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Ag Secretary, DNR director ponder budget cuts

January 29, 2009 By

The directors of most state agencies are trying to figure out ways to trim six-and-a-half percent from their budgets, without dramatic reductions in services or huge layoffs. Republican Bill Northey, Iowa’s Ag Secretary, is the head of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. He says in general, considering the tough economic times, cuts of that magnitude makes sense.

"It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be very tough," Northey says. "In our Department of Agriculture, we have shown a drop of 35 employees over the last eight years We now have 12 open positions to handle the one-and-a-half percent (budget) cut that we have now, and to have a six-and-a-half percent cut on top of that is really going to challenge us to get everything done that we need to get done."

Department of Natural Resources director Rich Leopold says he’s been reviewing the details of the budget plan Governor Culver revealed Wednesday. "Of course we’ve had a tough year already with all the flood damage and lost revenues, although in the governor’s budget there (are) supplemental monies in there to help the D.N.R. so we can open all our state parks and wildlife areas and everything as scheduled this spring, so a mixture of good and bad," Leopold says.

"We still haven’t got it all figured out yet." Leopold’s agency is responsible for maintaining state parks and the D.N.R. oversees state environmental regulations.

Leopold considers layoffs and furloughs a last resort. "That is the very last thing on my list as far as measures we have to take. Thus far, we’ve done everything possible to avoid layoffs and furloughs," Leopold says.

"At first blush, I think we’re going to be o.k., but it’s early and we need to take a hard look at that numbers and what it means to our agency." In addition to the 55 state parks, the D.N.R. oversees more than 10,000 acres of state preserves as well as nearly 44,000 acres of forest.

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

Newell-Fonda provides laptops to high school students

January 29, 2009 By

While many schools statewide face budget cuts, one rural district in northwest Iowa plans to expand an experimental program that provides every high school student with a laptop computer. Jeff Dicks, superintendent of the Newell-Fonda Schools, says they adopted the program last fall because kids are surrounded by technology –outside– of school, from text messaging and cell phones to on-line games.

"When they come to school, it’s almost like we asked them to power down, turn all those communication devices down and the way that they gauge themselves," Dicks says. "We see a big difference in engagement of students because they know how to go get information, we just didn’t have the tools for them all the time for them to get that information." Newell-Fonda was one of the first high schools in Iowa to supply all students with their own laptops, for use in school and at home.

Dicks says the district hopes to expand the One-to-One laptop program. "Our plan has always been to push it down into our middle school and I even see the benefits of, perhaps not sending the laptop home with elementary students, but having them on carts where they can wheel it in and use that whenever they need it," Dicks says. Other Iowa school districts are just beginning similar laptop programs.

An open house was held this week at the Newell High School where Dicks says teachers, administrators and tech coordinators from 19 school districts learned about the laptop program. He says the visitors were able to go into the classrooms and watch students and see how the teachers worked with them and then got to question the students themselves about the program’s benefits.

Filed Under: Education, Technology Tagged With:

Another Safe Haven baby turned over to state

January 29, 2009 By

The Iowa Department of Human Services says another baby has been turned over to the state under the "Safe Haven" law. D.H.S. spokesman Roger Munns says the baby boy was born Tuesday. He says the parents didn’t want the child, so the Safe Haven procedures were used. Munns says they are not identifying the area where the baby was born.

"Part of the spirit of the law is to protect the identity of the identity parents and not hold them up to ridicule when they make the decision to do the right thing, so because of that we don’t identify where the child was delivered," Munns says. This is the 12th baby given to the state since the Safe Haven law went into effect in July of 2001. The law was passed after a high-profile case in 2001 where a teen-aged girl in eastern Iowa delivered a baby and then killed it.

Munns says the Safe Haven law is not the best way to handle an unwanted pregnancy. "Of course the best way would be to consult with people who matter to you, then get prenatal care and then make arrangements for adoption, there are lots of people out there waiting for children," Munns says. He says if you find yourself in a panic and don’t know what to do, the Safe Haven law is there.

A similar law in Nebraska recently gained national attention as lawmakers had to change their law to put in an age limit for the children being dropped off. While it had no relation to Iowa’s law, Munns says the attention probably help all states by focusing attention the Safe Haven option.

Munns says he suspects all the news about the Nebraska situation caused people to be aware of the Iowa law, and he says that’s good because they don’t have money to publicize the law. A hearing will be held in one month to terminate the parental rights for the latest baby to be dropped off in Iowa and the child will be adopted by a family that has been approved by the state. 

