May 21, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / November / Archives for 3rd

Harvest delay could cost millions

November 3, 2009 By

Iowa’s bumper corn and soybean harvest, held hostage in the fields by rain and cool temperatures, is diminishing in value. Monday’s federal crop report says only 18% of Iowa’s corn crop has been harvested, 22 days behind the five year average. Last week’s heavy rains and cloudy skies kept combines out of the fields. Iowa State University agronomist Pella Peterson says that added moisture is bottlenecking grain dryers.

“The fall and winter came in so early…we don’t have the wind or heat now. With the big crop of corn sitting out there, the farmers are not running full speed. They don’t have drying capacity to dry down every day,” Peterson said. “You have these huge combines, but you can’t dry the crop fast enough. It’s a huge issue and I don’t think people outside of agriculture understand what kind of impact it can have.”

That impact could amount to millions of dollars. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, speaking on a cell phone while harvesting corn on his own farm near Spirit Lake, calls it a very concerning situation.

“As a state, we still have about half of the soybeans left to combine and a vast majority of the corn yet to come out of the fields as well,” Northey said. “There’s probably somewhere north of seven or eight billion dollars worth of crops still in the fields.” Northey says many off-the-farm jobs may well depend on getting corn and soybeans out of the field before further loss in quantity and quality. Iowa recorded 6.3 inches of rain in October, making it the wettest October since 1881.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Weather Tagged With: ,

Grassley favors ban on laptops in airplane cockpits

November 3, 2009 By

Members of Congress are reacting to the recent incident where an airliner overshot its Midwestern destination by 150 miles, apparently due to distracted pilots. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s in favor of legislation that would ban laptop computers from the cockpits of commercial jets, as laptops were reportedly the cause of the incident.

Grassley says, “Unless it’s something that they’ve gotta’ have in their laptop that’s very much an integral part of their piloting a plane safely, then I would think that it’s just common sense that you wouldn’t be fiddling around with a laptop while you’re concerned about the safety of maybe more than 200 people on a plane that you’re piloting.”

On October 21st, the Northwest Airlines pilots of a San Diego-to-Minneapolis flew past their target for more than an hour and were well over Wisconsin before turning around. Federal regulators revoked the pilots’ licenses last week after the two claimed they lost their bearings while discussing company policy and using their laptops. Grassley says there’s no excuse for that sort of behavior from pilots — and from others who should have noticed the problem.

Grassley says, “What went on in the case of the Northwest Airlines pilots is pretty obvious from the standpoint of maybe they’re not being on the job and also now they’re raising the question of whether the people that are in the control tower were doing their job properly to keep on top of every plane, as they’re supposed to.” Senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota, is the chair of the Senate’s aviation subcommittee and plans to introduce a bill next week to prohibit laptops from the cockpits of all commercial aircraft.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Farmers get look at equipment for cellulosic ethanol

November 3, 2009 By

Farmers near Emmetsburg are getting a look today at equipment used to harvest corn cobs for use in the next generation of ethanol production. Mike Roth is the program director for the biomass program for the company called POET. He says they’ll have harvest demonstrations and also equipment that farmers can look at and ask questions about.

It’s called “Project Liberty,” and will use 276,000 tons of corn cobs each year. Roth says they hope to get 450 farmers on board by 2012. Roth says they have about 12 individual farmers right now, but hope farmers will see the benefit in this from converting corn cobs into an alternative energy source, and also through added revenue for their farm.

The company will provide incentives for farmers to purchase the specialized equipment to harvest the corn cobs. Project Liberty is expected to produce 25-million gallons of cellulosic ethanol each year. The plant is set to go on-line in 2011.

Contributed by Dan Skelton, KICD, Spencer

Filed Under: Agriculture Tagged With:

U.S. Drug Czar stays out of Iowa marijuana debate

November 3, 2009 By
National Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, Gary Kendell, Director of Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy (l-r)

National Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske, Gary Kendell, Director of Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy (l-r)

The U.S. Drug Czar is staying out of the medical marijuana debate in Iowa. Gil Kerlikowske says it shouldn’t be up to him or even voters to determine the effectiveness of prescription pot.

