February 9, 2012

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Nussle: parental consent, not South Dakota-style abortion ban

June 9, 2006 By

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle says he will propose a law that would require the consent of a parent before a minor may obtain an abortion. But Nussle refuses to say what he’d do as governor if presented with an outright ban on abortions — similar to what passed this spring in South Dakota.

Nussle says the Iowa Legislature is “terribly split” on the abortion issue, and there’s no chance such a law would pass the legislature and wind up on the next governor’s desk. “I’m not going to speculate about that but I will propose something,” Nussle says. Nussle’s parental consent proposal would go one step further than current law, which requires that a parent be notified before an abortion may be performed on a minor — except in cases of incest or if a judge decides the teen has good reasons not to notify a parent.

Nussle says it is not “extreme” to pursue policies that will reduce the number of abortions. “Particularly because I think our quality of life and what we stand for here in Iowa is important,” Nussle says.

Nussle made his comments during an appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” which airs this evening and again on Sunday.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Daschle’s changed his mind about running for president

June 9, 2006 By

Former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle has changed his mind, and is in Iowa this weekend laying some of the groundwork for a presidential campaign.

Daschle, the former leader of Democrats in the U-S Senate, said during a February appearance in Iowa that he had “no plans” to run for President. “What has changed is my views about the direction the country is taking,” Daschle. “I felt badly about the direction before but it’s even worse now and I think it’s very important for those who believe they might have an opportunity to offer a change in direction to step forward.”

Daschle’s not formally declaring he’s running for president yet. “I haven’t made any decisions but I’m enjoying the conversations I’m having with the people of Iowa,” Daschle says. On Thursday, Daschle was in New Hampshire, the state that hosts the first primary in the presidential campaign. On Friday, Daschle arrived in Iowa, the first caucus state.

Daschle says if Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack decides to run for president, that “would not be a factor” in Daschle’s decision to compete in the Caucuses. “I have always felt that a candidacy should not be dependent upon who else is running. If you feel like you’ve got something to offer, if you’ve got ideas that you want people to consider, then I think you ought to get in the race regardless of who else may be doing so as well,” Daschle says. “I have great affection and admiration for Tom Vilsack and so if he runs, I would just say ‘More power to him.’”

As for ideas, Daschle has called for the “strategic redeployment” of U.S. troops that are now in Iraq and a universal health care system. Daschle, who lost his re-election bid in 2004, says it’s a “real strength” to be out of the Senate. “It’s an advantage not to be in the Senate right now. First, you’re not tied down schedule-wise. Secondly, you’re not involved in the day-to-day fights that are so acrimonious right now and third, it gives you more of an opportunity to be with people, to talk about your vision in the larger context than what bills may be confronting the Senate or the House right now.”

During speeches this week in New Hampshire, Daschle criticized the Bush Administration as an “arrogant crowd.” Daschle met for lunch with Democrats in Davenport over the noon-hour on Friday. He campaigned with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver Friday afternoon and he was the draw for a Friday night reception at a Des Moines brew pub.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

First part of Kinnick seating plan complete

June 9, 2006 By

The sale of Iowa football season tickets have increased for the fifth straight year and at some point the sale of season tickets could be suspended. With the second phase of the renovation of Kinnick Stadium near completion the entire stadium was re-seated with a process that allowed fans to chose their seats. That process was completed on Thursday.

U-of-I ticket manager David Sandstrum says they are well ahead of last year’s pace in which they sold 40 thousand 340 season tickets. He says they’re right where he thought they’d be at, maybe a little higher than expected.

Re-seating an entire stadium is a huge undertaking but Sandstrum says it went as well as they could have hoped for. He says the preplanning they did made it easy for the fans. Sandstrum says it was the most difficult path to take, but he says it was the right way to do it and it went smoothly.

The next process is the sale of season tickets to new members of the National I-Club. That begins on Tuesday.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

King says positives in Iraq continue to be overlooked

June 9, 2006 By

Iowa Congressman Steve King today spoke out on the floor of the House in favor of continuing the action in Iraq in the aftermath of the death of al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. King says al-Zarqawi committed terrible acts, including killing someone and placing explosives in their bodies.

King says al-Zarqawi would then put the body alongside the road and wait for the person’s family to come along, and then would blow up the body and kill the family.

King says al-Zarqawi spent his time trying to come up with other things to do to people. King, a republican, say al-Zarqawi wanted to create chaos and confusion in Iraq. He says the goal was to create a civil war among the confusion so al-Zarqawi could take power and turn Iraq into a terrorist camp so he could “train and dispatch people around the world to attack people unlike him.”

