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Shawn Johnson wins silver in TV dance competition

May 19, 2009 By

Shawn Johnson being interviewed after winning "Dancing with the Stars" Iowa’s Shawn Johnson — the 17-year-old gymnast who won Olympic gold last year — won a nationally-televised dance competition tonight.

Johnson was named the "Dancing With the Stars" champion on the season finale of the hit ABC show.

The show’s host told the television audience that when the judges’ scores and votes from viewers were tabulated, less than one percent separated Johnson from her closest competitor, a Frenchman who starred in last summer’s "Sex and the City" movie.

"This has been the most amazing experience ever," Johnson said after winning the show’s trophy which is festooned with a mirrorball, similar to those seen suspended above ballroom dance floors.

Liang Chow, Johnson’s gymnastic’s coach, watched the finale with a crowd gathered in West Des Moines. Chow told a WOI TV reporter on the scene Johnson’s win was "so good for the sport of gymnastics."

During a televised interview in Hollywood immediately after the show’s conclusion, Johnson called the "Dancing With the Stars" trophy "her new gold medal."

Johnson has said she’s still deciding whether to try to compete in the 2012 Olympics. As for dancing, Johnson laughingly said she’s not sure where she’ll be able to "cha cha cha" once she returns home. 

Johnson and other members of this season’s "Dancing With the Stars" competition will be guests on "Good Morning, America" on ABC Wednesday morning.

 

Filed Under: Human Interest

Prison inmate taken off life support

May 19, 2009 By

An Iowa prison inmate who attempted suicide earlier this month was taken off life support last week. According to the Department of Corrections, 38-year-old Jeffrey Lee Larson was discovered in his cell at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center on May 7th.

He was found unresponsive with a belt around his neck attached to a steel bar in a window frame. Larson was taken to University Hospitals in Iowa City and placed on life support. His family requested that life support be discontinued last Friday.

Larson was serving time for a second-degree murder conviction out of Bremer County and assault causing injury of a peace officer. Larson pleaded guilty to charges that he killed his mother, Pamela Burns, in August 2003. Prosecutors said Larson hit Burns in the head several times with a baseball bat. The two lived together in a home in Waverly.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Homebuilders say getting loan for new home takes longer

May 19, 2009 By

Those planning to build a new home are hoping to take advantage of the warm weather, but some Iowa builders say stricter lending practices are putting a chill on the process. The president of K-and-V Homes in Des Moines, Colin King, says it used to take two weeks to get a bank loan for a new home — but now it can take up to six. King says it requires a lot of patience from the buyer.

"We can’t start their house until the bank gives us permission to start," King says, "so to them they’re putting it in the perspective of when are we moving in, when do we need vacation time, when do we get the kids in school, so it’s a lot of scheduling issues on their part and from the time you sign the contract until the time you actually end is actually unknown anymore, where as in the past it was pretty well defined."

Dan Knoup is the president of D-S-M Homes in Urbandale and says the longer wait can eventually have a negative impact on builders. He says if that part of the process where they’re sitting and waiting for the bank gives that process a bad name or a black eye, then that is detrimental to what they’re doing.

"Because the’re gonna tell all their friends that dealing with that bank was horrible — I don’t know if I’d do that again – go buy an existing home because you’re not going to have to deal with that to the extent," Knoup says. King says the Iowa housing market hasn’t experienced the decline other states have seen and as long as a buyer has the financial means to purchase a new home, they shouldn’t fear the market.

New home sales in April were down by just a few percentage points from one year ago, compared to double digit declines in sales earlier this year.  

Filed Under: Business

Cities share millions to get rid of lead paint

May 19, 2009 By

Three Iowa communities will share 7.5 million federal dollars to remove lead-based paint from low-income households. Sioux City’s share is two million dollars, targeting lead hazards in buildings built before 1978.

Paul Barnes, the Sioux City neighborhood services supervisor, says his team will be searching for chipped paint on windows, walls, baseboards and cupboards.

Barnes says, "What we would be doing is making sure that those components in the houses are in good repair, that the painted surfaces are consistent and covered, that they’re not deteriorated or chipping." He says lead-based paint can be dangerous for children six and under.

"Children can become affected many different ways if they ingest the lead because they’re still developing," Barnes says. "They still have brain and nervous systems that are rapidly developing and if they ingest lead in those early years, it can really affect the development and growth that otherwise should be occurring."

