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Story City wind turbine repair plant to break ground

March 31, 2009 By

Construction will begin this week on a new "green energy" factory in central Iowa. Wednesday is the day that ground will be broken on a new wind turbine repair plant in Story City.

Next Era Energy of Juno Beach, Florida, will construct the plant that will bring 25 new jobs to the Story County community, just north of Ames. The work will add a 60,000 square foot addition to an already existing 30,000 square foot building.

The construction of the Next Era facility in Story City is expected to employ 75 workers with the completion set for early next year. Governor Chet Culver will attend the ground breaking ceremony set for 11:30 AM.

 

Filed Under: Business

Grassley says bankruptcy for automakers is how system works

March 31, 2009 By

Critics say there’s a big difference between how President Obama is treating automakers versus the financial industry in terms of bailouts, but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the president’s walking a fine line. General Motors and Chrysler’s reconstruction plans were rejected Monday by Obama — and the plans were needed for a combined $22-billion government bailout.

Grassley says it’s an issue of letting capitalism run its course. Grassley says, "When the government is intervening to make that point, it appears to a lot of people to appear to be a government running a private corporation and is that good? That’s the questions that are raised." Based on the latest actions, analysts believe G-M and Chrysler will surely face bankruptcy, a merger or both.

Grassley says that’s the way the system works. "It’s a balancing act between being good trustees of the taxpayers’ money when it’s given to corporations like General Motors and the extent to which you rely just simply upon the company to make the decision." Some in Detroit say Obama’s taking a "tough love" stance with automakers but has given banks and other financial operations billions.

G-M chairman Rick Wagoner is leaving the company, reportedly at the request of the White House. Grassley says, "When Wagoner goes, he goes because he was ineffective and that’s the way capitalism is supposed to work." Grassley says, "I made a decision on this back in December when I decided not to go for bailouts of the Big Three…and then the stimulus package and all the other things that tend to not be doing much good and putting a tremendous load upon future generations."

Grassley is taking part in a Senate Finance Committee hearing this morning that’s essentially a six-month update on the government bailouts, known as TARP. He was a key player in making sure a special inspector general be appointed to oversee the expenditure of TARP money — to protect the billions in taxpayer funds being spent. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

April marks start of volunteer month

March 31, 2009 By

April marks National Volunteer Month. Jody Benz, program coordinator of the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Services, says First Lady Mari Culver will help raise awareness of the need for volunteers at domestic abuse and youth shelters on April 25th.

Benz says the "Shelter Awareness Day" will draw attention to the important services those shelters provide to at-risk youth and victims of domestic abuse. Many non-profit agencies in the state are in need of volunteers, but Benz says Iowa is fortunate to have so many citizens willing to work in their local communities.

"We’ve got lots of proof that millions of dollars worth of value come into the state (from volunteers)," Benz said. "If non-profit organizations had to pay the volunteers for the services that they provide, there just wouldn’t be enough money in the world to get everything done that needs to be done." Iowans can find volunteer opportunities online at Volunteer Iowa website .

 

Filed Under: Business

Likely 2010 GOP candidate for governor denounces Democrats’ tax plan

March 31, 2009 By

Bob Vander Plaats, a likely 2010 Republican candidate for governor, held a statehouse news conference this morning to denounce the tax plan Democrats in the legislature are advancing.

"Probably the biggest problem I have with this is the whole concept of winners and losers," Vander Plaats said. "…When there’s 450,000…projected losers in the state of Iowa, that is way too many."

Democrats say their plan cuts taxes or keeps taxes the same for two-thirds of Iowans. It would raise taxes on one-third of Iowans — primarily those with incomes above $125,000 — and Vander Plaats calls that an attack on the "producers" in the economy.

"Everybody right now understands the best benefit and the best break you can have is having a job today, so let our producers produce," Vander Plaats said. "Get out of their way, but let them produce."

The Democrats’ plan also gets rid of a tax break which allows Iowans to deduct their federal tax bill from their income before they calculate their state income taxes. Two businessmen who supported Vander Plaats in his two previous bids for governor in 2002 and 2006 appeared with Vander Plaats at today’s news conference to denounce that part of the bill.

Tony Caligiuri of Osceola is president of Boyt Harness and Bob Allen Sportswear. "It’s hard enough to get people to move to Iowa sometimes," Caligiuri said. "You take away one more advantage, which is this federal income tax deductibility, it’s going to make it a lot tougher."

Henry Elder, co-owner of Brothers Construction in Des Moines, contends the small businesses that hire his firm will be paying more in taxes. "The business environment here in the state of Iowa, it’s not that bad, but it needs all the help it can get and taking that away from small business would hurt us at a time we need it the most," Elder said.

Governor Culver, a Democrat, told legislators he was opposed to a gas tax increase because now — during a recession — is not the time to raise taxes. Vander Plaats is challenging Culver to reject the income tax plan from Democrats in the legislature for the same reason.

"I think elections do have consequences. I think elections matter and I think what the people of Iowa are seeing today is that we’re adjusting a tax code that’s going to punish producers, " Vander Plaats said. "…That’s why 2010 is going to be a critical year, to bring that pendulum back."

A spokesman for Governor Culver’s 2010 re-election campaign was not immediately available.

Listen to today’s news conference by clicking on the audio link below.

AUDIO: Vander Plaats news conference 10:00 MP3

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

Shooting death being investigated in Humboldt County

March 31, 2009 By

Humboldt County authorities are investigating the Sunday death of an 18-year-old Dakota City man. Lucas Pflibsen died from a gunshot wound.

Humboldt County Sheriff Dean Kruger said another man was stabbed in the leg in the incident. He was taken to Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge where he was treated and later released. The man’s name was not available from the sheriff’s department. No arrests have been made.

Sheriff Kruger said the stabbing occurred early Sunday in Livermore. Pflibsen was shot at about three Sunday morning in a rural area of Humboldt county. Pflibsen was airlifted to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines where he later died.

An autopsy was to have been performed Monday by the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Des Moines with the results to be released in the next few days.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Biomass plant planned for west-central Iowa

March 31, 2009 By

A San Francisco based company is planning to build an $80-million biomass plant in west-central Iowa. SynGest C.E.O. Jack Oswald says the plant near Menlo will be the first in the U.S. to convert biomass, primarily corncobs, into anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer and fuel.

"It’s a process called gasification," Oswald said. "Which is just another way of saying we burn them in a closed vessel, so that nothing escapes, and convert the gases that are created into the ammonia." Currently, most ammonia fertilizers are produced with natural gas. That process results in sulfur and other toxins being released into the air.

Oswald say the biomass process will be much better for the environment. "For every ton of product that we make, there are two tons of carbon dioxide that will not go into the air from the use of natural gas and also the all those other nasty chemicals and gases," Oswald said.

The SynGest plant in Menlo will use 150-thousand tons of corncobs per year to manufacture 50,000 tons of bio-ammonia. Oswald says the company will almost exclusively with farmers in a 40-mile radius of the plant. "We really will be mutually dependent, in the sense that we rely on getting local biomass input and also, we’ll be selling product back out to the same community," Oswald said.

Farmers have struggled with soaring fertilizer costs in recent years as half of the ammonia used in the U.S. is imported. Construction on the Menlo biomass plant could begin this Fall. An estimated 500 workers will be needed to build the plant, which could open within two years.

Oswald says around 40 people will manage and operate the plant, while another 100 to 200 workers will "directly or indirectly" provide "logistics and support" for the facility. The company just recently signed an agreement to purchase 75 acres of land in Guthrie County. Oswald declined to discuss details, but says SynGest is working with the state and local governments to help finance the project.

 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business

Ms. Wheelchair Iowa looks to make gas pumps accessible

March 31, 2009 By

Angie Plager The simple act of filling a car’s gas tank is nearly impossible for some people with physical disabilities — especially those in wheelchairs.

Twenty-six-year-old Angie Plager was crowned the new Ms. Wheelchair Iowa over the weekend and plans to make the accessibility of the state’s gas stations one of her first awareness projects.

Plager says: "I personally drive but I still need help getting ready for the day, but I can drive to all my appointments. I can go to all my meetings, but I can’t refuel my vehicle by myself."

Plager, who lives in the central Iowa town of Cambridge, was injured in a 2003 car accident that left her a quadriplegic. She’s able to drive a modified vehicle using hand controls anywhere she needs to go, but when it comes to refueling that van, the metal gas nozzle is too heavy for her to lift alone.

There’s another problem at the pumps. "The buttons are too high on the gas pump itself," Plager says. "I can’t reach the buttons to push a credit card number or anything like that, I just can’t reach ‘em. I’m too short." She says if gas stations would outfit just one set of their tanks with a simple device called "Fuel Call," it would enable drivers with disabilities to become loyal patrons.

"It’s an invention — basically, it’s a larger button," she says. "It actually comes off of the fuel pump itself so you can reach it. It’s lower and this also goes back to the full-service stations and tells when people are available to come help you put gas in your vehicle."

While full-service gas stations are about as common in Iowa now as Edsels, Plager says she also wants to change how gas station and convenience store employees are trained, as many of them aren’t aware they’re legally obligated to lend a hand to those who can’t pump their own fuel.

She says, "By law, if there is more than one employee at a gas station, the other one is supposed to be able to come out and help you pump gas, but in the training of employees at gas stations, they don’t know that, so it’s a huge oversight." In one of her jobs, Plager is an "independent support broker," someone who helps people with disabilities use an allowance of public funds to gain their independence.

Plager was crowned the new Ms. Wheelchair Iowa on Saturday in an event in Iowa City. It’s not a contest based on external beauty, but is based instead on a woman’s accomplishments since the onset of a disability, in addition to communication skills and other elements. For more information visit the  Ms. Wheelchair America program website.

Filed Under: Human Interest Tagged With:
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