The Marshalltown city council has determined that Acting Police Chief Jack McAllister will stay in that post until Police Chief Lon Walker returns from active duty with the U.S. Army. For the last two weeks, the council was contemplating changing the city ordinance to list requirements for the police chief position to include a four-year college degree. That led to speculation that McAllister would not be allowed to remain as acting police chief, since he has an Associate of Arts degree, and 28 years of police experience. After Walker left in September for an undetermined length of time, Assistant Chief McAllister was temporarily named to the chief’s post. A survey of the police department indicated they preferred McAllister as opposed to hiring someone from outside the current staff. The first reading of the ordinance change was on the council agenda but was not put into a motion to adopt, effectively terminating the proposal.
Marshalltown city council will keep acting police chief in place
Shonn Greene is Big 10 offensive player of the year
Iowa running back Shonn Greene has been named the Big Ten Conference offensive player of the year. The junior from New Jersey rushed for 1,729 yards, which broke the single season record, in leading the Hawkeyes to an 8-4 mark.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says Greene has handled all the attention very well and has kept it about the team and not about himself. Ferentz says the line has done a great job, but Greene has had a "phenomenal" season.
Ferentz says Greene has been consistent both on an off the field. He says it’s a great story about what Greene has done on the field and the way he has handled the new found success. Ferentz says it’s a little like former quarterback Brad Banks, who found himself in the middle of the media spotlight in midseason.
Iowa senior Mitch King was named the Big Ten defensive lineman of the year.
Senator Grassley says Obama economic team a good choice
President-elect Obama’s new economic team is getting a thumbs-up from Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. Grassley says, "As far as their qualifications to do the job that they’re in, he’s selecting a good team of people and I’m glad he’s selecting them early so that they can get to work right now so on January 20th, we can move forward."
While Obama’s presidential campaign focused on the hallmark of "change," Grassley says he’s not seeing a lot of change in the people around whom Obama is surrounding himself, which Grassley says is a good thing.
"Predictability in government is something that builds confidence in people if they know what’s coming around the corner and with the people that he’s putting in, people that have been in previous administrations, people that have been with the Clintons, people that have worked for both Republican and Democrat administrations, it builds confidence and there’s not change like I was fearful of," Grassley says.
He says the kind of change Obama promised "was so undefined, it made me nervous. Now that he’s appointing familiar faces from the Clinton administration to very high-level positions I’m less concerned."
Cedar Rapids launches campaign for federal flood relief
City leaders in Cedar Rapids have launched a letter and phone call campaign as they fight for more federal flood relief. City Manager Jim Prosser is asking local residents to ask their friends and family members, especially those living in other states, to contact their federal lawmakers about the need to help Cedar Rapids recover.
"If they get 100 phone calls, that will have an impact. If they get 1,000…and there’s no reason to think we couldn’t generate 1,000…that’s really going to raise awareness," Prosser said. City leaders think lawmakers outside of Iowa don’t understand the extent of the damage in Cedar Rapids. Prosser says it’s important for people to emphasize the urgent need for more federal money.
"Funding five years from now is not really as helpful as funding right now…funding in the next few months. That’s what we’re looking for," Prosser said. He’s encouraging Cedar Rapids residents to talk to their friends and family members about the campaign over the holidays. Suggestions about what people can include in their letters or phone calls are posted on the city of Cedar Rapids’ website .
