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U-of-I president urges legislators to support governor’s "stimulus" plan

February 5, 2009 By

University of Iowa President Sally Mason is urging state lawmakers to pass Governor Culver’s proposed $700 million economic stimulus package, as she says a portion of that money would help the university recover from last spring’s flooding. "I hope that people will remember that much like Cedar Rapids, much like other parts of Iowa we need a little help, too," Mason says.

Mason testified before the Legislative Oversight Committee today. She showed slides of some of the 24 university buildings damaged by floodwater, and she said the university has done a lot — without asking the state for a lot of help.  "The help that we’re asking for is really help with the governor’s initiative on bonding, " Mason said. "We think that that can really help us get to where we need to be."

Some U-of-I classes are being held in temporary quarters and Mason told lawmakers she’s worried students will lose patience and leave the university.

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Used oil filter law now in effect in state

February 5, 2009 By

A new law is now in place in Iowa requiring retailers that sell oil filters to accept used oil filters from customers or post notice of where those used filters can be recycled. Tom Anderson, an environmental specialist with the Department of Natural Resources, says the rule went into effect Wednesday.

He says the law also requires businesses that generate used oil filters to separate the filters for recycling. The idea is to keep that used oil out of landfills and avoid contaminating water and land resources. "Every oil filter, even if it’s properly drained per EPA guidelines, still contains several ounces of oil," Anderson said.

The steel from the filter and the filter itself can also be recycled. Enforcement of the new law will generally rely on landfill operators reporting to the DNR if they spot businesses placing used oil filters in the trash.

"Right now, the enforcement is basically going to be self-policing," Anderson said. "The penalty is a simple misdemeanor. I know that’s being looked at as a possible point for change in the future." More information about the used oil filter rules and resources for retailers are available from the Iowa DNR website .

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With: ,

Iowa Conference promotes sportsmanship

February 5, 2009 By

The Iowa Conference is promoting sportsmanship with a program that runs through the end of this month. Commissioner Chuck Yrigoyen says the program is funded by grant money from the N.C.A.A. and has included a number of activities at league basketball and wrestling events.

Yrigoyen says the message to fans, coaches and players is to have fun without going over the line. He says today’s young people are "under siege" with outrageous behavior with videos on-line, and he says it’s hard to come to a high intensity game and be under control. Yrigoyen encourages students to come to the games and stay under control.

Yrigoyen says he has met with student groups at some of the schools and says there is a fine line between having fun and being abusive. He says it’s one thing to wave your arms behind the basket for a foul shooter and another to make personal attacks on players.

Yrigoyen says the behavior he’s seen so far in the conference has been pretty good.

 

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Iowa at home, UNI women on the road

February 5, 2009 By

The Iowa Hawkeye women are at home this evening in the Big Ten race against Indiana. The Hawkeyes are 6-4 in the conference and lost to the Hoosiers by 22 points in their first meeting a month ago.

Iowa coach Lisa Bluder says Indiana is a good basketball team with balanced scoring and the are also a good defensive team. The Hawks will close out the week with a Sunday visit to Minnesota. Iowa is 13-8 overall.

The UNI women are on the road in Missouri Valley Conference play to take on Evansville. After starting the league race 4-1 the Panthers have lost four straight games.

Panther coach Tanya Warren says they started out well,but are disappointed in what they’ve done the last four games. Warren says her team needs to cut down on turnovers. The Panthers are 6-13 overall.

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Alliant reviewing IUB ruling before decision on Marshalltown power plant

February 5, 2009 By

A spokesperson for Alliant Energy’s Interstate Power and Light Company subsidiary says they are reviewing the ruling Wednesday by the Iowa Utilities Board that set the rate of return and costs the company can recover for its proposed coal-fired power plant in Marshalltown.

The I-U-B set a rate of return for the electricity from the plant at 10.1%. I-P-L spokesman Ryan Stensland says the company had sought a rate of return of 12.55%. Stensland says they are disappointed with the decision because they "don’t believe that the conditions placed on the plant actually take the reality of the financial climate into consideration right now." He says the company will continue to work with its partners to determine the next steps.

