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Harding Middle School in Des Moines part of NASA program

May 16, 2007 By

Harding Middle School in Des Moines is one of 25 schools nationwide recently named as NASA explorer schools. Vanessa Suggs of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama says the program involves a lot of sharing.

Suggs says they provide technology grant money, professional development for teachers, and visits by aerospace education specialists that work with teachers, students and families. Suggs says the program has one goal. She says the purpose is to get students excited, and increase their learning in science, math and technology.

Suggs says they hope to create the excitement that might lead to future NASA scientists and astronauts. Suggs says by getting students interested in science, math and technology, they’ll have the people who’ll lead NASA in the future for things like a return trip to the moon and go on to Mars and continue exploring space. Suggs says NASA will lay the ground work for the program later this year.

Suggs says there’s five members on the Harding Middle School team, and those members will go to the space flight center this summer for training. The program will then start in the fall. Suggs says the school team will develop a strategic plan to address its students’ needs in mathematics, science and technology education. Schools can then apply for technology grants over the three-year period to help implement their plans.

Filed Under: Education

Luther baseball team wins tournament opener

May 16, 2007 By

The Luther College Norse won its opening round game in the NCAA Division III baseball tournament 3-1 over Augustana of Illinois.  

Sophomore Adam Kohls of Hampton pitched a complete game five-hitter. He walked four and struck out four, giving up one unearned run. Kohls threw 146 pitches in his eighth victory of the season.

Alex Ross of Prescott, Wisconsin broke a 1-1 tie at the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-out, two-run single for Luther.

The Norse are now 30-9.  The tournament’s being played in Bloomington, Illinois.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Deere sales up 22 percent outside North America

May 16, 2007 By

Thanks in part to grain prices rising along with farmers’ profits, Quad Cities-based Deere and Company is reporting earnings that its executives contend exceed expectations.

Tony Huegel, Deere’s manager of investor communications, says Deere is continuing to see the benefit of "improving conditions in the global farm sector."   

Deere is reporting second quarter net income of $624 million on equipment operations net sales of $6.3 billion.

Huegel says many U.S. farmers are reaping the rewards of higher corn prices due to a boost in demand for ethanol. "Second quarter total worldwide equipment sales were up four percent compared to the prior year quarter, however shipment volumes were flat in the quarter."

He says retail sales for agricultural equipment in the U.S. and Canada were up one percent for the quarter. "For utility tractors, the industry was up seven percent. Deere was down a single digit. Row crop tractors, the industry was up 14 percent. Deere was up double digits, but less than the industry," he says.  "Four-wheel-drive tractors, the industry was up 40-percent, Deere was up double-digits, but less than the industry."

Deere’s overall earnings of $624 million for the quarter are down from the $744 million mark of a year ago, but Deere spokesman Ken Golden says the year-ago figure included the sale of the health care division.  Golden says Deere’s calculation shows net income from continuing operations actually reached an all-time high in the second quarter of 2007.

Filed Under: Agriculture

Legal battles over TouchPlay continue

May 16, 2007 By

The State of Iowa is counter-suing nearly a dozen businesses in the on-going legal tussle over the Iowa Lottery’s TouchPlay machines.

A year ago the Iowa Legislature pulled the plug on the machines, which dispensed TouchPlay tickets. Months later, several of the businesses that invested in TouchPlay sued the state.

Now, Iowa’s attorney general has filed a counterclaim, alleging that 11 businesses owe the state about a million dollars, contending those businesses kept cash from the machines that was supposed to be turned over to the state.

A federal appeals court has tossed out one lawsuit over TouchPlay and upheld Iowa’s ban on the machines. Four other lawsuits have been filed against the state by businesses seeking damages after they went into partnership with the Lottery to own, market and manage the TouchPlay machines.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Bike to Work Week in Iowa

May 16, 2007 By

Iowans are encouraged to try taking just two wheels to work this week instead of four.

Angela Dalton, state program director for Bike to Work Week, says using a bicycle for your daily commute can save you money, cut pollution and help nudge you into a healthier lifestyle.

Dalton say bike riders in communities statewide are taking part. Dalton says www.BikeIowa.com and the Iowa Bicycle Coalition have plenty of information about events in cities across the state, including several larger efforts in Des Moines, Ames, Cedar Falls, Iowa City, Sioux City, Davenport and Council Bluffs.

Some bicycling enthusiasts don’t want to show up at work all hot and sweaty, and Dalton has a suggestion for solving that. Dalton says try to convince fitness centers to offer a shower-only membership for bicyclists who are heading to work, perhaps for $10 a month.

Another common complaint for not biking to work is the lack of bicycle lanes on some key roadways. Dalton says cycling enthusiasts across the state are continuing to lobby their local leaders to make more thoroughfares bike-friendly. "Bike lanes and wide outside lanes are necessary because people do use their bikes for transportation, whether you’re poor or disabled or you have a need to ride your bike, versus those who like to ride and choose to ride for the environment or to save money, there’s lots of good reasons to do this," she says. For more information, visit www.iowabikes.com or www.bikeiowa.com .

 

 

Filed Under: Human Interest

Sumner man enters not guilty plea in murder case

May 16, 2007 By

A Sumner man accused of killing another man from the area has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Twenty-five-year-old Lawrence Hamby, who is being held in prison on a probation violation, allegedly killed 52-year-old Paul McKinney.

McKinney’s body was found in his Sumner home in January of 2006. McKinney died of head, neck and chest trauma. Hamby apparently was a friend of McKinney’s son and was initially considered a material witness in the murder investigation.

A trial date for Hamby has not been set.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Brother & sister died of smoke inhalation in Keokuk fire

May 16, 2007 By

The medical examiner has confirmed a brother and sister who died in a house fire Tuesday morning in Keokuk died of smoke inhalation.

Another sibling and the parents of the children were standing outside their burning home when fire fighters arrived. The two adults suffered serious burns and were taken to a hospital in Keokuk, then flown to the burn unit at University of Iowa Hospitals.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Fire fighters found two-year-old Elizabeth White and four-year-old Dylan White dead inside the home. The other child was not injured in the blaze. Thirty-four-year-old Matthew White and 25-year-old Joyce Boley suffered extensive burns, according to authorities.

Neighbors called 911 shortly before five o’clock Tuesday morning to report the blaze.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters
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