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Cities plan many events to mark anniversary of floods

May 27, 2009 By

A number of cities across the state are planning events to mark the historic floods of June 2008. The small community of Palo, in northwest Linn County, will commemorate the anniversary by delivering plants to every home in town this Saturday.

Residents of Waterloo will also remember last year’s disaster on Saturday with a gathering at Lafayette Park. Juli Probasco-Sowers is a spokesperson for the Rebuild Iowa Office .

"They’re going to have a National Guard helicopter landing in the park sometime around 11 a.m.," Probasco-Sowers said. A noon program in the park will include comments from Lieutenant General Ron Dardis, executive director of the Rebuild Iowa Office. Saturday’s event in Waterloo will follow a morning parade that’s part of the annual "My Waterloo Days" celebration.

In Vinton, a film premiere will be part of the town’s recognition of the floods on June 6th. The video, titled "24:7; The Vinton Area Floods of 2008," was produced by Vinton resident Brian Larkin and former Vinton resident Kirk Monson. Probasco-Sowers says the film includes interviews with people affected by the flood, as well as city officials and emergency responders.

The 75-minute film will be shown at 2 p.m. at the Palace Theater in Vinton. Proceeds from the $8 admission fee will go to the Benton County Disaster Relief Coalition. Last June’s flooding damaged around 1,100 homes in Mason City and shut down the city’s water supply for a week. The city is planning a program and community picnic on June 7th.

Probasco-Sowers says the theme for Mason City’s event, scheduled from noon to 4 p.m., is "River City Rises, Recovers and Remembers." Lieutenant General Dardis will deliver comments at 1 p.m. at the East Park Band Shell. City officials in Cedar Rapids are planning a three-day long " Healing the Heartland Festival " that will include music, food and other activities between June 12th and 14th.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest

Additional funding allows court to cancel final shut down days

May 27, 2009 By

The budget bill signed into law by the governor Tuesday gives the Iowa Court System more money to cover its budget deficit. Court communications officer, Steve Davis, says the money will allow them to restore some planned cutbacks.

Davis says the bill gave them $760,000 for the current fiscal year which runs through June, so the two days where the courts were scheduled to be closed have been canceled. Davis says it will also allow the courts to revert to regular public hours.

Davis says the clerk of court offices had been closing early two days a week so the clerks could catch up on paperwork. Beginning June 1st, the hours will return to normal. Davis says the bill also gives the court system money to meet some of the projected shortage in the next fiscal year.

Davis says they were looking at a shortfall of $15.1, but the addition of $11 million cuts that shortfall to $4.2 million dollars. Court costs have already been raised for several services, such as filing for a divorce to address the shortage. Davis says court officials are still looking at ways to make up the rest of the shortfall for the next fiscal year.

The court had originally scheduled to shut down the court system eight days in this fiscal year — but ended up doing so only five times. The five days the courts were closed are each expected to save the courts $335,000. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Legislator urges more aid for businesses in ’08 flood zone

May 27, 2009 By

A Cedar Rapids lawmaker is warning that hundreds of businesses which closed and then reopened after the floods of 2008 may find it difficult to remain open in the months and years ahead.

Nearly 800 flooded businesses in Cedar Rapids have reopened their doors, but State Senator Rob Hogg says there are sobering statistics in research conducted in other flood-struck cities.

"The data shows that between years one and three after a disaster like this, maybe a third of those businesses will go out of business," Hogg says, "and so we really need to be attentive to their needs to keep ‘em going."

Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, helped shepherd a variety of flood aid through the 2009 Iowa Legislature. Officials estimate lawmakers provided nearly half a billion dollars worth of state tax credits, grants and direct payments to business owners and disaster victims. But Hogg says there’s more to do in 2010 to help the businesses in communities that are trying to recover from last year’s disaster.

"A lot of businesses go out, borrow money, reopen, but then they’ve either lost the customer base or the debt is too much for them to handle," Hogg says. "These businesses need our help."

Hogg is urging the Rebuild Iowa Council to review research from Grand Forks, North Dakota and New Orleans — two communities that have been ravaged by natural disaster. Grand Forks flooded in 1997 and again this year. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and about 80 percent of the city was flooded.

 

Filed Under: Business, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government, Weather Tagged With: , ,

Business groups vow to fight new tax reporting requirement

May 27, 2009 By

Governor Culver has temporarily sided with businesses over a tax issue, but the debate continues over the proposal.

Culver has rejected the idea of requiring public disclosure of a list of businesses which receive more than half a million dollars in refunds through the state research activities tax credit this year. In a written statement, the governor said he feared businesses would sue to keep this year’s information secret and the matter would be tied up in court for years.

