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Iowa done with practice, ready for Outback Bowl

December 31, 2008 By

Outback Bowl logo. With all the practice and festivities out of the way Iowa and South Carolina are set for Thursday morning’s kickoff of the 23rd Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. The Hawkeyes are 8-4 and this is a matchup of highly ranked defenses. Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King says the game plan for the Hawks is no different than the regular season.

King says the number one goal is to stop the run and make them one-dimensional. He says if you can do that, it gives you a much better chance to win. South Carolina has turned to redshirt freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia to help ignite an offense that struggled in two losses to close the regular season.

Garcia started two games during the Gamecocks 7-5 season and also is a threat to run the ball. King says they’ve faced a lot of mobile quarterbacks, and have done well, so he’s not too worried about it.

 

Fellow defensive tackle Matt Kroul says the Hawks will try to keep it simple. He says South Carolina will throw a lot at them, but they will just try to do the basic things they do on defense and be disciplined. At one point the Hawkeyes stood 3-3 but with a victory on Thursday would close the season with the program’s fifth January bowl victory.

All-American running back Shonn Greene says it is important to finish the season strong with a win. He says the Hawks would like to establish the ground game and run straight at them and do what they do best.

 

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz expects the Gamecocks to load up against the run. He says they will make it tough to run, as he says most of the teams in the second half of the season did that to them. Ferentz says like in all their games the Hawkeyes will try to control the football. He says equally important will be "ball security" and not turning the ball over.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier says Garcia has performed well in practice this week, and he says it all depends on playing under pressure. He says it’s easy to play well in practice, but the games are what separate the good players or "gamers."

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi says moving the ball against the South Carolina defense will not be easy. He says you want to have a challenge and he says fortunately Iowa has a great runningback to take the pressure off the passing game. Stanzi says recognizing what defense the Gamecocks are in will be a key.

He says their ability to disguise coverages makes it tough on quarterbacks and makes it tough on offenses.

Kickoff in Raymond James Stadium will be 10 o’clock, Iowa time. 

AUDIO: Kirk Ferentz at Outback Bowl Wednesday. 19:56 MP3

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A lot of flood recovery remains to be done in Cedar Rapids

December 31, 2008 By

Officials in Cedar Rapids say there’s still a lot to be done in their city to recover from this June’s flooding. Cedar Rapids Mayor Kay Halloran says the past six months have been very difficult. “We are still working very hard to return Cedar Rapids to its prominent position as an economic generator for the State of Iowa,” Halloran says, “and we need all the help we can get.”

Cedar Rapids City Councilman Justin Shields says there are “real serious problems” in Cedar Rapids that need attention from the federal government. He’s hoping the economic stimulus package President-elect Obama and Democrats in Congress are developing will help.

“We lost quite a bit of industry in the flood itself. We lost over 5000 homes that either have to be destroyed or somehow rebuilt,” Shields says. “We don’t have the economics to do that. We can’t do it without aid and federal help.” Flood water covered 10 square miles of Cedar Rapids.

Almost 5,400 homes and over 1,000 businesses were either partially or totally submerged. Only 700 homeowners had flood insurance. Officials say there are still more than 500 FEMA trailers in the state providing temporary housing to residents of Cedar Rapids and other Iowa cities and towns that were hit by flooding six months ago.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

New year brings tax changes for some counties

December 31, 2008 By

The new year will bring changes in the number of Iowa towns charging a penny of local option sales tax. Beginning January 1, all of Emmett County will charge that extra penny, bringing the total sales tax there to seven percent. Renee Mulvey at the Iowa Department of Revenue says a handful of towns, had been holding out, but voted this year to join the rest of Emmett County to charge the extra penny.

"Those jurisdictions include the towns of Estherville, Doliver, Gruver, and Wallingford. It also includes any business in an unincorporated area," Mulvey explains. Mulvey says paying the seven percent sales tax has become the norm in Iowa.

Mulvey says, "I have on January 1, 66 of Iowa’s 99 counties are at a full seven percent. That means they have the six percent state rate and a one percent local option rate county wide." Mulvey says Johnson County is the only county where the sales tax remains at six percent countywide.

Meanwhile, the local option penny sales tax expires in one eastern Iowa town. Residents of the city of Palo decided after five years not to renew their local option tax.

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Council Bluffs part of cable series on trains

December 31, 2008 By

History Channel's Extreme Trains producer/director Dominic Stobart and the show's host Matt Bown (center) get a job briefing from Union Pacific switchman/brakeman Blake Benne in Council Bluffs, Iowa, rail yard. If you were watching The History Channel last night or very early this morning, you may have seen a bit of Council Bluffs.

The latest episode in the " Extreme Trains" series focused on the Transcontinental Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mark Davis says a crew for the show started filming in Council Bluffs last February.

"Began taping in our yard in Council Bluffs. The crew spent some time in the U.P. Museum (and the) Harriman Dispatch Center," Davis says. "And then from there we started working our way across the state, ended up in North Platte, spent the day there and ended up all told — after day eight — in Sacramento, California."

