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New law creates "doggy bags" for wine

June 30, 2009 By

Special bags can be used to take wine home from restaurants after July 1st. Supporters believe a new state law that goes into effect Wednesday, July 1 will make it easier for Iowans to cart a partially-filled bottle of wine home from a restaurant.

Senator Rich Olive of Story City says new "doggy bags" have been created for wine bottles.

"They cost somewhere between 30 and 40 cents per bag," Olive says. "They then reseal it and if you are then stopped, the police officer would be able to tell if your open container is sealed in this doggy bag."

According to Olive, few restaurants re-cork bottles of wine for customers because police couldn’t tell who put the cork in the bottle and drivers were charged with having an open container of alcohol in their vehicle.

"You can never tell if they’ve popped open the cork when they left and started to drink back out of the bottle of wine," Olive says.

Olive argues this new law may reduce drunken driving as restaurant-goers may be less inclined to drain a bottle of wine if they can safely tote home a half or quarter bottle in a doggy bag.

"If we can keep people from drinking too much alcohol and then driving — I think that’s a very good thing for us to do," Olive says.

Some restaurant owners hope the new law will prompt customers to buy a pricier bottle of wine if they know they can drink a glass or two at the restaurant, then take the rest home in a "doggy bag."

According to www.winedoggybag.com , 24 states and the District of Columbia now allow drivers to cart "doggy bags" of wine in their vehicles. The surrounding states of Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Kansas are "doggy bag" states when it comes to wine.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Special train teaches rail crossing safety

June 29, 2009 By

Railroad crossing A special train is making its way across Iowa this week to promote the importance of using common sense at railroad crossings — for motorists and pedestrians.

Mark Davis, spokesman for Omaha-based Union Pacific Railroad, says the effort is part of what’s known as Operation Life Saver.

Davis says it’s designed to educate people about grade crossing collisions and trespasser incidents around railroad tracks, in addition to helping those who ride on the train to grasp the law enforcement and engineering sides of the program. The train rides last about 90 minutes. Davis says they’ll be steaming into several Iowa communities.

Stops are planned in: Des Moines, Eagle Grove, Laurens, Fort Dodge, West Bend, Emmetsburg, Estherville and Mason City. The train will then head to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Davis says Operation Life Saver is making a difference in reducing motor vehicle crashes at rail crossings across the country.

The program was started in 1972 in Idaho which was having a lot of grade crossing collisions and near misses. One year later, the number of incidents had been cut in half. The program’s since been adopted nationwide as well as in Mexico, Canada and Europe. More information on Operation Life Saver can be found at "www.oli.org" or at the Union Pacific website at www.up.com .

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

NWS now offering briefings on potentially hazardous weather

June 29, 2009 By

The National Weather Service in Des Moines is adding videotaped hazardous weather briefings to its website. Meteorologist Jeff Johnson says the presentations will be useful to emergency managers, tornado spotters and the media during serious storms.

"Whenever there’s a high risk of severe weather or a major winter storm, a National Weather Service meteorologist will record a short presentation, a briefing presentation to explain the expected weather," Johnson said.

"That will be in the form of a two-to-four minute, on-line taped presentation that will also include weather graphics and that kind of thing to go along with the narrative."

The videos will be place under the "in-the-news" section of the NWS website . "It will include a weather briefing, it will include the expected evolution of the severe weather event, where we’re expecting the storms to develop, how much severe weather we’re expecting and that kind of thing," Johnson said.

The videos will only be posted three-or-four hours ahead of the predicted arrival of serious weather.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Thousands turn out as Aplington-Parkersburg coach laid to rest

June 29, 2009 By

Family, friends and others gather in Parkersburg today to honor slain Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas. Thousands of mourners filled the First Congregational Church, the local V.F.W. hall and parking lot to honor the man who was a teacher and coach for 37 years.

Among those attending the 90-minute service where Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, U.N.I football coach Mark Farley, and former I.S.U. and Iowa assistant football coach Bobby Elliot. Several players from area football teams also turned out wearing their game jerseys.

Pall bearers at today’s funeral included four former Aplington-Perkersburg players who are now on N.F.L. teams. They are: Aaron Kampman (Green Bay Packers), Jared DeVries (Detroit Lions), Casey Wiegmann (Denver Bronocs) and Brad Meester (Jacksonville Jaguars).

The service was both somber and filled with laughter. Those who attended the funeral formed a block long line on both sides of the street as the hearse took the body of the coach to his final resting place at the Oak Hill Cemetery. West Des Dowling coach Andy Pollak (Pawl-ick) is best friends with one of Thomas’ sons and says he got to see the family side of Thomas.

"Before getting into high school in Parkersburg, you always saw coach Thomas as this larger than life figure in Parkersburg. Everybody saw him as the football coach. I got to see him as a father , as a husband, he was a man who was very emotional, he would tell you what he was thinking, he felt everything," Pollack says.

The death of Thomas came just over one year after a tornado devastated Parkersburg. Pollack says his hometown is resilient. Pollack says he has talked with his wife about how easy they had it growing up in Parkersburg, as everything seemed like the perfect community in their eyes. He says the things that have happened in the last 13 months have been very difficult, but he says "there’s too many stubborn people in this town to let this stuff get them down."