Barnes says over the next few months, they’ll use information from Siouxland District Health Department and referrals to find locations that need lead control. The federal government banned lead paint in 1978. Sioux City will be awarded nearly two-million dollars to create 75 lead-safe housing units.

Polk County will get $3-million to eliminate lead in 206 units in the Des Moines area and Marshalltown will get nearly $2.6 million to remove lead from 150 units. The money is Iowa’s share of $100-million from the federal economic stimulus package that’s targeting hazardous paint in homes in 20 states.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government

Leaders say coed state track meet here to stay

May 19, 2009 By

The state high school coed track meet opens Thursday in Des Moines and both sides agree the event has been a huge success. The boys and girls combined their state meets in 2005 to accommodate the scheduled renovation of Drake Stadium. Prior to that, the state meets were held on separate weekends.

Dave Anderson of the Iowa High School Athletic Association who says at first the idea of a coed meet was viewed as a temporary solution due to the renovation, and now he hopes they do it forever. Anderson says they discussed it a number of years before it happened, and the success of the event has them wanting to keep it going.

Anderson says there are a lot of advantages to combining the meets as there’s just one weekend for the officials, the parents, the boys and girls squads from small schools can travel together and save money.

Anderson says it provides a great atmosphere for the competitors as they have a Drake Relays size crowd. He says one of the early concerns was that the boys performances would outshine the girls, but he says that has not happened.

Mike Dick is executive director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and says a coed meet had been discussed for some time before the stadium was renovated. He says it’s already a busy time of year with graduations and it saves an extra weekend of time for everyone.

Dick says there was concern about how a combined meet would be received. "There was a lot of skepticism at first about what we were trying to do, would it work, would the boys performances overshadow the girls?," Dick says. He says it is one of the decisions they do not regret at all and says it is a "tremendous three days."

Dick says there has been great cooperation between the union and the association. He and Anderson were best friends in college and he says remained friends and that helped pull the thing together.

Dick feels the coed meet is here to stay, as there’s nothing in the works to make changes. He says all the response they get from schools is positive. This week’s state meet opens Thursday morning with the prelims in the girls shuttle hurdle relay.

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New Loras softball coach says strong conference will help

May 19, 2009 By

Ashley Rogers feels the strength of the Iowa Conference will help in her efforts to turn the softball program around at Loras College. The former Wartburg standout is taking over the Duhawk program after former coach Katie Koopmann resigned at the end of this past season.

Rogers says Coe’s second place finish in the World Series shows how strong things are and she looks forward to the rebuilding process.

Rogers spent this past season as an assistant at Loras and says a strong conference helps everyone in recruiting. She says it’s a great sell to say you can compete against the number two team in the nation.

Rogers says competing in a tough league will take dedication from the players. She says the players need to come in and practice hard and that is something they will really focus on. Loras was 15-31 this past season. 

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Covering more Iowa kids goal of health reform bill

May 19, 2009 By

Govenror Culver signs health reform bill into law. Officials estimate about 90% of eligible Iowa children will be covered by a health insurance plan by 2011 as a result of a bill Governor Culver signed into law.

In addition to the $6 million that would provide government-paid health insurance for 12,000 Iowa kids, about $2 million more will provide dental insurance to about 35,000 kids by 2011.

“Although I’m proud to sign this bill into law today, I want to be clear this is just one more step of many to make sure that every Iowan has access to medical care when they need it,” Culver said at a bill signing ceremony.

Carrie Fitzgerald of the Iowa Family Policy Center was chair of an advisory council which lobbied for the bill.

“This bill signing gives us a moment to celebrate,” she said. “This legislation is another important step in the journey toward ensuring that all Iowans have health care coverage.”

The new law covers more uninsured Iowa kids by enrolling more children in government-paid Medicaid and expanding the state’s “Healthy And Well Kids of Iowa” or “HAWK-I” program which helps parents buy low-cost, or no-cost insurance for their children. The bill signing was staged at Broadlawns Medical Center, the county hospital in Des Moines. According to Jody Jenner — the president and C.E.O. of Broadlawns, the bill strengthens his institution’s ability to care for uninsured patients.

“In addition, this legislation will provide coverage for interpreter services for families who enroll in HAWK-I,” Jenner said. “This will enhance our ability to provide quality care to those for whom English is not their primary language.”

As a result of the new law, a new state “health care coverage council” will be formed to discuss ways to ensure all Iowans — children and adults — have health care insurance.

You can hear all of what was said at today’s bill signing by clicking on the audio link below.

AUDIO: Bill signing ceremony…MP3 12 min

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