January 28, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / Archives for May 2009

SADD uses teens to talk to teens about drunk driving

May 26, 2009 By

Teenagers might not listen to their parents when it comes to their bad driving habits, but they will listen to friends. That’s the basis for a new public service radio campaign from Students Against Destructive Decisions, now airing in Iowa. Stephen Wallace, chairman of SADD’s board of directors, says the campaign has an unusual, effective approach.

Wallace says, "This really focuses on young people who are riding in cars with teen drivers because research points out that eight out of ten teens say they would listen to their friends if they actually spoke up about careless driving behaviors." The PSA campaign is designed to encourage teens to speak up when they feel endangered by a friend’s reckless driving — from speeding to texting and other dangerous behavior.

For more than two decades, he says car crashes have been the number-one killer of teens in the United States. "We know from the statistics that teen passengers are at risk, more so than any other age group," Wallace says. "While teen drivers themselves say they often don’t worry about their own safety, they don’t have that as top of mind, they are very concerned about the safety of their passengers and certainly don’t want to be responsible for an injury or a death."

Nationwide, he says the figures are staggering — more than 300,000 teens are injured in car crashes each year, nearly 8,000 are involved in fatal crashes and more than 35-hundred are killed. Wallace says a study from 2007 found that 96 people were killed in Iowa in crashes involving young drivers, between the ages of 15 and 20.

Studies find young drivers are more likely to speed, run red lights, make illegal turns and die in an SUV rollover, while teen drivers are involved in more than five times as many fatal crashes as adults. The PSAs communicate a simple message to teens — if your friend is driving recklessly, say something.

In addition to being chair of the SADD board, Wallace is a school psychologist in Boston. SADD was formerly known as Students Against Driving Drunk. For more information on the ad campaign, visit: "www.SpeakUpOrElse.org". 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Human Interest Tagged With:

Americorps workers help in state parks

May 26, 2009 By

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources are busy placing 160 new workers around the state. The workers are part of 378 AmeriCorps members assigned to Iowa through a federally-funded expansion of the AmeriCorps program. Most of the workers placed with the D.N.R. will help maintain the state parks. Kevin Szcodronski is the state parks bureau chief.

He says the workers will help fill the void left by budget cuts, which forced a reduction in summertime staffing. Szcodronski estimates that each of the roughly 50 state parks in Iowa will receive two AmeriCorps workers. "That’s going to equate to about 50,000 hours of work and we’re cut back this year, compared to last year, between 60-to-70,000 hours," Szcodronski said.

A few weeks ago, Szcodronski issued an advisory – warning Iowans that state budget cuts would likely result in less upkeep at state parks this summer. He says the AmeriCorps workers will help that situation. "It’s not going to be the total answer," Szcodronski said of the added help.

"Park visitors are still going to see taller grass and so on…but it will be a lot better than what we thought it was going to be two or three weeks ago before we got word that we got approved for these AmeriCorps workers."

Full-time AmeriCorps members are paid around $7.00 and receive an award of $4,725 that can be used for college tuition or loan repayment after completing a full year of service.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

ISU studies impact of economic downturn

May 26, 2009 By

Iowa State University researchers examining the economic downturn, say Iowans that have been fortunate enough to avoid seeing their jobs cut have likely seen their hours trimmed. Economics professor, Peter Orazem, says the cutbacks in hours help businesses and employees.

Orazem says people are getting their hours cut and as a consequence, even though wages haven’t fallen, average weekly earnings have fallen.

He says though, the earnings haven’t fallen as much as you might think. Orazem says businesses like to use cutbacks in hours instead of slicing into employees’ paychecks. He says cutting pay is less common, because businesses don’t want to lose their best workers. Orazem says even though the economy is down on average, some firms are still hiring, and are looking to raid the best talent of their competition.

Orazem says businesses are also looking ahead to an upturn in the economy and want to keep the workers they’ve already trained. Orazem says there tends to be "labor hoarding" in a down economy so firms can be ready for a turnaround. He says the hoarding means there tends to be a lag in people being hired when the economy turns around. Orazem says once things turn around, those employees that had hours cut are given more work before the company hires new workers. Orazem says those with jobs could benefit if inflation increases.

Orazem says in the Great Depression, people who kept their jobs were paid more because prices were falling at a greater rate than wages. He says the people that lose their jobs are the ones who really get hurt the worst. An Iowa Workforce Development spokesperson says the April unemployment numbers showed some manufacturing companies had already brought back some workers on temporary layoff. The state agency says it’s too early to tell though if the labor situation is headed for a turnaround.

