May 21, 2012

You are here: Home / 2008 / November / Archives for 12th

New Sullivan Brothers Museum to open this weekend

November 12, 2008 By

The Sullivan brothers of Waterloo. A new museum named for the five Iowa brothers who died in World War II when their Navy ship was sunk opens this weekend in Waterloo.

The Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum tells the story of the five Sullivans, as well as Iowa’s other veterans. Billie Bailey has been leading the project.

 "It’s really been an incredible trip," Bailey says. "It started probably almost 10 years ago with the concept and through the fundraising and the planning and the having a take a break, and then more planning again, it’s really been pretty exciting." The museum tells the stories of Iowa’s Civil War veterans as well as those who fought in the wars of the last century. Bailey says museum organizers felt a sense of urgency in collecting the first-person accounts of Iowa veterans.

"The urgency was the fact that Iowa was losing World War II veterans at a fairly rapid rate," she says. "These were people that were aging and starting to fail and they’re losing their memories. They’re passing away and (veterans of) the Korean War (are) not far behind, so there really was a sense of urgency to collect as many stories as we could."

Each museum visitor will be given a "dog tag" and at every war exhibit you can run it across a scanner to learn about the Iowa soldier who wore those tags in the military. An interviewer from the museum visited with over 500 Iowa veterans to get those details.

"We’re pleased that we’ve been able to get as many as we have," Bailey says. "This is an ongoing project…That’s something that we’ll continue to do even after the museum is open — collect those stories — probably moving on into Vietnam and the current conflicts."

The museum’s grand opening is this Saturday, November 15.   The facility, located in downtown Waterloo, has 13,000 square feet of exhibit space. "Communication Stations" throughout the facility show letters and e-mail from Iowa soldiers, along with radio and television broadcasts and newspaper articles. There’s also a small theater where you can watch and listen to the first-hand accounts of Iowa soldiers.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military

Senator Grassley not enthusiastic about proposals to bail out automakers

November 12, 2008 By

When U.S. lawmakers return from recess next week, they’ll consider another massive bailout plan — this time for the automaking industry. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s less than enthusiastic about the proposals he’s heard so far.

Grassley says, "If they really want me to get in a frame of mind to consider things like this, the people that are proposing it ought to think in terms of drilling offshore, because that would create a lot of jobs, and things of nature, but we find pretty inconsistent concern about the economy."

One projection says if Ford, G-M and Chrysler all go under, it would cost three-million jobs and 156-billion dollars. Grassley says he’s heard no dollar figure yet for the latest bailout being proposed by some members of Congress.

"There’s a lot of things we know would create jobs that they don’t want to do, and then they want to do things like more bailouts," Grassley says. "I’m of the frame of mind of seeing how comprehensive of a program we can put together to create jobs everywhere, not just to preserve jobs in Detroit." He says the U.S. automakers aren’t doing a very good job of garnering sympathy for themselves.

Grassley says, "You find a pretty ridiculous point of view expressed by the chairman of General Motors when he says, ‘If anybody wants me to resign in order to get some federal help for our company, forget it. Nobody’s going to tell us how to run our company.’" One report says the auto industry supports one in every ten American jobs, and the industry’s failure would bring a catastrophic ripple effect.

After the 700-billion dollar bailout of the nation’s financial industry a few weeks ago, Grassley says he remains unconvinced yet another enormous bailout is necessary. 

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

Husband and wife from Buffalo die in accident

November 12, 2008 By

A husband and wife were killed in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday in eastern Iowa’s Scott County. The crash on Highway 22 was reported just before 1 p.m. The Iowa State Patrol says a pickup truck crossed the center line and slammed into an oncoming car.

The occupants of the car, 76-year-old Otto Olsen and his 77-year-old wife Deloris, were both killed in the crash. The Olsens were longtime residents of Buffalo, Iowa – where Otto was a 40 year veteran of the volunteer fire department. The driver of the pickup was treated and released from a hospital. He’s identified as 21-year-old Kyle Williams of Davenport.

A 15-year-old female passenger in the truck was also hospitalized, but her name and condition are not being released. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Book about rescued Spencer kitty is a top seller

November 12, 2008 By

Dewey the cat book. A book written by a former Spencer librarian about a stray cat is at the top of the New York Ti mes bestsellers list for hardcover nonfiction. Vicki Myron rescued the half-frozen kitty from the book drop at the Spencer Public Library in 1988 and named it "Dewey Readmore Books."

The cat quickly became famous and led Myron to pen the book: "Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World." Sales have gone beyond what she expected. "I knew the book would do well, but I was very surprised to hear we were going to number one," Myron says. She says sales have continued to go up.

Dewey had to be put to sleep in November of 2006. The cat’s story continues to touch people around the country from the young to the old. Myron says it’s selling everywhere and is also number one on the independent sellers association. She says the only place where the book isn’t number one is northern California — but it is number four in sales there.

A series of children’s books is the next project for Myron. She says the books will be some of Dewey’s adventures in a picture book for little kids, and then a book geared more for young adults. Myron will also be putting on lots of miles in the next few weeks as she promotes the book. The book deal was reportedly worth one million dollars.

Myron says she’s close to signing a movie deal — and apparently a star is interested in playing Myron in the picture. Details on that can’t be released yet. 

Filed Under: Human Interest

Electrolux laying off 99 workers in Webster City

November 12, 2008 By

A north-central Iowa factory is cutting jobs. Officials with Electrolux Home Products announced Tuesday that 99 workers will be laid off at the Webster City washer and dryer manufacturer. The layoffs will take effect on Friday, November 14th,according to Tony Evans, a spokesman for the Electrolux company.

There are currently 1,400 people who work for Hamilton County’s largest employer. There is a possibility that the layoffs will be temporary. The current economic situation is to blame for the layoffs at the Electrolux plant.

 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Two die in Boone County accident

November 12, 2008 By

A two-vehicle crash near Luther in Boone County Tuesday killed both drivers and seriously injured a passenger. Fatally injured in the accident were 22-year-old Raymond E. Grandmaitre Junior of Johnston and 32-year-old Larry Hamor Junior of Tama. Fifty-three-year-old Mark Patterson of Tama who was a passenger in the Hamor vehicle was injured.

Reportedly, the 2001 Dodge Dakota driven by Grandmaitrie was traveling north when he attempted to pass a semi. The Grandmaitrie vehicle collided head on with a southbound 2002 Chevrolet van driven by Hamor. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene. Patterson was taken to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines for treatment of his injuries.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

ISU professor part of council on financial literacy

November 12, 2008 By

An Iowa State University professor is a member of a federal panel that spent much of the day Tuesday in Des Moines discussing the current financial situation. Tahira Hira is on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.

Hira says financial literacy means to her that everyone is equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to help make the right financial decisions. She says that includes the small decisions like making a credit card purchase, to buying a home. Hira is a personal finance and consumer economics professor who says Americans need a full range of information to be financially literate.

Hira says every decision we make are not just a matter of knowledge, but also include our values system and our attitudes. She says people need to be equipped to know how to make decisions every single day by understanding limits and parameters.

Hira says that equipping of knowledge includes an understanding of the definition of credit. "Does that mean its my money and I can spend it forever,forever forever, or does that mean that I have somebody’s money to spend for something and I entered into a contract to return it at a certain point that I agreed upon with a certain interest that I agreed upon. Somehow we have forgotten what this is, it’s not just an extension of our income," Hira says.

She says financial literacy means helping people understand their money world much better than they are now. The council is holding discussion sessions across the country and plans to make recommendations to the president in December. 

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With:
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »