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Fort Madison man charged with murder after argument

January 27, 2009 By

An emergency call to police in southeast Iowa has led to the arrest of a man on a murder charge. Fort Madison Police Chief Bruce Niggemeyer says around two o’clock Sunday morning, the police department received a 9-1-1 call from a home for unknown reasons.

When officers arrived, they found 52-year-old Clarence Eugene Overhulser in need of medical attention. Officers then determined that an argument and altercation had occured between Overhulser and 39-year-old Christopher Cleve Seigfried.

Overhulser was transported to the Fort Madison Community Hospital and later to the Iowa City hospitals. Overhulser has since died. Seigfried has been charged with murder in the 1st degree, a class a felony and is being held in the Lee County Jail. Police have declined to release further details at this time pending the outcome of an autopsy.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Vilsack wants to upgrade Ag Department computers

January 27, 2009 By

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, the new U.S. Ag Secretary, is lobbying Congress for $250 million in the economic stimulus package so his agency can upgrade its aged computers.

"It was the first question I asked the transition staff when the president nominated me for this position. I was interested to know how many people actually work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture," Vilsack said. "And I was told that no one knows for sure."

According to Vilsack, U.S.D.A. officials know how many paychecks are issued. But he says the department’s computer system is so outdated they’re not sure how many full- and part-time employees are on the payroll.

"That together with a number of reports from the Inspector General’s office and the (General Accounting Office) concerning the operations and management suggested that what we have here in some aspects and areas is charitably outdated," Vilsack says.

One of Vilsack’s first moves when he became Iowa’s governor in 1999 was to appoint a "chief information officer" and create a new "Information Technology Department" in state government. Vilsack, in his new role as U.S.Ag Secretary, says there are a number of reasons the U.S.D.A. needs new computers.

"First and foremost, it is about improving the service to the people that we serve. We need, at some point in time, to have a web-based system that’s accessible to farmers and ranchers and those who depend upon the programs that U.S.D.A. administers," Vilsack says. "To date, we don’t have that kind of service in place. We ought to — in the 21st century, we ought to."

Much of the computer software used in Farm Service Agency offices debuted in 1985 and computers run so slowly that workers recently were assigned computer time in shifts, with Farm Service Agency employees in the eastern part of the country using their computers in the early half of the work day and those in the western U.S. working on the department’s computers in the last half of the day. Another complicating factor is each of the 29 divisions within the U.S.D.A. operate on different computer systems.

For example, Vilsack tried to send an e-mail to all department employees, but his message had to be reformatted and resent on each system. Vilsack made his comments Monday during his first news conference as U.S. ag secretary. 

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

Grassley and Harkin vote "no" on treasury secretary

January 26, 2009 By

Both of Iowa’s U.S. senators voted against President Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Treasury and the I.R.S.

Timothy Geithner admits he failed to pay income taxes while he was working for the International Monetary Fund. He calls it a careless mistake. But both Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin say it was more than careless — it was a disqualification to hold the job of treasury secretary.

Harkin says it’s hard to understand someone with such "financial sophistication" making an error on their taxes and Harkin went on to say Geithner "made serious errors in his (most recent) job as chief regulator of the financial institutions at the heart of the current financial crisis."

Senator Grassley has been raising concerns about Geithner for days and in remarks on the Senate floor earlier today, Grassley said Geithner’s tax errors were "serious" and in tough financial times, the country’s top tax man should be held to higher rather than lower standards. 

Grassley and Harkin were among 34 senators who voted "no." Sixty voted "yes" and Geithner was sworn in earlier tonight as treasury secretary.

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

Culver proposes 6.5% cut in state budget

January 26, 2009 By

Governor Chet Culver Governor Chet Culver’s recommending a state spending plan for the budgeting year which begins July 1 that’s not only leaner than the current year’s budget, but would spend less than the state budget from two years ago as well.

On December 22, Culver ordered a 1.5% across-the-board cut in the current year’s state budget and Culver’s outline for next year calls for a roughly 6.5% reduction in state spending in nearly all areas of state government.

Culver calculates that is about $480-million  in additional cuts. "Together we must accept the reality and share in the sacrifice," Culver said earlier tonight during a speech to the Iowa Business Council.

Culver characterized his plan as "common sense." Culver opened his 15-minute speech by promising to "find every efficiency" possible in state government.  "I believe we will emerge from this recession in a better and stronger position to lead," Culver said later. "However given the current economic climate, we can’t avoid additional cuts in state spending. Simply put, just as families and businesses across the state and around the nation are doing more with less, so too must state government."

Culver’s proposed cut would be deeper if the state didn’t have millions of dollars in cash reserves. Rather than making additional cuts, Culver’s calling for taking $200 million from the state’s emergency reserves. "I’m both optimistic and confident about what the future holds for our state," Culver said. "We have always met challenges with solutions, problems with answers — and we always will."

