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Iowa native part of Washington, D-C Memorial Day Ceremony

May 26, 2006 By

An Iowa native’s on his way to Washington today, to take part in the Memorial Weekend “Rolling Thunder” event. Le Mars native Lieutenant Colonel Mark Brown studied journalism at Iowa State University and today works at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, with the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command.

Brown says Rolling Thunder is a motorcycle pilgrimage that has riders from all over the country on the road already, heading for the nation’s capital. The original “Rolling Thunder” was a battle in fought Vietnam, and a group associated with that event took on the name in their ongoing effort to be heard, on the subject of soldiers who are prisoners of war or missing in action. Brown will tell about the Joint POW-MIA Command when he talks on Sunday to the 150-thousand people expected to gather on the National Mall in Washington for the Rolling Thunder event.

Brown says they’re keeping a promise to everybody who ever served in the military, that they will not be left behind. He says the command works to bring closure to families by accounting for their family members who never came back from wars, from World War Two to the present war. His speech will be carried on the cable TV news channel C-Span on Sunday, starting about 12-30 Iowa time.

There are still 88-thousand Americans unaccounted for from wars. He says the accounting command has found soldiers who lost touch from as far ago as the Civil War, “and we’re identifying them to send them back to their families.” There’s going to be a “huge crowd at the reflecting pool” on Sunday, as Brown says C-Span will cover the day’s activities from the Pentagon along the riders’ trek to the Lincoln Memorial. The group’s mission is to remind the public that prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action were left behind after all past wars. A team from the Joint Command just returned May 20 after a month-long mission to Vietnam to search for traces of military personnel missing from the Vietnam War.

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More info on Rolling Thunder

Filed Under: Military

New League hopes to bring sports to more kids

May 26, 2006 By

A new sports league in Des Moines is designed to reach kids in neighborhoods that have limited opportunities. D.J. Roland is founder of the Inner City Urban Development Athletic League which will offer tackle and flag football competition for kids on the north and northeast sides of the capital city.

Roland says he used to coach little league football and restructuring took the team away, so he says he looked for a way to make a change. He says one of the problems is the large fee associated with youth sports.

Roland says his goal has been to provide opportunities while keeping the costs low. He says he got the idea of inner city urban development to get the kids out and active. Roland says the football league will start in third grade and hopes it will help promote the sport to kids who have not had the chance to play.

Roland also coaches high school football and says once the kids get to that level, they don’t have a lot of experience. He says offering the program a younger age will make the kids more competitive when they get older.

Roland has joined with AAU to help offer a number of different sports and says they will begin registering kids next week. They’ll kick off this fall and will start registering kids at North High School on June 3rd. He says all the games will be played at North High School.

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Dam to Dam in Des Moines taking enteries

May 26, 2006 By

There is still time to enter next week’s Dam-to-Dam race in Des Moines. The events includes the largest 20 kilometer run in the country. Kurt Schaffer is director for the race which will be run for the 27th straight year. He says it’s unique because it’s a point to point race.

Schaffer says more than five thousand runners are expected to take part in the event which also includes a 5K and a youth run. He says it’s a good time of year and they’ll have entertainment after the race.

He says the race is popular with recreational runners. Schaffer says they do not pay to bring in elite runners and focus on local regional runners. He says they provide a good race course, entertainment, and a medal along with clothing.

Schaffer says if you have now registered to run in the event there is still an opportunity to do so. He says you can register on the website. The race is June 3rd.

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Governor commutes life sentence of Wapello County man

May 26, 2006 By

Governor Vilsack has commuted the life sentence of a Wappello County man who killed another man in a bar fight in 1982. Court records say Delbert Eugene Wilkins was drinking at Rusty’s Tap in Ottumwa when he approached a woman he thought he recognized. The woman was the fiancee of Harry Harville.

Records say Harville was also drinking and came over and placed his hands on Wilkins and a fight ensued. Wilkins then shot Harville, dropped the gun and waited for police to arrive. In a statement, Governor Vilsack says Wilkins is 67 years old and has served 23 years for his crime.

Vilsack says Wilkins is a model prisoner who “accepts responsibility for his actions and expresses sincere remorse for the incident and for the victim’s family.” Vilsack says Wilkins does not present a safety risk to the public, and the governor reduced Wilkins sentence from life to 125 years in prison. The parole board must now decide when Wilkins will be released.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government

State begins testing water at beaches

May 26, 2006 By

It may be a little early yet to hop in the waters at a state beach, but the Department of Natural Resources has started it’s water testing program. The D-N-R’s Mary

Skopec says they test the water at state beaches looking for e-coli bacteria. She says the presence of e-coli can indicate pathogens or things that cause disease. Skopec says they take samples on Monday and usually have the tests back by Thursday or Friday, and if the levels are high they post a warning that “swimming is not recommended.”

Skopec says they no longer ban swimming, instead leaving it up to the individual.
Skopec says, “We decided that banning swimming really isn’t the best way to go. Because at this point we don’t have proof that we’ve got a problem with swimming.” She says the test indicates there may be a problem, so they recommend that people wait until the levels come back down before they swim.

Skopec says there are several things to consider before swimming in at a beach where there have been high levels of bacteria. Skopec says you need to think about the conditions before you swim. If it has rained heavily, bacteria could’ve been washed into the water and it will take some sunlight to bring the bacteria levels down.

