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Gazette Company cuts jobs

February 25, 2009 By

Another Iowa media company has announced major job cuts. Executives at the company that owns The Cedar Rapids Gazette, K.C.R.G. television and a printing firm in Cedar Rapids say about one-hundred employees are being cut from the payroll.

The company’s president and C.E.O. cites the slumping economy, declining ad revenue and a spike in the cost of newsprint. The Gazette Company had about 600 employees in all three of its media firms last summer when flood waters struck Cedar Rapids. After all the cuts go into effect, there’ll be about five-hundred in the three companies.

The Des Moines Register laid off workers in December and ordered all employees who were still on the payroll to take a one-week furlough in the first three months of this year.

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County supervisors finalize budgets amid uncertainty

February 25, 2009 By

County Supervisors are required by law to set their budgets at this time of year — which is causing a lot of uncertainty as the legislature continues working on its budget. Clay County Board of Supervisors chair, Burlin Mathews, says they can set their budget, but it may not mean much.

"As long as we have the legislature in Iowa still in session, this thing is just set in just firming jello," Mathews says of the budget. Mathews says they try to stay on top of what’s happening in Des Moines, but that’s hard to do. "Who knows what’s coming down the tubes yet," he says of the legislature.

Mathews says what they do know so far hasn’t been good for the county or homeowners. Mathews says they are clueless at this point as to what will happen, but do know they’ve already lost thousands of dollars. Mathews says they don’t know what may come up yet from the legislature as there are likely to be lots of surprises.

"I’ve always thought surprises are nice at Christmas and birthdays, but not in the middle of a budget season," Mathews says. mathews says Clay county will go ahead with its budget hearing and then have to adjust to any changes made by the state.

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Drake wraps up home season against SIU

February 25, 2009 By

The Drake Bulldogs close out their home season, tonight, by hosting Southern Illinois. The Bulldogs have won their last two games.

Drake coach Mark Phelps says they want to build on the success from their good play in the last week. He says all the teams want momentum as they get ready for the conference tournament.

Drake is 7-9 in the Valley and 17-12 overall.

 

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Iowa takes on league leader MSU

February 25, 2009 By

The Iowa Hawkeyes are on the road in the Big Ten to take on league leader Michigan State. Not only have the Hawkeyes lost 13 straight in East Lansing but they are taking on a Spartan team that is 11-3 in the conference race and 21-5 overall.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says the Spartans are a difficult team to contain as they run multiple offensive sets and are well coached. The Hawkeyes have to be more concerned about what they need to do to make it competitive. Lickliter says they have to know what Michigan State likes to do and focus on how the game needs to be played to challenge and compete.

Iowa is 4-10 in the Big Ten and 14-13 overall.

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UNI pulls out win in double overtime

February 25, 2009 By

All that stands between the UNI Panthers and at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title is a Saturday home game against Evansville.

Adam Koch’s put back beat the buzzer at the end of the second overtime as the Panthers won a heart stopper at Illinois State 69-67.

The officials went to the video monitor before ruling the basket good. At 13-4 the Panthers remain tied with Creighton after the Blue Jays won at Missouri State.

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Iowa State gets win against Baylor

February 25, 2009 By

It was a much needed win during a tough season. The Iowa State Cyclones survived a slow start then rolled past Baylor 71-62 in Big-12 play, a game they led by as many as 20 points down the stretch.

ISU coach Greg McDermott says he’s proud of his team after the opening of the game looked like more of the same, but they came back and the bench gave them a lift. McDermott says the Cyclones have maintained a positive attitude and deserved to be rewarded with a win.

McDermott says there are times after games when you are emotionally tired and its hard to get going, but he says for the most part the team has kept working hard and that’s why they ended up getting the win.

The Cyclones improve to 3-10 in conference play and 14-14 overall.

 

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Iowans able to save homes through Mortgage Hotline

February 25, 2009 By

Steven Foster, Tom Miller, Maureen & John Nixon (L-R) Some Iowans who were at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure are encouraging others facing that situation to call a hotline for help.

Maureen and John Nixon of Des Moines fell several months behind on their mortgage payments last summer.

John says his new landscaping business was struggling because of the wet weather. The couple received an "intent to foreclose" notice before they called the Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline.

That led to a meeting with a consumer credit agency. "We took all our paperwork in and they worked out a budget and showed us where we need to improve and what we need to do," Maureen said.

Eventually, a negotiator helped reduce their interest rate, set their back payments to the end of the loan and cut their monthly payments by $112 a month. The Nixons spoke Tuesday at a press conference, called by the Iowa Attorney General, to mark the one-year anniversary of the hot-line. Steve Foster of Des Moines also talked about his experience with the service.

"I had an 80-20 loan, which was 9.35% and they had that reduced to 5.25%…and a 12% loan that was reduced to 6%," Foster said. "Through them negotiating, I have saved my home." The Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline was created with a $1.5 million dollar federal grant to the Iowa Finance Authority.

Since it’s inception in February 2008, the hotline’s operators have taken an estimated 5,500 calls and received 3,700 applications. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller believes about one-quarter of the applications have resulted in loan modifications, but says most of the cases are still in progress.

The hotline number is 877-622-4866. Or visit the Iowa Mortgage Helpline website .

AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s Pat Curtis report. :48 MP3

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Human Interest
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