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Sign problems found in smoking ban check in Des Moines County

May 20, 2009 By

The administrator of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division says a third compliance check in Des Moines County found a drop in the number of bars and restaurants that were complying with the state smoking ban.

Administrator Lynn Walding says the county is the focus of a pilot program where the establishments are periodically checked by state agents for smoking ban violations.

Walding says there were only a couple of cases where they found people smoking in the establishments, as most of the problems centered around the bars and restaurants not displaying the proper signs required to tell people about the smoking ban. Walding says the signs are a key part of the law.

He says the signage is important because it tells customers they are in an area where smoking is not allowed, and the signs also include a number for the Iowa Department of Public Health where people can call and report a violation of the law. Walding says they are happy with the results of the pilot project, and the way it has helped Des Moines County do a better job of complying with the law.

Walding says Des Moines County was probably the county that had the strongest resistance to the Smokefree Air Act, and that’s why it was selected for the pilot project. He says if they find other areas where there are “pockets of resistance” to the law, they may extend the pilot project to other counties.

You can see the results of the compliance checks in the link below. Ongoing legal actions involving the smoking ban are posted on the  Iowa Department of Alcoholic Beverages website.  

Report on Des Moines County PDF.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine Tagged With: ,

Wind Advisory issued for 40 counties

May 20, 2009 By

Flying a kite this afternoon might require rope instead of string. More than 40 Iowa counties are under a Wind Advisory today. National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Kinney says to hang onto your hat, and everything else.

Kinney says, "We’re going to have a very strong southwest wind, increasing throughout the morning and becoming strongest this afternoon before it dies off later on this evening." He urges motorists to use extra caution on the roads today, especially those who are driving high-profile vehicles that might get whipped by the strong winds.

"Essentially, the northwest half of Iowa is where we’ll see the strongest winds with sustained speeds generally in the 25 to 35 mile an hour range," Kinney says. "This afternoon, we could see a few gusts between 45 and 50 miles an hour." The winds are blowing in a change in the weather.

After warm and sunny skies since Monday, the forecast for Thursday through Sunday calls for cooler highs, cloudy skies and likely rainshowers daily. 

Filed Under: Weather

Cedar Rapids hotel slowly rebuilding

May 20, 2009 By

A major business in eastern Iowa is rebuilding its reputation under new management. The Crowne Plaza Hotel was often referred to as the "crown jewel" of downtown Cedar Rapids, but renovation work – originally scheduled to start in 1999 – came to a stand still. Just a year ago, the owners weren’t paying bills and owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

Employee paychecks bounced and health benefits were canceled. A bank now owns the 275-room hotel and repairs and renovations are on the fast track. General Manager Deb Stout says they’ve reopened the Top of the Five restaurant – located on the 16th floor. "It’s a gorgeous view from up there," Stout said.

The Crowne Plaza is the city’s largest hotel and one of the tallest buildings in Cedar Rapids. Presidents have stayed there and there’s a landing pad for helicopters on the roof. In a year and a half, Stout says the historic hotel took a major hit from the previous owner, Kronos Hotels. Not only did the reputation suffer, but renovation efforts took a hit too.

"They might put in vanities before they put in the carpet, so when the carpet came they had to take out the vanities and lay down carpet…a lot of things were done backwards as someone would do it to make it efficient," Stout said. The hotel’s pool, which was damaged in last year’s flooding, is expected to reopen in the next few months. Workers are also preparing to replace the carpet in the hallways and lobby.

 

Filed Under: Business, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Two killed in I-29 accident in Sioux City

May 20, 2009 By

Two people were killed in a collision early today that involved an SUV. and two semis on Interstate 29 in Sioux City. Police got reports of a vehicle traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of the highway about 1:45 this morning.

The SUV hit a northbound semi head-on in the vicinity of the Floyd Monument. A second semi swerved to avoid the crash but hit the SUV and rolled over on its side. It carried anhydrous ammonia.

The SUV’s driver and passenger were dead at the scene. The driver of the first semi was taken to the hospital with minor injuries while the second truck’s driver wasn’t seriously hurt. Both lanes of the interstate were closed for hours this morning but the southbound lanes are now open. The northbound lanes should reopen by mid-morning.

