Members of the Donna Reed Foundation in Denison are hoping the new lottery ticket featuring the movie "It’s a Wonderful Life" will bring more attention to their work. The foundation was formed after Reed died of Cancer in 1986 and encourages young actors with scholarships. The foundation also hosts an annual performing arts festival with workshops, and supports other cultural activities. The lottery ticket features Reed and actor Jimmy Stewart from their roles of George and Mary Bailey in the movie "It’s a Wonderful Life." Foundation boardmember Roy Voggesser says the ticket will shine the spotlight back on Reed and the foundation. Vogesser says they feel it is a wonderful life in Denison and all of Iowa. Voggesser says the movie’s message of a couple struggling with money problems and getting help from their friends, still holds true today. Vogesser says the Donna Reed Foundation tries to do what it can to continue helping those who have the dream that Reed had. Vogesser says that’s why they have the workshops in the performing arts each June, as it is the foundation’s mission. The "It’s a Wonderful Life" tickets are now on sale and the Iowa Lottery is also holding a contest in December to find George and Mary Bailey look-alikes.
Donna Reed Foundation hopes Lottery Ticket raises awareness
DHS says cutting welfare disparities involves several strategies
Department of Human Services workers say addressing racial disparities in Iowa’s child welfare system will involve a wide range of strategies. New DHS Director Gene Gessow says a disproportionate number of black children are being placed in out-of-home care. He calls it a statewide problem that he hopes to correct over the next decade.
Meanwhile, DHS employees say they’re working to better understand the needs of the kids and families they’re serving. DHS social worker Abdul Muhammad is based in Polk County. "One of the things that we’re doing differently is we are beginning to respect people’s cultural differences," Muhammad said. "When we approach a family, we take our services that we normally offer to a family and individual that to meet that family’s needs. We ask what we can do for them, what they need from us and really develop a partnership."
The agency is also working to recruit more African American foster homes. Last week, the DHS unveiled a new campaign that Gessow says is designed to ensure that children’s treatment doesn’t depend on their race or ethnicity. The effort includes a website: www.helpmakenodifference.com.
Miller says smoking cessation programs next step in battle against "Big Tobacco"
Attorney General Tom Miller says there’s been a huge "societal change" in attitudes about smoking.
"For a long time, the tobacco industry dominated the culture of tobacco. The two big figures were the Malboro Man and the Virginia Slims woman. For men it was manly; it was outdoors; it was strong; it was the thing to do. For women it was the feminine, sophistocated thing to do. Well, gradually that changed somewhat into the 1990s and then the tobacco industry sort of regrouped and what they wanted the culture of tobacco to be was neutral," Miller says. "How many times did we hear ‘legal product; adult choice’?"
Despite the dramatic change in public attitudes about smoking — and a corresponding drop in smoking rates — Miller says he’s still a bit surprised Iowa legislators moved this year to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. "I think as we more and more win the cultural battle, the issue that’s left is cessation…70 percent of smokers want to quit," Miller says. "How do we help them quit?"
Over 40 percent of American adults smoked in the 1960s. Today, just under 20 percent of Iowa adults smoke. Miller says there’s been an "enormous" reduction in smoking rates among kids. "
According to the University of Michigan study which is the recognized study for daily consumption of cigarettes — for eighth graders, it’s down 71%; for 10th graders, it’s down 61%; for those that are seniors in high school, it’s down 50%," Miller says, "so an enormous reduction among the whole population cigarette smoking in our country and an even more dramatic one among kids."
This past Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the legal settlement tobacco companies struck with the states. Iowa, so far, has been paid over half a billion and stands to collect a total of two billion from cigarette makers over 25 years. Miller says that lawsuit helped reshape public attitudes about smoking. "Part of what happened was the villification of the industry as more and more facts were coming out," Miller says. "…The release of the documents out of the lawsuit also provided an avalanche of stories and more information about this industry and what they do."
Miller, though, admits he’s disappointed state legislatures — including Iowa’s — have used only a fraction of tobacco company payments to the states for programs that help smokers quit. Miller was among the attorneys general who negotiated that legal settlement and Miller argued judges should be involved in deciding how the money was spent. "I wasn’t able to do that. That was sort of a bridge too far," Miller laments. "…So what happened is that the legislature gets to decide how to spend the money each year."
According to the Tobacco-Free Kids group, Iowa ranks 21st among the states in terms of spending on tobacco prevention. While Iowa is spending about $11 million this year on programs to help smokers quit, or keep new smokers from taking up the habit, that’s about a third of what the Centers for Disease Control recommends spending in Iowa.
