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Former insurance agent given 15 years in prison for fraud

September 23, 2009 By

A former Black Hawk County insurance agent will spend 15 years in prison for taking money from over 50 clients. Fifty-one-year-old Jack Straw was sentenced in U.S. District Court after admitting he used his insurance business for schemes involving annuities, insurance, stocks and land deals.

Straw who now lives in Cedar Rapids pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud, along with one count each of mail fraud, possessing a forge security and money laundering. A judge found Straw preyed on the friendship of the clients to defraud them of over three million dollars.

The judge said Straw’s fraud was a “crushing blow” to the victims — many who were elderly. A restitution hearing has been set for December 16th.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Federal money heading to Worth County wind farm

September 23, 2009 By

Federal officials say $93-million in funding will go toward the development of a wind farm in northern Iowa’s Worth County. The Treasury Department has made the second round of awards through a section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that provides assistance to energy producers in place of tax credits that they may not otherwise be able to utilize.

Of the $550 million in new awards nationally, $93.4 million has been awarded to the Barton Wind Farm of Kensett. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says in a written statement that the wind energy industry helps to create jobs in Iowa and grow the state’s economy, while at the same time lowering the cost of energy.

Contributed by Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Iowa gets good grade for taking care of old tires

September 23, 2009 By

Iowa gets high marks for its handling of used motor vehicle tires. A study by the nation’s leading representative of tire manufacturers finds Iowa is tops in several categories. Michael Blumenthal, vice president of the Rubber Manufacturers Association, released a state-by-state breakdown this week.

In Iowa, Blumenthal says, “all the tires are collected, processed and sent to end use markets.” Most of the old tires are ground up and used for playground cover, mulch or synthetic turf.

“Some tires are being used as fuel, what’s called tire-derived fuel,” Blumenthal says. “It’s used in any combustion operation that uses coal. It’s a high-grade fuel chip. It has greater heating value than coal. Emissions are actually cleaner than coal, more consistent than coal.”

Iowa also scores high on the report in terms of having no -new- stockpiling of tires. Millions of tires were taken from stockpiles over the past 15 years statewide and recycled, but the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says as many as 30 stockpiles remain, holding a total of 300,000 tires. The state program that was eliminating them has been discontinued, but no new stockpiles are being created. Blumenthal says tire piles can be set on fire through arson or accident, while becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes and rats.

Overall, though, he says the state’s doing very well with finding uses for old tires. “It’s not just good fortune, it’s good management,” Blumenthal says. “At one point in time, Iowa did have a good number of tires in stockpiles but in the last ten years, the state has had a very good abatement program for the piles of tires that you did have.”

The report says Iowa generates about 53-thousand tons of scrap tires every year. For more information, visit the Rubber Manufacturers Assocation website at: “www.rma.org“.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

U-I professor wins “genius” honor

September 23, 2009 By

A University of Iowa research scientist who makes paper to help preserve rare books and artwork is among 24 Americans receiving a coveted “genius” award honoring creativity. Chicago’s MacArthur Foundation is giving 59-year old Professor Timothy Barrett a half-million dollars over five years, with no strings attached.

“It wasn’t really the money as much as it was the recognition because to choose papermaking history and technique and aesthetics as a career direction is really a risky thing to do,” Barrett says. “I’ve been very lucky to be here at the university for almost 25 years but in general, there are very, very few career tracks so the acknowledgment from MacArthur is what really matters the most.”

In announcing the awards, the foundation says the “genius” selections don’t only recognize past accomplishments, but also anticipate future achievements. Barrett says he’s considering writing a book on Western papermaking.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With:

Corrections Department studies its drug purchasing procedures

September 23, 2009 By

The Iowa Department of Corrections is launching a study of its drug purchasing procedures. Department Director John Baldwin says the state’s prisons purchase nearly $10 million worth of prescription drugs every year. “In this age of really tight resources, we want to look at every opportunity we can to reduce the expense to Iowa’s taxpayers,” Baldwin said.

The study will be conducted by the Iowa Pharmacy Foundation and the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy. Baldwin says the Corrections Department is already in the process of developing a centralized pharmacy located in central Iowa that will serve all of the state’s nine institutions.

“We are going to move off of a private sector contract we have at four of our biggest institutions where we don’t have pharmacy services now and we’re going to centralize those,” Baldwin said. The study will also evaluate how the agency purchases drugs.

Baldwin is hoping the Iowa Pharmacy Foundation and U-I can find ways for the Corrections Department to lower is prescription drug budget through special pricing options, group purchasing and other measures. The $50,000 study is being financed with proceeds from Iowa’s portion of a settlement with two pharmaceutical companies that were accused of consumer fraud violations.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Congressman King wants an investigation of ACORN

September 23, 2009 By

Congressman Steve King is calling for a congressional investigation of ACORN, a community activist group. An embarrassing video is making the rounds on the Internet and cable television. It appears to show ACORN operatives telling a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute how to lie about their income so they could qualify for housing subsidies.

“I think ACORN and all of their affiliates need to be examined thoroughly by (the Department of) Justice and by the I.R.S.,” King says. “At the same time, I think we need to have congressional hearings and investigations into ACORN in at least four different committees.” King, a Republican from Kiron in western Iowa, has been a critic of ACORN for several years, questioning ACORN voter registration tactics. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

FEMA director visits Cedar Rapids

September 23, 2009 By
Governor Culver, FEMA director Craig Fugate

Governor Culver, FEMA director Craig Fugate

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says there’s still a lot to do before Cedar Rapids makes a full recovery from last year’s flood. FEMA Director Craig Fugate along with city, state, and other federal officials, toured the flooded Time Check neighborhood in northwest Cedar Rapids.

Fugate says FEMA is largely finished managing the response. He says the hard work now is to rebuild, and rebuild in a way that is right and better so future floods have less of an impact. Fugate took control of the agency in May. He previously served as director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. He says they will continue working with the state to help with the recovery.

Fugate says they want to rebuild in a way to minimize future disasters. Fugate says it makes sense for some people to move out of flood zones but acknowledges it’s not an easy decision. Fugate says: “To make that decision to leave that home and move somewhere else, that’s a hard thing. I mean this is the neighborhood you grew up in, this is where the babies were born, this is where the birthday parties were, this is where the kids graduated from high school, this is all the things that a family has in that home and they’re going to make the decision that because they flooded, they flooded again, it’s time to move.”

Fugate offered little in the way of specifics however he did say Cedar Rapids is doing a good job recovering.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government
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