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Hawkeyes fall to Michigan State 71-56

January 30, 2009 By

Ninth ranked Michigan State roared out to a big early lead and cruised past the Iowa Hawkeyes 71-56 in Big Ten action in Iowa City. The Spartans dominated the boards and their transition offense overwhelmed the Hawkeyes.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says the Spartans shot the ball extremely well. The Hawks trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half but did manage to rally to within nine to make it respectable. Lickliter says someone once told him "you’re not a winner until you win, and you’re not a loser until you quit" and he says they didn’t quit, but have a lot of work to do to become winners.

Iowa falls to 2-6 in the Big Ten and 12-9 overall.

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Cedar Rapids native downs Drake on last second shot

January 30, 2009 By

Former Cedar Rapids Kennedy standout Kaylon Williams banked in a 35-footer as time expired as Evansville capped a late rally to beat the Drake Bulldogs 65-62 in Des Moines on Thursday afternoon. The Bulldogs appeared to be on control when they led 62-55 with just over three minutes remaining.

Drake coach Mark Phelps says it was a "very tough ending to a tough game," and he says his team did not make enough plays at the end of the game and took some questionable shots when they led by 7 points.

Williams’ shot capped off a 10-0 Evansville run to end the game. Phelps says when you give a team the opportunity to make a play with four seconds to go, you take your chances.

Drake falls to 5-5 in the Missouri Valley and 14-8 overall.

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IRS wants low-income Iowans to file for Earned Income Tax Credit

January 30, 2009 By

The director of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Program for the Internal Revenue Service is reminding low-income Iowans to apply for the special tax benefit. Verlinda Paul says last year more than 24 million Americans claimed nearly $48-billion from the E.I.T.C.

“In the state of Iowa, that included 185,000 claimants for 330-million dollars,” Paul said. There are still thousands of Iowans that are eligible for the E.I.T.C., but fail to claim it and miss out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The I.R.S. believes one in four eligible families miss out on the E.I.T.C. every year. “We believe with the economic downturn, there may be even more potential claimants this year,” Paul said.

Many of the people that fail to claim the E.I.T.C. don’t make enough money to be required to file a tax return, but they must do so to claim the tax credit. Last year, in Iowa, the average E.I.T.C. return was $1,800. The maximum credit this year is $4,800. Eligibility for the tax credit depends on income and family size.

“For a family of four, the income level needs to be below $42,000 a year,” Paul said. “For a single individual, with no children, the maximum income level is $13,000.” Iowans who are eligible for the E.I.T.C. can also get free help in preparing their tax returns.

Community organizations that coordinate those services will hold press conferences today to raise awareness about the tax credit. Those events will take place in Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Waterloo.

 

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More patients seeking charity care in Iowa

January 30, 2009 By

An executive with the Iowa Hospital Association briefed state lawmakers Thursday on the rates of patients seeking charity care, as well as how many end up with bad debts to medical centers.

I-H-A senior vice-president Greg Boatenhammer says over the last five years, those unable to pay for their treatment has more than doubled. He speculates that the recession played a role in a 22% increase in 2008 in patients unable to pay for their care:

"An ongoing increase in 2008 is, in part, a reflection of that," Boatenhammer said. "But, we’ve had this growth trend over three to five years. It’s not just about the economic downturn…it’s also about the ability of employees to provide coverage for their workers."

A Senate panel is considering a bill to mandate lower charges for uninsured patients. Boatenhammer says more patients are asking for help at the beginning of their hospital stay, which makes them eligible for charity care, rather than ending up with bad debt after their stay. He says as a result, bad debt to hospitals has increased at a slower pace.  

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Sioux City man convicted of killing stepdaughters

January 30, 2009 By

A northwest Iowa man is convicted of killing his stepdaughters as part of what prosecutors say was a Satanic ritual. The Woodbury County jury only deliberated a few hours before returning the verdicts against 26-year-old Lawrence Harris on Thursday afternoon.

Harris was found guilty on both counts of first-degree murder in the killings at the family home in Sioux City on January 6th of last year. Ten-year-old Kendra Suing and her eight-year-old sister, Alysha, were stabbed and strangled. The defense argued Harris was insane when the crimes were committed.

Prosecutors described the killings as a ritual that went bad. The conviction carries a mandatory life term. Formal sentencing will come February 18th.

 

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ISU researcher looks for better way to measure exercise

January 30, 2009 By

An Iowa State University researcher is hoping to give the Centers for Disease Control a better idea of how much exercise people are actually getting. Gregory Welk says people don’t have a good idea of what they’re doing to manage their weight.

Welk says people tend to underestimate how many calories they consume and overestimate how much exercise they’re getting, so his research will help develop error models that can better estimate physical activity levels. Welk says his research focuses on the exercise people are doing.

He says they have a measurement from a very advance activity monitor that participants wear which monitors activity and the heat produced to give an actual measurement of activity compared to what people report. Welk says his measurement is designed to help federal officials serve groups of people as they address the obesity epidemic.

Welk says it’s very difficult to measure both diet and physical activity, and that is needed to develop interventions and public strategies for dealing with obesity. He says this will help in keeping track of physical activity and be valuable in assessing the health of people. Welk says keeping track of exercise is important to maintaining healthy lifestyles.

Welk says there’s no magic silver bullet as physical activity and healthy diet are the two keys for long-term weight control, and he says the key is helping people with both. Welk is leading a team of Iowa State researchers on the four-year project that’s funded by a $616,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. 

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Website to solicit budget-cutting ideas

January 30, 2009 By

Democratic legislators plan to establish a website next week so state workers and anyone else can submit ideas for cutting the state budget.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, says it’ll be set up so the suggestions come in anonymously. "We understand that some people run the risk of getting in trouble if they talk about those things, so we’re going to make it confidential," Murphy says, "but we’re going to be taking suggestions from anybody in the state and hopefully people that work in state government or deal directly with state goernment to find out where they think there’s problems in state government."

Murphy says the website is a good way to get a lot of different suggestions from a lot of different people.  One idea he’s heard already came a business owner who regularly pays taxes to the state. "There’s some things they still can’t do by e-conmerce or e-filing," Murphy says. "They have to do some business receipts to the state by snail mail and they’re talking about the incurred costs and they think it’ll save $1- to 2 million a year and they even talked about the fact that all the contiguous states that they do business with, they’re able to do it through e-files."

On Wednesday Governor Chet Culver filed a budget plan with lawmakers that would cut most state agencies’ budgets six-and-a-half percent. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs has directed fellow legislators to "sharpen their pencils" and look for deeper cuts. "This is going to be a tough budget year and we’re going to struggle through it," Gronstal says.

Republicans like Senate G.O.P. Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton say more cuts are necessary. "Over the past 24 months, we have seen spending explode by 21 percent," McKinley says. "The governor now proposes cutting by six and a half percent, so that at least is a start." McKinley says Republicans are still looking at the details in the governor’s budget plan and don’t have many specifics to offer today.

Click on the audio link below to hear all of what legislative leaders from both political parties had to say in news conference today.

AUDIO: news conferences. 37:00 MP3

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