The governor’s item veto, however, did not nix the proposal for future years, which means a list of companies that receive $500,000 or more in refunds from the state under the research activities credit will be publicly revealed in future years. John Gilliland of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry was among the lobbyists who urged legislators not to tinker with this tax credit.

"The research activities credit that Iowa offers to businesses that conduct research and development in Iowa is very attractive and is the reason that nearly a billion dollars of research activities are done in Iowa, providing literally hundreds of high-paying jobs," he says.

Some companies that are getting a big state tax refund for engaging in research and development argue they’ll be put at a competitive disadvantage if this tax information is made public.

"This was one of those provisions that was added on the very last night of the legislature and (it) was really not clear what it was that some legislators really wanted to find out," Gilliland says. "Our concern all along was that we don’t want Iowa employers to be put at a competitive disadvantage for their research projects here as opposed to their competitors around the world."

Representatives of the Association of Business and Industry, the Iowa Taxpayers Association and other business-related groups plan to lobby the 2010 legislature to reverse course and keep this tax data private.

Supporters of disclosure of these large refunds for businesses argue every aspect of the state budget should be open to public scrutiny and state tax credits should be analyzed to ensure they are achieving their intended purpose.

Filed Under: Business, Crime & Courts, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Iowa KidsNet sees more interest in adoptions with down economy

May 27, 2009 By

Foster care and adoption advocates say a good benefit of the downturn in the economy is that more people are looking to adopt children that are waiting in the system. Amy Juhnke of Iowa KidsNet, says people are finding they can fulfill their desire to adopt and it is not a costly process.

Juhnke says a private adoption can cost tens of thousands of dollars, while adopting a child from foster care is free. She says the training, the background checks and home studies are free with the costs to the families usually just some attorney fees.

"We have seen with the economy that we get more families that are interested in adopting," Juhnke says. This is National Foster Care Month and Iowa KidsNet has been highlighting the need for foster parents.

Juhnke says foster parenting goes hand-in-hand with adoption. She says you can go through the licensing process to become a foster family, or you can become a foster family and then adopt, or just adopt a child. Juhnke says they advise people to start out looking at both and see what their preferences are. Juhnke says you can start by asking them for more information.

Juhnke says you can call 80-243-0756 to find our more or you can visit the Iowa KidsNet website . She says they will send you a packet of information on the entire process.

Juhnke says Iowa KidsNet has been holding events across the state this month to highlight foster care and the need for more families to take part. She says some of the events are parties to show appreciation for the families, while some are training for the families.

They’ve also doing events at various minor league baseball parks throughout the state. You can find a list of events in your area on the Iowa KidsNet website.

 

Filed Under: Human Interest

Flood damaged Palo community center demolished

May 27, 2009 By

Last spring, nearly every home and business in the town of Palo was buried under flood waters. Now, the roughly 900 residents of the community located just northwest of Cedar Rapids have lost a popular gathering spot. The Palo Community Center was demolished Tuesday. Kris and John Bloodgood have called Palo home for 30 years.

"My husband and I are boy scout leaders and we have had our group meet here for 17 years," Kris said as she watched bulldozers knock down the building’s walls. "We have a lot of fond memories." The city plans to build a new community center that will also act as a shelter – able to withstand an E-F-5 tornado.

"Palo needs to move forward. So, we need to do the right thing for our community and help our community grow," Bloodgood said. Tom Watson, with Palo’s Public Works Department, says several feet of water flooded the community center last June, but the building’s demolition was actually delayed because inspectors discovered asbestos.

"Really, it was beyond our control…FEMA said if you want FEMA to pay for the demolition and build you a new building, you’ll have to follow these guidelines," Watson said. The city plans to build the new community center just outside of town.

"We’re hoping that the center of town will still be the center of town, but maybe the center of activity will change," Watson said. The old community center, that’s now a pile of rubble, sat on a 100-year flood plain. The city will turn the lot into green space.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government

Toddler dies after being hit by truck in Fort Dodge

May 27, 2009 By

A two-year-old Fort Dodge girl died Tuesday afternoon after being struck by a pickup truck in a residential section of Fort Dodge. The Iowa State Patrol identified the victim as Alexia Blunt.

Reportedly a pickup operated by 25 year old Garret Armstrong of Fort Dodge was talking Alexia’s mother, Jenny Blunt along the roadside at 1207 20th Avenue South in Fort Dodge at the time. Armstrong did not see Alexia Blunt approach the driver’s side.

When the Armstrong pickup pulled away, the child fell underneath the driver’s side rear tire and was run over.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters
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