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State says two deaths linked to storm

February 28, 2007 By

State officials say just two deaths have been linked to the storm that blazed through the state this weekend. A Wisconsin man working on a utility crew fell 80 feet to his death in Cedar Rapids and someone in Wapello County died when the oxygen supply in their home was disrupted by the power outage.

Tom Newton of the Iowa Department of Public Health says some Iowa hospitals have reported treating Iowans overcome by carbon monoxide from an electric generator. "There are situations in which they’ve had people show up at hospitals with carbon monoxide poisoning," Nelson says. One of the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is a headache.

"You’re also going to have people that feel nauseous," Nelson says. "As you know, carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless so when you walk into a room you are not going to know that there’s carbon monoxide in there, but if you start to feel lightheaded, you start to get a headache, you feel nauseous, that’s probably a pretty good indication there’s some carbon monoxide in that room."

If you’re using a generator, it should not be in the garage or just outside a door of your home. "A generator is notorious for producing massive amounts of carbon monoxide, so we want to make sure that people are putting that outside of their house and making sure that exhaust is not entering the building in any way, shape or form," Nelson says. According to state officials, it was erroneously reported earlier this week that someone in the Grinnell area had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Mount Ayr voters reject bond issue

February 28, 2007 By

Voters in the Mount Ayr school district in southwest Iowa have rejected a bid to build additions onto the district’s elementary and high school buildings. Voters narrowly defeated an eight-million dollar bond issue Tuesday. It fell about 100 votes short of the 60 percent margin needed for approval. Mount Ayr Superintendent Russ Reiter predicts the school board will decide to run the issue past voters again.

"We’re going to come back again and if we need to make some changes, we will," he says. "We’re going to continue to fight…and do what’s best for our kids and our children so it’s not over. We’re going to just try ‘er again." Almost 12-hundred ballots were cast in yesterday’s vote in the Mount Ayr School District, with 58 percent voting in favor of the elementary school building project.

"We need to wait six months so we’ll have some time through the spring and through the summer and we’ll make a decision sometime this fall to come back before the voters again and, you know, give ‘em the same question," Reiter says. About 650 students are enrolled in the Mount Ayr School District, which is the state’s fifth largest — geographically — covering 336 square miles and serving students from eight small towns surrounding Mount Ayr, too.  

Filed Under: Education

Power coming back on just as new storm forecast

February 28, 2007 By

Lieutenant Governor Patti Judge said this afternoon  the number of people without power in Iowa continues to drop. Judge says the most current numbers show 51,350 people are still without power. Some 265,000 had been without power Sunday.

The crews continue working while the National Weather Service is sounding a warning of a new storm. Meteorologist Brenda Brock says this storm will pack a big punch. Brock says: "This is a very dangerous winter storm. Yes, it’s the second storm this week, but please know, this is a life threatening situation.

Brock says this storm will start tonight with rain and move on to ice and snow. Brock says the biggest concern is the amount of wind this storm will bring. Brock says the strong winds with gusts as high as 45 to 50 miles-an-hour will last 24 hours and make driving difficult. She says some areas are going to get a lot of white stuff.

Brock says northern parts of the state, from Atlantic north of Des Moines to Waterloo, could see nine to 18 inches of snow — particularly in the northeast corner. She says the central part of the state will see four to eight inches of snow. The National Weather Service has a winter weather advisory and a blizzard watch in effect 

Filed Under: Weather

State Auditor questions numbers used in Iowa Values Fund

February 28, 2007 By

State Auditor Dave Vaudt has reviewed the state’s high-dollar grant program for new and expanding businesses and he’s urging Department of Economic Development officials to fix the way they calculate whether companies are meeting their job creation promises. Grants from the state’s Grow Iowa Values Fund have been handed to businesses that promise to create or retain jobs here.

"We have some recommendations for the department to improve their documentation…first of all to establish the baseline employment in Iowa by these companies and then to have the measurement that’s appropriate to track back to see if the increased employment’s really happening in Iowa," Vaudt says.