The Transcontinental Railroad started in Council Bluffs and ended in Alameda, California. It was completed in 1869. By linking the rail lines that already existed in the eastern United States through Council Bluffs and to the west, the line allowed passengers — for the very first time — to travel from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast by rail. Davis saw last night’s The History Channel program.

"It shows not only the Omaha/Council Bluffs area, the historic references — not only the Union Pacific Railroad, but how the railroad was built — as well as what happens today," Davis says. "It’s a good, well-rounded show." Matt Bown, the host of the "Extreme Trains" series, rode part of the route from Council Bluffs to California.

"Probably the coolest train ride I have gone through in my railroad career," Bown says. "…It blew my mind." The "Extreme Trains" episodes air at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and the "Transcontinental Railroad" episode will be rebroadcast sometime next year.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

New Iowa travel guide available

December 31, 2008 By

Just in time for the new year, the Iowa Tourism Office has released the 2009 edition of the Iowa Travel Guide. Office manager Nancy Landess says the booklet contains more than 100 new listings.

"In fact, our cover features one of Iowa’s newest attractions. It’s the Honey Creek Destination State Park, located near Lake Rathbun by Centerville," Landess said. The Honey Creek Resort features a 105-room lodge, an indoor water park and an 18-hole golf course. Other new listings in the 2009 guide include the Iowa-80 Trucking Museum in Walcott and the North Raccoon River Water Trail in Sac City.

Every year, thousands of motorists pick up the travel guide at one of 19 Iowa Welcome Centers. The Iowa Tourism Office is also turning to social media tools to market the state’s attractions and accommodations. "We know that people are getting their information to travel in all kinds of ways, so we are on Facebook and Twitter," Landess said. "We hope people will become our fans or followers and there are people giving suggestions all the time on things that you can see or do."

Anyone can get the travel guide mailed to them, free of charge, by calling 1-800-345-IOWA or using the online order form at www.traveliowa.com. The entire 186-page guide is also available for viewing online. Landess says tourism is a six-point-three billion dollar industry in Iowa, employing more than 65,000 people and generating 308-million dollars a year in state taxes.

 

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Survey shows smoking down 22% in Iowa

December 31, 2008 By

A new survey shows the number of Iowans who smoke has dropped dramatically in the last two years. Bonnie Mapes of the Iowa Department of Public Health says approximately 79,000 fewer adults in Iowa smoke. She says the number of smokers has gone "from 18% to 14%, which reprents a 22% decrease since 2006."

Mapes says they believe this is one of the biggest changes in the country. Mapes says there hasn’t been research back to 1998 to compare every state each two years of the survey, but she says they’ve gone back and done some searching and "it is a very, very, significant drop, it’s one of the best drops any state has ever seen."

Mapes, who is the director of the Tobacco Use and Prevention Control Division, says the state has done several things to encourage or help people stop smoking, and those are likely factors in the drop. She says the tobacco tax increase is one thing, and the Quitline has offered free nicotine patches and gum. Mapes says 26,000 people called the Quitline last year to get help. She says the new Smoke Free Air Act that bans smoking in most public places will likely keep more people from smoking, but she says it’s hard to say how much impact all of those things have had.

The survey does give some insight into why people are putting down the cigarettes. Mapes says more than half the people (54%)said they quit for health reasons, and the next highest reason was that cigarettes are too expensive. Nineteen percent said they quite because it was too expensive.

Too see more on the preliminary survey results, visit the Iowa Department of Public Health’s website and look under "Adult Tobacco Surveys." The full report will be available by mid-February. For help in quitting smoking, you can call Quitline Iowa at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit the Quitline website .  

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Ferentz won’t comment on NFL talk

December 31, 2008 By

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz refused to comment on the latest reports connecting him to coaching vacancies in the National Football League. Ferentz has been mentioned as a candidate for the opening with the Cleveland Browns.

"I’ve made a habit of not commenting on that…I’ve got a great job, I’m happy to have a great job, I’m appreciative of having a great job. I’ve been at Iowa 10 years, so you know, not much else to say on that topic," Ferentz said.

Ferentz and the Hawkeyes are in Tampa getting set for tomorrow’s Outback Bowl Matchup against South Carolina. Their final full practice was on Tuesday. He says the physical work is all done and he doesn’t know what else can be done. Ferentz says the trick of bowl week is to keep things in balance and have everything ready to go when the kickoff comes.

It is unusual for the Hawkeyes to be favored in a New Year’s Day game but they are in this one though Ferentz says that means nothing. "I’ve read numerous times that we are the favorites, I can tell you this, it got me thinking a little bit and I went back and did some research, our four losses we were favorites, so you can take that about as far as it will let ya," Ferentz says.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier hopes the Gamecocks are ready to play their best game of the season. He says they’ve had good practices and have had good spirit. The Gamecocks received a visit from Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden during Tuesday’s practice. Spurrier says that was nice to see, as the Bucs had a very tough ending to their season. Iowa is 8-4. South Carolina is 7-5.

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