Skopec says they’ve have some classifications for beaches based on the past six years of testing — including those tagged “vulnerable.” She says these beaches have high levels of bacteria for much of the season. Skopec says when they get a high level of bacteria on a vulnerable beach, they post it for swimming right away. Those which are less vulnerable need to have repeated levels of high bacteria before they’re posted.

Skopec says there’s also a third level — beaches that’re improving. Skopec says these “transitional” beaches have seen work to keep bacteria out of the water. Once they find the tests are showing less bacteria, those beaches are moved to the “less vulnerable” category. To see the weekly beach test results, surf to the D-N-R Web site at www.iowadnr.com and click on “Beach Monitoring.”

The first testing found Emerson Bay State Park beach at West Okoboji Lake had high levels of bacteria and it will be posted recommending against swimming.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Band Fest starts in Mason City tonight

May 26, 2006 By

The North Iowa Band Festival starts its three-day run in Mason City tonight (Friday) with a variety of concerts and the big parade on Saturday. Fest coordinator Vance Baird says a pair of bands recognized by the Iowa and Minnesota Rock and Roll Halls of Fame will get the entertainment underway tonight (Friday).

Baird says the big event will be on Saturday morning with a parade that has drawn nearly 80-thousand people to Mason City every year. He says there are about 150 entries in the parade, although one entry in particular is exceptionally large — and loud.

The parade starts with a salute to America and there’ll be 76 trombones marching down the street. For more information and a schedule of events, you can look on the North Iowa Band Festival’s website at “www.nibandfest.com”.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Culver, Fallon criticize Blouin over Values Fund

May 26, 2006 By

Two of the Democrats running for governor are launching new criticism of the state grant program their Democratic rival Mike Blouin helped create and administer when Blouin was state economic development director.

Secretary of State Chet Culver says 26 of the businesses which have received grants from the Iowa Values Fund haven’t created the jobs they promised. Eighteen businesses which received Values Fund grants have “failed completely” according to Culver, who says “that cost the Iowa taxpayers $3.2 million.”

Culver is also attacking Blouin for claiming he helped “create” 25,000 jobs through his administration of Values Fund grants. “That is factually incorrect,” Culver says. “It’s time for the taxpayers of Iowa to know the truth on the Iowa Values Fund…We need accountability. Why can’t we go to the website today of the Department of Economic Development office? We want some numbers. We want some light to be shined on this process.”

Culver says the performance of the Values Fund is an endictment of Blouin’s leadership of the agency that administered it. “This is Mike Blouin’s project. You know, I agree with the premise. I think the Iowa Values Fund could work. I think Governor Vilsack should be commended for creating it,” Culver says. “The challenge and the problem here is that under Mike Blouin’s leadership things didn’t get done and companies haven’t been held accountable and jobs aren’t being created.”

Blouin defends his record and he says businesses which fail to meet their job-creation promises will be fined, or have to repay the grant. “Chet doesn’t understand. He clearly doesn’t know what he’s talking about on this,” Blouin says. “This is an incentive to affect behavior, not an award for having done something.”

According to Blouin, over 300 companies have received Values Fund grants. “If in fact there are 18 failures, that’s a pretty good ratio,” Blouin says. Blouin, though, says he doesn’t have the “latest” figures on the Values Fund. “I haven’t been at the department for 10 months,” Blouin says. “Unlike everybody else in this race, I resigned my state job so I could eliminate any possible conflict of interest, perception of conflict of interest, so I’m not up on the details.”

Blouin suggests critics like Culver are attacking not only him but Governor Tom Vilsack, too, by raising concerns about the Values Fund and calling for posting Values Fund data on the Internet. “My God, (Secretary of State Culver) put the entire consumer credit code on-line and in the process put over 300,000 individuals at risk for identity theft. It took two months of badgering to get him to take it down and fix it…and make it password accessible,” Blouin says. “He doesn’t understand what he’s talking about and when he makes a sweeping accusation like that he doesn’t realize it’s also hitting the very guy he’s trying to emulate.”

Blouin also denies that he’s claiming he helped “create” 25-thousand jobs. Blouin says he’s always referred to jobs “created or retained” through Values Fund grants.

Ed Fallon, a State Representative from Des Moines who’s the other leading Democrat in the race for governor, is asking the State Auditor to audit the Iowa Values Fund and other state economic development programs.

Fallon has been a frequent critic of the Values Fund. “If you believe in the free market economy, then I don’t know how you can think that the state can fix the state’s economic problems by creating a fund in Des Moines and doling that money out to a hand full of lucky businesses,” Fallon says.

Fallon compares it to “trickle-down” economics. Fallon says it’s “unfortunate” that some Democrats have embraced the concept, but more and more Democrats “are beginning to wake up to the fact that this is a misuse of taxpayers’ money.”

Fallon says he’s repeatedly asked for detailed records about the Iowa Values Fund and been stymied by Vilsack Administration officials. “I’m frustrated with the lack of responsiveness,” Fallon says. “It’s clear to me that I’m not going to make any progress continuing to beat my head against the wall, trying to get them to let the public know how much accountability do we really have with these funds.”

Fallon suggests State Auditor Dave Vaudt did “excellent work” in helping uncover waste and fraud at a central Iowa job training program, and could do the same with the Iowa Values Fund.

Filed Under: Politics & Government
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