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Iowans rank high for volunteering

June 13, 2006 By

We’re giving a lot of ourselves, according to a new national report on volunteerism. Vicki Hover-Williamson oversees federally-funded volunteer programs throughout the state of Iowa, and she says the report’s based on what people tell census-takers.

Women volunteer sligtly more often than men, married people more often than do singles, and the age range of those who do the most volunteer work is 35 to 44. Iowa’s among the top handful of states leading the nation in the amount of volunteer work. We’re fourth in the nation with 38-point-six percent of people engaged in volunteer projects in the year 2005.

The data also were sorted by other criteria. They look at the volunteers sorted by race and ethnicity, by age, gender, marital status, and what causes they give their time to. The volunteer tasks we do most include collecting, preparing and serving food, working at general labor, and giving transportation to others, an important contribution since this is such a rural state.

A lot of Iowans also work for free at raising funds for their favorite not-for-profit or volunteer activity. These were organized activities, and the report doesn’t include other acts like taking a neighbor to the doctor or things we do outside officially-recognized volunteer organizations. The report is on-line at “National service-dot-gov.”

Related web sites:
Volunteer report

Filed Under: Human Interest

Des Moines Library to host showing of Holacaust film

June 13, 2006 By

A new documentary detailing the experiences of several survivors of a German concentration camp during World War Two will be shown this (Tuesday) afternoon in Des Moines. The movie called “I Only Wanted To Live” will play for free at the Des Moines Public Library’s new central branch, where Kathie Swift is the educational site coordinator.

Swift says the 75-minute film traces nine survivors of Auschwitz during the Holocaust in Italy, following their lives before, during and after the war. She says it’s a rare opportunity to see this film which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival a few weeks ago. It was directed by acclaimed director Mimmo Calopresti who selected clips from hundreds of Italians’ testimonies and using archival footage and personal photos.

Swift says the film traces the lives of the nine survivors, including individual stories of deportation, separation, suffering and their final liberation. Swift says “This will be a strong film. It will have English subtitles, but it will show a lot of light on what happened in Auschwitz and what happened to people during the war.”

The free screening is at 4:30 P.M. Tuesday. The film has been nominated for Best Feature Length Documentary in Italy’s competition that’s comparable to the Academy Awards in the U.S. For more information, surf to “www.desmoineslibrary.com”.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Des Moines, Drake finalist for NCAA track meet

June 13, 2006 By

Drake University is a step closer to becoming the host for the NCAA track and field championships.The city of Des Moines is one of six cities that have been named finalists to host the NCAA meet in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Drake president David Maxwell says a 15 million dollars worth of renovations to Drake Stadium are already paying off. He says they’re encouraged with their talks with the NCAA and U-S-A Track and Field that more meets might be coming to Drake.

The other finalists are Baltimore, Austin, Texas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Eugene, Oregon and Sacramento, California, which is the current host through 2008. Maxwell says Drake Stadium provides the NCAA with an opportunity to take the championships to the midwest. Maxwell says he hopes there’s a feeling that it’s the turn of the midwest to host with all the advantages of traveling to the middle of the country.

Maxwell says he likes their chances, as he says they know they’re qualified and will do their best in making the presentation in a couple of weeks. Associate Athletic Director Mark Kostek is one of those working on a proposal. He says they’ll make the presentation at the end of the month to the NCAA Track and Field committee. Kostek says they should know sometime in September if they’re selected.

Kostek says officials from the NCAA attended the Drake Relays back in April to get a first-hand look at the improvements to the stadium. He says those officials were excited about Drake being a host. Sacramento is has one year left on a three year contract to serve as host. Kostek says Drake would also like to get a multi year bid, as he says the NCAA can grant a one, two or three year contract.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Property owners call for override of eminent domain veto

June 13, 2006 By

Property owners who face government condemnation of their land rallied at the statehouse Monday. They want Iowa lawmakers to return for a special session to override Governor Tom Vilsack’s veto of a bill that limited city and county governments’ ability to seize property and turn it over for private development.

Mahaska County farmer Bob Rouwenhorst says it means the City of Pella can confiscate his land for an airport — something he’s been fighting for three years. “This land was purchased by the hard work and sweat and tears of my parents,” he says. “My parents are no longer living, but my mother said to me several times: ‘Never sell the farm.’”

Rouwenhorst promised his mother he wouldn’t sell the farm, but he says he’s now fighting a battle with a Pella “corporation” that wants to “land its corporate jet” at a new airstrip in Pella rather than landing it 27 miles away in Newton. Rouwenhorst was one of about 35 property owners who gathered on the steps of the state capitol to tell their stories.

Doug Robbins of Osceola says no one is safe until government’s “eminent domain” authority is limited. “You can have your property condemned at any time in the name of development,” Robins says. Three hundred acres of farmland and the home owned by Robins’ father is being condemned for a lake project. “This is a farm that he has worked very hard over the past 36 years to improve,” Robins says.

