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Rants says property taxes a drain in border areas

July 3, 2009 By

Christopher Rants A likely Republican candidate says if he’s elected governor in 2010, property tax relief would be one of his top priorities.

  State Representative Christopher Rants says border communities like his hometown of Sioux City are losing out because property taxes for businesses in Iowa are out of whack.

"We live in a hyper-competitive environment along our borders. We understand that income taxes make a difference," Rants says. "It was one thing when Iowa was worse than South Dakota or Iowa was worse than Illinois for our income taxes, but now that we’re worse than Illinois or we’re worse than Nebraska or South Dakota in property taxes, folks, it’s like pulling the plug on the drain."

Rants promises to create a new state fund to finance property tax relief."We know that an economic recovery is coming at some point in time…The question is what we will do when we have that economic recovery? Will we take those additional dollars that come in and plow it into growing government again?," Rants asks.

"…I would suggest to you that the next governor ought to plan for that day now and ought to set up a property tax reduction account so that new dollars that come into that state government, rather than being squabbled over at the time about how you want to spend that money on this program or for that employee, that those dollars first go into reducing property taxes in Iowa."

Rants says, if elected, he’d set a goal of making Iowa one of the top 10 places to start a business and to meet that goal, commercial property taxes would have to be reduced.

"You know, you can’t be in the top 10 as a place to start a new business if you’re also in the top 10 in property taxes. We rank third," Rants says. "…That is a job killer."

Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, intends to seek reelection in 2010 and Rants accuses Culver of failing to focus on economic development since he took office in January of 2007.

"We have to have a governor that every day gets up and thinks about: ‘How do I sell Iowa?’" Rants says. "’How do we help that small business get larger? How do we make Iowa a more enticing place for businesses to come and grow?’"

Rants was speaker of the Iowa House for four years. Republicans lost control of the House in the 2006 elections and in 2008, Republicans in the House elected another leader to replace Rants. Rants describes that as a turning point for him personally — a time for eating a little "humble pie" — and one of the reasons he’s now preparing to run for governor in 2010.

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

Summer’s here, so slap on sunscreen and shades

July 3, 2009 By

It’s the first big holiday of summer and many Iowans are spending time outdoors. That sun can get quite hot — and bright. Optometrist Melonie Clemmons says all Iowans need to know that proper eye care during the summer months is crucial.

First off, don’t squint — she says put on some shades to protect your eyes from ultraviolet rays. Dr. Clemmons says, "Eighty-percent of consumers are aware they need to wear protective sunscreen to prevent damage to their skin but five-percent of the population are not even aware how much U-V can damage the inside of their eyes and if precautions are not taken, it can lead to age-related macular degeneration, cataracts and exposure to glare can really affect the quality of our sight."

Clemmons says ultraviolet rays can damage several parts of the eye. She says, "It enters the black part of your eye, the pupil, and you have a natural lens behind the colored part of your eye and it absorbs those rays and it makes the natural lens get a little yellowish which makes your vision cloudy and that’s what we call a cataract.

" Also, rays that are not filtered out by that natural lens, go straight back to the back part of the eye, where the central and detailed vision is, called the macula, and that’s where waste products can build up in the eye.

She says it’s not too hard to prevent the problem. "Get a really good pair of sunglasses and make sure it has a 100% U-V blockage on the label," she says. "For my patients that wear prescription glasses, I recommend photo chromatic lenses. They remain clear when you are indoors but when you step outside and they get exposed to the U-V rays from the sun, they begin to darken."

Clemmons says that takes care of two things: it gets rid of that glare to give you better quality vision and it protects your eyes from U-V damage in the future. Clemmons reminds Iowa parents not to forget about the kids. Children tend to spend more time outdoors than adults so they need sunglasses as well — and adults need to remind kids to wear them.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Recreation & Entertainment

Plan unveiled to help Cedar Rapids recover from loss of steam

July 3, 2009 By

State and local officials visited Cedar Rapids Thursday to unveil a plan to help those in Cedar Rapids who lost their steam energy in the flood last year. Tina Potthoff is the spokesperson for the Rebuild Iowa Office.

Potthoff says the program is designed to provide basic financial support for those who relied on Alliant’s steam energy plant in Cedar Rapids. The plant was flooded and Alliant does not plan to rebuild it. Potthoff says this plan will help those who had higher bills after they had to get steam from another source, and for those who are converting away from steam.

She says a total of $21-million has been allocated, including 16-million in federal dollars and five million from the I-Jobs bonding bill. Potthoff says those impacted will have until the end of July to apply for the funds. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Fewer state monitors for large-scale confinements

July 3, 2009 By

Budget cuts at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will mean fewer field officers will be monitoring Iowa’s large-scale livestock operations.

Wayne Gieselman heads the agency’s environmental services division.

"Environmental services in the last fiscal year received not quite $8 million of general fund support," Gieselman says. "This year, we will get $1.2 million less." That’s a roughly 15 percent reduction, typical for most state agencies.

Gieselman had two main goals to deal with the cut.

"First was to do our best to make sure our employees were retained," Gieselman says. "And the second was to make sure we were not losing federal matching dollars."

