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Grinnell native to play in U-S Women’s Open golf tourney

June 7, 2006 By

Grinnell native Jennie Arsenault will play in the U.S. Women’s Open later this month in Newport, Rhode Island. The University of Virginia freshman tied for medalist honors at a sectional qualifier in Michigan on Monday. Her 36-hole total of 147 was good enough to allow her to grab one of 17 qualifying spots from a field of 86 golfers.

Arsenault says she’s excited as this has always been a goal for her.
As with most U.S. Opens Arsenault expects the course to be demanding. She says she’s been working on her irons and long woods as the course should be long.

Arsenault talks about her goals for the tournament. She says it would “be awesome” if she could make the cut and just stay in contention.
The tournament will begin on June 29th.

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Special Olympics National Games get plenty of volunteers

June 7, 2006 By

Organizers of the Special Olympics U.S.A. National Games says they are overwhelmed by the response to their call for volunteers. Thousands volunteers are needed for next month’s event which is expected to draw more than 17 thousand competitors, coaches and families to the Iowa State University campus.

Eliane Hieber is chair of the organizing committee and says the anticipated the need for about eight thousand volunteers. Hieber says they will surpass their goal and she says the best news is that over 600 people have offered to work all five days. Hieber says that helps with the continuity of the program.

It is the first ever national games and Hieber says it has been a huge undertaking. She says many people have been involved in the planning for over two years. Hieber says as the host of the first national games, they have an opportunity to set the bar high for the next national games. The national games are July second through the seventh.

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Republican Nussle says he’ll pay teachers more

June 7, 2006 By

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle promises to ensure more “long-term” and “reliable” funding for Iowa schools — and provide teacher pay hikes. Nussle, however, does not specify how much money he’d set aside for teacher salaries or what new deadlines he’d establish for school funding decisions.

“We must direct more resources out of the state bureaucracy and back into the classroom,” Nussle says. “As a governor, I’ll ensure that Iowa’s funding for elementary, secondary and higher education is more reliable and more predictable. They can’t plan now. I talk to schools all across our state and they say ‘We don’t know from one day, from one month, from one year to another what the resource stream is going to be.’”

Under current state law, the legislature and governor set the level of general state aid to schools one year in advance. Many Republican legislators have complained that’s too far in advance, but Nussle suggests he’d “go further” to provide more advance notice of state funding levels to schools, colleges and universities.
“We all know that long-term planning will enable educators to more efficiently meet their needs and deliver better results,” Nussle says. “This is a much-needed change and a much-needed commitment that only a governor with principled, experienced leadership can accomplish.”

Nussle also promises to “invest in teachers” — and he ridicules his Democratic challenger, former school teacher and coach Chet Culver, who has vowed to move Iowa teacher pay from its current 41st ranking in the country to 25th. “What a goal! I want to be average — that’s what Culver says: I want to be average?” Nussle says. “Iowa’s better than average. Iowa ought to lead the nation when it comes to education.”

The three-year, 210-million dollar teacher pay hike plan proved by the just-concluded 2006 Legislature will raise average teacher pay in Iowa to just 32nd among the 50 states — if other state legislatures do not take action to raise salaries in their own states, so it would take significantly more money to raise Iowa teacher pay to “better than average” as Nussle promises.

Nussle says education will be his top priority and he staged a series of news conference on school grounds around the state today to focus his education promises.
“I think it’s important to talk about issues and not just talk about the other fella,” Nussle said.

Out-going Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack, however, was not spared Nussle’s criticism. Nussle criticized Vilsack for not being “a person of his word” and rejecting a plan that would have linked teacher pay to performance. The 2003/2005 school term is the most recent year for which average Iowa teacher pay has been calculated. The average teacher salary in Iowa that year was 39-thousand-432 dollars.

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Further review shows deer not killed by mountain lion

June 7, 2006 By

A deer found dead in Marshall County may be the doing of a wild predator, but wildlife biologists now say it was not killed by a cougar. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mick Klemesrud says investigators asked their counterparts in other states what they find when a big cat’s left traces of its prey.

