February 9, 2012

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Protesters interrupt "Prayer for Life" rally

February 9, 2009 By

Protesters calling themselves “Catholics for Life from Womb to Tomb” interrupted the “Prayer for Life” rally at the statehouse Monday. Antiwar protester and former Catholic priest Frank Cordaro tried to interrupt Congressman Steve King, one of the speakers at the rally.

“Building a culture of life,” King said, as Cordaro yelled: “He’s for the war. He’s for the death penalty.”

King, who is Catholic, was interrupted three times. The large crowd gathered for the rally applauded loudly as the ex-priest and two other protesters were escorted from the area. The rally was cosponsored by the Iowa Catholic Conference and the Iowa Christian Alliance as well as Iowa Right to Life and Iowans for LIFE.

An Iowa native who lives in California and counsels women who have had abortions also spoke at the rally. Sonja Bates heads the “Post Abortion Healing Program” at the San Bernadino Pregnancy Counseling Center.

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

State senator says he may have been "misled" about Atalissa bunkhouse

February 9, 2009 By

The state senator who represents the town of Atalissa says he may have been “misled” by West Liberty Foods about the living conditions for a group of mentally retarded men, all of whom worked at the plant and all of whom have been moved out of a 105-year-old home owned by the City of Atalissa.

A Texas company rented the home and state officials say West Liberty Foods withheld most of the mens’ pay, turning it over to “Henry’s Turkey Service” to pay the mens’ living expenses and provide other services.

Senator Jim Hahn, a Republican from Muscatine, represents the area. “I’ve known this situation only from the outside. I’ve seen a number of these people come through the West Liberty Fair and it’s about the only time I’ve ever seen ‘em,” Hahn says. ”They do work long hours. They do a tremendous job for the factory and I’m not really pleased with what’s happening. I’ve not really heard any of this before.”

Hahn says the men need “special care” and he can understand why the doors to the facility may have been locked, because the men could have wandered away. ”I do realize that we may have to take a look at this….I didn’t know the conditions were so deplorable,” Hahn says. “…I thought they were treated fairly from what I had heard from some of the people that were around West Liberty. Maybe I was misled.”

Experts have met with each of the 21 men who were living in the home when it was closed Saturday, and each has been classified as a dependent adult. State officials are trying to find a place where all 21 can live together, as they’ve lived in the Atalissa home, together, for about two decades. Hahn suggests the men will find it hard to adjust to a new living situation.

“These folks have been given (an) opportunity, that if it’s taken away from them, they will be probably in a home someplace where they’re going to be confined probably worse than they are now, not able to get a job,” Hahn says. “So there are some pluses there, but I realize there are some problems, also.”

The head of the Iowa Department of Human Services says West Liberty Foods has been scaling down its workforce and a few dozen mentally retarded men who had lived in the home were recently moved out.

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

King ponders bid for governor in 2010

February 9, 2009 By

Congressman Steve King says he’s mulling the idea of running for governor rather than for reelection to congress in 2010. "I have a job today that I very much enjoy and I’m eager to start every day and I’m sorry to have to give up on each day," King says. "…It’s a wonderful privilege to serve the people of this country and the state of Iowa, but I’ve made no decision."

King, a Republican from the western iowa town of Kiron, considered running for governor in 2006, but decided against it. Democrat Chet Culver was elected in 2006 and has made it clear he intends to seek re-election to a second term. A handful of Republicans already have expressed interest in running for governor in 2010, and King’s not ruling out joining that list. "It’d be foolish to foreclose options," King says. "And I think it’d be constructive, though, at this point for me to say that our most important job right now is to bring together and reunify the Republican Party in this state."

King met privately today with Republicans who serve in the state legislature and new Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn joined King in one of those meetings. "And I said this to the Republicans this week in the statehouse: I think that we will gain seats in 2010…in the Iowa Legislature and in congress,’" King says. "And I say that for a number of reasons, but we have people that are coming out today that said they didn’t want to commit themselves to a life of public service. Now they’re frustration’s driving them. Our recruitment is better. They’re seeing the cliff that we’re being driven over, economically, and they want to pull us back from that."

