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Grassley comments on Leach’s speech

August 26, 2008 By

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, a Republican, took the podium last night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, touting the attributes of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, says he’s disappointed Leach chose to endorse Obama so publicly.

Grassley says: "Obviously, he didn’t sway me and I still wonder why Jim Leach is doing this. I wish he weren’t. He gave a fabulous speech." Leach, a Davenport native who’s now a professor at Princeton, said Obama meets the needs of the moment and compared the Illinois senator to J.F.K.

Leach says he’s not leaving the Republican party, but is just asking others to ignore partisan divisions. Grassley says it’s clear Leach is still a Republican at heart. Grassley says, "He spoke an awful lot about good things about the Republican party, and Republican presidents, even mentioning Reagan in one of his examples, and I hope the American people, in particular the Democrat delegates, heard everything he said."

Grassley says it appears Leach based his support for Obama only on the foreign policy of the Bush administration, specifically Iraq. 

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

Shawn Johnson kids with David Letterman before heading home

August 26, 2008 By

Gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines delayed her return to Iowa Monday so she could stop in New York City to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on C.B.S. The 16-year-old Johnson told Letterman that 4,000 people were waiting for her at the airport before her plans changed to do the his show, "and now they’re all going home." She also talked about how she got started in gymnastics.

Johnson says she started when she was three after she started walking at nine months and scared her parents one day when she showed up in their room. Johnson says she’s had a pretty normal childhood as friends didn’t realize until recently how good she was.

"Most of my friends and stuff always though I was like the recreational kid that did cartwheels and stuff," Johnson says. She says once she came back from the world championships last year and they had seen her on t-v, her friends said, "You weren’t joking" about being a gymnast.

Johnson won three silver medals in Beijing in addition to one gold medal, which she brought along to show Letterman and the TV viewers. Letterman showed Johnson a picture of her bronze statue that’s in the Iowa Hall of Pride, and then surprised her with a picture from the Iowa State Fair.

"I haven’t seen that yet," Johnson said, "oh my God, that’s me in butter," she said refiring to her likeness carved in butter at the fair. Letterman later joked that he had seen the Chinese gymnasts using pacifiers when they thought they weren’t on camera. He asked Johnson about the age controversy surrounding the Chinese.

Johnson says she doesn’t know what to think when asked if she thought the Chinese girls were not the required age of sixteen. Johnson said she’s good friends with the Chinese girls and said,"It’s kind of sad to think they might have broke the rules if they’re not of age, but it’s something they can’t control." A rally is planned for Johnson this evening at six o’clock in downtown Des Moines at the Iowa Events Center. 

Filed Under: Human Interest, Recreation & Entertainment

Wisconsin man dies in Poweshiek County

August 26, 2008 By

A Wisconsin man drowned Monday afternoon in a lake in east-central Iowa. The Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Office received a call at about 3:45 p.m. in regard to the drowning in Diamond Lake, northwest of Montezuma.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to the second shelter house on the south side of Diamond Lake Park, where they discovered 71-year-old William Timmerman of Cuba City, Wisconsin had been fishing. Timmerman had fallen out of a boat and was not wearing a life jacket.

Bystanders performed CPR, before he was pronounced dead at Grinnell Regional Medical Center. The incident is being investigated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Poweshiek County Sheriff’s Department.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Rebuild Iowa Commission says special legislative session needed

August 26, 2008 By

The members of the commission appointed by the governor to oversee the rebuilding of the state following the flooding and tornadoes says the legislature should return for a special session to address the issue. While the group is still preparing its final report that’s due in September, Cedar Rapids Rebuild Iowa commission member Carroll Reasoner says the legislature cannot wait until January to act.

"I think its very important to send a message to all the citizens of the state who have been devastated, that the state cares, that the needs are there and we need to give them some hope that there’s some creative help coming their direction. I don’t know what all the answers are, but I think they need to know that there is some hope coming," Reasoner says.

Reasoner says the legislature cannot wait until January to release economic development money for damaged businesses.

Reasoner says there is money in the Iowa Values Fund, but they’ve been told there are restrictions on the money so it can’t be used for flood redevelopment without certain restrictions that the communities can’t meet. She says the legislature needs to come back and remove the restrictions.

Some are worried about the cost of a special legislative session — which is about $48,000 a day– but Reasoner says that shouldn’t be a major concern. She says that would be a minimal cost compared to the billions of dollars in damage done to the state.

Reasoner says it "sends a terrible message to the citizens" if legislators are more worried about the cost of a special session than they "about the citizens and their needs." Reasoner says legislators would have to get right to work on the flood issues in January, and that would take up their time and things could then not be done until April. "the need is immediate, it is now, and it’s not going to get better with time," Reasoner says.

The 15-member panel wraps up a two-day meeting in Des Moines today as they draft recommendations for the final report.