Grassley says farm subsidies to rich are aggravating
The rich are apparently getting richer — from farm payments. A report out Monday found more than 2,700 people nationwide who earned more than two-and-a-half million dollars a year and still pulled in farm subsidies. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says it’s aggravating that the U.S.D.A. continues to let the wealthy take advantage of the system. Grassley says he’s been pushing the agency to fix these — and other –glaring and expensive errors. “There were some instances where people had been dead for a long period of time who were continuing to get farm payments, not just once but more than once, because people in the Department of Agriculture are not doing their job,” Grassley says. The latest report says the 2,700 wealthy people collected more than 49-million dollars in farm subsidies over four years. Grassley says this report, and other actions by Congress, should send a clear signal to U.S.D.A. that these millionaires should not be getting farm payments. “We have tightened up in the new Farm Bill the restrictions for two classes of people, one farmers, one non-farmers, that there’s more restrictions, in the case of non-farmers, it’d be a half-a-million dollars income instead of two-and-a-half million, and in the case of farmers, it’d be $750,000 instead of the two-and-a-half million,” Grassley says. Still-tighter restrictions would have been desired, Grassley says, as he’d fought for a “hard cap” of $250,000 income as the payment cutoff, but failed. He says 10% of the farmers are getting 70% of the federal benefits.
Drake student named Rhodes Scholar
A Drake University senior and former standout on the women’s basketball team is one of 32 Americans selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2009.
Lindsay Whorton learned this weekend that she will receive a two-year scholarship to study at Oxford University in England. There were 769 U.S. applicants. Whorton is Drake’s first Rhodes Scholar in 82 years.
"It’s definitely just mind-boggling in a lot of ways," Whorton told Radio Iowa. "It’s just humbling and a great honor to be a part of that group." Whorton says an English professor and Drake President Dr. David Maxwell encouraged her to apply – and she did so somewhat reluctantly. The 22-year-old says she felt like an "underdog" from the outset.
Whorton said, "I just really believed that if I had the opportunity to study (at Oxford) it would just be because that’s where God wanted me to be. So, I just wanted to take the opportunity and see what would happen." Whorton carries a perfect academic record at Drake and will graduate with majors in English and secondary education. At Oxford, she plans to study social policy and evidence-based social intervention.
"Those things would basically just give me the tools to look at social reform in various capacities, whether that’s working for a not-for-profit organization or advocate politically," Whorton said. "It would really just open the door for me to do a lot of different things." However, Whorton refuses to speculate about her post-Oxford career.
"I didn’t realize that I’d being going to England three years ago, so to speculate as to what’s going to be possible at the conclusion of this experience just seems a little foolish on my part," Whorton said. "I’m just excited to take it one step at a time and see where things go."
Whorton used up her athletic eligibility last season, when she was named a first-team academic all-American. The guard was one of Drake’s team captains and was selected to the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team. Drake Womens Basketball Coach Amy Stephens also encouraged Whorton to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship.
"She was the one that was really just relentless…letting me know this was something I had to do," Whorton said of Stephens. Whorton is a native of Independence, Missouri and credits her parents for her work ethic and confidence. "I think I would be in a tremendously different place without (my parent’s) influence," Whorton said. "I also had great teachers in high school, who really got me interested in the field of education."
Whorton is student teaching this semester at Valley High School in West Des Moines. On Monday, she dressed up as Huck Finn to introduce the Mark Twain character to students. Whorton will begin attending Oxford University in September 2009. The internationally renowned Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British philanthropist Cecil Rhodes.
Education Department director on panel advising president-elect
The director of the Iowa Department of Education, Judy Jeffrey, will serve on a task force that’s developing education-related recommendations for the next administration. Education Department spokesperson, Elaine Watkins-Miller, says there are eight members of the task force from across the country.
She says they’ll look at federal education legislation and provide recommendations to the presidential education transition team, as well as Congress and the U.S. Education Secretary. The group will focus on how the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) impacts public schools throughout the United States.
The group is called the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO’s) presidential transition task force. Watkins-Miller says in addition to being named to the task force, Jeffrey has also been named to the board of directors of the group. Watkins-Miller says the council is a nonpartisan, nationwide organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education across the country.
Watkins-Miller says Jeffrey has served on several committees for the group in the past, and that’s one of the reasons she was chosen for this job. She says Iowa’s leadership in education and Jefferey’s expertise in several education topics are also reasons she was chosen for the job. Watkins-Miller says the group will work quickly and have its recommendations finalized by the end of the year.
