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Brownback goes to firing range to signal support of gun rights

July 31, 2007 By

Sam Brownback Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback fired a few rounds at a gun range near Ames Tuesday afternoon to signal his support for the rights of gun owners.

"There has been a debate for some period of time — constitutionally: what does that right to bear arms mean?…I think you have to define the second amendment broadly, that it means an individual right to bear arms. Some have thought in the past that that’s a collective right," Brownback said. "…I think the second amendment is as powerful as any of the other amendments."

Brownback reminisced about going hunting for quail on his family’s farm in Kansas when he was a boy.  "All I had to hunt with…growing up…was a .410 single shot, and I didn’t get very many of ‘em at all with that," Brownback said. "…I wasn’t that good of a shot."

Brownback gave reporters details of his hunting past and present, for example the status of his hunting license and how frequently he hunts to contrast his record with that of Republican rival Mitt Romney. This spring, Romney said he’d been a lifelong hunter and owned a gun, but later admitted he’d only hunted as a teen and went hunting once as an adult and that while one of Romney’s five sons owns guns, Romney does not.

Brownback hosts a pheasant hunt in the western part of his home state of Kansas each fall. "Usually go to Russell, Kansas…I think I’ve missed it once in the last three or four years…I want to be very specific with you," Brownback told reporters. "…And I may pick up and go quail hunting in the eastern part of the state…every couple of years."

Brownback is not a member of the National Rifle Association, but bragged about his lifetime "A" rating from the NRA as the group evaluates his voting record in congress.

Brownback shot at a target that was 50 yards away on the gun range and placed a few shots in the bull’s eye.  Brownback denied he was thinking about any of his political rivals as he took aim.  "A sheer, objective target," Brownback laughingly told reporters.  "No individual.  None of that."

AUDIO: Henderson report (mp3 runs 1 min)

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Congressman Braley says Attorney General should be investigated for possible impeachment

July 31, 2007 By

Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley has joined with several of his colleagues, who are asking for an investigation into the testimony of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Waterloo Democrat says they’ve filed a resolution that would direct the House Judiciary Committee to examine whether Gonzales should be impeached for lying under oath.

Braley insists the lawmakers are not prejudging the outcome, "We are trying to afford the Attorney General the due process that he denied some of his subordinates." All of the Congressmen co-sponsoring the resolution are Democrats. Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley says he will not join the call for a perjury investigation, and describes the action as "politically motivated."

Braley, meanwhile, says the accusation that the head of the Department of Justice delivered false testimony under oath is a very serious matter. "I respectfully disagree with Senator Grassley," Braley says, "there are people who want the Attorney General to be the representative of the Department of Justice and to hold that office with the integrity and distinction that it should have…and don’t feel that this president or this country are being served by this Attorney General in that fashion."

Some Democrats in the Senate want Gonzales to face perjury charges for comments he made that allegedly contradict what the FBI director said occurred during initiation of a wire-tapping program. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Cedar County women want to build veterans memorial on Hoover historical site

July 31, 2007 By

Two Cedar County women want to honor veterans with a memorial on a piece of land in West Branch they think is the perfect site. Pat Bickford and Phyllis Sondergard came up with the idea six months ago to put the memorial on the land that is part of the  Herbert Hoover National Historic Site  honoring the only Iowan to become president. But Bickford says the National Park Service has a concern about their idea.

Bickford says the Park Service feels that if they let the memorial go up, it would set a precedent to allow anyone to put up a memorial on the property. "But we just think since it’s veterans, and it’s a government piece of property, it would be fitting," according to Bickford. Bickford says the location is ideal because of all of the visitors the Hoover site attracts.

Bickford says they feel the memorial should be at a place where everybody drives by every day that lives in West Branch. "And when visitors come into West Branch, and they come in to see Hoover Park, that they would know that West Branch honors veterans," Bickford says. Bickford says they’re determined to see the project get done.

