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Counterfeit currency in Cedar Rapids

August 4, 2009 By

Officials say counterfeit money is circulating in the Cedar Rapids area.

In the past 11 days, Cedar Rapids Police have gotten eight different calls from businesses that have received counterfeit money as payment for goods or services. Police now have half a dozen five dollar bills, three ten dollar bills and one fifty dollar bill — all counterfeit. Cedar Rapids Police are going through video from surveillance cameras in some of the stores to try to track the transactions.

A Cedar Rapids police spokeswoman says this "funny money" doesn’t have the feel of real currency. The fake bills also lack the appropriate water marks.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Plans underway for 50th anniversary of Khruschev’s Iowa visit

August 4, 2009 By

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits the Garst farm in Coon Rapids on September 23, 1959. Preparations are underway to recognize the 50th anniversary of Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to Iowa.

The Soviet Premier toured a farming operation in Coon Rapids run by Roswell and Elizabeth Garst.

Their granddaughter, Rachel Garst, was one-year-old at the time. She says many people viewed her grandfather’s invitation as controversial since the U.S. and Soviet Union were in the depths of a Cold War.

“What my grandfather always told me is that hungry people are dangerous people and if you want peace in the world, let’s start by getting everybody fed,” Garst said. “So, he and Khrushchev used food and agriculture to forge a real human relationship and set aside ideological differences to focus on how do we increase agricultural production.”

Khrushchev’s visit to Des Moines and Coon Rapids in 1959 spurred a host of exchanges between Russia and Iowa and helped thaw Cold War tensions. Garst is helping organize the Khruschev in Iowa 50 year commemoration, which will take place between August 27th and 30th. Khrushchev’s actual visit to Iowa happened on September 23rd of 1959.

Garst says one of the people attending the 50th anniversary event will be 75-year-old Serge Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet leader. “These dates worked best for him and also our delegation is going to continue on to the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois, so the timing of their visit allows them to visit both Iowa and the Farm Progress Show,” Garst said.

Around 30 agribusiness leaders from Russia are expected to attend the Iowa events. Garst says she feels the 50th anniversary of Khrushchev’s visit comes at an important stage in American history.

“We have new ideological opponents in the world and it’s very easy to demonize people who have a different political system or different religion or we feel threatened by,” Garst said. “You know, people all over the world are just people and they all care about raising their kids and feeding their families.”

The Khrushchev in Iowa 50th anniversary commemoration will include a number of events in both Des Moines and Coon Rapids. A schedule is available online at www.creatinggreatplaces.org. Rachel Garst spoke today (Tuesday) at the Des Moines Library as part of a panel discussion titled “Iowans Remember Khrushchev.” 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Human Interest, Politics & Government

Personal electronic devices pose new issues in school

August 4, 2009 By

With school starting soon, teachers and administrators will have to deal with the growing problem of cell phones and other personal electronic devices that can disrupt classrooms. Sam Harding, spokesman for the Iowa Association of School Boards and a school board member in the Jefferson-Scranton district, says it’s a tough issue for principals and superintendents to tackle.

He says administrators have to go with a policy that the board sets and can be enforced at a reasonable level, which is tough. Harding says unless there’s a rule against it, students who have cell phones will have them on in the classroom. He says most students aren’t making calls but they’re sending and receiving text messages, which have become the new way to pass notes between students in the classroom.

He says that’s the biggest problem. Harding says the evolution of so-called “smart phones” isn’t helping things in the learning environment. He says that’s the next wave of problems, given the Internet capabilities of the phones, making it tougher for teachers to control what students are looking at in class.

Harding says a number of school districts have a policy where students can have a cell phone at school, but can only use it in certain circumstances. He says most districts like his allow students to use phones in between classes so they can call their parents and get important voicemail messages without disrupting the classroom environment.

Harding says as improvements in technology advance, school boards will have to frequently examine their policies regarding electronic devices. He says with “smart phones” and mini laptops becoming more popular, school officials are going to have to make sure those things are effectively used and don’t disrupt the learning environment.