Stensland says the company has to go over all the requirements set by the I-U-B before determining if it will go ahead. "We’ve made not definitive decision to not move forward with this decision, we need to be able talk to our suppliers and the financial community to see if they believe this project is feasible," Stensland says. He says they need to determine if the plant can be built at the cost that has been set.

This is only the second rate setting case for the I-U-B since the new law in 2001 that was passed to spur the development of power plants. Stensland says they had hoped to get a better return for the investment. Stensland says the law was intended to keep companies from being exposed and spending dollars it won’t later be able to recover. He says the company had that happen in the 1980′s with the Ottumwa electric plant, and the state went 20 years before a new plant was built.

The I-U-B set the cost cap the company can recover from customers for building the plant at nearly $700 less per kilowatt of electricity than the company had requested, which Stensland says is another issue they have to look at. Stensland says that creates uncertainty as to whether they would be able to recover their costs.

"I don’t know if that’s a risk that we’re willing to take on behalf of our customers and shareowners at this time, and exposing the company to those types of risk given the current financial climate may not be prudent," Stensland says. The three member I-U-B board did discuss the financial climate and whether setting the rate and cost recovery for the plant too low would adversely impact the plan, but voted 3-0 to approved the rates they set. Alliant Energy serves some 530,000 electric customers in Iowa. 

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Democrats drafting state-level stimulus, Republicans skeptical

February 5, 2009 By

Democratic legislators are beginning to draft bills to implement the $700 million economic "stimulus" package Governor Culver has been touting, while Republicans seem poised to vote against the plan. 

"Washington, D.C. has a bailout fever," Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley says, "and I’m concerned that Governor Culver has caught the sniffles."

McKinley says Culver’s plan has a major flaw. "There is a difference between creating work and creating jobs," McKinley says. "Many of these so-called bailouts involve creating work and when the work is over, the job is gone. We’re more interested in creating jobs that are sustainable and long-lasting."

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha says he hasn’t seen any details, but he’s already skeptical. "Look, House Republicans are not going to vote to go out and borrow money to build bike trails," Paulsen says.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, says small groups of Democratic lawmakers are meeting with the governor’s staff to iron out the details of a state-level stimulus. "I think you’ll see two separate bill at this point," Murphy says. "As to the dollar amounts, I think it’ll be roughly $700 million, but there are some other discussions that have to occur before we get to that point."

Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says there is "broad support" from Democrats in the House and Senate for the governor’s proposal to borrow $700 million for infrastructure projects. "We said from the start we’re very interested in doing disaster recovery better than any state in the union. That’s going to require an effort by us to put together a bonding proposal and we look forward to doing that," Gronstal says. "That will probably take a while, you know, that’s not going to get done as quickly as some of these other things."

AUDIO: Democrats and Republicans (mp3 runs 31 min)

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

Iowa students do well on college placement tests

February 5, 2009 By

The number of Iowa high school students taking tests to try and get college credit or into more advanced college classes increased last year. The director of the Iowa Department of Education, Judy Jeffrey, says nearly 7,800 Iowa students took the Advanced Placement or A-P tests last year — double the number of 10 years ago.

Jeffrey says high school students are understanding the need to prepare themselves for success in college, so more are taking A-P courses. She says its a trend not only in Iowa but across the nation. Jeffrey says the students that took the tests did very well. Jeffrey says the Iowa students that took the tests scored and average of 3 on a scale of 1 to 5.

That’s above the national average of 2.85. She says a score of 3, 4 or 5, is normally what a college looks at in awarding a high school student credit toward a course in college. Jeffrey says there’s been more emphasis on letting students get college credit while still in high school.

She says more and more high schools are offering A-P courses and many now offer the A-P courses on-line, which she says has helped increase the numbers. Jeffrey says the economy has had some impact, but overall parents and students are finding it’s a benefit to earn college credit now and reduce the time and cost in college.

Filed Under: Education
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