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90 Iowa guard soldiers coming home today

February 2, 2009 By

A welcome home ceremony is planned for this afternoon in Iowa City for 90 members of a returning Iowa National Guard unit. Guard spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood says the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 109th Medical Battalion, has been stationed in Egypt along the border with Israel for a year.

Hapgood says, "They have worked as peacekeepers for the Multinational Force Observer mission and they have spent the past year doing a number of things, particularly, their specific mission had to do with commanding and controlling numerous other units that provide support for this mission." Those other units were involved in all sorts of duties, including: logistical, medical, aviation and explosive ordinance removal.

Hapgood says 90 Iowa soldiers left on the mission in February of last year and all 90 are coming home. Hapgood says: "The unit’s had a very smooth mobilization. They spent the past year on the Sinai Peninsula without any significant incidents, accidents or injuries. They have done a terrific job." The community homecoming ceremony will be held at 5 P.M. at the Iowa City West High School Auditorium.

Citizen-soldiers from several units across Iowa took part in the mission, including some from: Iowa City, Johnston, Washington and Centerville. While today marks a big homecoming for these troops, Hapgood reminds that many other Iowans are still on active duty.

He says there are about 500 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen on various assignments around the world, with the majority of them in Iraq, while about 20 are in Afghanistan. The Iowa City-based 109th Medical Battalion was also mobilized for about year of duty in Iraq between 2003-04. 

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

D.O.T. moving to a mail system for new driver’s licenses

February 2, 2009 By

The days of picking up your new driver’s license warm out of the machine at a Department of Transportation station are numbered. Shirley Andre of the D.O.T. motor vehicles division, says they are going to a central production area for the licenses sometime late this summer or early fall. That means you will get your picture taken or take the test, but won’t leave with your new license.

Andre says you will be given a temporary credential and your old license that will be marked "void" or have holes punched in it. The paper will be good for between 20 and 30 days. Your new license will be processed and mailed to you. Andre says the new license will come through he Post Office just as credit cards, car titles, vehicle registrations and other documents come. Andre says they are making the change for increased security, and to cut costs.

She says this will allow them to use an image verification system to be sure that people don’t have a license or I.D. under several other names. Andre says it will eventually lead to a cost savings as the machines used in the 108 driver’s license stations are very expensive. Andre says it will be cheaper not having to maintain the machines and keep supplies at each of the stations.

Andre says the old licenses cost the D.O.T $3.14 cents each, while the new card will cost 15 cents more, but will be more durable. Andre says they are going to new card stock so that cards will be less likely to break. She says men often have a problem of the current licenses breaking when they sit on their wallets. And she says they will add new security features that will help law officers. Andre says the change will not increase the cost of the licenses. She says the process has been successful in other states.

Andre says there are over 22 states that use the system and Colorado was the most recent. Andre recently talked with Colorado officials and they told her they had a "handful" of complaints. She says Nebraska is set to move to the centralized system very soon.

Andre says the D.O.T. issues an average of 850,000 licenses annually, with that hitting one million licenses some years in the five-year renewal cycle. Andre says they won’t know the exact cost savings until they start a new contract with the centralized system. 

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Audit finds over $19,000 in questionable expenses at UNI-based program

February 2, 2009 By

A state audit has found an administrator at a not-for-profit program based on the University of Northern Iowa campus racked up over $19,000 worth of questionable expenses.

Camp Adventure runs youth programs for kids on military bases all over the world. University of Northern Iowa students work in the Camp Adventure office in Cedar Falls, plus college students around the world work in the programs on the bases.

Diane Engbretson was in charge of running Camp Adventure programs in Europe. The audit found she took 20 days of unrecorded personal leave and made over $9000 in personal purchases with the U.N.I. credit card she’d been given. According to the state auditor, a number of those questionable bills were for airline tickets, car rentals and hotel stays for Enbretson and a male friend.

In February and March of last year, Engbretson wrote seven personal checks to the university to cover the $9000 in travel-related expenses. She was placed on administrative leave when questions first came up about her spending, then she resigned and the university docked her last paycheck to cover the personal leave she’d taken.

