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Yes you can, recycle political signs

November 6, 2008 By

Election Day is history and whether you backed Obama, McCain or somebody else, chances are, you now have at least one campaign sign in your yard that’s becoming an eyesore. Amy Horst, spokeswoman for the Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, says virtually all of those political placards are recyclable.

First, Horst says, take the sign apart. Take the stand or the stake off the sign. If the sign is paper or corrugated plastic, it can go into the mixed paper bin, while the metal stake can go in with the tin and aluminum cans. The wooden stake can go into the yard waste bag to be mulched.

Horst says some Iowa recycling programs don’t ordinarily take this type of item. "Residents want to know why we can put them in now and they can’t put them in on any other regular day," she says. "We can make exceptions to the rules. Clearly, there a lot of campaign signs out there that need to be disposed of and the best way to do it would be to put it into your recycling bin. We can make those accommodations."

Horst says there are easily many tons of political signs in our yards that can be recycled so they don’t take up space in our landfills. 

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

Meeting tonight on plans for Lake Manawa campground

November 6, 2008 By

One of Iowa’s busiest state parks is getting a facelift. Angela Corio, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says they’re looking at two potential designs for a new campground at Lake Manawa State Park in western Iowa.

"The existing campground is very small," Corio said. "There are only 70 sites, they’re very cramped and very few have lake views. It has an older electrical system and an older shower building." Both proposed renovations would move the campground to the north side of the lake.

One design would significantly increase the number of campsites, but would restict the use of the boat ramp to campers only. "In this concept, the number of campsites would increase to 100. All of them would have electricity, sewer and water systems," Corio said.

The other design concept would offer fewer campsites, but would continue to offer boat ramp use to the general public. "Either way, they will have a fabulous new campground," Corio said. Lake Manawa’s campground plays host to more than 20,000 campers every year. A public meeting to discuss the proposed renovations is scheduled for 7 p.m. today at the Western Historic Trails Center in Council Bluffs.

Corio says the design concepts could be changed and there is currently no timeline or funding for the project. 

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Diabetes awareness urged to help prevent the diesease

November 6, 2008 By

Nearly 200,000 Iowans have diabetes, the state’s fifth leading cause of death and a disease that, in many cases, is preventable. As part of National Diabetes Month, Iowans are urged to learn about the disease and how they can avoid it.

Rosemary Watchorn is the diabetes educator at Hamilton Hospital in Webster City. Watchorn says, "The goal is to raise awareness about diabetes and its serious complications, including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness and amputations."

The body of a person with diabetes can’t produce or can’t properly use insulin. Type One, or juvenile diabetes, is not preventable, but Type Two -is- preventable and is often brought on by poor diet and a lack of exercise. Watchorn says our computer-based, TV-loving society is at a growing risk for diabetes.

She says, "If the current lifestyle and current trends continue, if you have a grandchild or child who’s eight years old, so, a child born in 2000, has a one-in-three chance of developing diabetes sometime during his or her lifetime." To learn more, visit the website of the American Diabetes Association .

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Iowa football facilities get 10 million dollar gift

November 6, 2008 By

Two Iowa businessmen have pledged ten million dollars to the Iowa football program for the renovation and expansion of administrative and training facilities.Bruce Rastetter of Alden is giving five million dollars to the project which will include upgrades to offices and lockerrooms as well as renovation of the indoor practice facility.

Rastetter says with Iowa being a small state, that makes it more challenging for recruiting, and first-class facilities are needed to keep up.Rastetter says the upgrades are needed to keep the Iowa program competitive. He says when you see some of the facilities around the country, Iowa is not going to be able to compete without an updgrade.

Des Moines businessman Dick Jacobson also pledged five million dollars to the project. He recently made a similar commitment to Iowa State for renovations to Jack Trice Stadium. Iowa athletic director Gary Barta says this will complete an upgrade for the football program that included new outdoor practice facilities and a renovation of Kinnick Stadium.

Barta says the improvements will give Iowa facilities as good as anyone in the country. Barta says the project includes two different phases, but the goal is to do it all at once. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission meets for 120 day report

November 6, 2008 By

Downtown Cedar Rapids surrounded by floodwater in June. The Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission will meet today and tomorrow to discuss flood and tornado recovery issues that state lawmakers will need to address when they convene in January.

