"We had a pretty sharp cutoff and didn’t see as much snow up around Highway 30 as maybe we had thought previously," Cogill said. "But, for the most part, we are seeing the snow pretty much where we expected across southern Iowa." By mid-afternoon, three to five inches of snow was reported across southwest Iowa where 15 counties are under a Winter Storm Warning until 9 P.M. Cogill expects that area of the state to wind up with 4 to 7 inches of snow. Schools across the region dismissed early today as roads quickly became coated with a thick blanket of heavy, wet snow. Plows had trouble keeping up with the snow, which was falling at a rate of one to two inches per hour. The precipitation will come to an end tonight. Cogill says no more snow is expected this weekend and high temperatures will be in the low 30s. 
Winter has returned to parts of Iowa today. National Weather Service Meteorologist Craig Cogill says the storm has played out pretty much as forecast – with the heaviest snow along and south of Interstate 80.
Snow returns to Iowa
Governor says stimulus package won’t impact budget, against school consolidation
Iowa Governor Chet Culver says the economic stimulus package approved today by the U.S. House, and expected to be approved by the Senate, will not change his state budget proposal. The Governor has proposed a 6.5% across the board cut for most state agencies.
Culver says the federal bill will likely mean cutting less deeply in education and health care, but it’s up to state lawmakers to determine the specifics. Culver says it will still be a "very tough budgeting process" with cuts and belt tightening. Culver says the state will have a balanced budget that is responsible and fair.
The Governor also has proposed a $700-million infrastructure rebuilding and jobs initiative. He says he’ll finalize that proposal and the amount of state bonding needed to fund it, once the ink is dry on the stimulus bill.
Cutting the number of school districts to make them more efficient is an idea proposed by Des Moines lawmaker. Governor Culver says consolidation is best left to local school officials. Culver says there are already incentives that have encourage districts to come together, but he says it’s a local decision and should remain a local decision.
The proposal by Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, would target schools with under 750 students. Culver made his comments on Iowa Public Radio’s Talk at Twelve program today.
Study tests driving skills of early Alzheimer’s patients
A University of Iowa study finds drivers who have been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease make more serious errors behind the wheel than their elderly counterparts who have no sign of the illness.
Jeff Dawson, a U-of-I professor of biostatistics in the College of Public Health, says they studied more than 150 elderly drivers, about 40 of whom had early Alzheimer’s.
Dawson says: "They made about 25% more errors overall but in particular, the lane observance errors, things like crossing the center line of going off the shoulder, were about 50% more common."
Of the 76 error types that were monitored, he says the drivers with Alzheimer’s were about twice as likely to commit the more serious errors as their healthy counterparts.
Dawson says one possible outcome of this study would be to develop a type of test older drivers might be required to take upon renewing their licenses. In Dawson’s words, it’s a very emotional issue. "You have to balance out the safety of the driver and the other people on the road with mobility and independence, especially in a state like Iowa where the rural areas tend not to have public transportation," Dawson says. "Taking someone’s car keys away can mean a real lack of independence and a burden."
There were three types of tests — a cognitive pencil-and-paper test, one in a driving simulator and one on the road in a car outfitted with instruments and four video cameras. On the cognitive test, Dawson says the outcome was unexpected for the people with early signs of Alzheimer’s.
"They did better than average on those," Dawson says. "They often had about the same safety profile as those without Alzheimer’s disease, so that shows that if you have Alzheimer’s disease, right at the beginning, it’s not immediately a cause to no longer drive but it’s something that needs to be monitored over time." The U-of-I research was published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Bill would let supervisors cut their pay, immediately
A group of Linn County lawmakers is sponsoring a bill which would let county boards of supervisors vote to cut their pay.
Representative Nick Wagner, a Republican from Marion — which is in Linn County, is the bill’s primary sponsor. "It came from requests from constituents. In the past the Linn County Supervisors have said they couldn’t decrease their pay because of the state law," Wagner says, "so we went in and just decided to make that an option, to allow them to lower their pay."
Under current law, supervisors may either choose to accept the pay level recommended by a compensation commission or revert to their pay from the previous year. Controversy erupted in Linn County when supervisors indicated they’d accept the compensation board’s recommended salaries of $87,000 and last week supervisors voted to set their salaries at just over $70,000, but they had to declare themselves part-timers in order to cut the salary.
Wagner expects his bill to let supervisors vote, at any time, to cut their pay immediately to be considered by a subcommittee next week. "We’ve had pretty good response, that it is a good bill and is something that should be done, so I’m hopeful that it will move," Wagner says.
