May 21, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / Archives for November 2009

Braley endorses one of three Democrats running for U.S. Senate

November 30, 2009 By

Congressman Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, has endorsed one of the three Democrats who are running for the U.S. Senate.  Braley publicly endorsed Roxanne Conlin during a stop this morning in Davenport.  Both Braley and Conlin are lawyers.

Conlin and Braley met with union workers from the Davenport area and Conlin told the group she supports the “public option” that’s in the health care reform bill pending in the senate.   

“I’ve got grandchildren and I would rather that they pay for health care than that they continue to pay for George Bush’s war in Iraq,” Conlin said.  “When you balance those two, I think that health care will cost less than what we have already spent in the Republican administration on the unnecessary war and tax breaks for the very wealthy.” 

Conlin faces two other eastern Iowa Democrats in the June primary for the chance to face-off against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley next fall.  Grassley was among those who voted in September of 2008 to use tax dollars to save failing financial institutions. Conlin said if congress is going to bail out Wall Street, they can’t ignore Main Street.

“I won’t rest until every person in the state of Iowa who wants a job has a job,” Conlin said.  “I think there is no issue more important than jobs, jobs, jobs, and as far as I can see the Republicans generally don’t have a lot of interest in that.” 

Conlin isn’t the only lawyer in the race for the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2010 U.S. Senate nomination.  Tom Fiegen of Clarence is a bankruptcy attorney.  The third candidate, Bob Krause of Fairfield, is a former state legislator.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Military, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Iowa coach says practice is key to ending shooting woes

November 30, 2009 By

Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter says the only thing that will help the Hawkeyes break out of their shooting woes is more practice. Iowa is connecting on less than 40% from the field and a team that needs to depend upon three point shooting is hitting on less than 27% from behind the arc.

“If we think it’s gonna fix itself because we’re supposedly good shooters, it isn’t gonna happen,” Lickliter says. He says almost everyone who is skilled in some sport has a time when they have to go back to the driving range or batting cage and work and Lickliter says his team has to go back to game speed and get comfortable shooting.

Iowa is 2-4 and plays host to Virginia Tech on Tuesday night as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Under coach Seth Greenberg Virginia Tech is off to a 4-1 start. He says they are good rebounders and good in transition and complement each other very well. Lickliter says they were a bubble team in the NCAA last year and ended up going to the NIT.

Lickliter says the Hokies will offer a difficult challenge as he says it’s another part of their demanding schedule. Lickliter is looking for his first win as Iowa coach as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. He says there is a lot of interest in the series and for someone who likes competition and challenges, that’s what it offers with two great conferences.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Brackins says ISU will rebound from first loss

November 30, 2009 By

Iowa State junior forward Craig Brackins says the Cyclones won’t have any problem putting their first loss of the season behind them. The Cyclones are 6-1 after falling to Northwestern 67-65 in the championship game of the Chicago Invitational. Brackins says you have to let it go after the game, even though it hurts to lose. He says they can’t hang their heads and the veterans on the team told the others they have to let it go and go on the to the next game.

Brackins is averaging more than 17 points and seven rebounds per game but feels he needs to be more aggressive. He says he has been watching film and says there are some possessions where he takes it to the rim, but other times he settles for a shot away. Brackins says he has to do more of the aggressive style and take it to the rim.

Brackins says they need to correct some mistakes before Wednesday night’s game at home against U.N.I. He says there were some breakdowns they had that they let slip.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Congressman Loebsack returns from visit overseas

November 30, 2009 By

Iowa Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, has just returned from a holiday trip overseas to visit soldiers. Loebsack says he visited with a number of troops who had been injured in Afghanistan at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Ramstein Germany.

He says he also went to Italy to visit families and troops who are about to deploy. Loebsack says he also met with Romanian officials, as he says Romania is an important ally in the war in Afghanistan. President Obama is set to announce how he plans to proceed in Afghanistan in a speech Tuesday night, and Loebsack says he’ll be interested in hearing that plan.

Loebsack says,” What I want to hear from the president is really multifaceted, I want to be sure that this is not just a military decision, there is much to it than that.” He says it’s a political and economic decision, and he wants to be sure there is a plan to transfer security of the country to the Afghan security force and that it is not an open-ended commitment. Loebsack says the president has to have a clear strategy.

Loebsack says he wants to know the cost of the plan and that we have a commitment from out NATO allies. He wants to see that the plan coordinates the civilian elements of the country. Loebsack is on the Armed Services Committee and says they will meet Thursday to discuss the issue with the Secretary of Defense.

Loebsack says he talked with soldiers and military leaders about Afghanistan, but the congressman would not elaborate on their opinions.

Loebsack says the leaders will clearly support the president’s plan if there are significantly more resources committed to the area. He says the families of those who are about to deploy and are deployed that he talked to “continue to be supportive of whatever the mission is as defined by the president.”

Reports say the president plans to announce he will send another 35,000 troops to Afghanistan.

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

Amtrack ridership breaks a record

November 30, 2009 By

Amtrak ridership in Iowa broke a record for the federal budget year that ended in September. More than 66,000 passengers boarded trains at Iowa stations – an increase of 3% over the previous year. Richard Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, says it was highest level of ridership in Iowa since congress created Amtrak in 1971.

“It proves once again that people really want to have high quality passenger trains and it’s time for us to create the policies that will make that possible around the entire country,” Harnish said. Proposals are pending for Chicago to Dubuque service and a Chicago to Iowa City train stopping in the Quad Cities.

“Governor Culver has become a really strong leader on this issue…so, the next step is to make this a higher priority in the general assembly and start finding the way to get the money to actually make this stuff happen very quickly,” Harnish said. Amtrak currently operates two daily trains that pass through southern Iowa. Nationwide, Amtrak had its second-best year ever for ridership, with trains carrying nearly 27.2 million passengers.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Culver praises unions for making concessions

November 30, 2009 By
Governor Chet Culver, Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer, Dept. of Corrections director John Baldwin (l-r)

Governor Chet Culver, Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer, Dept. of Corrections director John Baldwin (l-r)

Governor Chet Culver is praising members of two state employee unions who have voted to forego some of their pay and benefits in order to avoid layoffs. 

Members of AFSCME Council 61 and the State Police Officers Council have accepted a deal that will see many executive branch workers take five unpaid days off and give up a portion of the state’s contribution to their retirement funds. 

“This is a big step today in terms of this agreement with the unions,” Culver said this afternoon at a news conference in his office. 

[Read more...]

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

Iowa faces Virginia Tech Tuesday

November 30, 2009 By

College basketball action resumes on Tuesday night when the Iowa Hawkeyes host Virginia Tech as part of the Big Ten/ACC challenge. The Hawks picked up their second win of the season on Saturday with an unusually high scoring 73-63 victory. Jaryd Cole had a big day and finished with a career high 24 points and ten rebounds as the Hawkeyes improved to 2-4 on the season.

The in-state series resumes, Wednesday night in Ames when the Iowa State Cyclones host U.N.I. The Cyclones suffered their first loss of the season 67-65 to Northwestern in the championship game of the Chicago Invitational. The Cyclones fall to 6-1 on the season. U.N.I. is 3-1 after a 52-45 win over Northern Illinois in Cedar Falls on Saturday.

The Panthers built a commanding nine point halftime advantage then survived a nearly ten minute scoring drought to post the win.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts