Just because it’s the middle of winter doesn’t mean Iowans can’t get outside and enjoy themselves. In north-central Iowa near Clarion, Lake Cornelia Park is the setting for a celebration of the season today. Bruce Lindner, director for the Wright County Conservation Office, says the 22nd annual Winterfest is designed to get area residents out into the fresh air. There will be ice skating, cross country skiing and snowshoeing, Lindner says, so people can try out new wintertime activities instead of just sitting around the house. He says they’ll be bringing out the horses with sleds or wagons for rides and other activities that are more educational. The Mason City fire/rescue team will be there to talk about safety precautions people should take when recreating on a frozen lake, in addition to demonstrating their ice rescue techniques and equipment. Lindner says Winterfest draws a good crowd every year, regardless of how nasty the event’s namesake of winter may be. Food will be served by the Four-H Clubs of Wright County. Events are underway at the park from 11 AM until 3 PM. For more details, visit the county’s website: "www.wrightcounty.org" or call (515) 532-3185.
Wright County celebrates 22nd Winterfest
Actor George Clooney to make a film in Omaha-Council Bluffs
Actor Kevin Costner made several stops in Iowa last week with his band. Now, there’s word another Hollywood hunk will soon be in the vicinity. George Clooney will be in Omaha-Council Bluffs to shoot a movie this spring. Dana Markel, at the Omaha Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, says Clooney and the film crew will be there for several days.
Markel says, "They’ll come in and they’ll shoot some things in the city but who knows how much of Omaha will remain in the film once we see it on the big screen." Clooney, who won an Academy Award for his role in the 2005 film "Syriana," will be in eastern Nebraska/western Iowa to shoot a movie called "Up in the Air."
It’ll be directed by Jason Reitman, who also directed the 2007 hit "Juno.’ Reitman and his crew have already been in Omaha several times scouting locations. Markel says Clooney will play the main character, a corporate down-sizer who is obsessed with getting one-million frequent flier miles.
She says: "It’s a story of a business executive who lives his life on a plane moving from city to city. The company then chooses to ground him and the corporate headquarters is in Omaha, Nebraska." Markel says Clooney’s character will have no choice but to call Omaha home.
"This executive doesn’t have a personal life," she says. "He lives his life in the fast lane. The company then chooses to ground him and he has to form a life in Omaha." Markel says some of the scenes will be shot inside the Visitor’s Bureau and in a condo in the Old Market area of downtown Omaha.
Execs from Iowa banks with federal bailout money asked to testify
Next week a panel of Iowa lawmakers plans to question representatives of three Iowa banks that received money from the U.S. Treasury as part of the federal bailout enacted last September. The bank executives have been asked to appear before the Legislature’s joint Government Oversight Committee.
House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, casts it as a fact-finding mission. ”(The banks) received millions of dollars in money that was handed out…The goal behind these was to take troubled assets and to make sure that people staying in their homes,” Murphy says, “and we just want to make sure that the focus is on middle class families.”
The money the banks received came from the federal, not the state government and Murphy acknowledges he and other state legislators don’t have much, if any, authority over how the banks have spent the money. ”It’s amazing how much public pressure can be created if there’s some sunlight,” Murphy says. “…We want to make sure that the money they received, that they’re willing to discuss it with us and if they aren’t I think it’s a good reason for people to even inquire more if they don’t.”
The three banks received a total of $152.6 million from the federal government. “Listen, this is taxpayers’ money,” Murphy says. “We want to make sure that people are accountable whether it’s local money, state money or federal money,” Murphy says.
Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley, a Republican from Chariton, says he hopes the committee hearing is “fruitful.”
“I’m not sure exactly what the purpose of that would be if they’re federal funds,” McKinley says. “…But we all want money to be spent wisely, and I certainly hope it will be.”
House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen, a Republican from Hiawatha, is giving the hearing with the bank executives his stamp of approval. “Getting input from the private sector…I think is a grand idea,” Paulsen says.
The hearing is scheduled for next Thursday. Executives from West Bank, MidwestOne Bank and Heartland Financial have been invited to testify at the statehouse. The state banking superintendent has already agreed to testify, too.
Federal records indicate four Iowa banks have received federal bailout money. West Bancorporation got $36 million on December 8th. Heartland Financial got $81.7 million on December 10th. MidWestOne got $34.9 million on December 15th. North Central Bancshares got $10.2 million on December 19th, but its executives have not been asked to testify at the statehouse.