Big challenges ahead for wind energy industry in Iowa
Iowans are noticing more wind turbines around the state, but a lot of challenges lie ahead for the industry to keep growing. Currently, wind represents about seven-percent of all the energy generated in Iowa. State officials hope to increase that to 20% by 2030.
Iowa State University College of Engineering professor Balaji Narasimhan says investing in wind production could help the state weather the economic downturn. He says long-term investments in wind and other renewable energies would lessen the state’s dependence on petroleum-based energy sources.
Narasimhan says two keys to boosting the wind energy industry in the state involve developing ways to store wind energy and producing a better overall power grid. "We need a grid that will take the energy generated in northwest Iowa and move it to Chicago, Kansas City and Minneapolis in a more efficient way," Narasimhan said. Meanwhile, research is underway in Ankeny to develop a site where wind energy could be stored underground. That technology is already utilized at facilities located in Alabama and in Germany.
Narasimhan is organizing a Wind Energy Symposium at Iowa State University, scheduled for December 9.
Drake men to enjoy some sun and fun along with basketball
The Drake men’s basketball team will be spending much of this week in Cancun, Mexico , for the Cancun Challenge. The Bulldogs are 2-1 after Sunday’s victory over South Dakota State and coach Mark Phelps says his team is making progress.
Phelps says the offense was very ineffective in the first game, and since then, they’ve been able to put more points on the board. At the same time, he says they find their defense needs more work.
Phelps says the Bulldogs have a great attitude and believes that will be reflected in their performance. He says "there are no obstacles in the improvement path," as he says the players all want to get better and are working hard to do that. Phelps says they are making progress and the team is excited by that.
Phelps says while they will be focused on basketball they will mix in some time to enjoy the trip. He says it’s necessary to work hard, but he says it’s also nice to have some time to see the water and the sand while in Cancun. Drake plays Vanderbilt on Saturday and then either Virginia Commonwealth or New Mexico on Sunday.
Turkey industry had little to gobble about this year
Paul Hill of Elsworth enjoyed the spotlight of supplying the national turkey to Washington, but says it has been a tough time for producers of the Thanksgiving bird. Hill says, "The state of the industry this year is just about like the whole economy, it sucks." Hill says there was overproduction of turkeys for the first time in a number of years, and that coupled with high feed prices led to "dramatic losses" for the industry. For Hill and other turkey growers, that means cutbacks in the year ahead as his organization is cutting back the number of turkeys it grows by 50% for seven months. Hill says they have to get the supply levels back to where they should be. His farm typically raises about 700,000 turkeys each year. Hill says turkey growers have seen a change in the use of their birds. He says it used to be that 55 to 60% of the turkeys were sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but that has now dropped to 22 to 25% and moving down. Hill says many of the turkeys now go to sandwich meat. Hill says while turkey growers have had to endure tough times, the overproduction has kept turkey prices from rising as much as other food — which he says has been a good deal for consumers. 
Supplying the national turkey that was pardoned by President Bush is one of the few highlights in a tough year for the Hamilton County farmer who is the chairman of the National Turkey Federation.
AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson reports on turkey industry. :60 MP3
Lessons of "Farm Crisis" could be used today
Iowa suffered through a "Farm Crisis" in the 1980s that was caused by plummeting farmland prices, similar to the decline in home values that’s a main cause of the current economic meltdown.
Iowa State University economist Neil Harl suspects we are not in the midst of a "normal" recession. "This is not a normal downturn," Harl says. "This is a downshifting to a new, lower plateau — at least for a time."
According to Harl, the Wall Street bailout is "pouring money into the top" of banks and other financial institutions when it would be better to help restructure individual loans so people keep their homes and businesses, even though the value of those homes and businesses has plummeted. "When collateral values have fallen, losses have already occurred. It doesn’t help to stand around and say, ‘Pay your bills’ if you can’t," Harl says. "So what do you do? Well, you strip out the debt down to the value of the collateral and maybe prolong the payment. If it’s a 15 year loan, maybe go to a 20 and maybe reduce interest rates, which is anathema to most lenders…This is called debt restructuring and it involves stretching out payment, reducing interest rates maybe even forgiving some principle."
Harl says that was the approach with many restructured farm loans during the Farm Crisis and it worked to stabilize the agricultural sector, whereas the Wall Street bailout launched in late September seems to have done nothing to stabilize the economy. "Not only is it not working, it’s turning off the American people and without the support of the American population, it’s probably not going to work," Harl says.
According to Harl, the treasury secretary and congress asked too little of the recipients of the Wall Street bailout. Harl made his comments on the IPTV program "Iowa Press."