Spokesperson Tina Potthoff says the 15-member commission will work on drafting a 120-day report.

She says the report will provide a "long term picture" for how the state can respond to this summer’s storms and suggest measures that could be implemented to protect the state from future natural disasters. The Commission will present the report to Governor Culver on November 17th. He was handed a 45-day report back in early September.

"This 120 day report will really identify some long term recovery planning strategies in areas (such as) housing, economic development and transportation," Potthoff said. On Wednesday, Governor Culver announced that 6.6 million dollars in federal funds is on the way to help the state cover the costs of the storm response efforts of the Iowa National Guard.

To date, the state and FEMA have obligated more than 409-million in federal funds for public assistance for projects in Iowa. "This 6.6 million is just part of that and we expect more to come," Potthoff said.

More than 4,000 Guard members were called to duty in the aftermath of the tornadoes and floods. The Federal funds will cover 90-percent of the 7.4 million dollars spent by the Iowa Department of Public Defense. The Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission’s meeting starts at 1 p.m. today at the Sheraton Hotel in West Des Moines.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Absentee ballots proving important in legislative races

November 6, 2008 By

Absentee ballots are proving crucial in some key legislative races around the state. Recounts are expected in perhaps three races where the victor won by a razor-thin margin. In the Iowa House, Democrats appear to have secured 54 seats, compared to 44 for the Republicans.

Two races in the Sioux City area still are undecided because of uncounted "early" votes. House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines says, "We have a number of races that are exceedingly close." One of those Sioux City-area races had just a six-vote margin of victory.

In the Algona area, longtime State Representative Dolores Mertz, a Democrat, leads Republican challenger Steve Richards by just 42 votes. Overall, it appears Democrats have won 31 seats in the Iowa Senate and Republicans have won 19. The other senate race — in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area — had election-night results showing Republican challenger Walt Rogers beat incumbent Democratic state senator Jeff Danielson by 90 votes.

A handful of incumbent legislators lost Tuesday, including Republican Mark Zieman, a state senator from Postville who says some voters thought he was too sympathetic to the owners of the Postville meatpacking plant that was raided to immigration agents in May.

"I do know some people who have said that there were people who would not vote for me because they thought I was too close to the Jewish community," Zieman says. "I think when the price of their house drops in half if this plant closes that they may find out that I was doing something for the greater good." The owners of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville have filed for bankruptcy.

"My big concern is this plant hires a number of people and there’s a lot of ancillary businesses here and if the plant itself closes, the ramifications of this to northeast Iowa are going to be quite devastating," Zieman says. Zieman was beaten Tuesday by Democrat Mary Jo Wilhelm. Zieman’s father, Lyle, started serving in the Iowa Senate in 1993 and the younger Zieman was elected to succeed him in 2000. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Wild Rose film festival begins tonight

November 6, 2008 By

A diverse collection of movies created by filmmakers from Iowa and from around the world will be featured at this week’s Wild Rose Independent Film Festival. The list includes full features, documentaries, student films and shorts, according to Kimberly Busbee, director of the sixth annual festival.

Out of some 200 entries from across the U.S. and internationally, Busbee says they narrowed it down to about 35 entries, including five or six films from Iowans. She says it’s become very competitive to get into the Wild Rose now. The festival is named after the Iowa State Flower. Screenings will start tonight at the State Historical Building of Iowa in downtown Des Moines.

The list of finalists includes films from Ireland, Canada and Mexico, and from California, New York and all over the Midwest. One of the independent feature films was directed by Jon Putch, who’s known for directing several TV shows, including "Scrubs" and "Ugly Betty." Busbee says Putch’s entry for the Iowa festival is called "Route 30."

She says it features an ensemble cast including well-known actress Dana Delany. "The whole cast is great," Busbee says. "It’s a very funny film about stories along the Lincoln Highway, including a spotting of Bigfoot. It’s hysterically funny."

Among the stand-out student films, Busbee says one called "Treasure Diversity" is incredible, especially considering the filmmaker is an 11-year-old boy from Wisconsin. L.A.-based actress and casting director Jamie Rose will also be at the fest, teaching a workshop on auditions for aspiring actors. For a full rundown on the festival, see the website "www.ariesworks.com". The film fest runs through Sunday.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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