King says the situation in Iraq is not a civil war, and he says the good work done in Iraq is overlooked by the reports of violence. King says 100-thousand lives have been saved in the operation. King says even with that he continues to hear the media and others call for the U.S. to get out of Iraq. King says the creating peace in the Middle East is important to everyone.

King says if Afghanistan and Iraq can both emerge as nations of free people, they become a “lodestar” in the march toward freedom, and King says freedom can’t be held back. King used several charts during his talk to show that the violence in Iraq is not any worse than the violence in some of the largest cities in the U.S.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Actors wanted for movie in Eastern Iowa

June 9, 2006 By

So you wanna’ be in pictures? Here’s your chance. Aspiring actors are being recruited this weekend in Cedar Falls. Los Angeles-based director Adam Brooks is a Cedar Falls native who’s returning to town to shoot a movie starting in August, set on an Iowa farm.

Brooks is holding a casting call Saturday and Sunday and acting experience is not required. He says experience doesn’t matter as they’re casting for type. “We’re not going to have a 45-year-old guy play a 20-year-old girl so as long as he’s good at being a 45-year-old guy, he’ll have all the qualifications he needs.” The parts range from people 20-years-old to 80-years old and they hope to fill most of the lead actors from people in the community.

Brooks describes the film, to be called “The Season,” as a horror movie. He says it’s a 1970s-style scary, nail-biter, more of a cousin to the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” not like some of the “schlocky” horror movies from the 80s. Brooks has directed several films and was chosen as one of the Top 250 Directors in last year’s Project Greenlight contest headed by actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

The 37-year-old Brooks says “They say you should write what you know and since I grew up here in eastern Iowa and I wrote a film about the Amish, I figured most people in L.A. have never seen a cow, let alone a cornstalk.” The casting call will be held Saturday and Sunday from noon to 8 P.M. at U-N-I’s Strayer-Wood Theater. For more information, surf to: “www.theseasonthemovie.com”.

Related web sites:
More on ¥The Season¥

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Nussle says he’ll raise teacher pay by cutting government

June 9, 2006 By

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle says he’ll finance his plan to raise Iowa teacher pay above the national average by cutting the size of state government.
“I’m willing to look at all the bureaucracy of government,” Nussle says. Nussle, however, stops short of saying whether he’d fire state workers or cut state worker pay and redirect that money to teachers.

Nussle does cite a report concluding Iowa’s state government is sixth largest in the country when compared to the other 49 states on a per capita basis. “We’re sixth-highest in state bureaucracy and we’re 42nd in teachers (pay). I think that is a misapplication of the priority,” Nussle says. “I want education to be the top priority.” The just-concluded 2006 Iowa Legislature committed 210-million dollars over the next three years to raise teacher pay from 41st to 32nd in the country — if no other states take similar action to raise teacher salaries.

And Nussle’s Democratic rival, Chet Culver, has said getting teacher pay to the national average would be his goal. “I reject that Iowa, with our tradition and where we want to go, I totally and completely reject that all we can do is 42nd, 32nd (or) average,” Nussle says. “That’s not Iowa. I don’t want just an average teacher teaching my son and daughter in the classroom. I want an above average teacher. I want an excellent teacher and the only way we are going to get those excellent kind of teachers is to start making (teacher pay) a priority.”

Nussle has also pledged to abolish the Iowa Values Fund, the multi-million dollar state economic development program handing out grants to new and expanding Iowa businesses. But Nussle’s not ready yet to reveal all the details of his alternative economic development strategy.

“We’ll lay out all of these plans as we go. This is just — what is this — day three of the general election campaign? We’ve got a little bit of work to do,” Nussle says. “We’re not ready to show you all the cards today.” Also today, Nussle launched a new website to solicit proposals from Iowans that would “energize Iowa’s future. The address is www.99Iowaideas.com.

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Girl dies in multi-car accident on I-80 near Stockton

June 9, 2006 By

A multi-vehicle pile-up killed one person and closed Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa near Stockton on Thursday for about five hours. Walcott firefighters initially responded about 4:30 P.M. to a rollover wreck that ejected two people into the median.

Walcott fire chief Joe Hahn says as eastbound traffic slowed for that wreck, there was a fiery chain reaction crash involving nine more vehicles. Hahn says a semi rear-ended a group of cars in traffic that was backed up from the first accident. Four cars burned and one semi. A five-year-old girl was killed. She was traveling with her family from Colorado to Michigan. The girl’s mother was injured along with at least four other people.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters
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