Ames is home to a storehouse for seeds, run by Iowa State and the USDA. David Brenner is a plant germplasm curator, basicially a librarian for seeds instead of books. While we’re used to seeing green parsley sprigs of perhaps two inches in length, the parsley plant Brenner grew is a contender for the Guinness Book of World Records. "The existing record is six feet and our plant is seven-feet nine-inches," he explains. Brenner’s already been in contact with the Guinness people and is waiting for them to verify the ISU parsley plant is the world’s tallest. He says he didn’t set out to claim the title. "We were just growing the plants to get fresh seed stocks for our storage," Brenner says, "and just in the course of ordinary activities, I realized we had a contender." He’s responsible for maintaining parsley and other seeds from all over the world in the "seed bank." When the seed inventory of any certain variety gets low, Brenner and his staff grow new plants, characterize their traits, harvest the seeds and file them away in the cold storage facility. They’re then sent to researchers around the world. Brenner says the seeds for the record-breaking parsley plant were first collected from Hungary in 1983. Even though it resembles a large bushy weed, he says it’s a perfect example of parsley. "It also had big tubers," Brenner says. "The roots are almost four inches across and in Europe, the roots of parsley are another food crop, almost like a potato, so it has a double-barreled purpose." See a picture of the gargantuan parsley at "radioiowa.com." Brenner currently holds the world’s record for the largest amaranth, which he grew in 2004. Amaranth is an herb, also known as pigweed. 
Some restaurants put parsley on dinner plates as a garnish, but a parsley plant at Iowa State University might look more at home on King Kong’s plate.
AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s Matt Kelley reports on parsley. :42 MP3
Time will tell if ISU parsley plant is a record
Motorcycles head to Algona for ABATE rally
Motorcycle riders from across Iowa are rumbling into Algona today for the start of the annual three-day ABATE Freedom Rally . Event coordinator Phil McCormick of Clear Lake says ABATE stands for A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education and that’s what the weekend rally is all about. "We have the only mobile training unit that teaches folks who want to get their motorcycle license how to properly and safely ride a motorcycle," McCormick says. "We also run a Share The Road program which is a state mandate…to teach other drivers to watch out for motorcycles." There were 53 motorcyclists killed on Iowa’s roads last year. This is the 25th year for the ABATE rallies. They were held in Humboldt until 2002 when the organization bought the 140 acres of land in Algona. He says it’s been developed into "one of the best-looking parks" with the state’s largest outdoor stage and plenty of permanent structures, including hot showers. For this weekend’s festival, he says more than 40 vendors are on site, offering everything from food to leather products. McCormick said there will be plenty of music during the rally. There are 16 bands lined up, including Blue Oyster Cult, Edgar Winter and an Ozzy Osbourne "tribute" band. A fireworks show is also planned for Friday night.
Construction moving ahead on Story City turbine repair plant
Construction is moving right along on the new 9,000 square foot wind turbine repair plant at Story City. Next Era Energy Resources of Juno Beach, Florida is building the plant and spokesman Steve Stengal says they are on schedule. Stengal says they anticipate moving the equipment into the facility late summer or early fall, with the objective of getting operations underway by the end of the year. He says based on the progress to day, they believe they will hit that target. Stegal says the plant will repair and keep wind turbines in action. He says they’ll do anything from routine maintenance to repair work on the gear box of the turbines. They will take the boxes out of the turbines and bring them to the shop for repair or maintenance. Stengal says they will soon start hiring people to do the work. Stengal says their ultimate employment level is 20 people and they will begin looking for candidates to fill the jobs in the next couple of weeks. Stengal says the Story City location gives them a central point with access to the interstate to make it easy to bring the turbine gear boxes in for repairs or maintenance.
Burlington man sentenced on child porn charge
A 30-year-old Burlington man has been sentenced to federal prison after computer detectives tracked child pornography to his computer. Thirty-year-old Chad Michael Lee Welsh has been sentenced to 100 months in a federal prison, followed by 10 years of probation. An undercover investigation tracked child pornography to an I-P address that ultimately was tracked to Welsh’s computer. Prosecutors say a search of Welsh’s computer found additional child pornography and many of the images were of children listed on the missingkids.com website as "missing" or "exploited." Investigators says Welsh "received and distributed" child pornography via computer software called LimeWire.
Davenport man sentenced to life for drug dealing
A Davenport man who has the same name as an infamous bank robber has been sentenced to prison for drug dealing. Fifty-eight-year-old Jesse James Stewart has been sentenced to life in a federal prison for dealing crack cocaine.
Prosecutors say Stewart forced prostitutes in the Davenport area to help him deal the drugs and he would give them crack in exchange for their sexual favors. Stewart maintains he gave the women small amounts of drugs in order to wean them off the drugs.
According to the prosecution, Stewart claimed to be a Minister of the Temple of Truth and Wisdom and, when he went to Chicago to replenish his supply of drugs, he dressed as a minister in case he was pulled over by cops.
Stewart claimed he was not mentally competent to stand trial. He said he’d been given drugs when he was in the Navy that caused him to suffer from flashbacks. There’s no parole in the federal prison system, so Jesse James Stewart will spend the rest of his life in prison.
New Iowa Central president takes over
There is a new man on campus in Fort Dodge. Dan Kinney began his duties as president of Iowa Central Community College this week. Kinney comes from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, where he was vice president for student serices at Western Nebraska Community College.
He says he was impressed with Iowa Central’s faculty and staff. "When I came down for my interview, I started asking, ‘How many of you are graduates?’ and half the room’s hands always went up," he says.
"That really impressed me, seeing how many people went to school here and continued on to work here. That says a lot for an institution, and an area, when that happens." Kinney’s annual salary will be at 150-thousand dollars. Iowa Central has campus locations in Fort Dodge, Webster City and Storm Lake.
Kinney takes over for Robert Paxton, who resigned last August after a picture of him was published in the Des Moines Register, showing him partying with young people on a pleasure boat.
Iowa prison population drops but trend expected to change
The number of inmates in Iowa prisons is dropping, but corrections officials expect that trend to change over the next decade. This week, Iowa’s prison population dipped to 8,454 inmates. That’s the lowest inmate count since October 2007, when Iowa had a record 8,840 men and women behind bars. Lettie Prell, research director with the Iowa Department of Corrections, has noticed a significant drop in drug-related convictions. She credits state laws passed earlier this decade targeting methamphetamine production. Another factor in the prison population decline is a shift in demographics. "Our prison population is not getting younger and more violent, it is getting older and sicker," Prell said. When they’re released, Prell says those older convicted criminals are less likely to re-offend and return to prison. Long range forecasts call for Iowa’s prison population to once again reach record levels. Prell says a growing number of prisoners are serving very long sentences. "That would be due to the law which reduced the amount of earned time for some violent offenders to 15%," Prell said. "It also prohibits parole until 70% of the sentence has been served." Just 670 of Iowa’s current prison inmates are women. That’s down from a record high of 798 in May 2007.
