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Report of naked man leads DM police to fight

July 27, 2009 By

A naked man beating on cars with his fists was the subject of a 9-1-1 call on Sunday afternoon that brought police to a residential area near downtown Des Moines. When the first officers arrived, a large scuffle was underway involving perhaps 40 people. The naked man, identified as 32-year-old Lindsay Harris, allegedly rushed at officers.

One used a Tazer to subdue Harris, but officers say they were threatened by others, so backup was called, and at least 20 police officers quickly responded, some of whom used mace to contain the crowd. Three people were arrested, including Harris.

It was similar to another street fight in a nearby Des Moines neighborhood July 4th that involved nearly a hundred people after two women were run over and killed by an SUV. A Chicago man is charged in their murders. In that case, too, police had to call for reinforcements because of the unruly crowd. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Japanese beetles spreading across Iowa

July 27, 2009 By

A pest that feeds on a number of plants, including roses, grapes and certain trees has been spreading slowly across Iowa. Iowa State University Extension Entomologist Donald Lewis says the good news is the beetle population has peaked for this summer.

Lewis says if you draw a triangle from Davenport to Boone back to Dubuque, that includes most of the counties that have Japanese beetle infestations. He says there have been reports farther southeast and southwest, and Council Bluffs and Mills and Woodbury County have reported infestations. Lewis says if you’re contemplating a trap to help control the green and copper colored beetles — save your money.

Lewis says research in other states have shown that the Japanese beetle traps attract more beetles than they catch, so the damage near the traps is worse than if the traps has not been there. Thirty-eight of Iowa’s 99 counties report infestations of Japanese beetles.

Lewis says the beetles, which can eat all the leaves off a plant, have been plaguing Iowans since 1994.

He says the beetle populations will slowly taper off until mid-August.

Filed Under: Agriculture Tagged With:

Des Moines considers red light cameras

July 27, 2009 By

Motorists speeding through Des Moines may be caught on camera in the coming months. Des Moines police Sergeant Lori Lavorato says they’re considering the installation of four to five traffic cameras to catch speeders, red-light runners and other unsafe drivers. One of those cameras could be located on a busy freeway.

"We are possibly thinking about putting one on Interstate 235 in a spot where it’s very dangerous for officers to do traffic stops," Lavorato said. The camera proposal will be presented to the Des Moines City Council today. The police department’s still investigating possible vendors, but most traffic camera systems snap photos of lawbreakers, allowing officers to send the owners of the vehicles tickets in the mail. But, Lavorato insists that’s not the number one purpose.

"The goal of this is to change people’s behaviors," Lavorato said. Officials in other cities that have traffic cameras in place says they’re experiencing fewer traffic accidents. Lavorato says the cameras would be clearly marked in Des Moines. "With those cameras, we would like to put up signs saying what that camera is and what it’s for," Lavorato said. "We want to make people aware that they’re out there, it’s nothing secretive." If approved, the cameras would likely be installed sometime next year.

"There’s no rush on this, but it if were to go forward, maybe six months to a year," Lavorato said. The Iowa Supreme Court last year rejected arguments in a Davenport case that the cameras violate state law. In addition to Davenport, traffic cameras are being used in Sioux City, Council Bluffs and Clive.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

South Dakotans might counter an IA casino with one of their own

July 27, 2009 By

The president of an economic development group in Sioux Falls, South Dakota says it’s clear a new casino just across the border in Lyon County, Iowa would prompt South Dakotans to consider countering with a casino of their own.

Earlier this month the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission said it would accept applications for new casinos and a Lyon County group plans to ask for an operating license. Slater Barr of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation says his community would be "galvanized" by a Lyon County casino.

"The proposed Lyon County casino…is very good for the state of Iowa," Barr says. "The problem is for South Dakota that it transfers wealth just directly across the state line."

A study commissioned by a South Dakota tribe that runs a casino suggests South Dakotans will spend $55 million a year at a casino near Larchwood, Iowa. In addition, the study suggests the state of South Dakota would lose $18 million a year in revenue from its video lottery.

"And I think the Iowa Gaming Commission studies very clearly (say) that the market is Sioux Falls, so essentially the implication is that if Sioux Falls is the market and is the majority of the revenues for the Iowa casino, then essentially you’re transferring those taxing dollars from our own video lottery machines over to the state of Iowa," Barr says. "So that’s a concern to us from an economic standpoint."

According to Barr, South Dakota and his city of Sioux Falls have few options if a casino is built in Larchwood.

"We have no control over what Iowa does. We have no control over what Lyon County does or what they permit. All we have control over is what we do," he says, "so I think our options are more limited to allowing a countering facility or just saying, you know, ‘We’ll make the best of it.’"

A 2004 study found residents in the Sioux Falls area spend more at casinos in Iowa and Minnesota than they spend in two nearby South Dakota casinos. The tribe the operates a casino about 40 miles north of Sioux Falls is embroiled in a legal dispute with the state over adding more slot machines on its gaming floor.

 

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

Champions crowned in softball

July 27, 2009 By

Four champions were crowned during the final night of the state softball tournament in Fort dodge. Johnston entered the post season unranked but the Dragons end the season with their first state title.

They opened the scoring with a run in the third, added one more in the fourth and put the game away with three more in the fifth in a 5-0 win over fourth rated Waukee.