Bickford says she’d be willing to give up part of her farm for the memorial, "But the only people who would drive by would be myself and the next-door neighbor…and that’s not really fitting."

Bickford says the only really visible place in town is Hoover Park. Site Superintendent Cheryl Schreiber says anything added to the area must fit the parks requirement to honor the former president. Schreiber, Bickford and Sondergard will discuss the issue Thursday in a meeting with the National Park Service.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

ISU grad to play key role in shuttle launch

July 31, 2007 By

Space Shuttle An Iowa State University graduate has a key role in next week’s space shuttle launch. Joel Montalbano is NASA’s lead flight director for the mission, which will see the shuttle Endeavour blast off next Tuesday for a rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Montalbano is a Chicago native who got his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State in 1988.  He’ll preside over the most critical phases of the mission, including the installation of new segments on the station and the replacement of a control gyroscope, which keeps the station in orbit.

As lead flight director, Montalbano guides a team of flight directors, flight controllers, engineering experts and support staff from NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston.

During the mission, he’ll be doing plenty of talking with another ISU alum. Nebraska native Clayton Anderson is an astronaut who’s among the space station’s current crew of three.


Audio: Radio Iowa’s Matt Kelley reports. :44 MP3

Filed Under: Human Interest

Two charged with robberies in Hamilton and Webster counties

July 31, 2007 By

Two 18 year old Webster County residents were arrested Monday in connection with several car burglaries in both Hamilton and Webster Counties. Arrested were John Louis Derrig and Travis Gregory Summers. Both men have been charged with burglary in the second degree, possession of burglars tools and fifth degree criminal mischief.

Both Derrig and Summers were apprehended at a residence in Stratford early Monday morning after a resident witnessed the pair breaking into a parked truck. The deputies also recovered stolen property taken from vehicles in rural Webster County and in Fort Dodge. The two men are also suspects in car burglaries in Webster City. Both men are being held in the Hamilton County Jail on a bond of 15 thousand dollars with further charges pending.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Gas prices dropping again in Iowa

July 31, 2007 By

Gasoline prices have been declining in Iowa after a sharp increase earlier this month. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Rose White says prices are down 30-cents a gallon in the last 30 days. She says that’s because a Kansas oil refinery announced its operations would resume by mid-September after being closed earlier this month by flooding.

White says several refineries coming back on line have contributed to a drop in gas prices. White says, "That, in combination with other positive news that came out of a plant located in Oklahoma, as well as in Whitting, Indiana. All of them basically announced positive news all during the same week and so that certainly helped to attribute to lower prices here in the Midwest."

White says prices should continue to go down over the next several months as long as the refineries continue production as planned. She says an uneventful hurricane season will also keep gas prices low. The current price for a gallon of self-service unleaded in Iowa is two-94, down from a record high of three-35 back in May. The current national average is two-87, about seven-cents lower than Iowa. 

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Research seeks to turn waste plastic into fuel

July 31, 2007 By

Researchers in Iowa are hoping their work will one day eliminate plastics from landfills. Iowa State University professors are working with the West Central Iowa Coop and Renewable Energy Group in Ralston on the project.

Glen Meier, Research and Development Manager for Renewable Energy, says they’re trying to dissolve waste plastics into biodiesel. "Plastics are composed of a couple of polymers," Meier explains, "and when placed into biodiesel, they essentially dissolve into the biodiesel, and the strands that are wrapped together become disentangled. That would allow them to pass through the engine, and the increased mass and energy that was in those plastics would be carried on into the engine."

REG and ISU chemistry and engineering professors are entering the second year of research on the project. Meier says they’ve proven that dissolving plastics into biodiesel and using the fuel in generators works. Now, the team of researchers will determine how much plastic, and which types can be used without causing problems in the engine.

The research is being financed in a defense funding bill, and currently involves waste plastics used by soldiers. Meier says the estimated savings to taxpayers is over one million dollars a month – just from the military waste disposal costs. Meier says the researchers in Iowa are also getting help from San Diego based General Atomics. 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:
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