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Democrat wins special election for House seat

September 1, 2009 By

(This story was updated at 11:04 p.m.)

Unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State’s website indicate a Democrat has eked out a win in today’s special election in southeast Iowa for a seat in the Iowa House. Democrat Curt Hanson of Fairfield beat Republican Stephen Burgmeier of Lockridge by just 107 votes.

Hanson – a retired school teacher – and Burgmeier – a farmer who’s a three-term member of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors — were competing for the seat that had been held by Democrat John Whitaker, a farmer from Hillsboro who resigned from the legislature to become state director of the Farm Service Agency.

Hanson’s victory means Democrats retain their 56-44 seat majority in the Iowa House. Iowa Democratic Party chairman Michael Kiernan spoke by phone with Radio Iowa shortly after 10 o’clock when the results were known.

"It’s a great victory. We’re very proud of the team effort that we had in place here with Curt Hanson. He did an outstanding job, was an outstanding candidate. It’s a local race, local issues, and we’re very proud of him tonight," Kiernan said. "It’s a big night."

Hanson received 48.9 percent of the vote compared to Burgmeier’s 47.5 percent. Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn told Radio Iowa "it’s disappointing" to have come so close and not come out on the winning side.

"I think one thing that Republicans can hold their heads high on is the fact that Republicans nearly won a solid Obama/Culver legislative district," Strawn said by phone this evening. "It does show that Iowans have serious concerns about the status quo and one-party rule in Des Moines."

The district covers three southeast Iowa counties — Jefferson, Wapello and Van Buren. Over 8000 votes were cast today, a large turn-out for a special election according to G.O.P. chairman Strawn. 

"We turned the folks out that we thought we needed to turn out," Strawn said. "I think turnout was higher than both parties models predicted."

There are absentee ballots which have not been counted yet, but neither Strawn nor Kiernan doesn’t expect those votes to change the outcome.

"We always expected it to be a competitive race. We ran against an incumbent supervisor from another county. Our candidate had not been elected to any office before," Kiernan said. "So we’re excited. We expected it to be competitive and we’re proud of our victory."

Over the next few days Strawn plans to assess the "mechanics" of what the two parties did in the southeast Iowa district, and then move on.

"There are still over 100,000 Iowans that are out of work, the governor’s debt programs are not creating long-terms jobs and state spending has increased over 20 percent under this administration’s watch," Strawn said tonight. "So ultimately that is going to be the record for which Governor Culver and majority Democrats are going to have to answer as we prepare for the 2010 election."

Campaign finance records indicate at least $300,000 was spent by the two major party candidates, the two political parties and outside groups, including an organization that backed Republican Burgmeier and stressed his stand against gay marriage. Kiernan suggests that group’s ads had little impact on tonight’s outcome.

"We approached the campaign differently. It was a local race (with) local issues, had an outstanding candidate and really put a grassroots groundgame in effect that’s proven successful in the last two election cycles for Democrats," Kiernan said.

 

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

State tax revenue down, again, in August

September 1, 2009 By

State tax revenues have declined for a seventh consecutive month. In the past two months, net state tax receipts have declined by a little more than four percent compared to July and August of 2008. 

According to the Legislative Services Agency analysis, it amounts to a $41.5 million decrease, fueled in large part by a nearly nine percent decline in sales and use tax payments to the state in the month of August.

Personal income tax payments to the state were up slightly, by less than $2 million. Corporate taxes were up a bit as well, by a little less than a million dollars.

A three-member panel of financial experts is scheduled to meet October 7 to reevaluate their official estimate of state tax revenue for the current budgeting year. Their decision could be the catalyst for cuts in the state budget.

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

Business Council survey shows confidence in economy

September 1, 2009 By

The latest survey of Iowa’s largest employers shows they’re growing more confident about the economy. Elliott Smith, executive director of the Iowa Business Council, says the survey asks 20 business leaders about their plans for the next six months.

“Generally, the survey results look good,” Smith said. “For the second consecutive quarter, we’re see all indicators move ahead.” An index compiled from the surveys hit 48.7 in the third quarter. Any score below 50 on the 100-point scale is considered negative, but Smith says the outlook on sales is particularly encouraging.

“We saw sales actually move into positive sentiment territory,” Smith said. “Sales landed at 54…that tells us that corporate executives see sales trending ever so slightly, but still in positive territory.” The third-quarter report also showed the index for capital spending at 49, up from 33 in the second-quarter. Employment posted an index of 43, up from 38.

“Since the first quarter, we have seen numbers move ahead, back towards positive territory,” Smith said. “I guess we would see that as an encouraging sign of growth and activity in our state’s business climate.” The members of the Iowa Business Council , combined, employ around 210,000 Iowans.

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Hawkeyes Jewell Hampton out for season

September 1, 2009 By

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says sophomore running back Jewel Hampton will miss the entire season due to a knee injury. Hampton originally suffered the injury during a summer workout then reinjured it during fall camp.

Ferentz says Hampton will not make it back and it looks like he will require surgery. He says the only positive spin you can put on it is the injury did not happen in the 5th game of the year, and it is something that can be repaired.

Junior Paki O’Meara and redshirt freshman Adam Robinson are the top two running backs on the depth chart. Ferentz says O’Meara has played well for a couple of years now and played well in their recent scrimmage. He says Adam caught their eye in camp last year and ended up being a redshirt who has played well.

Ferentz says the absence of Hampton won’t put added pressure on quarterback Ricky Stanzi. He says Stanzi is important in the running game in making sure they don’t do dumb things, and says the quarterback is more confident this year with experience. The Hawkeyes have a lot of experience returning from last year’s team but Ferentz says there are always a lot of question marks heading into a season opener.

