February 9, 2012

You are here: Home / 2008 / August / Archives for 21st

Search continues for missing U-I professor

August 21, 2008 By

About 20 police officers and K-9 dogs continue to comb a 185 acre park in Iowa City for a missing University of Iowa professor. The search for 66 year old Arthur Miller started Wednesday when his car was found inside the entrance to Hickory Hill Park.

Sergeant Mike Brotherton says Miller may have a high-powered rifle with him, but he says not believe Miller is a threat to anyone but himself. "At this point, we’re probably looking at it more as a recovery mission," Brotherton said. "I don’t believe that Mr. Miller would be out there surviving in the park for a couple of days."

Inside Miller’s car, officers found his wallet, cell phone and ammunition. He left a note for his wife on Tuesday. Brotherton described the note as "apologetic, rather than suicidal." Miller was recently charged with four counts of accepting bribes.

The political science teacher is accused of offering better grades to female students in exchange for sexual favors. Officials at the University of Iowa are not releasing specific details, but say they have bolstered security on campus as a precaution. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Utility company warns of high heating costs

August 21, 2008 By

Another utility is offering a gloom-and-doom prediction for Iowans about the cost of natural gas in the winter heating season ahead. Bob McKeon, spokesman for Black Hills Energy, says home heating costs are expected to be more than 20% higher compared to last year.

McKeon says, "Prices for all forms of energy are on the rise and despite recent declines, natural gas prices are at a historically high level for this time of year." He says while Iowa’s weather is warm now, people need to do what they can to make home improvements to keep the heat in later.

He says, "Sometimes (it’s) as easy as turning down the thermostat but it’s also caulking, weather-stripping and just kind of simple things to weatherize your home to make it more air tight." McKeon wants to make sure customers in Iowa know the increase is not helping the company’s bottom line.

He says, "We don’t profit from those costs because the cost for the gas commodity we pass through to customers without mark-up." McKeon says if you get behind on your bills, make sure you contact the utility. "Any customer concerned about their ability to pay their energy bill should call us right away," he says. "Black Hills Energy will work with them to help them maintain their natural gas service."

Customers can enroll in a monthly budget program so there are no surprises when the bill comes in the middle of winter. They also offer an energy assistance program to those who are having financial trouble. South Dakota-based Black Hills, which bought out Aquilla last month, has about 127,00 residential customers in Iowa and another 20,000 commercial customers statewide.  

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

African American Museum of Iowa holding flood recovery fundraiser

August 21, 2008 By

African American Museum of Iowa The African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids is beginning an on-line fundraiser Friday to help the museum recover from flood damage. Paschal Eze is a volunteer who is coordinating the "Count Me In Campaign."

Eze says the museum needs a lot of help to get back on its feet as it was about five feet underwater and sustained some $720,000 in damage, and only about $70,000 is covered by insurance. Eze says one of the few good things to come out of the flooding is the national attention it gained. That attention has led to many offers of help.

Eze says they’ve had people write from Scotland, Washington State and Maryland to send checks ahead of this fundraiser. Eze is an immigrant from Niegeria who says he’s been in the museum when kids have come through.

Eze says the kids had a glow on their faces as they read the facts in the museum, and he wants to see that continue so Iowans can appreciate the past and use that to understand the present. Eze says the on-line fundraiser makes it easy for people to help the African American Museum of Iowa.

He says the idea is to allow "cultural loving people" everywhere the chance to "point, click and donate." You can go to Count Me In Campaign website   to participate in the campaign. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest

Nebraska trucker held in death of Iowa motorist

August 21, 2008 By

An out-of-state trucker is being held after he allegedly hit and killed a motorist in Iowa. A 64-year-old West Des Moines motorist died late last night as the result of an accident on Interstate 35 and Highway 3 in Franklin County.

The Iowa State Patrol identified the victim as Thomas Barker. Reportedly the 2001 Volkswagen driven by Barker was involved in a single-vehicle accident, and  when Bakrer got out of the car, he was then struck and killed by a southbound 2004 Peterbilt semi driven by 61-year-old Gordon Budt of Cook, Nebraska.

Budt did not stop at the accident scene. He continued on southbound on I-35 until he was later apprehended in West Des Moines by the State Patrol.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Microsoft to build $500 million facility in West Des Moines

August 21, 2008 By

Michael Manos of Microsoft announces new facility in West Des Moines. Microsoft will build its new, half-a-billion dollar “server farm” in West Des Moines.