Filed Under: Human Interest

Iowa faces league leader Michigan State

January 29, 2009 By

The Iowa Hawkeyes are at home against a Michigan State team that sits at the top of the Big Ten standings. The Hawkeyes are 2-5 in the league race after squandering a late double-digit lead in a loss at Penn State while the Spartans are 6-1 in the conference.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says the Spartans are skilled at every position, are extremely well coached, are in the top ten, and have 100 more offensive rebounds than their opponents, so they present “real problems.”

Lickliter says the Hawks need to limit the Spartans to just one shot. He says you have to hope you can get the defense set and keep them in front of you and maintain your position. He says even if you do that, they can still make shots as they are a deserving top 10 team.

Iowa is 12-8 overall while Michigan State is 16-3. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

UNI wins 9th straight game

January 29, 2009 By

The UNI Panthers won their ninth straight game with a 59-55 win over Illinois State in Cedar Falls. UNI started slowly but finished strong and held Illinois State’s two top scorers to 15 points. Ali Farokhmanesh led UNI with 17 points.

The 9 wins is the longest win streak for UNI since moving to Division I in 1980. The last time the Panthers won that many games was 45 years ago when UNI was a Division II program.

UNI is now 15-6 overall and 9-1 with a two game lead in the Missouri Valley Conference. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Heavy snowpack could lead to Spring flooding

January 29, 2009 By

Don’t start filling sandbags yet, but the experts say Iowa’s facing an above-normal risk for snowmelt flooding this spring. Jeff Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says parts of northern Iowa have a foot or more of packed snow on the ground with six-to-ten inches across much of central Iowa.

Some areas in north-central Iowa have 16-inches of snowpack — or more. Johnson says that’s very deep. "We’re running about eight-to-12 inches above normal across northern Iowa for snowpack," Johnson says. "How that relates to liquid equivalent is about two-to-four inches of water equivalent snowpack in reserve up there, sitting there ready to melt."

Iowa still faces two more months of winter and Johnson says those two months will be key in determining the fate of a potential repeat of last year’s historic flooding. "There is a risk of springtime snowmelt flooding and as we all know, that really is going to be dependent on how the snowpack melts," Johnson says. "If it melts in a positive way, a little at a time with a prolonged period of dry weather, it would just relieve itself. On the other extreme, if we dumped heavy amounts of rain on top of the snowpack and had a rapid melt, then we’re going to have problems."

He says the soil moisture levels across much of Iowa are above normal and still haven’t recovered from last summer. Spring arrives in about eight weeks — on March 20th — and he says Iowans will just have to sit tight and see how the risk of repeated flooding plays out.

"I’ve seen years where we’ve had more snow than this and we’ve had the proper melting conditions and we really didn’t face any problems at all," Johnson says. "On the other extreme, I’ve seen it where we’ve had very little snowpack in January and you get into a very snowy pattern in February and March, you get a big snowpack and then you melt it off quickly."

Last year’s June flooding forced thousands of Iowans to evacuate from their homes in nine counties. Statewide, flood damage was estimated at $10-billion. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Surf Ballroom given historical landmark status

January 29, 2009 By

Surf Ballroom historical marker. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum named a facility in north-central Iowa Wednesday as an historical rock and roll site.

The Surf Ballroom is just the ninth historical landmark designated by the Hall of Fame and the recognition coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the Winter Dance Party concert – which was the last concert for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.

Hall of Fame executive director Terry Stewart read the words posted on a marker that will be placed in the Surf’s lobby, "There are few buildings in existence today that represent a complete shift in our musical history. As the last concert venue for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson, the Surf is the bedrock of where the sound and attitude of rock and roll changed forever."

Stewart says his organization is proud to recognize The Surf as one of rock and roll’s historic places. "It’s a thrill to memorialize locations like the Surf," Stewart said. "We’re thrilled to put one of our plaques here." Buddy Holly’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, as well as Ritchie Valens’ sister, Connie Lemos, were on hand for the ceremony. Lemos remembered the first time she stepped into the Surf decades ago.

"When we walked into the Surf…I actually expected Ritchie to come out and say ‘where you guys been?’ That’s how close he felt," Lemos said. Other historical rock and roll landmarks have been placed at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles, where the Doors were resident performers, The Crossroads in Clarksdale Mississippi, which is known as the cradle of blues, and Brooklyn High School in Brooklyn, Ohio, where Elvis played his first concert north of the Mason-Dixon Line.  

The photo above left to right: Dale Snyder of the Snyder family who owns the Surf Ballroom property, Laurie Lietz, executive director of the North Iowa Cultural Center and Museum, the group that oversees the operation of the Surf, Maria Elena Holly, widow of Buddy Holly, Connie Lemos, sister of Ritchie Valens.          

(Photo courtesy of Bob Fisher, KRIB)

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Recreation & Entertainment
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