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Flood warnings posted in several counties

April 27, 2009 By

Flood warnings are posted for some three-dozen counties across Iowa this morning after heavy rain most of the weekend. Severe storms also brought at least one tornado to eastern Iowa on Sunday afternoon. Jeff Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says flooding may worsen by midweek.

Most of the flood warnings are the result of the widespread weekend rain which is expected to impact rivers and streams, especially across central and eastern Iowa over the next couple of days. Johnson says virtually all of the state got at least some rain since Friday, with some areas getting many more inches of than others.

Weekend rainfall totals for some areas exceed six inches in the northeast, including parts of Marshall and Black Hawk counties, while heavy rain also fell in the southwest, over Cass and Guthrie counties. At least one tornado hit Linn, Delaware and Dubuque counties late Sunday afternoon, downing trees and power lines, damaging several farmsteads and destroying R-Vs parked at a Central City campground. No injuries are reported. Johnson notes that parts of Colorado, including Denver, are seeing snow this morning.

"That’s one of the reasons why we have this weather," he says. "You get the clash of the air masses in the spring months. You get all that instability and atmospheric energy and it all produces the thunderstorm activity we’ve seen." Johnson says much of Iowa may see a break from the clouds tomorrow (Tuesday) but more rain is expected by Wednesday and on toward the weekend. He adds, it shouldn’t get cold enough in Iowa for any snowfall. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Gay couples line up to get marriage licenses

April 27, 2009 By

Reporters interview gay couples waiting at the Polk County Administration Building. Today is the first day that gay couples can apply for marriage licenses in Iowa and around one dozen gay couples lined up at the Polk County administration building just before six o’clock this morning waiting for the doors to open.

Andrew Mahoney-Lamb and his partner Grant Lamb were the first in line, but didn’t plan it that way.

“No, we figured there’d be a lot of people here, so we figured we’d show up early and try to beat the rush,” Mahoney-Lamb says. Mahoney-Lamb talked his feelings about the wait. “Anxious, I just want to get it over with and have the piece of paper in my hand to show me that it’s actually true,” he says. Lamb says it’s important to them to see the license.

“Definately once that paper is signed, it’s sealed, then the reality will hit. That’s really what we’re waiting for, the seal from the recorder that says it’s all true,” Lamb says. The two say they’ve been a “couple” for three years and had a commitment ceremony a year ago. Ingrid Olson and Reva Evans waited in line with their son Jamison.

“You know walking up the stairs today, I mean, I got a big pit in my stomach,” Olson says. “I got a big smile on my face,” Evans says, “and it was just like, like I didn’t expect it, it was pretty powerful, it was just a great feeling.” Olson and Evans had tried to get a license four years ago, and were one of the couples who challenged Iowa’s gay marriage ban after being denied.

Olson says they have to reapply and there are couples who have their money in escrow who apply in 2007, but she says when they applied they were told marriage was between one man and one woman and the recorder wouldn’t accept their fee. Some couples applied for licenses in 2007 after a Polk County judge declared the state marriage ban unconstitutional, and then those cases were put on hold as the case was appealed to the Supreme Court.

Ingrid Olson, Reva Evans and son Jamison. At least two of the couples in line today were from out of state. Chris Tabor drove in from Jefferson City, Missouri with his partner Rusty Warning.

“We’ve been together for nine years — and for us when we heard the news — it was just a matter of planning the arrangement and coming up to Des Moines and getting it taken care of,” Tabor. Warning says it was an easy decision once they heard the Iowa Supreme Court Decision.

He says it was an instantaneous decision and the only question then was when they would be able to get off work to come to Iowa. Their marriage won’t be recognized back in Missouri, but Tabor says they don’t care. Tabor says,”It matters to us, that’s really why we are doing it. And we’re glad to see a state in the midwest do this, so we’re really happy about it.”

Both say they doubt Missouri will allow gay marriages anytime soon and both said they don’t care to lead the fight for gay marriage in their home state.

The law requires any couple who get a marriage license to wait three days before getting married, but they can request a waiver. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Gay couples ready to get marriage licenses today

April 27, 2009 By

Patrick Phillipps and Denny Schrock Same-sex couples will be allowed to legally marry in Iowa for the first time today following a landmark ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court earlier this month.

County courthouses statewide are expected to be much busier than normal as gay and lesbian couples rush to get marriage licenses and tie the knot.

Des Moines resident Denny Schrock and his partner plan to be at the Polk County Courthouse as soon as it opens. "I think it’s a wonderful day for Iowa and a wonderful day for equality," Schrock says.

The 55-year-old magazine editor says he and his soon-to-be-spouse, Patrick Phillips, will go from the courthouse to their church where the minister who united them in a religious service three years ago will repeat the process.

Then, he says, they’ll head back to the courthouse in downtown Des Moines to be among the first gay couples in Iowa to have their marriage license registered. Aside from the romantic implications of being united through a wedding ceremony, Schrock says the legal ramifications are also important — especially when it comes to things like death and taxes.

"It affects us in a number of ways, not the least of which is taxes, when we can file jointly or separately and the sort of deductions we can take," Schrock says. "It also affects us as far as our ability to visit each other in the hospital."

Once the state recognizes their partnership, should one of them fall seriously ill, the other will be able to make end-of-life decisions, something that would have likely taken a legal battle before the April 3rd state Supreme Court decision.

The state has issued an order that county recorders follow the court’s mandate, though some county recorders reportedly vow to resign rather than to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It’s expected Iowa’s most populous county, Polk, will be the busiest of the state’s 99 county courthouses today. Schrock and his partner are prepared for a wait.

"We do rather anticipate that there will be a line," Schrock says. "I don’t expect thousands but maybe dozens of people there waiting to take advantage of this opportunity. I know many, many people have been waiting a long time for this."

Opponents of gay marriage are in the process of launching an effort that would bring about an amendment to the state constitution banning the practice. Schrock says there’s concern for a repeat of what happened in California, but he hopes the effort to overturn the same-sex unions in Iowa is diffused.

"Once the marriage equality is in process, people will see that their world does not dramatically change," Schrock says. "The change really only occurs for those couples who are finally able to have marriage equality and we believe Iowans are very fair-minded and will understand and realize that this really is a matter of equality for all."

Lambda Legal plans to have observers at some two-dozen county recorders’ offices in Iowa today, though officials with the group say no trouble is anticipated. The Chicago-based firm was at the center of the lawsuit that resulted in the state high court’s ruling that the Iowa law which proclaimed marriage is only between a man and a woman is unconstitutional.  

Filed Under: Politics & Government
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