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Former Iowa player has interest in both SuperBowl teams

January 31, 2008 By

A former Iowa standout has two reasons to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. Offensive lineman Bob Kratch spent time with both teams during his eight year NFL career. The 1989 third round draft pick was part of the New York Giants team that beat the Buffalo Bills in the 1991 Super Bowl and six years later played for the New England Patriots when they lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Kratch played five years with the Giants and three with the Patriots and still knows a few people on each team. He says it’s exciting to see both playing in the big game.

Kratch played for both of Sunday’s head coaches when he was with the Giants:Bill Belichek was the defensive coordinator and Tom Coughlin coached the wide receivers. He says Coughlin was a very vocal coach who fined players and used discipline, but it sounds like this season Coughlin has changed his demeanor. Kratch says today’s players are probably less likely to put up with a tyrant coach that Coughlin was.

He may have played for both teams but as a native of Brooklyn, Kratch is not sitting on the fence when it comes to choosing sides. Kratch says he is a "Big Blue Giants fan," as his career was mostly in New York. He predicts the Giants will win by a field goal. These days Kratch resides in Watertown, Minnesota. 

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Lawmakers jump on Drake bandwagon too

January 31, 2008 By

It seems everyone is rallying around the Drake Men’s Basketball team. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak with a victory over Creighton last night. The achievement was recognized in the Iowa House today by Urbandale Republican Scott Raecker.

Raecker said Drake athletes were recognized at the game for their academic achievements. Seventy percent have three point grade averages or better, and the men’s basketball team academic performance is even higher.

Raecker called the Bulldogs "Iowa’s new favorite team." The Drake men have scored victories over ISU, Iowa and UNI this season.

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Iowa women look for fifth straight win

January 31, 2008 By

The Iowa Hawkeye women hope to build on a four-game winning streak when they visit Northwestern. The Hawks are 6-3 in the Big Ten and play a Northwestern team that is 4-16 overall and still in search of its first conference win.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says they now have to go on the road to play a Northwestern team that is better than its record. Iowa is 13-7 overall.

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Simpson women in control of Iowa Conference race

January 31, 2008 By

The Simpson College women are in control of the Iowa Conference basketball race. The Storm are 17-1 overall and at 9-0 in the league race have a three game lead in the loss column heading into Saturday’s game at home against the University of Dubuque. Despite a number-eight national ranking coach Brian Niemuth says there are areas that need improvement, such as their consistency within the game. He says they score in streaks and then stop playing hard.

Despite the record and lofty ranking Niemuth says there is no chance this team will become complacent. Hes says the group is focused after tasting some success last year that wetted their appetite.

Defense has been the key all season. Opponents are shooting just 32 percent from the field and only 29 percent from three point range.

Simpson is averaging better than 83-points per game and Niemuth says defense is a big part of that, as the turnovers and rebounds lead to more layups and easy baskets.

 

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Bill would give low-income Iowans break on utility costs

January 31, 2008 By

Opponents squared off at the statehouse today over a bill to give low-income Iowans a break on utility bills. The Iowa Department of Human Rights wants Iowa’s rate-regulated utilities to charge the needy a lower rate for power. Lana Ross with the Iowa Community Action Association says low-income Iowans are struggling to pay their energy bills.

"We have a record number of families who are past due on their accounts in relation to their energy needs," Ross said. The bill would allow the Iowa Utilities Board to approve lower rates for the needy. But Iowa’s consumer advocate John Perkins cried foul. Perkins claims if utilities lower rates for some – rates will go up for others .

"The utility’s got a right to earn a certain amount of money, and if they sell some of their product at a discounted rate, somebody else has to make up for it," Perkins said. "The problem then is that you’ve got another class of ratepayer paying for a social program that really ought to be born by society." But, Ross says the state’s not in a position to help.

Ross says Iowa’s facing a tight budget, which makes it unlikely that lawmakers will approve more energy assistance. Democrats called for further study.

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Harkin not sold on stimulus package

January 31, 2008 By

Senator Tom Harkin is still not sold on the economic stimulus package that cleared the House earlier this week and has the president’s blessing. The senate has begun discussions and changes are in the works. The Senate Finance Committee is backing a plan that would extend unemployment benefits and ensure poor American’s who’re on Social Security, and don’t pay income taxes, still get a check.

Harkin says those changes mean his reaction to the bill has improved. "It’s gone from frigid to just cool," Harkin says. Harkin not happy with another senate wrinkle to give the tax rebates to individuals who make up to $150,000 a year and couples with $300,000 in annual income.

"I even though the House was too high. The House was ($75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for families). I think, you know, just a hard cap of maybe $50,000 or $60,000 — something like that — without doubling up and all that kind of stuff might be acceptable," Harkin says.

Harkin plans to press for boosting food stamp payments as part of the economic stimulus. "The Senate bill is, I want to make it very clear, is I think is much better than the House bill. It’s more progressive. It’s better for low income families…The one thing that’s lacking, of course, is help with food stamps," Harkin says.

"There are some things in that Senate bill that bothers me. There are some business tax deductions that take place next year. Why are they stuck in there? I mean, if they’re stuck in there, what about helping people on food stamps?" Democrats in the senate went into a closed-door meeting this morning to map out strategy for debate on the bill. 

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Iowa Lottery proposes changes to answer security concerns

January 31, 2008 By

The Iowa Lottery is proposing some changes to the way it verifies winning tickets following a discussion with state legislators. Iowa Lottery executives met with the government oversight committee after the State Ombudsman threatened to use legal action to obtain access to lottery consumer complaint files. The ombudsman requested the records as part of an investigation into potential fraud prompted by a retailer fraud scandal in the Canadian lottery.

The ombudsman has since said he’s been assured access to the files. Lawmakers told lottery officials they’d like to see some changes in the system to prevent a retailer from telling a customer a ticket was not a winner and then cashing it in. In response to that request, acting Iowa Lottery CEO Ken Brickman issued a memo to lawmakers outlining three proposed changes.

The Lottery will file an emergency administrative rule to require that each Iowa Lottery ticket bear a signature before it can be validated. Retailers will be required to verify that a ticket bears a signature before attempting to validate it. The Lottery will request that computer-programming changes be made so that a receipt will be printed for each attempt to validate a lotto or instant-scratch ticket.

And finally, the Lottery will develop and implement a public service campaign to remind players of security issues, including the availability of receipts with each lottery ticket-validation attempt. 

Iowa Lottery vice president, Mary Neubauer says they went through a list of possible changes and the pluses and minuses of each. Neubauer says each change has a history behind and a reason it is not being used. For example, Neubauer says many people asked about having lottery machines play music when a winning ticket was run through.

Neubauer says the problem with playing a jingle for a winner is that it notifies the ticket holder they’ve won, but it also tells other people that you have won. Neubauer says the jingle was used years ago, but dropped after ticket winners said they were concerned about their safety if others knew they’d won a prize. She says those safety concerns remain and the lottery won’t bring back the jingle.

Neubauer says the signature and public service campaign could be ready by March, but it will probably take until May to reprogram computers to print the varification receipts for tickets. 

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