Ferentz says they are all anxious to see how they perform in a game and every team going into their first game probably has the same feelings. Ferentz says over the years U.N.I. has been able to identify recruits overlooked by the bigger schools and develop them into outstanding players.

Ferentz says James Ruffin is an example of a guy who could play anywhere in the country. He says once a guy gets to the U.N.I. campus they can lift weights and develop and good things can happen. 

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UNI coach says Iowa game is an opportunity for players

September 1, 2009 By

U.N.I. coach Mark Farley views this weekend’s visit to Iowa as an opportunity. The Panthers make their first visit to Kinnick Stadium since 2005. Farley says the number of players from the state are faced with a unique opportunity and challenge.

"The bottom line is that all these players, you know Iowa didn’t want ‘em," Farley says. He says this is an opportunity to achieve and overcome and the players understand that.

Farley has suspended five players for this game. The list includes Zach Davis who is the backup for starting quarterback Pat Grace. He says they have capable backups behind Grace as he says he always tries to have a plan B if something happens.

U.N.I. is ranked fourth in the Sports Network’s pre-season FCS poll.

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Group claims animal cruelty at Spencer hatchery

September 1, 2009 By

An animal rights group released video today it says was shot during an undercover investigation of the Hy-Line chicken hatchery in Spencer. Mercy For Animals of Chicago Executive Director Nathan Runkle says the investigator used a hidden camera after gaining employment at the factory for two weeks in May and June. Runkle says the video "documented a list of horrific animal cruelty."

Runkle says that cruelty included "workers violently throwing birds, birds being snapped by their fragile necks and being mutilated without painkillers, industrial equipment injuring and killing birds, chicks going through scolding wash cycles while they are still alive, and all of the male chicks being ground up while they are still alive."

Runkle says they are calling on the 50 largest grocery chains in America to put labels on the eggs they sell. He says the labels would read "warning male chicks are ground up alive by the egg industry." Runkle says,"This is the egg industry’s best kept dirty secret, that every year over 200 million male chicks who are useless to the egg industry because the are males and they don’t produce eggs and they are a breed that they don’t grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat, so these birds are considered a byproduct."

Runkle says state laws don’t protect farm animals, and neither do the federal statutes. He says federal laws exempt all poultry and most farm animals from being protected, not only at hatcheries, but also at factory farms, during transport and during slaughter. Runkle says,"This is another issue that we’re hoping to bring awareness to, is the fact that farm animals do not receiver the same sort of protection under the law from horrific cruelty that dogs and cats do, but of course these animals suffer and feel pain in just the same way."

Hy-Line released a statement saying the video "appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of our animal welfare policies. We have initiated an immediate investigation of the entire situation although it would have been more beneficial had we been aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred." It goes on to say that any employees involved will be disciplined per company policy, up to and including termination.

Hy-Line spokesperson Tom Jorgenson told Spencer radio station KICD that the company has decided not to do any TV or radio interviews at this time and will release further information once their investigation is complete. You can see the video on the Mercy for Animals website .

 

 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Crime & Courts

Rants questions rival’s business acumen

September 1, 2009 By

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Rants is questioning the business acumen of rival Bob Vander Plaats, while an associate of Vander Plaats defends his work. Rants points to tax returns for “Opportunities Unlimited” — a nonprofit based in Sioux City that was headed by Vander Plaats.

“Bob always claims that Iowa needs ‘a turnaround C.E.O.’ but taking an operating surplus and turning it into a deficit is something Governor Culver has already perfected,” Rants says. “We don’t need another C.E.O. who specializes in downturns. We need somebody who can actually balance budgets, not take on debt and improve Iowa’s fiscal condition.”

According to Rants, Opportunities Unlimited had an operating surplus when Vander Plaats arrived, but by 2003 it had a deficit. A spokesman for Vander Plaats dismisses the charges from Rants, saying they are “wholly inaccurate.” Eric Woolson, a spokesman for the Vander Plaats campaign, says in 2001 Vander Plaats moved out of the C.E.O. role to became chairman, then in mid-2002 Vander Plaats assumed a “strategic vision role” for a sister organization called “Quality Living.”

Rants counters that while Vander Plaats left the C.E.O. position in 2001, he was still a key manager. “He turned an operational surplus into a deficit. He doubled the debt that they took on. Their public support for their charity dried up during his tenure,” Rants says. “It’s a record of taking a good organization and putting it in the tank.”

The chairman of Opportunities Unlimited has issued a statement defending Vander Plaats, saying it is “unfortunate that such negative statements would be issued based on inaccuracies.”

Rants points to the tax records which show charitable contributions to the nonprofit were over half a million the year Vander Plaats arrived and had dropped to less than $30,000 in the year Vander Plaats left his job there as a consultant.

“He left the organization, I think, in worse shape than he started with,” Rants says.

Rants is raising this issue today because Rants says Vander Plaats said this at a recent campaign forum: ”At the last meeting we were at together he talked about how he had quadrupled the assets of the organization and it just seemed odd. It didn’t seem realistic that net assets would go up by 430 percent as he claimed and so I figured it was time to check it out.”

The chairman of Opportunities Unlimited says Vander Plaats was recruited in 1996 to lead the agency when it was in “grim” financial straits and after four-and-a-half years, Vander Plaats had “substantially improved” the nonprofit’s financial condition and expanded its services.

“It is sad that Bob’s success as a C.E.O. at Opportunities Unlimited would be questioned by someone who did none of that hard work,” said Dr. Kim Hoogeveen.

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