 

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Aniversary of tornado remembered in Parkersburg

May 26, 2009 By

Memorial Day marked the one-year anniversary of an E-F-5 tornado that hit Parkersburg and other Northeast Iowa communities, leaving eight people dead and nearly 70 others injured. Parkersburg’s annual ceremony to honor local veterans also celebrated the recovery effort in a town that was heavily damaged by the twister.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver attended the ceremony, along with his wife and two children. The May 25th, 2008 twister destroyed nearly a third of Parkersburg, while cutting a 43-mile path of destruction through three counties.

During his speech, Culver acknowledged who he called "the heroes" of the tornado — the people who provided comfort and care to those the residents in need.

Culver says residents of Parkersburg should be commended for their resiliency in the aftermath of the twister. According to city officials, 80 percent of the 222 homes demolished by the tornado are rebuilt, as are a majority of the 21 businesses. Culver says it’s good to see the community recovering.

The nearby town of New Hartford held similar ceremonies to mark the tornado’s one-year anniversary. After leaving Parkersburg, the governor attended a tree-planting ceremony held in memory of Leasa Bleeker and Norman Beutheun. During the gathering at a city park, Culver announced that local legislators have secured more funding to help New Hartford recover from the tornado and last summer’s historic flood.

A cemetery re-dedication and community potluck also were part of the tornado anniversary events in New Hartford.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With: ,

No plans for redesign of Iowa’s 12-year-old license plates

May 25, 2009 By

The governor of Nebraska last week unveiled new license plates for vehicles registered in that state. Nebraskans get a new license plate design once every six years.

Iowa, by comparison, keeps a design in circulation much longer and Governor Chet Culver has no plans to change the current design of Iowa license plates.

"With everything else going on right now, that’s not at the top of the list," Culver says.

Iowa license plates feature a white background with a landscape featuring both city buildings and a farmstead. A small patch of blue sky is along the top of the plate and the lettering is blue. The design has been in use since 1997.

After nearly 12 years, Governor Culver’s in no rush to change the design. Culver told reporters he may discuss the topic with the director of the Iowa Department of Transportation. "It’s something that I might talk to Nancy Richardson about," Culver said.

For a decade, from 1986 to ’96, Iowa’s license plates were a plain but bold blue with white lettering.

In 1983, after much controversy, state officials dropped the idea of putting the phrase "Iowa: a State of Minds" at the bottom of the plate. At the time, the head of the Iowa Transportation Commission said the phrase made Iowans look "pompous."

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Eagle Grove men arrested for allegedly shooting at police

May 25, 2009 By

Two Eagle Grove men were arrested after a deputy sheriff and a police officer were allegedly shot at early Saturday morning in Eagle Grove. Twenty-eight-year-old Jeremy C. Dayton and 31-year-old Brian J. Bromley are being held in the Wright County Jail on a bond of $50,000 each according to Sergeant Rick McDaniel of the Eagle Grove Police Department.

McDaniel said a deputy from the Wright County Sheriff’s Department and an officer from the Eagle Grove Police Department were on a traffic stop when they were fired at by a person or persons in the 400 block of South Cadwell just after two o’clock Saturday morning. Dayton is charged with intimidation with a dangerous weapon, assault on a peace officer, interference with official acts and discharging weapons within city limits.

Bromley is charged with conspiracy non shooter charges of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, assault on a peace officer, interference with official acts and discharging weapons within city limits. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Psychological healing part of tornado recovery

May 25, 2009 By

The events surrounding the one year anniversary of the deadly tornado that hit Parkersburg and New Hartford include honoring the eight people who died in the storm, and healing for those who survived.

Parkersburg resident Valerie Thorn has organized everything from a 5K run to a memorial service at an elementary school. Thorn says her goal was to allow there to be spaces of time where people to be together as she says there still needs to be healing among residents.

Thorn says,"People still see each other in the store and say, ‘were you home’, that’s the question ‘were you home?’" The run is being called an EF5K run, taking note of the E-F-5 rating of the tornado that killed six people in Parkersburg and two in New Hartford.

The pastor of the Parkersburg and New Hartford United Methodist Churches, Betsy Piette agrees people are still healing. Piette says dark storm clouds could still cause concern for people who survived the storm and seem to be fine on the outside.

She says people who have been through floods and tornadoes need to understand that their bodies are going to react that way from some time, and as long as they say things will be alright, they can make it through it.

The tornado also damaged homes near Dunkerton and Hazelton in northeast Iowa. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »