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Harkin lauds, King laments Obama’s stem cell decision

March 9, 2009 By

Democratic Senator Tom Harkin says President Obama has made an “historic” move today by lifting the ban which prevented the use of new embryonic stem cells in federally-funded research. 

In 2001, President Bush signed an executive order which banned the use of embryonic stem cell lines created after that date. Senator Harkin says President Obama’s decision to lift Bush’s ban is “an historic day” for “patients suffering from disease.” Harkin says it’s also a banner day “for those…who have fought for more than eight years to free up our best scientists to pursue stem cell research to its fullest.” Harkin wants Congress to follow Obama’s action and pass a law so future presidents can’t reverse today’s move.

From the other side of this debate, Congressman Steve King says Obama has shown “no respect for the…objections of life-loving, tax-paying Americans” who believe embryonic stem cell research “involves the destruction” of human life. King is a Republican from Kiron in western Iowa.

 

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

Jesup residents return to homes after derailment cleaned up

March 9, 2009 By

Residents evacuated after a train derailed in the northeast Iowa town of Jesup Sunday have been let back in their homes. The freight train de-railed near downtown Jesup late Sunday afternoon.

Three of the cars carrying ethanol jumped the Canadian National Railway tracks, while several other cars started to tip. One of the cars developed a small leak, but it was repaired after railroad officials arrived on the scene overnight. About one dozen nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution. Rail crews have since righted the cars and cleaned up the area.

Residents were allowed back in their homes by mid-morning. No one was injured. The cause of the de-railment has not been determined, however officials are looking at the possibility that heavy rains could have washed out a portion of the track. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Airplane makes emergency landing in Black Hawk County

March 9, 2009 By

A small airplane made an emergency landing on a rural Black Hawk County road Sunday night. The Federal Aviation Administration plans to investigate the forced landing, which occurred just west of Cedar Falls.

The pilot, Mike Welton of Waterloo, told local law enforcement officials that he guided the small aircraft down on a rural gravel road after the plane’s engine suddenly stalled while in flight. Neither Welton, nor his passenger, were injured.

Authorities say Welton made a slight adjustment to the undamaged plane, jumped back in the cockpit and took off. He flew the aircraft to the Waterloo Regional Airport with no further problems.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Heavy rains prompt flood warnings in SE Iowa

March 9, 2009 By

The rainy weather over the weekend has many Iowans worried about a repeat of 2008. National Weather Service Meteorologist Craig Cogill says most of the flooding concerns are in southeast Iowa, which could receive more heavy rain today through tomorrow.

"Generally, southeast of a line from Lamoni to Cedar Rapids is looking at one to two-and-a-half inches overnight," Cogill said. The southeast third of the state is under a Flash Flood Watch after receiving 1.5 to 3 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday. Cogill says the ground is saturated and several rivers in the area have spilled out of their banks.

Most of the flooding is in farm fields and aside from water leaking into basements, there’s no serious threat to homes and businesses. Heavy rain on Sunday did force the closure of four highways in eastern Iowa; Highway 16 near Fairfield, Highway 92 near Oskaloosa, Highway 6 near West Liberty and Highway 130 between Tipton and Davenport.

Cogill says today’s rain storm will be followed by some strong winds. He expects west to northwest winds of 30 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 miles per hour Tuesday afternoon and evening. Much colder air will arrive on Wednesday, with highs only reaching the teens and 20s. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Changes allow flood victims to deduct full losses from taxes

March 9, 2009 By

The federal government is changing how Iowans who were affected by last year’s disasters can file their taxes. Before the Heartland Disaster Tax Relief Act was approved last fall, those affected could deduct only some of what they lost.

Now, taxpayers can deduct all of their losses, including houses, charitable contributions and medical expenses. Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, says the new law will help thousands of Iowans save money. Loebsack says, “Those who were affected directly by the floods, those who helped those affected directly by the floods, those who have children going to college in flood-affected areas.”

Internal Revenue Service tax specialist Kristy Maitre says the new law allows Iowans to take more deductions. Maitre says, “Basically, it means that you can deduct 100% of your loss as long as you can itemize your deductions.” Those deductions, which are called casualty losses, include a house but can also include medical expenses, charitable contributions and mortgage interest.

There are also new tax credits for businesses affected by disasters. Some of them include credits for retaining and housing employees as well as clean-up costs. For property and business owners who have already filed tax returns, it’s not too late to amend them. For those who need more time past the April 15th deadline, the I.R.S. will grant extensions until October. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

DOT uses lasers, turbine to count traffic

March 9, 2009 By

The Iowa Department of Transportation is using a mix of new and old technology to count traffic in a busy area along Interstate 80-35 in Des Moines. D.O.T. spokesperson Karen Carroll says the high-tech laser system counts the vehicles.

Carroll says the system puts two lasers across the road and counts traffic as the vehicles cross the lasers. She says they decided on this system because it would be costly to have to shut down and tear up the road to install the traditional loops under the roadway that measure traffic. Caroll says its’ called the " AxleLight " laser system and is able to tell the type of vehicle by the number of wheels and the distance between each wheel.

Carroll says the system does all the calculations for them and they can access the information at the D.O.T. in Ames from a cell modem. Carroll says the laser system has been used for temporary traffic counts, but this is believe to be the first permanent used of the system in the country.

She says the traffic studies are important to the D.O.T.. Carroll says the data is used for a variety of things, including mandate reporting to federal officials for use in determining funding that comes to the state. Carroll says the information is also used in designing and planning roadways. While the laser system is state-of-the art, Carroll says they had to turn to an old method to power the system.

Most of the D.O.T.’s monitoring stations in the state are powered by solar cells, but this location was too shady, and they decided to install a wind turbine to create the needed power. Carroll says the turbine is approximately 46 inches in diameter, which is much smaller than the massive wind turbines going up to produce large amounts of electricity. She says this turbine produces enough power to run the laser system and is working very well so far.

Carroll says motorists driving along the Northwest Beaver Road overpass in Des Moines won’t notice the laser beams across the road and likely won’t notice the wind turbine either. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Doubling penalties for child labor violations

March 9, 2009 By

Legislative leaders say a bill that would dramatically increase penalties for those who illegally employ children will be debated in the Iowa House sometime in the next 10 days.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, says the bill would send adults found guilty of illegally employing kids to jail for up to 12 months. "It deals directly with the incidents that occurred at Agriprocessors in Postville last summer," Murphy says.

A May 12, 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at the meatpacking rounded up hundreds of illegal immigrants who were charged with identity theft, as were some of the plant’s supervisors. Another investigation found children working at the plant, illegally, and fined the company $9.6 million, according to Murphy. "With the bill that we would be doing, it would increase the fine from $100 to $500 per pay period for each violation, so the 96,000 that came to $9.6 million would come up to $50 million under the bill that we’re proposing," Murphy says.

Under current law, adults caught illegally employing children are charged with a simple misdemeanor and can be sentenced to no more than 30 days in jail. The bill makes the crime a serious misdemeanor, which could land the guilty in prison for up to a year.

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