The Sophomore forward averaged 19 points and 20 rebounds in two victories. Stuckey scored 24 points and hauled down 19 rebounds in a victory over Muscatine and 20 of her rebounds on the week were on the offensive end.
Class 3A: Maddie Forsyth, Charles City
February 18, 2009 By
The junior center averaged just over 19 points and 11 rebounds in three wins. Forsyth scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in a victory over Clear Lake. She made 58 percent of her shots on the week.
Class 2A: Katie Gustafson, South Hamilton
February 18, 2009 By
The junior guard scored 27 points, including a trio of three pointers, and hauled down 13 rebounds in a victory over Woodward-Granger. Gustafson also dished out four assists, had four steals and blocked three shots.
Class 1A: Clarissa Gwinn, Mormon Trail (Garden Grove)
February 18, 2009 By
The senior forward averaged 26 points and 10-and-a-half rebounds in a pair of wins. Gwinn scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a victory over Murray. She also had two assists, three steals and blocked a shot.
General declares Iowa Guard "resilient" and "ready"
February 18, 2009 By
The now-retired head of the Iowa National Guard delivered his sixth and final “Condition of the Guard Address” this morning at the statehouse.
Major General Ron Dardis said the Iowa Guard had been strengthened by war and disaster response. “I can report that the Iowa National Guard is as resilient and (as) ready as it has ever been,” Dardis said.
Dardis called the men and women in the Iowa Guard the “most seasoned and prepared military force our state has seen” since the World War II era. In the past seven years 13,000 Iowa Guard members have been deployed outside the state, including tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Suicide rates among combat veterans have been climbing and Dardis told legislators the Guard has begun a suicide prevention program because the Guard is “not immune” and has seen an increase in suicides and suicide attempts this past year. ”And like all leaders, I’m troubled by this issue. There is no clear trend or cause that is readily apparent. There is nothing that we can point to and say, ‘If only you fix this or change that, that we can prevent it,’” Dardis said. “The reality is this: it is a very complex and challenging issue. It is not only an Army or military issue, but one that we must all deal with.”
To help soldiers cope, Dardis said the Iowa Guard has developed a “broad” suicide prevention program and during the next four months all military units — both the full-time military and the part-time Guard and Reserve — have been directed to speak openly about the warning signs that may lead to suicide.
Last week, Governor Culver appointed Dardis executive director of the Rebuild Iowa Office. Dardis spent part of his speech recounting the Guard’s response to the flooding that struck Iowa last June. Dardis said Iowa Guard soldiers were “smack dab in the middle of the (immediate) response” to the flooding, a deployment Dardis described as the “most extensive military operation on Iowa soil since the Civil War.”
“…But above all, I want to thank the people of Iowa,” Dardis said to open his speech. ”Their support is simply put incredible. What they did for our soldiers and airmen as they waged a gallant effort to mitigate damages caused by floodwaters and tornados is a true testament to the wonderful community support we are so privileged to enjoy throughout the state. Even though their communities had been ravaged by record floodwaters, citizens made sure our soldiers and airmen were being taken care of. You wouldn’t believe the food and baked goods that showed up wherever we went.”
You can read the general’s speech here.
Click on the audio link below to listen to the half-hour-long speech.
Safety group urges Iowa lawmakers to ban drivers from using cell phones
February 18, 2009 By
A study finds talking on a cell phone while driving quadruples the risk of being in a crash and Iowa legislators are being asked to consider banning the use of cell phones by all motorists.
Bill Mulherin, spokesman for the Omaha-Council Bluffs area chapter of the National Safety Council, says cell phones contribute to six-percent of all crashes — that’s 636,000 crashes nationwide caused by those who talk and drive or text and drive.
Mulherin says, “The cell phone and the texting are a unique form of distraction because of the interaction that is required between the driver and the person on the other end of the conversation.”
A proposal to ban hand-held cell phones from being used by motorists was heard in late January by a subcommittee in the Iowa House. Mulherin hopes he’ll be able to educate people and businesses about the risk they and their employees face when having to answer their phones while driving.
“We want the public to educate themselves on what the dangers and the risks really are,” Mulherin says. “We would eventually like to see our lawmakers debate this issue.” He is hoping the information in the new study will influence people to make the decision on their own not to drive and use cell phones.
“An education process takes time, takes effort,” Mulherin says. “We would hope the public would voluntarily change their behavior and generally when that happens, the legislation becomes non-controversial.” Mulherin says statistics show cell phone use while driving leads to 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths nationwide every year. The overall cost of crashes that involve cell phones reaches $43-billion.
The council’s national president says, “Driving drunk is also dangerous and against the law. When our friends have been drinking, we take the car keys away. It’s time to take the cell phone away.” Five states and the District of Columbia have laws banning driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone. The three of the five states are on the east coast — Connecticut, New Jersey and New York; the other two are on the west coast — California and Washington.
Economist says gas tax is "fairest" way to fund roads
February 18, 2009 By
An Iowa State University economist says the gas tax is the "fairest" way to raise money for road construction and maintenance.
I.S.U. economist David Swenson told members of the House and Senate Transportation Committees he analyzed the impact of a 10-cent-per-gallon increase in the state tax on gasoline. "Nearly all of us drives to work so we want to get a handle on the commuting costs of a gas tax," Swenson said.
According to Swenson, the average Iowa commuter would pay from $33 to $100 a year more a year if there’s a 10 cent hike in the sate gas tax. The range accounts for variations in fuel efficiency of the cars Iowans drive as well as the miles Iowans drive to work. Swenson warns if gas prices rise again to the $4 level — and Iowans begin driving less — the amount of state gas taxes will go down as well.
Swenson also points out as Iowans buy more fuel-efficient cars, the amount of gas they’ll be buying will also decline. "So what you’re getting out of the gas tax is an upfront level of revenue that you would expect to tail off over time," Swenson said.
The Senate Transportation Committee is considering a bill which would increase the state tax on gasoline by eight cents a gallon. According to Swenson’s calculations, an eight-cent hike in the gas tax would have little impact on the driving patterns of Iowans.
Gasoline today in the state’s capitol city is selling for $1.67 per gallon. The average price in Iowa is currently $1.89 per gallon. At its peak on July 16, 2008, pump prices reached $4.02 per gallon in Iowa.
The state of Massachusetts has begun exploring the idea of charging motorists a tax based on the number of miles they drive.
