February 9, 2012

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First Lady encourages shelters to apply for I-JOBS program

July 9, 2009 By

Iowa’s First Lady is encouraging domestic violence, youth and homeless shelters around the state to apply for grants through the state’s I-JOBS program. Mari Culver says the $10-million in grants can help shelter officials finance repairs and renovations.

"There are roughly 25 domestic violence and 25 youth shelters across the state and these shelters are generally run, in my perception, on shoestring budgets," Culver said. She joined with representatives of the women and youth shelters in Mason City this morning to tout the grants.

Culver says it’s a great opportunity for the shelters to make needed improvements. "Some of (the shelters) are in very old, rundown locations with security needs, repair needs, roofing needs, furnace needs…all types of needs that are always unmet, because their budgets just don’t allow," Culver said. The First Lady became a leading advocate for the homeless and domestic violence victims before moving into Terrace Hill.

Culver says she was visiting a lot of shelters on the campaign trail. "That really opened my eyes to the need for shelters and certainly opened my heart," Culver said. "I became aware of the great public servants we have working at these shelters who are paid very little and provide such critical, substantial services to those who are in the greatest need in our state."

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Tatoo artists facing new educational requirements

July 9, 2009 By

It’s tough to fix a word if you spell it wrong in ink, especially if it’s needled into someone’s skin. Starting next year, new tattoo artists in Iowa will have to meet certain educational requirements before they’ll be able to etch their art onto anyone.

Carmily Stone, chief of the Environmental Health Services bureau of the State Department of Public Health, explains the changes. Stone says, "The new rules require that tattoo artists who are permanent after January 1st, 2010, have a high school education or a GED and are also required to take a blood-borne pathogens class, and that was not required in the previous rules."

She says the tattoo parlor inspectors also have to take the blood-borne pathogens class. The new educational requirements will only apply to new tattoo shops, as those currently in business will be "grandfathered" in under the existing rules.

Stone says the upgrade was long overdue. "These rules had not been looked at for about 20 years," Stone says. "They’d have some minor revisions done but had not really had a hard look so it was time for us to look at those and we’d had inquiries from the industry as well for us to look at these rules." She says all Iowa tattoo parlors, new and old, will be facing higher fees in the new year.

The artist permit is now $40 and it’ll go up to $75 after the first of the year, while the establishment permit will go from $25 to $100. All tattoo shops are also required to get an annual inspection, the fees for which will rise from $200 to $250.

Stone says there are about 175 tattoo shops in Iowa, a rising number as the state follows national trends. 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Iowa program that tracks baby deaths could be adopted nationwide

July 9, 2009 By

A program created in Iowa to try and cut the number of stillborn babies could become a national model if a bill introduced in congress becomes law. Kim Piper of the Iowa Department of Public Health says they hope the Iowa Stillbirth Surveillance Program will eventually help reduce the number of fetal deaths.

"We collect information about stillbirths so we can conduct analysis on that data to determine if there’s anything we can build a prevention program around, some type of intervention," Piper says. Piper says the bill would expand the program to 12 other states, and eventually nationwide.

Piper says, "It has always been the intent of the Iowa project to establish a program that can be used by other states. So it’s my understanding that this legislation would support that replication in other states." The Iowa program came about through the efforts of State Representative Janet Peterson of Des Moines who had a stillborn baby.

The only other surveillance program in the country covers the city of Atlanta Georgia.

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

Boy dies in Clinton accident

July 9, 2009 By

An 11-year-old boy was killed in a two vehicle crash last night in Clinton. The Iowa Highway Patrol identifies the victims as Kristopher Holt from Clinton.

Holt was a passenger in a car driven by 60-year-old Martha Savochka of Clinton. She was eastbound at the intersection of Highway 30 and the Mill Creek Expressway and turned left, crossing Highway 30, when her car was hit by a semi driven by 54-year-old Samuel Roy of Coloma, Michigan. Savochka was injured and transported to the Mercy Hospital in Clinton.

The crash happened shortly after 10 p.m.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

John Deere Classic has a mission of charity

July 9, 2009 By

The John Deere Classic means big crowds, national attention and big money for the Quad Cities area. The first round is underway at the TPC at Deere Run and tournament director Clair Peterson says the event brings in between 20 and 25 million dollars to the area.

Peterson says they are a non-profit organization with the main mission of raising money for charity and improving the quality of life in the region. "And we feel we do both very well," Peterson says. Peterson says a number of different charities benefit from the tournament.

He says they generate $4.7 million last year for over 500 regional charities, which he says puts them number one per capita on the PGA Tour and sixth overall for all 46 tournaments.

The tournament runs through Sunday. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

UNI center researching prairie plants as alternative fuel

July 9, 2009 By

Prairie plants in an Iowa roadside. They’re experimenting with burning some grass on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in an effort to bring power to the people.

That sounds like a 1960′s scenario, but its really the search for a 21st Century alternative to create electricity.

Joel Haack is the dean of the shool’s College of Natural Sciences, and says the research is underway at the Tallgrass Prairie Center .

Haack says they’re trying to find out the best mix of prairie plants that would be the most effective in producing energy. He says it’s a joint effort along with the Soil Tilth Lab at Iowa State, Cedar Falls Utilities, the biology lab at UNI and the Black Hawk County conservation board as they seek a new “biomass” fuel source.

Haack says they are using some common prairie grasses along with other prairie plants. He says they’ve found that the energy produced can be enhanced if some of the flowers from the plants are included, such as spiderwort and butterfly weed, plants that produce orange and purple flowers. Haack says the believe some mix of the flowers and grasses will probably be the most effective in producing energy. Haack says one benefit of the prairie plants is they wouldn’t have to take up ground that’s used for other crops.

Haack says they would use the plantings in marginal fields, and their test plots are along the Cedar River in some very poor soil conditions that provide farmers a way to use that soil. They would also provide benefits to the animals and insects who would live in the plants. Researchers did have a setback in using the marginal land along the river.

Haack says the plots were wiped out by the flooding last year, but they have been growing very well this year. He says researchers were discouraged when the plots got flooded out, thinking it would take another three years before they would get results. But he says the good growing season this has them now thinking they may be able to get a crop to test next year.

Haack says the fast growing nature of the plants is another benefit of using them, and they also can pull carbon from the air. Haack says prairie plants have roots that grow deep and work at a number of different levels. He says Iowa State is looking at the depth and where the carbon is deposited. The Iowa Power Fund Board provided the center with 612-thousand state dollars for the three-year study, and the research groups provided $136,000. The Iowa Power Fund Board visited the Tallgrass Prairie Center Wednesday to get an update on the project.

 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Report now says Carter Lake chief shot another officer

July 9, 2009 By

Authorities in southwest Iowa’s Pottawattamie County have released more details where one police officer shot another. Carter Lake Police Chief Shawn Kannedy reportedly fired a gun inside the police department Wednesday afternoon. The bullet hit Sergeant Dan Driver in the lower torso, beneath his bullet-proof vest.

Driver was put in a police cruiser and taken to an Omaha Hospital following the 2:45 p.m. shooting. He is expected to recover. In a press release, city officials said Kannedy, Driver, and a third officer had been discussing firearms, when the chief accidentally discharged one round from his weapon.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident. Sheriff Jeff Danker says the gun may have malfunctioned, but many details about the shooting remained unclear late Wednesday afternoon. Kannedy — who has declined to comment on the matter — has been placed on administrative leave.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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