So budget-writers protected any programs which drew down federal matching funds. That meant everything else had to be cut. Six field officers in animal confinement enforcement are being cut, a reduction of almost a third in the number of people engaged in monitoring livestock confinements.

Representaive Mark Kuhn, a Democrat from Charles City who is a farmer, chairs the subcommittee that drafts the agency’s budget. He’s unhappy.

"There’s lots of ways to make the numbers work and the department has the discretion to do this," Kuhn says. "The legislature will be reviewing this."

Kuhn wonders if the D.N.R. will have enough staff to police a new law which forbids the application of liquid manure in the winter — on frozen farmground.

Gieselman defends the agency’s budget cutting.

"The department is doing the best job it can to help manage these budget issues," Gielselman says.

Those who protest what they call "factory-style farms" are upset, too. Sonia Skidmore of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement says there weren’t enough field officers in the first place and laying off six of them makes no sense.

"Many of our members have reported hundreds of dead hogs in a waterway, or any number of situations (like) over the application of manure," Skidmore says. "When they make the call out to the D.N.R. and the response is often, ‘I’m sorry, we just don’t have the staff and the funding to get out there.’"

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Des Moines 80/35 Music Fest hits second year

July 3, 2009 By

Public Enemy headlines the 80/35 Music Fest A large, two-day long music festival opens this afternoon at 3 p.m. in downtown Des Moines. The 2nd annual 80/35 Music Fest is named for the two interstates that intersect in the capital city.

Tonight’s headline act is Public Enemy, the ground-breaking hip hop act that includes VH-1 reality TV star Flavor Flav. Saturday’s headliner is Ben Harper. 80/35 organizer Amedeo Rossi is hoping the event will survive and thrive for many years to come.

"I think anything takes a little bit of luck and we had a lot of it last year with the weather," Rossi said. "We’re going to need a decent crowd and a good response…we can feel already that this year’s going to be strong." Around 13,000 people paid to attend last year’s inaugural 80/35 festival that included the rock band The Flaming Lips.

Rossi is hoping to match that turnout this year. More than three dozen bands will perform on three stages. The festival grounds include the main stage area, which requires paid admission, and two free stages. More information is available here .

AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s Pat Curtis reports on 80/35 festival. :60 MP3

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Beware of fireworks smoke

July 3, 2009 By

fireworks Where there’s fireworks there’s smoke and that can be a problem for some celebrating America’s independence.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources air quality specialist, Mindy Kralicek, says smoke from fireworks displays could be a problem for some people.

Kralicek says the fine particles in the smoke are hard on people’s lungs, particularly for children, elderly, or women who are pregnant.

She says there are gases used to make the fireworks displays work and those can be a problem if breathed in. Kralicek says there’s nitrogen and sulfur that can form nitric and sulfuric acid and that’s what’s hard on the lungs.

Kralicek says you can avoid problems by paying attention to the weather conditions and staying out of the flow of the smoke. “We don’t want people to not enjoy the fireworks, because they are spectacular and they’re a celebration — but view them upwind,” Kralicek says.

She says it’s particularly important if the air is stagnant and not moving well. She says the fireworks legally sold for use by individuals aren’t as big a concern. She says some do send out a lot of smoke, such as smoke bombs, and you don’t want to breathe that in, but she says for the most part it’s the big fireworks displays that produce the most potentially harmful smoke.

An air pollution monitor in Davenport recorded unhealthful levels of fine particles after Fourth of July fireworks displays last year. For more information on the potential pollution from fireworks, visit the D.N.R.’s website .

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

Study finds ethanol not a foe to environment

July 3, 2009 By

A new study contradicts critics who claim the making and use of ethanol is leading to the destruction of South American rainforests and a buildup of greenhouse gases. Iowa is the United States’ top ethanol producer. Ethanol supporter Todd Sneller says the study shoots down claims Amazon jungles are being clear-cut for farmland to cultivate ethanol ingredients.

Sneller says it’s evident there’s very little deforestation taking place and what little tree-cutting is happening is typically related to the use of grassland and forests for cattle production and to a limited extent, for soybeans. In Brazil, for example, that deforestation is done mostly for human uses of the land, rather than fuels.

The study from the group "Ethanol Across America" says between 2000 and 2005, only one-percent of Amazon deforestation was for large-scale commercial agricultural use. Researchers have found corn ethanol can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 20-percent compared to gasoline. Sneller says the study reinforces that finding.

He says, "The new report is one that reaffirms what we’ve heard from the University of Nebraska and others that ethanol, particularly made in today’s plants with the newest technology, makes a significant contribution to greenhouse gas reductions, particularly relative to refined gasoline products." Supporters say ethanol is becoming more efficient and economical to produce, while oil will become more expensive and continue to do environmental damage.

Sneller says the Amazon is not being hurt as badly as petroleum companies want you to believe. "When one takes a look at the trend that has been consistent over the past seven years in terms of the Amazon specifically, we see there has been a steady decline in deforestation." Sneller is head of the Ethanol Board in Nebraska, the nation’s number-two ethanol producing state — behind Iowa.  

 

Filed Under: Agriculture Tagged With: ,
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