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House Democrats meet, budget cuts on agenda

October 1, 2009 By

The 56 Democrats who serve in the Iowa House are meeting in private Friday in Grinnell and their leader says they’d better come armed with ideas for cutting state spending rather than increasing it.

A report issued earlier today shows that after refunds were issued, total state tax collections fell 19 percent in September.  House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, says that report is top of mind for legislators.

“It’ll probably diffuse a lot of ideas if they cost money because there’s really no money,” Murphy says. “The big part we will be looking at is things we will be able to find cost savings from.” 

The magnitude of the drop in state tax receipts is stark and may prompt Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, to order an across-the-board cut in state spending. Republican legislators have been calling for a special legislative session this fall to make selective cuts, but Murphy — the top Democrat in the House — says they can wait to restore funding in selected areas when the 2010 Legislative session convenes in January.

“We will be working with the governor on whatever we need to do on the budget. If he wants to do an across the board cut and backfill, we’re willing work with him in those areas,” Murphy says. “Quite frankly we’ve felt like we’re a team and we want to continue that team process.” 

A three-member panel of financial experts meets next Wednesday, October 7 to set the official estimate of state tax revenue for the coming year — a figure which spells out the scope of state spending.

Filed Under: Business, Education, Environment & Conservation, Health & Medicine, Politics & Government, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

September weather seemed like San Diego in Iowa

October 1, 2009 By

September weather tables for Iowa look more like something you’d see in southern California than the landlocked midwest. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the month is notable for its lack of extremes. Hillaker says the highest official temperature recorded in the state was 86 degrees in Pocahontas on the 16th and 18th and Sibley on the 18th.

“Eighty-six is the lowest September maximum temperature ever in Iowa going back in the record books, it’s always gotten warmer than that at some point in the month every other September that we have records for,” Hillaker says. Hillaker says the range between the highest and lowest temperatures for September also set a record.

He says the last two days of the month had an official low temperature of 32 degrees in Onawa, Guthrie Center and Swea City. “The overall range of temperatures from 32 to 86 (degrees) is the smallest we’ve ever had during the month September,” Hillaker says, “some people have been kind of calling this San Diego weather, which is kind of the case.” Official weather records have been kept for 137 years.

Hillaker says the overall temperature for September average one degree higher at 63.9 degrees. Hillaker says it’s on the third month this year that the temperatures have averaged warmer than normal with February and March the other two. Rainfall for September averaged one-1.71 inches — about one half inch below normal.

Hillaker says some areas were much dryer than normal, but some places did have above normal rainfall. He says Sioux City was the wettest city, with and average of 4.5 inches of rain, with a few areas of central and southeast Iowa had normal rainfall. Hillaker says several areas of the state did not get any rain in the first few weeks of the month. With nine months of the year in the weather record books the state is a little cooler and wetter.

Hillaker says temperature wise the state is running at1.3 degrees cooler than normal and the rainfall is right at one inch greater than normal. He says though much of northwest Iowa is much drier than normal, while east-central and south-east Iowa have been much wetter than normal. Hillaker says the state right now is around the 31st coolest ever, and the 39th wettest.

Filed Under: Weather

C.R. police say 70-year-old woman robbed, beaten

October 1, 2009 By

Cedar Rapids police say two men robbed a 70-year-old woman early this morning and then stole her car. Sergeant Cristy Hamblin says the men kicked in the woman’s front door at 3 a.m. The woman, Monica Brooks, had been asleep on the couch. The men demanded money, but Hamblin says Brooks only had some loose change.

“They proceeded to beat her up,” Hamblin said. “It wasn’t just a minor thing. They hurt her pretty bad. She was hospitalized and had some cuts and bruising on her head.” Brooks gave the men her keys and they left the area in her car.

Hamblin says both suspects are described as black men, slender build, in their early 20s and both were wearing black hoodies and black pants. Brooks’ car is a silver 2004 Chrysler Sebring with license plates 665 JGK.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Study touts benefits of workplace wellness

October 1, 2009 By
Exercise video

Exercise video

A new study touts the benefits of workplace wellness programs, singling out several Iowa companies for creating opportunities for employees to get active. It starts with exercise classes, but American Heart Association researcher Mercedes Carnethon says worksite wellness programs can include a host of elements.

Carnethon says, “The most frequent components are: tobacco cessation and prevention, regular physical activity, stress management and reduction, early detection and screening for heart disease and stroke risk factors, nutrition education and weight management.” She says more Iowa companies are seeing the positive impact wellness programs can have on their employees — and on the bottom line.

“Healthier employees are more productive,” Carnethon says. “Absenteeism is decreased. Presenteeism — the dreaded situation where the sick employee comes to work and spreads their illness to everybody — presenteeism goes down as well and so there are substantial cost savings from a productivity standpoint.” The study found heart disease costs the nation’s businesses 24-billion dollars a year in lost productivity. Carnethon says wellness programs can attract exceptional employees while enhancing productivity and morale.

“For every dollar spent on health and wellness, companies can save between three and 15-dollars,” Carnethon says. “Those savings are evident fairly immediately within 12 to 18 months of implementing a program.” She says several Iowa companies are mentioned in the report, including Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, ConAgra Foods in Omaha/Council Bluffs and U.S. Bank in Clinton.

