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Fallon sings "Don’t Write Me In"

October 31, 2006 By

With polls showing the race for governor neck-in-neck, the man who finished third in the Democratic primary this past June has written a song to encourage Iowans to vote — just not for him.

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon says every day he hears from “at least one or two people” who voted for him in the primary and tell him they intend to vote for him again on November 7th by writing in his name on the ballot. Fallon’s response has been to write some lyrics to an old Cole Porter song.

You can hear the song by clicking on the link below. You can read the lyrics on The Blog.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Legend of girl ghost lives on near Amana Colonies

October 31, 2006 By

One of the legends of Halloween in Iowa centers around a solitary grave on Highway six west of Homestead near the Amana Colonies. Local author Lori Erickson says the grave is that of a young girl.

Erickson says, “She was a little girl who was traveling west on one of the wagon trains and died of some illness that we don’t know what it was.” Erickson says the pioneer parents of six-year-old Mary Wright left her behind in 1854. Since then,

Erickson says the stories of her restless spirit have floated throughout the area. She says, “You can see a blue aura above the grave on Halloween night at midnight.” The real story involves a railroad company and an actual cemetery that was here. When workers laid the track, they had to move all of the bodies, except that of the girl.

This piece of haunted history has been a mystery for years, and Erickson says the legend continues because people talk about it. Erickson says, “Unless stories are told, they die.” Erickson says whether you believe in ghosts or not, passing the story down will keep Mary’s spirit alive for many years to come.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Tate to return as Iowa Q-B

October 31, 2006 By

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says Drew Tate will return to the line-up on Saturday when the Hawkeyes host Northwestern in Big Ten play. The senior quarterback missed last week’s game against Northern Illinois after having surgery to repair the injured thumb on his non-throwing hand.

Ferentz says Tates will wear a splint to protect the thumb. Ferentz says Tate took some snaps and was able to take them from under center and in the shotgun. He says he doesn’t want to minimize the problem, but says it appears the worst is behind Tate.

Ferentz does not feel the splint will cause Tate problems, as he says it’s built so the football should fit in there. Ferentz says the only thing that is a little tough is the one handed handoffs. Ferentz expects Tate to be able to start the game, and he says the good news is Tate’s arm should be lively after having a week off.

Iowa’s receivers continue to drop passes and Ferentz says that is one of several areas that needs to get better. Ferentz says they need to grow as a team and improve their concentration level, as he says they’re not palying the level of football they thought they would at this state at every position.

Iowa has played some of its best football during the month of November but Ferentz says that does not mean it will happen again. He says what has happened in the past is in the past. Ferentz says they need to kick it up another gear to play better.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Governor won’t back down despite threat of lawsuit over item veto

October 31, 2006 By

Governor Tom Vilsack has no plans to back down in a showdown with legislators over one of his item vetoes, despite the new threat of a lawsuit over the matter. In June, Vilsack used his item veto authority to kill the legislature’s commission to study merit-based teacher pay. The governor appointed his own group instead, and Vilsack spokesman Matt Paul says that group will continue its work.

“The governor took action to make the structure of this group more inclusive, to get more Iowans involved in the process,” Paul says. In addition to a group Vilsack appointed to study how to implement performance-based-pay in Iowa schools, Vilsack asked the Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce — a bipartisan group that includes educators and political leaders — to help craft a merit-based pay plan, too.

Senate Republican Leader Mary Lundby earlier today (Tuesday) said she hoped to convince fellow legislators to sue to stop the state funding for Vilsack’s initiative, and ultimately challenge whether his action was legal. The governor’s spokesman says Vilsack’s not going to bring things to a halt.

“We’ll continue to work on this issue…because this work is important,” Paul says. “The governor wants to continue his focus on the classroom, not the courtroom.” Earlier this month Attorney General Tom Miller issued an opinion that concluded Vilsack’s item veto was “unconstitutional.”