It’s the second fatal crash on I-29 in Sioux City this week. A 62-year-old Castana man was killed Sunday when his pickup was hit by a car that crossed the median.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Google facility opened in Council Bluffs

May 20, 2009 By

About 650 invited guests gathered at the Google facility in Council Bluffs late Tuesday afternoon to mark its official opening. Chris Russell, manager of Google’s Council Bluffs Data Center, says construction of the facility began about two years ago.

"A data center is a place where Google locates all of its computers that run Google services — Google search, Gmail, Google maps," he says. "All of those services require computers behind them to make them run and a data center is where Google puts those things." Russell, though, is careful about disclosing details of the data center — like how many people are working there.

"I can’t say how many are right now," Russell says. "But we plan on having about 200 once we have it up and running and have it filled." Guests at Tuesday’s event, for example, were not allowed inside the facility to see how many computer servers or people were inside, for example.

"There are lots of competitors who’d like to know how we run a data center and would like to know the things we do to run a data center as efficiently as we do," Russell says, "and the number of employees is one of those metrics that they’re really interested in knowing." Google was founded in 1998 by two Stanford University students.

Today, there are Google operations in Europe and Asia as well as North America. The State of Iowa offered a package of incentives to lure Google to build in Council Bluffs, including a big break that means Google will not pay taxes on the electricity it buys to run the facility.

"There are lots of reasons that we came here including a great local base of employees, great power availability, good cost of living, the availability of network bandwidth," Russell says. Russell, who has settled in the Council Bluffs area, says he finds it "refreshing" to have a short commute to work.

Among the crowd of 650 who gathered outside the data center yesterday afternoon were about 200 local residents who entered an on-line drawing to get a chance to see the Google site. 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Seven communities selected for Main Street Iowa program

May 20, 2009 By

Seven Iowa communities were selected this week to participate in the Main Street Iowa program. Thom Guzman with the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) says Ames, Fort Madison, Manning and Colfax will participate in the traditional program that helps communities revitalize their downtown business districts.

The other three projects are located in commercial districts in Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines. "What’s interesting about these three districts is they’re not downtowns…but they all are historic commercial districts within those communities," Guzman said.

The projects in Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines will be part of Main Street Iowa’s new Urban Neighborhood District program. In Cedar Rapids, officials will focus on the Czech Village/New Bohemia district.

That area of town was buried under flood waters last year. "All the more reason for us to say ‘let’s work together and try to bring back what was there once before and make it better,’" Guzman said. The Davenport project will involve the Hilltop Campus Village, while officials in Des Moines will work fix-up the 6th Avenue Corridor, just north of downtown, that includes a number of minority-owned businesses.

Guzman says all seven communities will receive "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in technical assistance from the I.D.E.D. The Main Street Iowa program was launched in 1986 and now includes 47 projects.

Guzman says two examples of the program’s success can be found in downtown Cedar Falls and downtown Dubuque. "You can go there today and be totally impressed with the culture, the arts and the shopping opportunities in both districts that didn’t exist 20 years ago," Guzman said.

 

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government

Winter heating season saw lower than expected costs

May 20, 2009 By

Using the furnace is becoming a rarer accordance each day — and while Iowans are likely happy to see the heating bill go away, those bills carried a lot less sting than was predicted last fall. Department of Natural Resources energy analyst, Tommi Makila, says all of the heating fuels dropped in price.

Makila says it was good news for consumers as relatively high prices were expected. Makila says the economy was the big factor that caused heating fuels to decline in price. He says natural gas was the fuel that was the most affected as the industrial demand for natural gas went down, while at the same time supplies increased and the natural gas market collapsed.

Makila says the increase in supply will likely help keep natural gas prices lower. Makila says it looks like prices will stay at "relatively low levels." Most Iowans heat with natural gas, and the May D.N.R. survey found it was trading at seven-dollars-and 75 cents lower than at this time last year.  

Filed Under: Business, Weather Tagged With:
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