Saint Ansgar school officials last week dropped a plan to look into jamming cell phone signals during school hours after they found out it would be illegal to own and operate such equipment.

Filed Under: Education, Technology Tagged With:

Boswell says Senate should approve more "Cash for Clunkers" money

August 4, 2009 By

Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines, says he doesn’t understand why the U.S. Senate doesn’t act quickly to put more money into the "Cash for Clunkers" program. Boswell says the two things they set out to do were to stimulate the economy, get people back to work and improve the economy while doing it.

He says the automobile industry is an important part of the economy from the family car to the delivery truck. The program ran out of the one-billion dollars put into it in just one week after projections that the money would last into November. Boswell was asked if there are other programs that could use the same model to stimulate the economy.

Boswell says maybe appliances or other things that are manufactured in the country could be part of a program. "We want to one, improve the environment, two, get people back to work, and this seems like it’s a pretty good way to go about it," Boswell says. Boswell made his comments while visiting a car dealership in metro Des Moines.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Iowans encouraged to take part in "National Night Out"

August 4, 2009 By

From Sioux City to the Quad Cities and dozens of communities in between, thousands of Iowans will take part in tonight’s "National Night Out." Residents are being asked to turn on their porch lights and get outside to enjoy their neighborhoods — and their neighbors.

The National Night Out was designed with several goals in mind: to heighten crime prevention awareness and generate support for local anti-crime programs, to strengthen community spirit and police-neighborhood cooperation; and to send a message to criminals that neighborhoods are uniting.

Activities range from cookouts and block parties to ice cream socials and concerts.

Filed Under: Human Interest

U-of-I study of H1N1 vaccine starts August 12

August 4, 2009 By

University of Iowa researchers will start their study of a new H1N1 vaccine from Australia next Wednesday, August 12.

U-of-I researcher Patricia Winokur says 140 people will participate in the study. "This vaccine is a killed vaccine, so people cannot get the flu from this vaccine and what we’re studying with this vaccine are the antibody titers, so we’re looking at blood work to help us decide whether this vaccine is effective," she says.

The 140 adults selected for the study are all considered "healthy" and they have had no symptoms of H1N1. Winokur says they’re trying to determine the proper dosage for this new or "novel" strain of the flu.

"Sometimes when we’ve had novel strains, the standard dose of vaccine hasn’t been high enough, so we’re going to be looking at the doses that protect people," she says. "And in the past we know that if people have never seen this particular strain, sometimes you need two shots instead of just one shot so we’ll be looking at that question as well."

The University of Iowa is one of eight institutions around the country tapped to test the new vaccine. Study volunteers will be inoculated, then asked to keep a diary about how they feel. After eight days their blood will be checked. After 21 days, they’ll receive another dose. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the volunteers will be monitored for two months, then they’ll be asked to come back in for checkups four months and then six months later.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Rosenfels happy to be fighting for starting job

August 4, 2009 By

As he enters his ninth season in the National Football League former Iowa State quarterback Sage Rosenfels finds himself competing for the starting job with the Minnesota Vikings.

The 31-year-old Maquoketa native broke in with the Washington Redskins in 2001 and also had stints in Miami and Houston before joining the Vikings this past off-season.

Rosenfels says it’s a great feeling compared to where he was in his rookie season to be competing for a starting job. Rosenfels is getting more work with the starting offense after Brett Favre declined to come out of retirement and Tavaris Jackson suffered a minor knee injury over the weekend.

Rosenfels says he tries to make the most of the practice he gets whether it is with the first team or second team. Rosenfels says he and third-string quarterback John David Booty are not going to turn down the extra work. He says he feels good and Booty does too even with the extra work.

Rosenfels says he ready to take command of the Viking offense as he’s seen a lot of things in his first eight years. Minnesota’s pre-season opener is August 14th at Indianapolis. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,
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