The auditor says the department is also confusing matters when it reports the number of jobs a company promises to create or retain when they first make an application for a state "Iowa Values" grant, but then when the company signs a contract with the state in order to receive that grant the number of promised jobs on that document is often different.

"I think their system definitely needs some improvement," Vaudt says. The Department of Economic Development issued a status report that covered the period through June 30th of last year, but Vaudt is also critical of the way officials tried to inflate the number of jobs added by companies that’ve gotten Values Fund grants. "When you take a look at some of the numbers, DED has actually included some things that happened after June 30th," Vaudt says. "If you’re going to give people a status report as of June 30th, give us a status report as of June 30th. If you want to tell me what happened after that, do that, but don’t combine the two."

The Grow Iowa Values Fund was created in 2002 and legislators planned to use the money the federal government was sending Iowa and all other states to stimulate the economy after 9/11. The Iowa Supreme Court struck down the program, however, and legislators re-established the Values Fund in 2005 — planning to set aside 50-million state tax dollars each year to hand out in grants to businesses.

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Iowa National Guard going door-to-door on welfare checks

February 28, 2007 By

As another winter storm looms, Iowa National Guard members are heading into parts of the state hit hardest by last weekend’s ice storm. Many elderly residents in remote areas are still without power. Iowa Guard spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood says in Tama County alone, 40 soldiers are deployed to conduct door-to-door welfare checks.

Hapgood says "It’s our hope that when they see these soldiers coming, that they will understand that we’re there to help them in any way possible and that if they don’t have power, our suggestion that they find shelter and someplace warm goes to heart for them and hopefully heed some advice."

At last count, 85-thousand Iowans were still without power after last weekend’s storm, down from a peak of 265-thousand on Sunday. Hapgood says Tama County is just a starting point for the Guard. Hapgood says "To divide up the county grid by grid and go house to house in rural areas to see if anybody’s home, if they have power, to see if they have any needs, and if they don’t have power to kindly suggest they go to a shelter."

Hapgood says guard deployment to other rural areas will come through cooperation with local county Emergency Management agencies and Iowa Homeland Security.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Hawkeyes begin crucial two game stretch at Penn State

February 28, 2007 By

With two wins this week the Iowa Hawkeyes will finish in no worse than a tie for third in the Big Ten race. It begins tonight with a visit to a Penn State team that is 1-13 in the conference race. Iowa coach Steve Alford says while the Nittany Lions have struggled the Hawks will need a great effort to come out with a win. Alford says there’s more pressure on his team and he says it won’t be an easy game and they’ll need a good 40 minute effort.

Alford says while the Hawks have played better the second half of the season they still have a small margin of error on the road. Alford says Penn State is experienced, they aren’t playing with any pressure, it’s their last home game, so Alford says it’s a concern. Penn State has been close to a number of upsets at home, and Alford says getting road wins isn’t easy in the Big Ten.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis says the Nittany Lions want to finish on as positive note. He says they’ve struggled but have still played hard and given a good effort. DeChellis says he sees little difference in the Iowa team that beat the Nittany Lions 79-63 in Iowa City back on January 24th.  Iowa is 16-12 overall.

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Cyclones on the road at Nebraska

February 28, 2007 By

The Iowa State Cyclones are on the road in the Big-12 to take on Nebraska. ISU is 5-9 in the Big-12 and beat the Huskers in their first meeting in Ames back on January tenth. Cyclone coach Greg McDermott says Nebraska was playing well at the time and says they did a good job on Husker center Alex Maric who is averaging nearly 18 points per game.

McDermott says as a group the team is doing a good job of getting the ball to Maric and Maric has been able to score and get to the free throw line. McDermott says Nebraska surrounds Maric with players who can shoot the three, making it a challenge for the defense.

McDermott says Nebraska guard Charles Richardson gets everyone involved and his assist to turnover ratio has been outstanding. The Cyclones are 14-14 overall. Nebraska is 16-11 overall and 5-8 in the conference. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
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