Thomas was shot to death last Wednesday and a former player, 24-year-old Mark Becker, is charged with first-degree murder in his death.

Recording devices were not allowed at the funeral, but a media transcript of the service is available at the link below.

Transcript of Ed Thomas funeral (word).

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Human Interest Tagged With:

Vander Plaats: gay marriage an issue in GOP primary

June 29, 2009 By

Bob Vander Plaats (left) listens to a man during a Republican event this weekend. Likely Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats says gay marriage will be a major issue in the 2010 GOP primary.

Vander Plaats has promised to issue an executive order which would effectively ban same-sex marriage in Iowa until a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage could be placed on a statewide ballot.

"People in this primary cycle are going to ask every candidate: ‘Are you willing to issue the executive order?’" Vander Plaats predicts.

Critics say the governor of Iowa doesn’t have authority to set aside a ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court — and none of the three other potential Republican candidates for governor who appeared at a weekend forum promised to issue an executive order on gay marriage like Vander Plaats has.

Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat who intends to seek reelection, has said Vander Plaats doesn’t understand how government works. Both Culver and Vander Plaats were high school government teachers and Culver suggested earlier this year that Vander Plaats should know better. Vander Plaats, though, isn’t backing down.

"It’s not because I disagree with the decision — and of course I do disagree with the decision. It’s about the separation of powers — the executive role, the legislative role and the judicial role. There needs to be that healthy tension. And when Culver said, ‘I’ll do everything in my power to make sure Iowa’s (a state where there is) one-man, one-woman (marriage),’ then he came out and he said, ‘Even though I believe in one-man, one-woman (marriage), I’m unwilling to change it,’…so I want this debate," Vander Plaats says. "I want this debate with a government teacher."

Vander Plaats is suggesting he’s better educated than Culver, too.

"I hold more degrees than he does and I have a license to evaluate him as a teacher and I plan on doing that in the 2010 general election," Vander Plaats said Saturday during an appearance in Sac City.

Culver has a masters in education. Vander Plaats has a master’s degree and a "specialists degree" which Vander Plaats describes as an abD — "all but dissertation." Vander Plaats has taken doctoral level classes, but has a few hours of coursework left — and a dissertation to write — before he would be eligible for a phD.

Both Culver and Vander Plaats earned their master’s degrees from Drake University.

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Credit scores being considered as a way to set insurance rates

June 29, 2009 By

The consumer advocate for the Iowa Insurance Division is gathering public input on a proposal to use credit scores to help determine insurance premiums. Advocate Angel Robinson says Iowa is among several states that are considering the idea.

Robinson says the insurance industry "heavily supports" credit scoring and believes it’s a legitimate use as a rating factor for insurance rates.  Robinson says the insurance industry says people with high credit scores file fewer insurance claims.

She says those outside the industry aren’t as supportive. Robinson says she’s been contacted by consumer groups and consumers who are against using credit scores for insurance rates. She says one of the arguments is that there is a lack of transparency over how the insurance companies use the credit scores to determine rates, and she says the industry does not show how using credit scores actually cause fewer claims to be filed.

Robinson says she wants to get all the input she can on the issue and is holding a second public hearing today. Robinson says it’s something that impacts almost all Iowans through insurance policies for homes and autos, and she hopes to get as much information on the issue as she can.

Today’s hearing is from 4 to 6 p.m. at the state capitol building room 103. Robinson says if you can’t get today’s hearing, you can also contact her at the Iowa Insurance Division or through her e-mail at:angel.robinson@iid.iowa.gov.

Robinson says there is also a study of the issue being conducted by St. Ambrose University in Davenport. Robinson says she’ll look at that study and the public input and come up with a recommendation. Robinson says she’ll review all the information and make a recommendation to the insurance commissioner in November.

The final public hearing on the issue will be in September. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Parole officers brace for increase in sex offenders being released

June 29, 2009 By

Iowa parole officers are bracing for a dramatic increase in the number of sex offenders who’re under supervision after being released from prison. In 2005, the Iowa Legislature voted to require lifetime supervision for the most dangerous sex offenders and ten years of parole for those who commit lesser sex crimes. Four years later, some of those convicted under the 2005 law are being released from prison.

Sally Kreamer is director of the Department of Correctional Services for the Eighth Judicial District in southeast Iowa. She says parole officers will keep closer tabs on these sex offenders "If we don’t feel like we know this client very well, we’re not going to take the risk and not put them on electronic monitoring or not supervise them at a high level in the beginning…because it’s one thing if you have somebody write another bad check," she says.

"It’s another thing if you have somebody who goes out and hurts a child." Ron Mullen, superintendent of the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility, says it’ll mean higher case loads for parole officers, too. "I’ve told many of them, ‘Get braced for the new type of offender you’re going to be supervising because the rapist or another individual that may have discharged their sentence in prison and walked away, you’re going to have them for the rest of their life,’" he says.

"That is a different type of offender than we’re used to." A parole officer typically supervises between seven-hundred and eight-hundred people, but that could jump to 2,400 within five years if the state does not hire more parole officers. Mullen had been assistant director of field services in the Eighth Judicial District in southeast Iowa before his appointment as superintendent of the state prison facility in Mount Pleasant.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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