In 3A top ranked Clear Creek Amana finished the season unbeaten as the Clippers blanked number three Carlisle 3-0 in the title game. Clear Creek took advantage of five Carlisle errors to finish the season 45-0.

In the 2A championship Allison sharp drove in the lone run of the game with a two out single in the top of the third as fifth ranked Conrad BCLUW edged number two Emmetsburg 1-0.

And in the 1A title game Amber Logmann tossed a three hitter and struck out 14 as Earlham edged Newell Fonda 2-1 and spoiled the Mustangs bid for a second straight title. Shelby storm and Rachel Gilmore both had rbis as Earlham claimed its first state title. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

No Cyclone tattoos at state fair, Hawkeyes and Panthers still set

July 27, 2009 By

Supporters of the University of Iowa and Northern Iowa will be able to get a temporary tattoo from their school at this year’s state fair — but Iowa State University fans won’t get a freebie symbol to show support for their school. I.S.U. marketing director Carole Custer says the budget is to blame.

“We will not this year, in order to cut costs, be handing out the popular Cyclone tattoos….and we won’t be doing the Cyclone headbands, the Cy headbands,” Custer says, “we really felt this was one year where we really needed to preserve funds, the university needed to preserve funds for educating our students.”

Custer says she hopes fans will understand why the aren’t giving the traditional free items this year. She says they estimate they’ll save about $30,000 with she says is a “substantial portion” of their Iowa State Fair exhibit costs. Custer says the cost for the exhibit in the Varied Industries Building at the fair is “not cheap,” and she says they’re fair budget was “drastically cut.”

Custer says the lack of the free give aways is the only thing that will change at their fair setup. Custer says the university is very committed to having a presence at the fair and she says the 4-H exhibits and all the others will be there, as she says they believe they have a good message to tell people about the economic contributions the university makes to the state of Iowa. Custer says they will still give away posters from the athletic department and also have a drawing for free football tickets to the season opener.

University of Northern Iowa director of marketing, Mary Taylor, says the Cedar Falls school will operate the same as they have in past years. “We’re not really scaling back this year,” Taylor, “we feel that the fair is a great place for U.N.I. to connect with Iowans that we don’t get to see at other times of the year, and we always have a really positive and great response from our alumni and others that visit the booth, and we felt it was important to maintain that presence and continue to be in front of our friends and alumni in the state of Iowa.”

Taylor says free Panther tattoos will be a big part of their display. “We’re gonna do tattoos again this year, they’re incredibly popular with the younger crowd, as anyone who as been at the fair has seen,” Taylor says. She says they also will be giving out a keepsake pendant that is geared toward recruiting students and their parents to U.N.I.

Taylor says their budget is around $30,000 for the fair and says volunteers help keep the costs down. She says they have around 250 alumni volunteers that help in the booth and 30 or 40 staff volunteers that take a day off and help out. Taylor says the fair is a unique opportunity to reach a lot of people.

Taylor says they do about 30,000 tattoos for the fair and says they estimate around 100,000 people pass by the booth and are exposed to U.N.I. “We can’t buy that type of exposure for any better deal than we get at the fair,” Taylor says.

University of Iowa director of  the university news services, Stephen Pradarelli, says they have done what they can to hold costs in check at the fair. But that doesn’t include cutting the Hawkeye tattoos. “That’s pretty much what draws them, we’d like to think…that its the staff there, their pretty faces, but its the tattoos, the rub on tattoos and the posters,” Pradarelli says.

Pradarelli says they are grateful to the athletic department for providing the free posters. He says they will look to hold down costs in other ways. Pradarelli says they made a conscious choice to not change the layout of their exhibit, as that costs money. He says they also will use wireless instead of wired internet, and will be conservative about the number of passes they give to volunteers and exhibitors. Pradarelli agrees with his counterparts that the fair is a great place to reach a lot of people.

Pradarelli says it’s a “one of a kind” event and a great place to connect and talk up Hawkeye sports, and the academic programs of the university. He says they get a lot of parents who come by and ask questions about various programs. Pradarelli says the U-I will spend about $35,000 on its fair exhibit this year, and it is almost unchanged from last year. The Iowa State Fair runs from August 13th through the 23rd.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , ,

Motion picture about Iowa Caucuses in the works

July 27, 2009 By

A major Hollywood studio has bought the rights to a screenplay about the Iowa Caucuses.

Beau Willemon’s stage play "Farragut North" is set in Iowa during a fictional caucus campaign. The play was first performed on stage last fall in New York. It’s now on stage in L.A.

Willemon says he’s finished the screenplay for producers George Clooney and Leonardo Dicaprio. Warner Brothers bought the rights, but the playwright says what will happen’s next is anyone’s guess.

"I don’t know the exact stage the studio and the production companies are at," he says, "but, you know, I’m optimistic the play will get made sooner rather than later."

Willemon worked for Howard Dean’s Iowa campaign in 2004 and based the tale on his experiences.

"The first scene actually takes place in the bar/restaurant next to the lobby of the Hotel Fort Des Moines which, as anyone from Des Moines knows, is one of the hotels where candidates and their staffs hole up," Willemon says. "And I certainly spent a lot of time there when I worked for Dean."

The play’s main character is not a candidate, but a political operative who is brought down by ambition and pride. Some in Hollywood say that role could be played by DiCaprio if the project makes it into production.

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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