Culver is recommending that some areas of the state budget, like spending on education and public safety programs, be cut to a far lesser extent. In a question-and-answer session with reporters tonight, Culver said state worker layoffs are "very likely."

"I think once people understand the ramifications of these types of cuts, coupled with the previous $180 million in cuts, that will result in layoffs," Culver said.

Culver expressed hope his budget plan would be embraced by his fellow Democrats and Republicans in the legislature. "This is the right step to take at the right time, based on what we know today," Culver said.

Culver continues to press legislators to approve a plan that would see the state borrow $700 million to finance infrastructure projects, a state-level economic stimulus package.

Listen to Culver’s speech to the Iowa Business Council by clicking on the audio link below.

AUDIO: Culver speech. 16:00 MP3

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

ISU’s Brackins named Big 12 Player of the Week

January 26, 2009 By

For the third time this season Iowa State sophomore Craig Brackins has been named the Big-12 Conference player of the week. Brackins poured in 42 points and added 14 rebounds in the Cyclones’ loss at home against Kansas. His point total ties for the fourth best in Big-12 history.

Iowa State coach Greg McDermott says Brackins can score in a lot of different ways. He says they’ve used him on the block more, but he can make the inbetween shots and make three point shots.

Kansas coach Bill Self says the Jayhawks could not find a way to slow him down. Self says Brackins made five or six hard shots where he thought they had defended him well. Self says they gave Brackins too many free throws by fouling them.

For Brackins it was his fourth double-double of the season.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

State releasing some convicted sex offenders, following Supreme Court rulings

January 26, 2009 By

Department of Corrections spokesman Fred Scaletta. State prison officials are releasing 15 convicted sex offenders, saying they’ve been forced to do so because of two Iowa Supreme Court opinions.

The justices on Friday ruled some convicted sex offenders who refused to participate in a sex offender treatment program still should have been accumulating "good behavior" time — to be subtracted from their overall sentences.

As of January 1st, 2001, state law specified inmates who failed to participate in sex offender treatment programs while they’re in prison may no longer accumulate that "earned time" for good behavior behind prison walls. Iowa Department of Corrections director John Baldwin and his staff reviewed the records of sex offenders sent to prison before January 1st, 2001, and who had refused to participate in treatment.

As a result, the Department of Corrections listed the names of 12 inmates they say will be released as a result of the high court’s ruling. A document issued Monday afternoon by the Department of Corrections indicated 15 inmates would be released – the 12 inmates listed today and the three who were listed in the two Supreme Court rulings issued Friday.

Department of Corrections officials met with the media at 2:30 p.m. today to discuss the situation. Click on the audio link below to listen to the news conference. Find a list of the 12 convicted sex offenders who are scheduled for release here, as well as links to the court rulings which list the three other offenders who are being release.

 

AUDIO: news conference (mp3 runs 20 min)

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

Iowa novelist uses vampires in new book

January 26, 2009 By

Author Marcus Pelegrimas A novelist from Omaha-Council Bluffs says he’s taking the horror story of vampires back to the basics, but with new twists on the dark road.

Marcus Pelegrimas says vampires are glittering, romantic figures in the popular new "Twilight" series, but in his new story, "Blood Blade," vampires are again the villains.

"I’m more from the old school, more like a horror type of standpoint where vampires and werewolves should be the bad guys. The way things are going right now is where vampires are ‘How sexy can they be?’ Everyone’s forgotten that they’ll bite you." The 37-year-old writer says he’s eliminated the traditional ways to kill the fanged foes — and werewolves, too — and is re-inventing the monsters.

"This whole series is years and years of me as a fan thinking why does this work? Why would silver work on a werewolf? Why do vampires burn in the sunlight? If these things were real, what things would really work against them?" Pelegrimas says he’s thrilled vampires are "in" again, thanks to the "Twilight" books and the blockbuster movie, but that popularity only goes so far.

"This is a really good time for vampires and werewolves but you’ve gotta’ bring something new to the game because you can’t try to write the next ‘Dracula’. You can’t try to write the next ‘Twilight’ because that’s already been done. As a writer in any genre you’ve gotta’ keep it fresh and I’m hoping to try to do that."

Pelegrimas’ "Blood Blade" will be the first in his series about Skinners, a dwindling race of humans who pursue and slay the supernatural creatures. "Blood Blade" goes on sale Tuesday. Pelegramas says he’s written 50 to 60 books in several genres — western, mystery, horror and fantasy — under pen names and as a ghostwriter. This new book is the first he’s published under his given name.

AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s Matt Kelley reports on novelist. :41 MP3

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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