King, who was elected to a fourth, two-year term in 2008, says he was "not very optimistic" about Republican chances last year because of an unpopular war and an unpopular Republican president. King says in addition, too many Republicans who’d walked away from the "convictions" the helped Republicans win control of congress in 1994. "We didn’t have anything going on that really gave the public confidence in Republicans," King says. "We’ve got a lot to earn back."

King made his comments tonight during taping of "Iowa Press," a public affairs program which will air Friday night at 7:30 on Iowa Public Television.

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

Corrections director says delaying prison construction would be a mistake

February 9, 2009 By

The director of the Iowa Department of Corrections says it would be a mistake to delay several prison construction projects, despite a $700-million shortfall in the state budget. The state is borrowing $200-million to expand the Women’s institution at Mitchellville and replace the State Penitentiary at Fort Madison.

The money will also be used to build new community based corrections facilities in Ottumwa, Sioux City, and Waterloo. Prior to the legislative session some lawmakers proposed delaying construction, but D-O-C Director John Baldwin says there is a constitutional issue at stake.

"(Prisons) must provide reasonable standards of housing and care," Baldwin said. "Iowa’s been down that road once and lost that conversation in the early 1980s. We really, as a state, cannot go down that path." Baldwin says if the state postpones construction and the courts intervene – it will cost taxpayers a lot more money in the long run. He says the new facilities will also be more secure and more efficient. He notes that the new state penitentiary in Fort Madison will open the same year as the old facility marks its 175th birthday.

Meanwhile, two key members of the Iowa legislature say they oppose selling farm land currently operated by the state’s prison system. Governor Culver has discussed selling the property in Fort Madison to help offset the state budget shortfall. But, Senator Gene Fraise, a Democrat from Fort Madison, says the short-term gain would not be enough to offset the loss of jobs and fresh produce the farms provide to the state’s prisons.

"If we sold those farms off we would hurt the Prison Industries Program pretty dramatically," Fraise said. "I would like to keep those farms and expand more on the vegetables and keep (prisoners) out in the fields working rather than sitting in cells." Republican Representative Lance Horbach of Tama agrees. He says the fruit and vegetables grown at the farms help the Department of Corrections provide balanced meals for the inmates at a lower cost.

Horbach claims each meal costs about $1.50 per inmate. "Take your family out to eat and try to eat for a dollar-fifty…that’s a huge and significant cost savings to the taxpayers that I’m not ready to give up just for a short-term gain of a-million or two-million dollars," Horbach said. Both Horbach and Fraise sit on the committees that write the Department of Corrections budget. Baldwin, Horbach and Fraise were all guests today on the Iowa Public Radio program "The Exchange." 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Governor says legislators raised "fair questions" about Rebuild Iowa Office

February 9, 2009 By

Governor Chet Culver denies he’s demoted the chief of staff at the Rebuild Iowa Office after a dust-up with legislators, but Culver says the man he’s put in charge will tackle the "real challenges" of disaster recovery.

Rebuild Iowa Office Chief of staff Emily Hajek testified last Thursday before a House panel and legislators from both political parties raised pointed questions about the agency’s spending, especially on staff salaries. On Friday, Governor Culver announced that retired Brigadier General Ron Dardis, the former head of the Iowa National Guard, was taking over as executive director of the Rebuild Iowa Office. "Actually, there’s one person and one person only who’s in charge of RIO, and that’s General Dardis," Culver says.

Culver says Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge was an interim director of the office, but hasn’t had direct oversight of the Rebuild Iowa Office "for some time" and Hajek had assumed many of the top duties. "I believe that the time is right for General Dardis to step into that important position…to head the Rebuild Iowa Office," Culver said Monday afternoon during a news conference in his office. "And (I) look forward to working with the legislature during the rest of this session to address any issues or questions that they have."