 

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With:

AFSCME leader makes appeal to Iowa Democrats

August 26, 2008 By

The president of Iowa’s largest union for public employees asked Democrats attending their party’s national convention to support changes in state labor laws. Danny Homan of Sioux City represents the nearly 40,000 Iowa members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME).

"Public sector employees need the same rights that our brothers and sisters have in the private sector. They ought to be able to bargain for anything they want to bargain for at the table, " Homan said. "Bargaining is bargaining."

Homan’s remarks in favor of expanding the items which may be part of labor/management bargaining sessions over wages for government employees came before Governor Chet Culver, a fellow Democrat, arrived at the meeting. Culver, as you may recall, vetoed a bill that would have broadened the bargaining rights of public sector employees in Iowa.

Homan also pressed for legislation that would require non-union members to pay a fee for union representation in wage negotiations and other on-the-job benefits. "We need those two things passed in Iowa and every Democrat, whether you’re a school board member, a city council mayor, a mayor, a house member or a senate member in Iowa — as Senator Kibbie said at a meeting I was at: ‘Knock off the crap. Let’s get it done and let’s start supporting organized labor,’" Homan said.

Notably missing from Homan’s list of public officials was governor. Governor Culver arrived at the Denver meeting site about half an hour after Homan finished speaking. You can listen to all of Homan’s remarks by clicking on the audio link below.

AUDIO: Homan speech at DNC. 7:00 MP3

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

Voltunteers sought to help sexual assault victims

August 26, 2008 By

An Iowa City-based program that provides support and assistance to victims and survivors of sexual assault is looking for volunteers to take part in a training program in September. Officials with the Rape Victim Advocacy Program will teach volunteers to provide support to sexual assault victims through a local sexual abuse hotline or over the statewide Iowa Sex Abuse hotline.

The program’s coordinator, Tara Wood, also says volunteers will receive training in another important area. She says they’re also looking for people to go with victims to the hospital or police station to support them while they have the sexual assault evidence gathering done. Wood says they have a couple of requirements for the positions.

Wood says they’re looking for female adults who’re "looking to turn their concern about what’s going on into action." Wood says the recent charges of sexual assault against two U-I football players has raised interest in the program.

Wood says they’ve had a lot of people say the charges have made them angry and concerned and they want to do something good instead of being negative. If you’re interested in participating, contact the Rape Victim Advocacy Program at 319-335-6001. The deadline to register is September 1st.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Schools get new playground surfaces made of old tires

August 26, 2008 By

Nearly two dozen schools in the state are getting new playground surfaces that are designed to reduce injuries from falls and increase accessibility. Workers at Welch Products, based in Carlisle, are using 1.5 million pounds of crumb rubber from recycled tires to create the surfaces.

Welch Products spokesman Tim Mahoney says traditional playground surfaces – such as mulch, sand or pea gravel – are fairly safe, but have a number of shortcomings. "They’re high maintenance products," Mahoney says, "you have rake them back and replace all the holes on a daily basis. Secondly, most of those products don’t provide any A.D.A. accessability, so there’s no integration of children with disabilities on the playgrounds."

The new playground surfaces are the result of a partnership between the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Association of School Boards and should be completely installed by early next month. Twenty-two schools selected for the grants are required to hold an educational program or ceremony highlighting the benefits of recycling tires. Mahoney says recycled tires can also used as an energy source.

"Traditionally, they’ve been used as fuel to power anything from cement plants to power plants," Mahoney said. Welch Products also works closely with the Iowa Department of Transportation to reuse old tires. Mahoney says the recycled tires are used in a host of D.O.T. construction project and as roadside vegetation control.

According to Welch Products’ website, over 225 million scrap tires are generated every year in the United States. Here’s the list of schools that are getting new playground surfaces:

Pekin Elementary, Packwood

Lakeview Elementary, Solon

Glidden-Ralston Elementary, Glidden

Prairie View Elementary, Cedar Rapids,

Mid-Prairie Kalona Elementary, Kalona

Prairie Valley Elementary, Callendar

Baxter Elementary, Baxter

Gilmore City-Bradgate Elementary, Gilmore City

Aurelia Elementary, Aurelia

Central Elementary Kindergarten Building, Elkader

Harris-Lake Park Elementary, Lake Park

Roland Story Elementary, Story City

West Hancock Elementary, Britt

Durant Elementary, Durant

Anderson Elementary, Bondurant

Westridge/Thode-Rouse Child Development Center, Waterloo

West Elementary, Polk City

Sunset Heights Elementary, Webster City

The Early Childhood Learning Center, Cherokee

Hills Elementary, Des Moines

Karen Acres Elementary, Urbandale

 

Filed Under: Education, Recreation & Entertainment
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