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UNI and Drake part of MVC softball tourney

May 7, 2009 By

UNI and Drake open the Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament in Peoria today. The Panthers are the third seed and open Thursday night against the winner of the game between Bradley and Missouri State. It is UNI’s first appearance at the tournament since 2002.

UNI coach Ryan Jacobs says they are playing together and are confident and excited to be in the tourney for the first time. He says his team has played like there is no pressure and he wants that to continue. Jacobs says they continue to do the things they’ve done day in and day out in practice. He says fun comes when you are playing focused and locked in and that will happen.

The 15-11 record in conference play is the best Valley record the Panthers have ever had and Jacobs says they are confident they can compete against every team. He says that’s huge as they haven’t had a lot of success against conference teams in the past. Jacobs says the Panthers have been very good on the road this year.

Jacobs says everything is mapped out on the road and it is a lot easier to prepare for the games. Drake is the fourth seed and opens Thursday afternoon against the winner of the game between Indiana State and Illinois State. The Bulldogs are the defending champions. 

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Four Iowa Conference teams in regional action

May 7, 2009 By

Four Iowa Conference teams open division three regional action on Thursday. Coe takes part in a regional in Bloomington, Illinois and opens tomorrow morning against defending national champion Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Kohawks coach Bob Timmons says at this point every opponent will be strong.

Timmons says there are a lot of strong teams in the regional, including Wisconsin-Whitewater, last year’s runnerup.

Luther is one of three Iowa Conference teams that are part of a regional hosted by Simpson College.

Luther takes on Washington University of St. Louis in the opening round. Central is the second seed and plays Gustavus Adolphus on Thursday night. Wartburg opens the tournament against Wisconsin-La Crosse.

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Iowa Conference baseball tourney opens today

May 7, 2009 By

The Iowa Conference baseball tournament opens in Cedar Rapids today. Luther and Loras shared the regular season title. After a balanced regular season race Luther coach Brian Gillogly feels the tournament is wide open.

Gillogly says there were teams at the end of the season that were good but didn’t make it, so the teams that do the little things well will come out on top. Luther is the second seed and opens against the winner of the game between Coe and Simpson.

Gillogly says he is thrilled for the seniors who were part of the regular season title, as all six have contributed to the program in a "great way."

Loras is the top seed and goes up against the winner of the game between Wartburg and Buena Vista. 

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DNR says budget cuts will hurt park upkeep

May 7, 2009 By

Visitors to Iowa’s state parks could face overgrown grass and overflowing trash cans this summer. State parks bureau chief Kevin Szcodronski says cleaning and mowing will be reduced because of budget cuts.

"So, we really need the help of park visitors to understand what we’re going through and understand that we’re trying our best," Szcodronski said. "But, we know it’s not going to be good enough. It’s not going to be up to our standards, but there’s not much we can do."

The state hiring freeze has also affected the state parks workforce. There are eight out of roughly 100 full-time jobs that are being left vacant. "That’s going to be noticeable," Szcodronski said. "We have some parks that may only have one full-time person assigned to them now."

The state parks also hire seasonal help in the summer, but Szcodronski says the hours those employees typically work could be cut in half. Szcodronski says federal stimulus dollars could help the situation. Iowa has applied for funding through the Americorps and Youthcorps programs.

"They’re basically programs that are available at 100-percent federal funding to bring young adults and other people into the parks to help us. We’re going to find out about that in a couple weeks. We applied for lots and lots of those workers," Szcodronski said. "So, if we get that and can find the people to fill those slots, we’re going to be in a lot better shape this summer and next summer."

Szcodronski says the D.N.R. is also working to make facilities at the state parks more energy efficient. Over the past year, nearly $750,000 have been spent to upgrade utilities.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Omaha man dies in motorcyle accident

May 7, 2009 By

An Omaha man is dead after being run over by his brother’s motorcycle near Council Bluffs. The Iowa State Patrol says 23-year-old David Splittgerber died after undergoing surgery following the crash that occurred at around 7:40 P.M. Wednesday on Interstate 29.

Authorities say motorcycles driven by Splittgerber and his 20-year-old brother Andrew, also of Omaha, were merging onto I-29 northbound from Exit 52 on the city’s southwest side, when David Splittgerber lost control of his 2007 Harley Davidson motorcycle. As the cycle slid on the pavement, it was hit by on the rear by his brother’s 2008 Harley. Moments later, David Splittgerber was run over by his brother’s bike.

Both cycles then left the road. David was taken by Council Bluffs Fire and Rescue to a trauma center in Omaha (Creighton University Medical Center) where he later died from his injuries. Andrew Splittgerber was apparently not injured in the crash, which remains under investigation.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Group urges parents to get involved in health care debate

May 7, 2009 By

A child advocacy group is urging Iowans to get active in the growing debate over health care to push federal leaders into making changes that benefit kids. Lawrence McAndrews, president and CEO of the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, says the website, SpeakNowForKids.org , is an open forum for parents, family members, health care providers and others.

McAndrews says, "They can voice their own thoughts and ideas about what children need and what their experience has been in health reform so that their legislators can hear their voice, hear their thoughts, hear their concerns about how health care reform should take place."

He says the latest report finds about 4.6% of Iowa children are uninsured, compared to 11.2% nationally. "Iowa’s in good shape," he says, but further improvements are still needed. McAndrews says momentum is building with the new administration in Washington for significant health care reform.

"My sense is, something’s going to happen and it’s going to shape the foundation for the delivery of health care for the next ten or 15, 20, maybe 50 years," McAndrews says. "The country is ready for it and the unique set of circumstances, with the election and with the leadership in congress, we are going to see some changes and those changes should be good for kids."

He says the nation’s economic downturn of the past several months has only made the situation worse for children’s health, since when an adult is fired and loses health care coverage, often, so do their kids. "With every one percent increase in unemployment, and unemployment has doubled to eight or nine or ten percent, there are a million more individuals eligible for Medicaid and S-CHIP," McAndrews says. "That’s a tremendous increased number of kids that don’t have health insurance."

He says children in these families are more likely to lack a regular source of health care and are at greater risk of hospitalization for preventable conditions. According to studies, even children who have insurance receive only 68% of the recommended care for acute medical problems, 53% of recommended care for chronic medical conditions, and 41% of recommended preventive care. Children with asthma receive only 46% of the care they need.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Braley bill seeks to teach kids better eating habits

May 7, 2009 By

Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, says obesity among kids is skyrocketing and it’s time for a new food experiment in 100 U.S. schools.

Braley today introduced a "Health Food Choices for Kids Act" which would require that calorie and other nutritional information be posted in the school cafeterias about what’s served for lunch in those 100 schools.

"Second, it will launch a nutritional awareness education program in these participating schools that will require them to develop and implement nutritional awareness education and teach children healthy eating habits both in and out of school," Braley says.

Braley’s bill would also require officials in those test schools to consult regularly with dieticians about what’s being served in the school cafeteria and available to students in vending machines.

"Fighting obesity is a huge part of my concern in addressing America’s health care issues and particular juvenile obesity," Braley says.

Braley cites a report issued last year that found one in five American four-year-olds is obese. "I’m not talking about overweight. I’m talking about obese," Braley says, adding that in his option the one-in-five figure is "an alarmingly high statistic for four year olds."

According to Braley, a recent study in Pennsylvania found high schoolers selected less caloric food when they saw nutrition information posted near the point where they picked up their food.

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