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

Senate leader calls for lawsuit to stop teacher pay study

October 31, 2006 By

The Republican leader in the Iowa Senate wants to go to court to stop out-going Governor Tom Vilsack from spending any more money on a study of merit-based teacher pay. Earlier this month, Iowa’s Attorney General issued an opinion on Vilsack’s item veto which axed the commission legislators had set up to study the issue. Vilsack set up a teacher pay commission of his own instead, and the attorney general called that act “unconstitutional.”

Senate Republican Leader Mary Lundby of Marion says the first step is to get a judge to issue an injunction, prohibiting Vilsack from spending money on his teacher pay commission, which is working with another group on the project. “We don’t want the money spent if there’s a question on the veto,” Lundby says. “We feel with the attorney general’s opinion there’s definitely a question on the veto.”

Lundby says there’s some urgency to this case, and she’s been visiting with other legislators about it. According to Lundby, the money’s supposed to “go out tomorrow” and she’s unsure whether they can act quickly enough to stop the governor from spending it. Lundby says the governor “thumbed his nose at the Legislature” by rejecting their teacher pay commission, and it’s time for legislators to sue to send a message to Vilsack and future governors, too.

“The governors, in general, want to usurp our power and as a legislature, we want to maintain the power of the legislature,” Lundby says. “We’re sorry that it has to be resolved in the courts because you can’t give away your constitutional authority to make laws.” Lundby says the governor has made it clear he does not intend to abide by the attorney general’s opinion, and that’s why lawmakers need to go to court. Other top statehouse lawmakers are not immediately available for comment.

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

Grassley likes changes in the works for Red Cross structure

October 31, 2006 By

The American Red Cross is changing its organizational structure, something a strong Iowa critic of the agency is applauding. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says he hopes the effort to modernize the Red Cross from the top down will help it to better support its charitable mission.

Grassley says “The Red Cross has done a good faith effort to overhaul their organization, to improve its operation, to make sure the money that’s contributed is not wasted and to make sure they’re ready for helping in natural disasters like they traditionally have been but showed great failure in (Hurricane) Katrina.”

Grassley says he began to scrutinize the Red Cross in the months following the September 11th terrorist attacks when questions were raised about how donations were being used to help with recovery efforts in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon. Grassley says “And also to make sure that the money is managed well so that things that happened after 9-11 don’t happen again. In other words, a lot of people donated money but it’s not distributed. Also, the same complaint when we had the earthquake tsunami in the Indian Ocean.”

Grassley is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee which is responsible for tax policy. He’s led a review of the non-profit sector and has won approval of legislative reforms aimed at certain abuses. He says the Red Cross is now moving in the right direction. Grassley says “They’ve started with the proposition that things were broken and a band-aid would not help and they’re moving ahead. We have to pass legislation to carry this out. I hope we can pass the legislation in the lame duck session or early next year.” He says these past incidents have “shaken public confidence” in the Red Cross and now the agency “needs to go the extra mile with governance reforms to ensure public confidence.”

Grassley says the Red Cross also has taken good steps to support whistleblowers who are speaking out at problems they see.

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Waterloo man to be charged in Illinois with teen’s death

October 31, 2006 By

A Waterloo man is expected to be extradited to Illinois today (Tuesday) to face murder charges in the death of 13-year-old Donnisha Hill of Waterloo. Waterloo Police Captain Bruce Arends says the suspect is in custody at the Black Hawk County Jail without bond. Arends says they were notified Monday afternoon that Hill’s body was found in Jo Daviess County, Illinois. The suspect, 57-year-old Bruce Edward Burt of Waterloo, is charged with first-degree murder.

An autopsy showed Hill died from blunt force trauma to the head. She was reported missing last Friday after she didn’t return home from Logan Middle School, where she was an eighth grader. Captain Arends says they’re still investigating details of the death. He says the case is ongoing and “we will continue to work until we’re satisfied that we’ve exhausted all further information on this case.”

The body was found in a rural driveway in Illinois, some 25 miles southeast of Dubuque.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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