May 21, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / November / Archives for 2nd

Layoffs loom at Newton hospital

November 2, 2009 By

Layoffs loom at Newton’s hospital.  

Just over 70 Skiff Medical Center employees are going to be effected by budget-cutting recommendations approved by the hospital’s board of trustees. Ten employees directly tied to patient care will lose their jobs as will 13 other current hospital workers. Just over 50 employees will be working reduced hours and about two dozen vacant positions will remain unfilled.

The chairman of the hospital’s board of trustees says measures need to be taken to turn the hospital’s finances around, but he says the $3 million loss shown on the hospital’s books is actually much less than that.  

(Reporting by Randy Van, KCOB, Newton)

Filed Under: Business, Health & Medicine

Iowa author’s new book has a radio theme

November 2, 2009 By
Cover of Larry Baker's book "A Good Man."

Cover of Larry Baker's new book.

Iowa author Larry Baker has released a sequel of sorts for his popular first book “The Flamingo Rising” that was released in 1998 and later made into a Hallmark movie.

The new book “A Good Man” is actually Baker’s third, as his second didn’t make as big a splash as the first. Baker admits generating continued interest isn’t easy.

He says it’s hard getting second and third books published, especially after the first book doesn’t make enough money. Baker says he got a big advance for the first book, so it has been more difficult in the next two. Baker says “A Good Man” has some connections to “Flamingo Rising.”

He says he started to write a book about radio talk show hosts and fake preachers and found that some of the characters were like the characters in the first book. So Baker says he updated the characters and put them in a new story. The main character in the new book is on the radio.

Baker says the man works the 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift and is convinced that nobody is listening to him and starts to get burned out. He retreats into old books and poetry and finds out he has a cult following. Baker says he got inspiration for the book from Harry Chapin’s song “W-O-L-D” about a radio d-j.

He says the Harry Chapin family and foundation have helped him with the book and he dedicated it to Chapin. Baker says the song was compelling and he fleshed out the three minute song and gave the character a past and a future. Chapin is most famous for writing the song “Cat’s in the Cradle.”

Baker lives in Iowa City. You can find out more about the book and Baker at: www.redroom.com/author/larry-baker. He will be making several appearances to promote the book. They are: November 5th,-Book Vault in Oskaloosa; November 19, Prairie Lights in Iowa City, November 19, Wild Rose Books at U-I Hospital (noon); December 17, Barnes and Noble in Coralville (7 pm); December 19, Hoover Library in West Branch (noon).

Filed Under: Human Interest, Recreation & Entertainment

Report shows drop in use of ethanol-blended gas

November 2, 2009 By

The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says he’s “stumped” by the results of a new report on ethanol sales. Monte Shaw says Iowa Department of Revenue figures for September show Iowa motorists chose E-10 only 71% of the time when fueling up.

That’s down from 75% in 2008 and is 9% below the national average. Shaw says he’s not sure why fewer Iowans are using E-10, a blend of 90% gasoline and 10% ethanol.

“I honestly don’t have an answer to it,” Shaw said. “Ethanol is widely available and it’s priced pretty attractively at the pump. So, it’s really kind of one of those head scratchers.” E10 is typically a few pennies cheaper per gallon than regular unleaded fuel. In 2006, the Iowa Legislature adopted a program designed to spur ethanol gasoline sales.

“I think (the report) tells us that our current program is not working,” Shaw said. “If Iowa wants to be a leader in ethanol sales…than we need to rethink things and probably take a much more aggressive approach.” Iowa leads the nation in renewable fuels production with 40 ethanol refineries capable of producing 3.3 billion gallons annually.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business Tagged With: ,

ISU prof wins “Oscar” for biofuels innovations

November 2, 2009 By

An engineering professor at Iowa State University is winning accolades for his research in biofuels.

Hans van Leeuwen is being named by R&D magazine as Innovator of the Year, what’s considered basically the Oscars for inventors.

Van Leeuwen is being recognized for his use of microscopic fungi to improve the production of biofuels, like ethanol and biodiesel, and for other efforts to protect the environment and improve water quality.

He’s among impressive company. Past award winners include the co-founder of Google, one of the heads of PayPal, the developer of SpaceShipOne and the inventor of the Segway Personal Transporter.

Filed Under: Education, Environment & Conservation, Technology

October one of the wettest ever

November 2, 2009 By

Iowans are hoping for a brighter November, as sunny days were few and far between in October. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says it was a close to being the soggiest ever. Hillaker says it will probably be the second wettest Octobers in history, with wettest coming over 100 years ago back in 1881. Hillaker says some areas had 20 straight days of rain, which he says it unusual for October.

Hillaker says it will probably end up as an average rainfall of six and one-quarter inches statewide, which is about double the average of just over two and a half inches. The record amount is 6.42 inches set in 1881. The cloudy rainy days also kept things from heating up.

Hillaker says October was on a record cool pace the first half of the month and then things were more normal. Overall it will end up as the third coldest month on record. Hillaker says 1925 and 1917 were the coldest October on record. Hillaker says the early forecast for November looks to be drier and with temperatures more toward normal than October.

Filed Under: Weather

Free training offered for school crossing guards

November 2, 2009 By

A free training program for all school crossing guards in Iowa will be launched this month, the first time Iowa’s had a uniform statewide effort. Molly Gable is coordinating the training through the Iowa Bicycle Coalition’s Safe Routes to Schools program. Gable says full-day courses will be held in six Iowa cities over the coming weeks.

Gable says, “Guards will be learning about special techniques they can use at crossings, different laws that might pertain to crossing guards, policies they should be going through with their own guards, procedures, hazards and safety issues they might encounter while on their guard posts.”

While many communities have crossing guards, she says they’re all coordinated locally and some get very little training. The statewide program is designed to increase safety for students and crossing guards and to bring increased awareness to drivers about school crossings.

Gable says, “We do recognize that there are differences among a smaller town as opposed to a larger town but we cover a broad base of different issues for a crossing guard and what they should know.” A study found parents are concerned about safety when their kids ride bikes or walk to school and Gable says the goal of the program is to create more peace of mind for parents, while boosting the number of kids who walk or ride bikes to school. She says having one, uniform program statewide will be an advantage.

Gable says, “Motorists might not always understand how they should react towards a crossing guard and by having a uniform crossing guard training, we’re hoping when a motorist in Iowa comes across a guard, they’ll realize what to do, because they’ve seen it in their own town.”

The free course will be geared for school or community crossing guard trainers and supervisors like school officials or law enforcement officers. The classes will be held: November 17th in Cedar Rapids, November 19th in Ames, December 1st in Mason City, December 3rd in Sioux City, December 8th in Atlantic and December 15th in Fairfield. The training sessions will run from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.

For details, visit “www.iowasaferoutes.org“.

Filed Under: Education
Newer Posts »