The state audit has been forwarded to the Division of Criminal Investigation as well as state and local prosecutors. Read the audit online at http://auditor.iowa.gov/specials/CampAdventureUNISpecial.pdf .

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,

Illinois starts fast in second half to down Iowa

February 2, 2009 By

A fast start to the second half by Illinois doomed the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday. The Illini made nine of their first 10 shots to opened the second half enroute to 62-54 victory. The Hawkeyes played well in the opening half and led it 25-22 at the half.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter say they had turnovers 3 out of 5 times to start the second half and that gave up control of the game. The Hawkeyes visit an Indiana team on Wednesday night that is 0-8 in the Big Ten. Lickliter says Indiana has played tough and has to be hungry as they’ve played with a lot of enthusiasm. He says it was a challenge playing them at home, so it will be a challenge on the road.

Sophomore point guard Jeff Peterson had a solid effort. He finished with 12 points and six assists. Iowa appeared to run out of gas down the stretch. Peterson says guys got tired, but that shouldn’t have been an excuse as they were controlling parts of the game.

Peterson says the Hawks need to stay positive despite their 2-7 Big Ten record. He says they have to do that and almost have to practice staying positive, even though things have not gone the way they wanted. Peterson says they have a whole month of basketball left to play and have to stay positive and finish games. Iowa is 12-10 overall. 

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Study looks at TV time and kids’ health

February 2, 2009 By

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have finished an exhaustive study of the links between the time children spend in front of a television or computer and their health. It’s no surprise that the research found the more time a kid spends staring at a screen, the more likely they are to be overweight or obese.

Dennis Haney, with the Iowa Department of Public Health, says most children that spend hours glued to a TV or computer screen used to spend that time playing outdoors and getting exercise. "We also know that the more time children spend on the couch, in front of the TV, the more likely they are to eat unhealthy foods during that time," Haney said.

He admits it’s unrealistic, in today’s technologically-driven society, to completely cut kids off from the TV or internet – but says parents should strive for a balance of "screen time" and exercise. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends children, including teenagers, should engage in physical activity at least 60 minutes a day.

Haney says that physical activity can even be productive if broken up into 10 minute segments throughout the day. The exercise can range from climbing monkey bars to riding a bike or even walking to school. The Iowa Department of Public Health conducts its own bi-annual survey of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at 12 schools across the state.

"Our responses to that (survey) have ranged from no daily screen time all the way up to four or more hours day…which is absolutely alarming," Haney said.

The national study also found links between increased screen time to drug, tobacco and alcohol use, sexual behavior, academic performance and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In general, the study found children who spend less than two hours a day in front of a TV or computer screen are much less likely to be overweight or obese.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

ISU students build solar home for competition

February 2, 2009 By

Iowa State University students are building a solar house for a national competition in Washington, D.C. against other universities in the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Jennifer Ross is a graduate student in architecture and one of 75 students now working on the house.

Ross says the parameters require a completely student-designed, engineered and built home. It has to be 800-square feet or less and run on solar power. Ross is from Eagen, Minnesota, and says building a home in the midwest requires design ideas that other schools won’t face. She says Iowa has one of the most extreme climate situations from subzero temperatures to 100 degrees and extremely humid.

Ross says the house design is very flexible to handle the temperature changes, and includes three modules, including one that can open the living room to the outdoors. Ross says the home incorporates some unique features of the state and Iowa State University.

That includes some biocomposites made of soy and corn and they are tearing down a barn and reusing the barn siding on the home. Ross says the goal is to come up with green designs that can eventually be used to build homes for everyday use. But for now the project took thousands of dollars.

She says because it’s a prototype house, all the work, materials and transportation to Washington, D.C. are costing around $800,000. Ross says they are working on figures for what the house would cost if built by an individual. The houses will be put together on the National Mall in Washington in October of this year and then judged in 10 areas. The I.S.U. home and those from 19 other schools will then be open to the public in a solar village.  

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:
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