume for Halloween in 2003, one year before he landed the role as the Man of Steel. Routh says his brother is a “real-life Superman,” a police officer in Des Moines.
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin criticized the Republican Senate leader today for blocking two projects in which Harkin is a key supporter. Harkin, a democrat, says the bill that would ease the President’s restrictions on stem cell research is one that’s being blocked.
Harkin says, “The Senate has squandered almost an entire year waiting for majority leader Bill Frist to make good on his pledge to bring H-R A-10, the stem cell research bill, to the floor for a vote.” Harkin says Frist has designated next week as “health week,” but Harkin says Frist still doesn’t plan to bring the stem cell bill forward. Harkin says the bill could help many Americans suffering from a variety diseases.
Harkin says the bill is being held up for political reasons and says “that’s a shame.” Harkin says if the democrats were in control, the bill would have been brought up and passed a long time ago. Harkin says the Senate majority leader is holding up a bill to improve the locks and dams on the Mississippi River.
Harkin says it’s another example of Frist not bringing the bill up on the floor, even though it has “overwhelming support.” Harkin says the House passed the bill with over 400 votes. Harkin says the three-billion dollar bill would help improve the locks and dams, and also includes money for environmental mitigation.
Harkin says the bill would have a broad impact. He says it’s needed for farmers, for transportation systems and environmentally. On another topic, Senator Harkin is calling for U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by December 31st. Harkin says the U.S. also needs to make clear its intentions for Iraq.
Harkin says Congress should go on record saying the U.S. does not want to establish military bases in Iraq, and does not want to control Iraq’s oil. Harkin says the jihadists and insurgents are saying the U.S. is going to establish military bases and control Iraq’s oil as a way to recruit new members. Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a republican, has reiterated his call for removing the troops from Iraq be co-sponsoring a House resolution on the issue.
Governor Tom Vilsack’s flying to Michigan this (Thursday) morning for a meeting with Whirlpool executives to discuss the future of Maytag and Amana operations in Iowa.
“The reality is that businesses make these decisions based on a variety of factors,” Vilsack says. “I think it’s important for the community to know that we’re doing everything we possibly can to make the case to have Whirlpool continue and to grow and to expand in Iowa.”
Whirlpool’s purchase of Maytag was finalized about a month ago, and nearly 5000 Iowa jobs are on the line with Whirlpool’s decision about what to do with its newly-acquired operations here. Twenty-five-hundred workers are employed at the Amana plant in Amana, another 2300 are employed in Maytag facilities in Newton and 100 work at a distribution center in North Liberty. “We have suggested a variety of incentives,” Vilsack says. “I put on the table the other day the idea of ‘What if we build a state of the art facility that would be the most environmentally-attractive and advanced facility in the country or in the world?’ Would that be enough?”
While the state has used incentive packages to keep companies like Wells Dairy in Le Mars or lure companies Wells Fargo to build new facilities in West Des Moines, Vilsack’s not overly optimistic about the state’s chances with Whirlpool. “I don’t want anybody to have a sense that somehow we can magically turn around a circumstance if a business makes a decision that it’s substantially more cost-efficient to be in a different location,” Vilsack says.
Dave Swift, Whirlpool’s CEO for North American operations, was in Des Moines last week to meet with state officials and Swift said the company will do what it takes to remain viable in a global market where competitors are employing cheaper labor in other countries.
Governor Tom Vilsack’s hailing the work product of the 2006 Iowa Legislature.
“I’m really pleased with the work that was done on education,” Vilsack says. “It’s historic. It breaks tradition and I think it’s going to serve the young people of our state and our state well.”
Lawmakers approved a teacher pay package that in the next year sets aside 35 million dollars for raises. It also sets up a system that will eventually link pay with performance in the classrom, and for the first time ever, the state will establish graduation standards for high schoolers. Vilsack says the “more rigorous” graduation requirements make more sense in a global economy. The new graduation standards require four years of English, three years of science, three years of math, and two years of classes to learn another language.
This is the final legislative session Vilsack will preside over as he’s not seeking re-election, and it marks the end of a two-year period when the Iowa Legislature had a House with 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats and a Senate with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. “For those who felt at the beginning of this General Assembly two years ago that this was a lame duck governor and a very evenly-divided legislature that not very much was going to be done, I think we’ve confounded those predictions,” Vilsack says. “I’m proud of the work these folks did.”
But there were priority issues which fell by the wayside, such as an effort to find some way to help small businesses join together to save money buying health insurance for their workers. “I think you’ll see that as a campaign issue,” Vilsack says. He predicts Democrats and Republicans will each outline for voters their own proposals for helping businesses cope with the rising costs of health insurance.
Vilsack was this morning’s opening speaker at an economic development conference in Des Moines. “You are looking at one happy governor,” Vilsack said. “Whenever the legislature leaves, it’s always a good day.”
The legislature concluded its work overnight, with the Senate adjourning at a quarter ’til midnight and the House following at 12:30 this (Thursday) morning. Vilsack went on to say lawmakers had “done themselves proud” with work in key areas, including economic development efforts like a $20 million plan that will help convert ideas developed by students and professors at Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I into businesses.
A familiar name will lead the Sioux City Explorers into a new era. Ed Nottle managed the Explorers from their inaugural season in 1993 through 2000 and he returns to the dugout this year. The team has moved from the Northern League to the new American Association independent league and several of their division rivals made the switch as well.
Nottle says he is happy to be back and not have to introduce himself to everyone as he already knows the community. He says that’s a plus. The Explorers open exhibition play this evening with a game against Lincoln in Columbus, Nebraska. Nottle says they have battled bad weather in recent days as they try to get ready for the season and make final decisions on the roster.
Nottle feels good about the pitching staff. He says they have some good young arms, but he says the need to cut the staff from 14 to 10. Nottle says he also wants to help those who don’t stay with the club to find another team. The regular season opens May 12th.
The 2006 Iowa Legislature failed to enact pro-business legislation that many lawmakers and Governor Vilsack had said was a priority. For example, legislators tried but failed to come up with a system that would allow small businesses to merge into a state-run “pool” that would help the businesses buy less expensive health insurance policies.
John Gilliland, senior vice president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, says it’s disappointing. “Health insurance is a big issue for our members,” Gilliland says. With Wisconsin passing a law that does allow small businesses to join a statewide pool to get cheaper health insurance and efforts underway in other states, Gilliland predicts the pressure will be back on next year for Iowa lawmakers to act.
“Legislators need to start thinking about everyone’s perspective, where they’re coming from and really think who it is they want to serve,” Gilliland says. “Do they want to serve the Iowans who are the users of our health care system who we want to have adequate insurance coverage? I think that’s the number one constituency that needs to be heard.”
House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, is one of the lawmakers who back in January promised action on this front. “There were a lot of good things that were accomplished this session, but sometimes there are disappointments,” Rants says. Rants says Iowa’s insurance industry — a key component of the economy — defeated all attempts to enact “meaningful” legislation that would help small businesses join with one another to make a large pool of employees in order to obtain cheaper health insurance. “We tried,” Rants. “Unfortunately, the insurance industry defeated us.”
The Republican-led House also passed a bill that sought some limits on the property taxes that businesses pay, but the Senate — equally divided between Democrats and Republicans — never took the bill up. Businesses complain their property taxes have gone up significantly more over the past two decades compared to the property tax rates assessed on homes and farms.
O.KayHenderson.com