 ”Whether a medicine is effective or not should be answered by medical scientists and not a vote…I think I’d leave it at that,” Kerlikowske said Monday at the Iowa Statehouse.

The director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy was in Des Moines Monday to gather input for a new national drug control strategy.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Deadline approaching to mail holiday packages overseas

November 3, 2009 By

Iowans who have loved ones serving in the military in Iraq, Afghanistan and other distant places around the globe might want to get those holiday cookies baked and gifts wrapped. The first deadline for dropping packages in the mail is next week, according to U.S. Postal Service spokesman Richard Watkins.

“We’re looking at those holiday mailing deadlines for cards, letters and packages and the first one is the most economical way to ship and that’s coming up on Friday, November 13th, just a couple of days after Veterans Day, the most economical way being parcel post.” Watkins says getting a package from home can really be a big morale boost for the soldier, airman or sailor overseas and it doesn’t have to cost you big money if it’s sent out soon.

“Prices go from $4.95, our medium box is $10.35, and the best value, particularly for those who are shipping items to loved ones at APO and FPO addresses, is the $13.95 large Priority Mail flat-rate box, for which you receive a $2 discount, bringing the total to $11.95, if it’s going to an APO or FPO address.” Those abbreviations are military code for Army and Fleet Post Offices. Watkins says the Postal Service is also offering what it calls “Military Care Kits” for free.

Go onto the Postal Service’s website at USPS.com and click on the “Support Our Troops” link. The free kits include: two “America Supports You” large Priority Mail flat-rate boxes, four medium-sized Priority Mail flat-rate boxes, six Priority Mail labels, one roll of Priority Mail tape and six customs forms with envelopes.

Watkins says certain items are restricted, including alcohol, perishable foods and anything flammable or toxic. The website also details those things. Items sent after the November 13th deadline may still make it to their destinations before Christmas. Watkins says you can send items into mid-December and likely will still have them arrive before December 25th, but the costs go up as the weeks pass.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military

Elections today in 947 Iowa cities

November 3, 2009 By

It’s the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November which means it’s Election Day.

While this is an “off-year” election — meaning there are no statewide or national races on the ballot — there are dozens of city elections being held today.  Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro says 947 Iowa cities are holding municipal elections today.

“Each one’s going to be electing a mayor or council people and these elections will have a big effect on the lives of individuals in those cities,” Mauro says. 

Voter turnout, though, will be low, in the range of 20 percent at the high end.  Mauro says some cities will see fewer than 10 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot today. ”I always encourage people to participate,” Mauro says, “and it’s unfortunate that we just can’t get the turnouts that we would like.” 

One small Iowa town — Quimby in Cherokee County — had no candidates step forward for mayor or for the three open slots on the city council.  That means the results of today’s election will be a surprise to the town’s residents — and to the winners.

“The ballot features only four empty lines and the words: ‘Write In, Write In, Write In, Write In,’” Mauro says, with a laugh.  “There’s 368 residents in the town and I find that interesting because you don’t hear that too often, where they can’t fill any seats at all.” 

With such sparse voting, ties are not uncommon. “And in Iowa, it’s crazy how you break a tie and that’s by drawing a name out of a hat,” Mauro says. “That is not that highly-unusual in some small cities where you have very, very low turnout.”

Iowans who asked for an absentee ballot for today’s election had to mail it sometime yesterday, so it had a postmark of Monday, November 2, 2009.  You can drop absentee ballots off today, in person, at the county auditor’s office. Iowa’s secretary of state says procrastinators have another option, too.  

“That’s one of the good things.  Same-day voter registration will be in effect. You just need to make sure you bring the proper identifications with you,” Mauro says. “So if you forgot to register, that’s no excuse now.  You can get out there and vote and participate.” 

Many polling places will open at seven this morning, although in some small cities polling won’t start ’til noon.  Check with your county auditor for polling information, as some city election polling places are not held in the same location as general election voting.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,
Newer Posts »