Rich Tuttle is a Madison County landowner whose property is targeted for submersion in another lake. “Almost 40 families from Madison County are being threatened by a lake. There’s going to be 25 homes go under water…and thousands of acres of productive farm ground lost,” he says. “This is at the benefit of deep-pocketed politicians and businesses who can make profit off the land we lose so that they can make millions.”

Page County farmer Brian Walker of Essex says a proposed lake may take away 80 percent of his farming operation. “Look around. If you think it can’t happen to you, think again,” Walker says. “All that has to happen is someone with the right connections and enough money to convince local public officials that they have a better use for your property.”

Republicans in the legislature would vote to override the governor’s veto of the bill that limited governmental “eminent domain” power to condemn and transfer property to private developers, but Democrats say they want to work with their Democrat Governor, Tom Vilsack, to rewrite the bill. Vilsack says the bill he vetoed would interfere with economic development projects and dampen job-creation efforts.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Two Lottery employees lose jobs after TouchPlay shutdown

June 13, 2006 By

Iowa Lottery director Ed Stanek says a couple of employees at the Lottery have lost their jobs since the Legislature ordered the TouchPlay machines shut down on May 4th. Stanek says two people hired for the TouchPlay program have been laid off and they hope that some others can be absorbed into other positions within the Iowa Lottery.

As for the thousands of idle TouchPlay machines, Stanek says he hasn’t been able to find any place for them. Stanek says he’s had conversations with other states, but the timing, bidding processes and financial constraints of others has made it tough to find a fit.

Stanek can’t say the machines will simply become junk. He says he doesn’t know that for a fact, but he says all the avenues they’ve looked into have failed to result in anything. Stanek says the TouchPlay machines are not very adaptable for other states. He says there are similar machines in other jurisdictions, but he says those machines have very strict technical and legal requirements, making the TouchPlay machines very specific for Iowa.

Stanek was asked if there will be an attempt in the legislature next session to bring the TouchPlay machines back in a limited manner to avoid the concerns that led to their shutdown. Stanek says, “That’s not up to me to decide.” Stanek made his comments following the Iowa Lottery Board’s meeting Monday in Des Moines.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Job survey shows positive outlook for Iowa

June 13, 2006 By

A quarterly survey on job prospects from employers in Iowa’s 11 largest cities looks promising for the summer months. Mike Lynch, spokesman for Manpower, says the employment agency’s survey singles out Iowa’s largest city as having the seventh-best employment outlook in the nation.

Lynch says the agency’s survey found 57-percent of employers in Des Moines plan to add to their staffs in the coming three months and only three-percent plan to cut staff, which is quite strong and among the very best in the U.S. He says every one of Iowa’s 11 cities or metro areas on the survey show positive job growth for the upcoming quarter, which bodes well for the months ahead.

Lynch says it appears the entire state is looking relatively positive with several areas showing particular strength, including Des Moines, Waterloo, Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Marshalltown. Statewide, 33-percent of employers said they planned to hire in the coming months, only six-percent plan cuts, while 56-percent expect no staff changes and five-percent didn’t know.

He says employers in a number of industries in Iowa are projecting good job growth for the three months ahead. He says transportation and public utilities all look strong, as do construction, wholesale retail trades, education and public administration. The only areas that indicate they’ll likely stay unchanged are the services industry, finance, insurance and real estate sectors. For more information, surf to “www.manpower.com”.

Related web sites:
Manpower survey

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Nebraska-Iowa border busy with deaths and investigations

June 13, 2006 By

It’s been a busy spring for deaths and investigations along the Nebraska-Iowa border. The latest case began over the weekend as Mills County Sheriff Mack Taylor says his office got a call from residents near Glenwood on the Iowa side of the Missouri River.

Saturday morning some people who live about a mile west of Glenwood say a pet brought home what they thought might be human remains. They went down by the road and found remains, and called the sheriff’s office. His deputies confirmed there was a body in a roadside ditch near there, and a team came from Des Moines to do a crime-scene search and gathered up the remains to have an autopsy done.

Sheriff Taylor says his deputies often find themselves working cases that came to Mills County from somewhere else. Though his jurisdiction’s in western Iowa, the sheriff says it’s “a suburb of the Omaha – Council Bluffs area” and he’s searched his missing-persons file and hasn’t found anybody who matches up. But it’s also barely three miles from Interstate-29 and the sheriff says the search for the identity of the human remains could go on for some time and some distance.

He’s not sure, and so is not saying what might be the age, sex or even race of the dead person. “We are not sure and we don’t want to give out any misinformation.” Not knowing makes the sheriff careful to watch for clues and preserve information, he says.

Both Interstate-29 and I-80 go past nearby, he says, so it could be a case of foul play, or someone jogging down the road or someone who came out of a late-night party, fell into the ditch and died. “Right now, everything’s on the table.” Sheriff Taylor praised the Division of Criminal Investigation for its help and for putting his office in touch with a national missing-persons clearing-house.

This is the fourth body that has been discovered by police in the area within the last two months, including those of Tracy Tribble of Council Bluffs, Amber Harris of Omaha, and Dawna Massie of Atlantic.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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