According to Culver, the Rebuild Iowa Office deserves "some credit" for the "good news" of securing federal help for flood and tornado victims, although the governor adds legislators have raised "fair questions" about the office, including the $19,000 spent putting new carpeting in the Rebuild Iowa Office. "And we’re going to answer all those questions and provide all the information that the legislature needs," Culver said.

A spokeswoman for the Rebuild Iowa Office say the space they’re occupying used to be used by the state crime lab and replacing the carpeting was an "environmental health" issue. Culver also announced today that the new federal Homeland Security secretary will visit Cedar Rapids and Iowa City on Wednesday to inspect flood damage and recovery efforts.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government, Weather Tagged With: , , , ,

Governor calls Atalissa "bunkhouse" for mentally retarded "deplorable"

February 9, 2009 By

Governor Chet Culver calls the living conditions in an eastern Iowa "bunkhouse" where 21 mentally retarded men lived "deplorable" and he vows a crackdown on any similar facility in the state. On Thursday, a tipster called a state hotline to report suspicions of abuse and, on Saturday, state officials closed down the 105-year-old building, which was owned by the City of Atalissa and rented by a Texas-based company called "Henry’s Turkey Service."

"They lived in a place that had no heating system and boarded up windows. In fact, reports indicate the boiler had been out for several years," Culver says. "On top of that, there are serious concerns about the ways in which this company was handling the finances for these men for their work."

The men worked in the West Liberty Foods meat processing facility, but "Henry’s Turkey Service" controlled their finances, according to state officials, and that included collection of federal disability payments. Iowa Department of Human Services director Gene Gessow says all 21 men have now been interviewed by experts and classified as dependent adults.

"We are trying, to the extent possible, to keep these gentlemen together," Gessow says. "They have lived together a long time." The youngest resident is 39 years old. The oldest is over 70 and Gessow says the group of 21 men has lived in Atalissa for over 20 years.

Plywood covered many of the windows in the 105-year-old building in which the men lived and space heaters provided the only warmth in the facility. The home was unlicensed, but in 2001 and again in 2005 the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals received complaints about the facility. Gessow, the director of the Department of Human Services, says his staff is looking through his agency’s records. "Our initial determination is that the first time that we, as a department, became aware of the situation was when we received a call to our abuse and neglect hotline on Thursday evening," Gessow says. "But that is the first D.H.S. contact."

This afternoon, the Muscatine County Attorney asked a judge to issue an emergency order placing the 21 men under the protection of Iowa Department of Human Services. Officials say West Liberty Foods withheld money from the mens’ paychecks to cover housing and other services "Henry’s Turkey Service" claimed to be providing the men. The mens’ home was several miles from the turkey processing plant, but accessible to the town of Atalissa, which owned the building.

"There are a lot of very good questions about how we got to this point," Culver says. "…I think the response from the state has been swift and that’s my focus right now is holding anyone and everyone accountable for this deplorable situation." Culver says his staff is reviewing state rules and regulations and will probably changes to ensure the state has greater authority to inspect facilities like the one in Atalissa.

 

AUDIO: Governor holds weekly news conference (mp3 runs 26 min)

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

Iowa coach says crowd helped team win

February 9, 2009 By

Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter says this past weekend’s victory of Northwestern is proof of how important the home court advantage is. A crowd of better than 12,500 was on hand as the Hawkeyes edged Northwestern 56-51 on Saturday for their third Big Ten win.

Lickliter says he thought the crowd was really involved in the game and that did not go unnoticed by his players, as he says it helps give the team some energy. It was a much needed win for an Iowa team that had dropped seven of its previous eight games.

Lickliter says he’s been impressed with the way the team has approached its preparation. Lickliter says the Hawks have remain positive despite the tough stretch. He says the losses hurt the players, but it didn’t defeat them. Lickliter also says this one victory won’t make the season either, as he says they are trying to develop a way to play and be consistent.

Iowa is 3-8 in the Big Ten and returns to action on Wednesday night at Wisconsin. 

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