The Iowa softball team heads to Atlanta this week for an NCAA regional. The Hawkeyes were one of 64 teams selected for the tournament. It is the ninth time in the last ten years the Hawkeyes have qualified for regional play. Iowa coach Gayle Blevins says they have the bigger goal of playing in the World Series. The Hawkeyes closed the regular season with four straight wins and take a 42-14 record into the regional. Blevins says they have good momentum, and have played well, pitched well, played good defense and gotten timely hitting. Iowa takes on Auburn in the opening round on Friday. The other first round matchup pits 14th ranked and host Georgia Tech against Boston University. Each year the Hawks travel the country for a demanding, pre-conference schedule but they have yet to play any of the other teams in the regional. Belvins says they’ve gotten a lot of good scouting reports and there are more TV games to look at in preparation.
Iowa heads to Atlanta for softball regional
Polk County deputy hit by car while riding bike
A bicyclist and law officer in central Iowa narrowly avoided death on the first day of Bike to Work Week. The Polk County Sheriff’s office says a car hit the bicycle rider yesterday afternoon on Highway 415 near Polk City, north of Des Moines.
The bike rider, 45-year-old Leesa Shoemaker of Polk City, was rushed to a Des Moines hospital and was reported in stable condition. Shoemaker is a 24-year veteran of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and is currently a Division Chief.
No charges were filed against the car’s driver, 57-year-old Jerry Culbertson of Bagley. It’s at least the fourth case of bicyclists being hit by vehicles in the region in recent weeks.
Sac City man dies in Sioux County accident
A northwest Iowa man was killed Monday night in an accident involving a car and a semi-truck. Sioux County sheriff’s authorities say a car driven by 18-year-old Patrick Duffy of Sac City was eastbound on Highway 18 and veered into the westbound lane and hit the semi-truck head-on. Duffy was pronounced dead at the scene by the Sioux County medical examiner. The driver of the semi, 55-year-old Andy Enyart of Waukon, Iowa, was taken to the Sheldon hospital by ambulance for treatment of minor injuries. The accident occurred just east of Boyden around 7:30 last evening. The accident remains under investigation.
Grassley says potential savings from health care plan still up in the air
Obama administration officials say they’re confident leaders in the health care industry will made good on their promise to the president Monday to cut costs by two-trillion dollars over the next decade. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who’s a key figure in the health care reform debate, says that figure is a great place to start.
"That will go a long ways towards bringing health care costs down," Grassley says. "I think it’s good of them to offer it but whatever they say doesn’t amount to anything unless the Congressional Budget Office scores it appropriately and in a sense agrees that by doing such-and-such, you save X-number of dollars."
Grassley says he’s eager to get to work on the plan, saying, "Getting any help around here to save money is a rarity and we’re going to take advantage of it." He says he has yet to see specifics on how the health care industry plans to make so drastic a cut as it’ll have to come from myriad sources over the next ten years.
"Now, adding all of that up to two-trillion dollars is something that’s going to be the Congressional Budget Office’s job and what they say is a fact," Grassley says. "It could be two-trillion, it could be one-trillion, it could be a lot less."
Grassley met with Obama last week at the White House to discuss how the administration and Congress can work together to try to bring about health care reform.
Impact of HUD funding formula change still unknown
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is making changes to the way it gives out disaster aid but it’s unclear how the changes will affect Iowa cities like Cedar Rapids that were hit hard by flooding. The federal agency is changing the 30-year old formula it uses to distribute so-called Community Development Block Grants — money that can be spent on things ranging from rehabbing homes to buying them out. Cedar Rapids city manager Jim Prosser says they’ve received about 30-million dollars in grant money but he says that’s not enough and it’s needed to begin buyouts. "What we’re missing is funding, critical funding, to allow us to progress to the next stages which really gets down to property acquisition," Prosser says. The change in the federal formula could put more restrictions on the money — exactly what Prosser says they don’t need. Prosser says, "We need more funding quicker and with less restriction to allow us to actually implement those plans. We’re confident that we’ll get it but we just wish we could get it quicker." HUD representatives say the department is not ready to announce the new funding formula or how the money will be restricted.
Teen charged with injuring girl on school bus
An Iowa City 13-year-old is facing charges for injuring another student on a school bus. Iowa City police say a 16-year-old girl was injured May 1st when the school bus she was riding on stopped at an intersection and someone threw a large piece of plastic into the window of the bus.
The window shattered and the glass sprayed into the face and eyes of the girl. The person who threw the plastic took off. The girl was taken to University Hospitals treated and released. The police investigation led them to 13-year-old Lawrence Longstreet, who admitted to police that he threw the plastic at the bus window.
Longstreet was charged with assault causing injury and fifth-degree criminal mischief, both misdemeanors, and turned over to the custody of his mother.
ISU following other state schools and ending Summer commencement
Summer commencement ceremonies will soon become a thing of the past at all three of Iowa’s Regents universities because of budget cuts. Officials at I.S.U. say they will discontinue summer commencement after the ceremony scheduled for this August. I.S.U. Associate Provost
David Holger says the decision followed this year’s budget reductions. "Summer was the least well-attended," Holger explained. "Only 31-percent of the undergrads who are eligible to attend summer commencement typically do – so that’s quite a bit poorer than spring or fall commencement."
The University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa discontinued summer ceremonies in past years, also because of budget reductions. Holger says officials at I.S.U. wanted to hold on to the tradition. But, they decided it made sense to end summer commencement after talking with officials at the U-I and U.N.I.
The universities have always allowed summer grads to participate in the following fall commencement. Now, I.S.U. will develop criteria for students to be recognized in spring ceremonies, if they are expecting to meet graduation requirements by the end of summer.