Square-D by Schneider Electric, in Cedar Rapids, has increased employee participation in wellness programs by 12% through offering more programs. Carnethon says, “In general, when you get a critical mass involved, more people join in because they see the benefits.” She also offers credit to Trane/Ingersoll Rand in Davenport for its efforts.

“They allow their workers to wear athletic shoes on Fridays to encourage walking and moving around and they also created an indoor walking path for people to get involved and be active right there in the workplace,” Carnethon says. “For those who prefer to exercise in the evenings and weekends, they offer discounts to a local YMCA.”

Carnethon is the lead author of the study being published this week in “Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.” She is a professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University and is the American Heart Association Fellow on the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. For more information, visit: “http://www.startwalkingnow.org

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

State tax receipts down 19.2 % in September

October 1, 2009 By

Another gloomy snapshot of Iowa’s economy: a Legislative Services Agency report shows state tax receipts were down significantly in September. 

“This report shows a really poor month.  There was really no good news in September. Gross receipts for the month were down 10 percent.  On a net basis, after we take into consideration refunds, it was down 19.2 percent,” said Jeff Robinson, a senior analyst for the Legislative Services Agency.  “It’s tough to find a month in the last 20 years that would be as negative as September was this year.” 

[Read more...]

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

Group says misperceptions keep Iowans from adopting pets

October 1, 2009 By

A study finds tens of thousands of dogs and cats are being euthanized in Iowa every year because of too few adoptions. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, says more than three-million potential pets are being put to death nationally, including 50,000 a year in Iowa.

“Both numbers are just absolutely unacceptable,” Pacelle says. “We can do better as a society than to kill so many animals that just want a chance at life. There are 2,800 animals available for adoption right now in Iowa.” Due to misperceptions, Pacelle says many Iowans avoid getting their pets from shelters.

Pacelle says, “The animals in shelters end up there not through any fault of their own but typically because of a human problem, a foreclosure crisis, some other economic crisis in their lives, they’re moving to a place, they may have an allergy.” He says only about 20% of people adopt animals from shelters or rescue groups. The rest go through friends, neighbors, pet stores, the Internet, breeders and other sources. Pacelle says people think shelter animals are somehow damaged or they’ve been bad.

“That’s very, very far from the truth and 80% of animals are now acquired through other sources, not shelters or rescue groups,” Pacelle says. “If we could just get that number up to 35% or even 40%, we could eliminate the euthanasia of healthy and treatable animals, not just in Iowa and Nebraska, but in every state in the country.”

The Humane Society is launching a campaign, called The Shelter Pet Project, to encourage people to make shelters and rescue groups their first choice for acquiring companion animals. The website “www.theshelterpetproject.org” includes a tool to help match owners with suitable pets in local shelters.

Filed Under: Human Interest

DOT looks at deadly intersection in northeast Iowa

October 1, 2009 By

State transportation officials met Wednesday to discuss one of the deadliest intersections in Iowa. In the past 11 years, the intersection near the Dubuque-Delaware County line has been the site of 15 crashes resulting in six deaths. Sam Shea is a planner with the Iowa Department of Transportation.

“Any time there’s a fatality, you know, one death is one too many,” Shea said. “We’ve made a number of attempts at safety to keep that intersection open with yellow signs with flashing lights and the addition of some turn lanes.” Those efforts haven’t seemed to help. Now, the DOT is trying to determine if it’s feasible to add an interchange in the area.

Shea says most of the accidents happen when drivers attempt to make a left turn across traffic. Doctor Robert Meisch  has witnessed several of those accidents. His chiropractic office is located at the intersections of Highway 20 and 7th Street near Dyersville. “There are a number of people that live in town that will not drive on the highway to come to the office.

They’ll drive through town because they don’t want to deal with the busy intersection,” Meisch said. This week, a KCRG-TV reporter counted 138 vehicles passing through the intersection in a ten minute period.

Contributed by Katie Wiedemann, KCRG, Cedar Rapids

…………………..

A study finds tens of thousands of dogs and cats are being euthanized in Iowa every year because of too few adoptions. Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, says more than three-million potential pets are being put to death nationally, including 50,000 a year in Iowa.

“Both numbers are just absolutely unacceptable,” Pacelle says. “We can do better as a society than to kill so many animals that just want a chance at life. There are 2,800 animals available for adoption right now in Iowa.” Due to misperceptions, Pacelle says many Iowans avoid getting their pets from shelters.

Pacelle says, “The animals in shelters end up there not through any fault of their own but typically because of a human problem, a foreclosure crisis, some other economic crisis in their lives, they’re moving to a place, they may have an allergy.” He says only about 20% of people adopt animals from shelters or rescue groups. The rest go through friends, neighbors, pet stores, the Internet, breeders and other sources. Pacelle says people think shelter animals are somehow damaged or they’ve been bad.

“That’s very, very far from the truth and 80% of animals are now acquired through other sources, not shelters or rescue groups,” Pacelle says. “If we could just get that number up to 35% or even 40%, we could eliminate the euthanasia of healthy and treatable animals, not just in Iowa and Nebraska, but in every state in the country.”

The Humane Society is launching a campaign, called The Shelter Pet Project, to encourage people to make shelters and rescue groups their first choice for acquiring companion animals. The website “www.theshelterpetproject.org” includes a tool to help match owners with suitable pets in local shelters.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:
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