He says they sought advice and sent photos to experts “out west” — in Wyoming, South Dakota, and other states with known cougar populations. Based in the pictures and descriptions of the kill from D-N-R biologists, they advise the kill is likely the work of a coyote or dog, not a mountain lion.

Experts cited factors from the way the deer was eaten — the “feeding pattern” — to the marks on the body, in unanimously concluding it wasn’t the work of a mountain lion. He says a mountain lion that drags down a deer doesn’t leave a lot of claw marks — it tends to make a clean bite to the neck. This deer had marks likely caused by running into a tree or fence.

Klemesrud says another clue was the way some wild predator fed on the deer. Mountain lions tend to “dress open a deer,” he says, tearing open the belly and eating that part of the carcass first, whereas a dog or coyote will begin at the rump. That was the pattern in the deer found in Marshall County and Klemesrud says they’ve concluded likely the killer was a coyote or a dog.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Albion man dies in motorcyle crash

June 7, 2006 By

Deputies in central Iowa are trying to find the cause of an accident that left one person dead. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department says 46-year-old Tate Snyder of Albion was heading northwest on a blacktop road when his motorcycle went out of control and into the ditch.

Snyder was riding alone and was pronounced dead at the scene by Deputy Marshall County Medical Examiner Mark Bethel.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Doctor studies ways to prevent headaches

June 7, 2006 By

Screaming kids, glaring sun, loud noises and even missing a meal can all bring on a headache. This is Headache Awareness Week and Doctor Lynne Geweke, director of the University of Iowa Hospitals’ Headache Clinic, says everybody gets headaches, but only a few of us really need treatment for them.

Dr. Geweke says “Most people can treat them with an aspirin or two Tylenol, then they don’t have a problem with them. What I’m interested in is the ten to 20-percent of the population that has severe headaches” which put them out of commission and interferes with their ability to function at home and at work. She says some headache sufferers are enduring the problem for far too long before seeking treatment.

Geweke says some people won’t think it’s a big deal to have one or two days a month where headaches put them out of commission, but she points out that’s 24 days a year — nearly a month. She says that’s a headache issue that needs to be treated. She says most headaches are -not- caused by some sort of nasty tumor and often the cure is something simple and won’t even require drugs, let alone surgery.

Too much sleep, too little sleep, not eating breakfast, irregular eating patterns — really anything that disturbs the smoothness of your lifestyle can trigger headaches. Obesity can also cause headaches, so she says people can do many things to solve headaches that don’t involve medication.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Charges already flying in race for governor

June 7, 2006 By

The charges and countercharges are already flying in the race to become Iowa’s next governor. On primary night, Chet Culver — the Democrat nominee — warned that Republican rival Jim Nussle would “drain” the state budget in order to give tax cuts to the wealthy.

“Are we going to continue the path of progress with a Democratic governor, or will we turn the clock back and turn the state over to a loyal foot-soldier to George Bush, Dick Cheney, Tom Delay?” Culver asked his supporters. Culver made it clear he’ll make Nussle’s role as chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee an issue in the campaign.

“Will we honor our long, bipartisan tradition of balancing the state budget or run up the largest deficits our government has ever seen? Will we stand for Iowa values or switch to Washington’s values of deficit, debt, cronyism and corruption?” Culver asked his supporters. “This is no time to slow down, to stop or retreat.”

Republican Jim Nussle is quick to respond. “I think it makes for good spin and mudballs and personal attacks to throw mud this early, but I think it shows how nervous they are,” Nussle says. Nussle says he’s looking forward to a “spirited debate” on the issues, but he will defend himself if attacked. “If all they’re going to do…is throw mud, Iowans need a wake-up call. Wake up, Iowa,” Nussle says. “If you don’t want to talk about the future, it’ll be a very interesting campaign I can say that.”

Nussle is issuing a “warning” to Culver to talk about the future or he’ll reciprocate. Yet Nussle’s runningmate, Bob Vander Plaats ridiculed Culver this (Wednesday) morning during a G-O-P unity news conference. “We need a governor who is ready for prime time,” Vander Plaats said. “In my opinion, Chet Culver is not ready for prime time.”

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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