The official announcement came during a Thursday morning news conference at the statehouse where Microsoft’s Michael Manos, the general manager of the company’s data center services, discussed the reasons for Microsoft’s decision. 

“The data center is really the home, the nerve center of the Internet,” Manos said. “When we start thinking about the Internet a lot of people think about the white, puffy clouds and people just using it. But at the end — at the core of the Internet — are these large facilities, filled with computers, delivering products and services to the world. Iowa will be a key hub in that infrastructure moving forward.”

Just over four dozen people will be employed at the facility, maintaining thousands of computers. ”Microsoft serves over 500,000,000 unique users in its web properties every single month,” Manos says. “There will be 500,000,000 unique people visiting Iowa through the auspices of this data center.”

State and federal legislators from both parties joined Governor Chet Culver at the event. ”I just want to say four words: Microsoft, welcome to Iowa,” Culver said, to applause from the crowd of economic development agents and elected officials gathered for the announcement.

The state of Iowa offered Microsoft a package of incentives to lure the operation here, including a tax break that means Microsoft will not pay sales taxes on the electricity used to run the facility’s computers. Manos, the general manager of data center services for Microsoft, says the facility planned for Iowa will be a “next generation” facility. 

“A facility that drives significantly better energy efficiency than any other data center that we’re aware of in construction today,” Manos says. “Iowa, specifically West Des Moines, was the perfect location with its access to telecommunications infrastructure, access to power — all of these things have come together to help us drive an infrastructure for our next generation facilities.”

To hear more about the Microsoft facility planned for West Des Moines, click on the audio link below. Google currently operates a “server farm” in Council Bluffs.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Loebsack just back from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan

August 21, 2008 By

Representative Dave Loebsack (D), has dinner with Sgt. Scott Buss, a native of Hampton, Iowa at Camp Liberty Aug. 14, 2008. Congressman Dave Loebsack of Mount Vernon is just back from an eight-day trip to Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Loebsack, a Democrat who’s a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was in the same region this past January. Loebsack says he saw the evidence of increased hostilities in Afghanistan.

"On the ring road — the main road, Highway 1 — the further we got from Kabul the more IED explosions, you know, were clear on the road. In fact, I saw two scenes of smoldering vehicles that had recently been attacked either by IEDs or other kinds of rockets, so it’s clearly worse in that sense and that’s why we sent more troops," Loebsack says, "That’s why I think there’s a bipartisan consensus forming in congress for a recommitment to Afghanistan."

Loebsack says it "remains to be determined" just how many more troops need to be redeployed to Afghanistan. Loebsack says he saw an "improving" security situation in Iraq. "And many of those fighters in Iraq who were fighting Iraq have in fact left and gone to Afghanistan," Loebsack says, "so (Afghanistan is) really where the central front in the war on terror is located at the moment."

Loebsack and the delegation of Americans visited Pakistan just before the country’s president resigned. "We got there right in the middle of it and we weren’t sure if there was going to be a crisis while we were there or not, but it certainly made things more interesting," Loebsack says, "and the security situation was just about as tense as one could imagine and then he resigned just after we left country."

Loebsack and the other members of congress were ferried around in one of the new mine-resistant vehicles. "They’re really a godsend, if you will, for the troops. We introduced them first in Iraq," Loebsack says. "were very thankful for those M-RAPs."

M-RAP is the military’s acronym for Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected vehicle. Loebsack was able to visit with some Iowa soldiers serving in the region, and he gave them footballs marked with an Iowa Hawkeye logo.

(Photo provided by the Department of Defense)

AUDIO: Loebsack speaks with RI. 4:20 MP3

Filed Under: Military, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

IA Guard leader says leave policy is taking too long to implement

August 21, 2008 By

General Ron Dardis National Guard members who exceed traditional deployments overseas are not receiving all the benefits they’ve earned when they return, according to the head of the Iowa National Guard. Adjutant General Ron Dardis says it’s happening in spite of a new policy for respite leave for returning soldiers.

"The intent of that was for the soldier to be paid for a leave status and be able to spend time with his (or her) family," Dardis said. Under traditional deployments, guard members serve no more than once every five years and no longer than 12 months at a time.

Iowa guard units have been exceeding those limits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dardis says the department of defense is taking too long implementing the new policy, which is designed to give such soldiers time off with pay when they return.

"There have been soldiers that have been deployed and are back home, off duty or in some cases out of the guard, and they did not realize the benefits that were due them," Dardis said. A bill in Congress would address the problems, and also place a guard representative on the joint chiefs of staff to better advocate for part-time soldiers.

 

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:
« Older Posts