Wagner was a member of the Marion City Council for four years, and was paid an annual salary of $4,000. Some legislators want to give city council members the option to cut their salaries, too, as they’re limited by state law today in the same way county supervisors are. Wagner says during tough economic times, it makes sense to give city council members and county supervisors the authority to immediately cut their own pay.
Representative Natham Willems, a Democrat from Lisbon, is the only state representative from Linn County who is not backing Wagner’s bill on county supervisor salaries.
Cedar Rapids to vote on tax hike in March
Cedar Rapids residents will vote next month on whether to raise the sales tax by a penny to help flood rebuilding efforts. Tim Pugh is the leader of the Cedar Rapids Tea Party, a group opposed to the tax hike. To protest the measure, the group plans a symbolic tea dump in the Cedar River. Pugh says he’s concerned the money will be mismanaged and wants the city to cut spending before going to taxpayers. Pugh says, "Look for ways to save money. We have to save money, we have to pinch and save. They can do the same." Members say now is not the time to raise taxes because of the bad economy. On the flip side of the issue is Gary Ficken, who co-chairs the group, "Vote Yes, For Our Neighbors." Ficken’s group is urging Cedar Rapids voters to pass the local option sales tax, saying it will speed up rebuilding efforts. If approved it’s expected to bring in at least $18-million to Cedar Rapids, most of which is slated for flood recovery. Ficken says, "This is a chance for Cedar Rapids to put some skin in the game and show that we’re willing to take some of the pain on ourselves and that’s what’s important for Des Moines, for Washington D.C. to see, that we need help and we’re willing to share some of that burden ourselves." The vote is March 3rd.
Hunting deaths in Iowa are down
A man died in a hunting accident last September in Wright County, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it was the only deadly mishap of 2008. Joe Wilkinson with the D.N.R. says overall it’s been a fairly safe decade for hunting in Iowa.
"Of course, any fatality is one too many, but we’re really about as low as we can get at one or two a year," Wilkinson said. "Especially when you look at the 1960s and 70s, when it was not uncommon to have 10 or 12 a year." In 1965, 20 hunters died in accidents in Iowa. Wilkinson says hunter education courses have reduced the number of incidents.
The 10-hour course became mandatory for Iowans to receive a hunting license in 1983. "Basically, we have hunters that know a little more before they even step out in the field now. That’s the primary reason, we’re instructing about 11,000 people a year," Wilkinson said. Aside from the one fatality, hunting accidents also accounted for 11 injuries last year and five reports of property damage.
Wilkinson says most accidents occur when hunters swing their weapon to hit the moving bird or deer and they don’t identify what’s beyond the target. Hunting numbers have also dipped noticeably in the last 40 years in Iowa, but Wilkinson says it’s not enough to account for the drastic drop in fatals and injuries.
Today, around 300,000 Iowans hold hunting licenses or landowner tag.
Iowa native among victims of New York plane crash
An Iowa native is one of the victims of last night’s commuter plane crash near Buffalo, New York. Forty-seven-year-old captain Marvin Renslow, a Shenandoah native, was the pilot of the plane and among 50 victims of Continental flight 3407 which crashed into a house in Clarence, New York.
Shenandoah High School activities director, Jeff Hiser, knew Marvin Renslow well. He says Renslow was a lifelong resident of Shenandoah until graduation in 1979. Hiser says Renslow’s mom Shirley and father Dean, who has died, used to babysit him and his brother and other children, and they remained closed ever since.
"You couldn’t ask for a better father, or brother, or friend in Marvin," Hiser says. Hiser says many people in Shenandoah know Renslow.
"It’s a shock to everybody, the few people I’ve spoken with, or the phone calls I’ve taken, they just can’t believe it," Hiser says, "you know we see these things on television, but it really hits home when you have grown up in the community and know that individual."
Hiser says Renslow was popular in school as Renslow was outgoing and involved in speech, music and drama, and "an excellent drummer." Hiser says Renslow worked at the local grocery store and they bowled together in a lot of tournaments. He says Renslow was the type of person that was always there if you needed something or somebody.
Reports say neither the air-traffic controller nor the pilot showed any concern when the plane was asked to maintain an altitude of 2,300 feet, then the plane went silent. After the crash, at least two pilots were heard saying they had been picking up ice on their wings. Hiser says Renslow was a skilled pilot.
"I’m sure that his number one priority, just knowing Marvin, was to just take of his passengers and do what he was trained to do for the best outcome possible," Hiser says. Hiser says the loss of his friend hasn’t really sunk in yet. Hiser says, "I know personally, I’ll miss Marvin, and a lot of other people will too." Marvin Renslow is survived by his wife Sandy and two children, one of whom will graduate this year from high school.
