He has not been a collegiate head coach but From 2001-2008, Jackson worked for USA Wrestling as the National Freestyle Coach. his competitive career was capped off when he won a gold medal at the 1992 summer Olympics. He replaces Cael Sanderson, who resigned to take over at Penn State. 
Iowa state has a new wrestling coach. Kevin Jackson will be introduced later this morning in Ames. Jackson was part of the Cyclone team in 1987 that won the NCAA championship.
Jackson named ISU wrestling coach
May 1, 2009 By
Taylor County Sheriff recognized for work on kidnapping case
May 1, 2009 By
A sheriff in southwest Iowa was recognized Thursday at a statehouse ceremony for his work in rescuing an 18-year-old girl who was kidnapped in 2007. Taylor County Sheriff Lonnie Weed says he received a call on December 8th at 9 p.m. that Michaela Fletcher was missing. He knew Michaela well from helping coach her basketball team in Bedford.
"That’s just out of character for Michaela (to go missing) and I knew right off something was wrong," Weed said. "By the time I got to town, they discovered her vehicle on fire." A man had kidnapped Michaela at gunpoint as she was leaving work at a Bedford Hy-Vee store.
Weed says 24-year-old Eric Houk was immediately identified as a "person of interest" in the case. Deputies went to Houk’s house and identified tracks in the snow that matched tracks left near Michaela’s car and where she was abducted.
"Two deputies and a city police officer were at the house and couldn’t raise anybody. They told me that the vehicle tires matched, so I told them not to leave until they made contact with (Houk)," Weed said. At 6 a.m., nine hours after Michaela was abducted, Houk surrendered.
"We were in the process of seeing if we could get a search warrant, when he came out (of the house) with her," Weed said. A jury convicted Houk of kidnapping, sexual abuse and arson. He was sentenced to four life terms in prison in October of last year.
Weed was presented with an award at Thursday’s annual ceremony to mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. Matt Whitaker, the U.S. Attorney for Iowa’s southern district handed a plaque to Weed after reading several nomination notes – including one from Michaela.
Whitaker read: "She first quotes Voltaire, she says ‘faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.’ Then she says, I never believed that I would ever get through this. I still face fears in dark places and unlocked doors, but in Sheriff Lonnie Weed I trust."
Des Moines resident Karl Schilling was presented with an award for his 25 years of volunteer work on behalf of crime victims and Jasper County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Eric Nation was recognized for developing a local Drug Endangered Children’s Program.
MidAmerican joins MISO
May 1, 2009 By
Iowa’s largest utility company, MidAmerican Energy is joining a group called the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator or MISO . MidAmerican spokesperson, Ann Thelen says the move allows the company to share with other companies.
Thelen says the company will continue to construct, own and operate its own electric plants and control center, but this membership will allow them bring benefits to customers with broader access to buying and selling electricity across more markets. Thelen says MidAmerican will be able to buy energy from the group, or offer it up to others.
She says MidAmerican can offer to sell its excess energy to other midwest markets. Thelen says customers won’t really notice anything different. Thelen says they won’t call for any electric rate increases because of this, it will just broaden their ability to market the electricity they generate. Thelen says the company should be a part of the group by this fall.
She says pending regulatory approval, MidAmerican will become part of MISO on September first. MidAmerican Energy is headquartered in Des Moines and provides service to over 722,000 electric customers from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois.
April saw lots of different types of weather
May 1, 2009 By
It’s May 1st and the state climatologist is looking back at an oddball April that saw both snowfall and summerlike heat. Harry Hillaker says when it’s all averaged out, April ended up being only one-half of one-degree cooler than normal, while precipitation was just slightly above normal — even though it ranged statewide from near-drought to floods.
He says precipitation is widely varied across the state as parts of northwest Iowa were much drier than normal while parts of central Iowa were extremely wet and got five inches of rain, and more, just in the past week — almost twice the usual rainfall amount. During April, Iowans had to bundle up in their winter coats to fend off the icy chill of snowstorms, but they were also able to go outside and ride their bikes in shorts.
Temperatures were dipping down into the teens in early April while towards the end of the month, some areas were downright hot, with Sioux City reporting a high of 92 degrees last week. As for the month ahead, Hillaker says so far, things appear to be on track for a relatively average May.
Seasonal normal temperatures are expected, at least for the start of May, with highs in the upper 60s and overnight lows in the mid-40s.
Big changes for ISU Extension Service
May 1, 2009 By
Dramatic changes are in store for Iowa State University’s Extension Service. Jack Payne, the I.S.U. vice president who oversees the Extension Service, delivered the news in a video message to Extension staff and county Extension Councils.
"We have developed a plan to restructure and repurpose Extension," Payne said. "No Extension program or unit will be untouched by this plan."
The Extension Service was started in 1903 by a group of Sioux County farmers with the idea of taking information about the latest farming methods from the land-grant university in Ames and sharing it with farmers. The Extension Service runs the 4-H program for kids and teenagers, and has had a presence in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.
The reorganization plan calls for a reduction to just 20 regional offices, according Payne, but he’s not ready to speculate about layoffs.
"We will be receiving federal stimulus money…These dollars can be used as a bridge to help us transition into the new structure and will alleviate any immediate reduction in staff and allow us to work on transitioning throughout the coming months," Payne said. "More details on this and a timeline will be forthcoming."
The plan does call for cutting 25 Extension personnel who work on the Iowa State campus, however. About 11 percent of Iowa State University’s budget is spent on the Extension Service and, due to state budget constraints, officials must cut just over $4 million from Extension’s budget.
"This means a shift in the way we do business," Payne said Wednesday in the webcast.
Critics of the reorganization plan say it’s skewed toward urban Iowa, as each of the 20 regions is built around a "retail center." Mary Holz-Clause, an associate Iowa State vice president who oversees Extension, too, disputes that.
"Those regions were based upon both county tax evaluation and also county population and so we tried to make those as even as we could across the state of Iowa so as not to abandon our rural roots," she said during an interview with KJAN Radio in Atlantic. "…We really still remain committed to serving rural Iowa."
The reorganization plan was presented yesterday to the Board of Regents — the nine-member panel that governs Iowa State University. Read the reorganization plan and watch Payne’s video message by clicking on this link .
(Additional reporting from Ric Hanson of KJAN Radio in Atlantic.)
