May 22, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / November / Archives for 30th

Drake soccer advances, ISU, UNI volleyball begin NCAA tourney

November 30, 2009 By

The Drake mens soccer team has made it to the elite eight of the NCAA tournament. The 24th ranked Bulldogs claimed a high scoring affair as they won at Boston College 6-4 on Sunday. Next up, the bulldogs will play North Carolina for the right to earn a trip to the Final Four.

The Iowa State volleyball team will host the first two rounds off the NCAA tournament. The Cyclones will take on George Mason on Friday night. The other first round match pits Wichita State against St. Louis University. The winners will meet in the second round on Saturday night. The cyclones finished the regular season 25-4 and this will be their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

The 20th ranked U.N.I. Panthers will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for the opening round and will go up against Washington State on Friday. The Panthers are 30-2 overall and finished 18-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Tenth rated and host Nebraska takes on coastal Carolina in the other first round contest.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , ,

Grinnell president says move to new conference not imminent

November 30, 2009 By

The president of Grinnell College says a move to a new athletic conference by the school is not imminent. Grinnell is one of 14 schools that make up the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and one of agenda items at a recent meeting of the presidents was the possible creation of a new NCAA division three athletics conference.

Grinnell is currently a member of the Midwest Conference. Grinnell College president Russell K. Osgood says the ACM presidents have talked about a better way to organize themselves athletically for about five years, but he says it is really too early to say anything would happen. He says their is no plan in place for a new league. Osgood says they like the league, but would like to travel a little less, and would also love to be in the league with Cornell, Coe and Luther.

He says to change or reorganize a conference is an incredibly rare thing to occur.

Contributed John Martenson KGRN Grinnell

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Hogs die in fire at Wellman confinement facility

November 30, 2009 By

Nearly one thousand hogs died in a fire at a confinement facility near Wellman Sunday. Wellman Fire Chief Jeremy Peck says his department was called out about 3:45 Sunday afternoon.

He says they arrived to find the eastern portion of the nursery engulfed in flames. He says they immediately called the Kalona Fire Department for mutual aide, and together they were able to extinguish the fire. Wellman firefighters were again called to the facility at about 10:00 last night to put out some remaining hot embers.

Peck says nothing about the fire seemed suspicious and that it was likely caused by electrical problems or a faulty heater. The confinement is owned by Dave Schuman. The hogs belonged to David Eichelberger.

Cotnributed by Nick Wilkens, KCII, Washington

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Iowa Lottery sales up, profits down slightly through October

November 30, 2009 By

Iowa Lottery C.E.O. Terry Rich says they’ve seen better sales through October, but not enough to keep the profit from dropping slightly. Rich says sales are up a little more than four-percent over last year, but profits are down a little as they’ve paid out some big jackpots.

“That’s good news in that people are winning more,” Rich says. Rich says the profits are down slightly, but he is confident things will pick up. He says proceeds to the state were down about 3%, which he says is running a little bit better than what most lotteries and other types of gaming across the U.S. are experiencing. Rich says he expects holiday sales to improve profits.

Rich says the holiday campaign has been strong, with the holiday bingo game already selling out. Rich is confident they’ll remain in a good position through the rest of the year. Rich says they have the holiday sales and they’ll begin selling the Mega Millions game in January, so he believes both will allow them to finish strong this year. The lottery has generated $18.6 million in the first four months of the fiscal year with ends June 30th.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Special needs teachers in highest demand

November 30, 2009 By

A surplus of teachers in the state is coming at a time when fewer college graduates are choosing careers in teaching. Susan Kalsow, the Dean of the School of Education at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, says she’s steering her education majors toward endorsements in fields where Iowa still has teacher shortages.

“School districts will tell us they have hundreds of applications for an elementary opening and yet they have a need for special education or secondary math, secondary science, ESL, anything that has something to do with students with special needs,” Kalsow said.

Many school districts are not replacing retiring teachers, thus reducing the number of instructors needed. Kalsow is pushing her students toward endorsements in specialty areas, even if it means changing their career ambitions after they enter college.

“They’re frustrated if it leads to extra time because it’s expensive to stay in school longer, get those endorsements, get that extra support. If they start out with us and know where they’re going, it can happen in four years,” Kalsow said. “If they change midstream, they’ll probably have a better chance at a job, but it’s going to cost them more to get the degree.”

She says her approach seems to be working because around 90% of the education graduates from Buena Vista eventually find teaching jobs. Almost every current listing on the job-hunting web site Teach Iowa is for a special education or pre-school teacher.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With:

AFSCME members approve wage, benefit concessions

November 30, 2009 By
Danny Homan (file photo)

Danny Homan (file photo)

AFSCME members who work in the executive branch of state government have approved wage and benefit concessions that will save 479 union jobs. 

Over 9,000 dues-paying AFSCME members were eligible to vote through the 25th of November and AFSCME Iowa Council 61 president Danny Homan says there was an “historic” turnout.

Fifty-nine percent of AFSCME members voted yes and 41 percent voted no to ratify the “memorandum of understanding.”  It means workers in state executive branch agencies will take five unpaid days off and give up some of the deferred compensation for their retirement accounts.

[Read more...]

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

ISU creating youth and family development program

November 30, 2009 By

Researchers at Iowa State University will be using nearly $8 million in grants to build a national youth and family development program. Richard Spoth is the director of I.S.U.’s Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute (PPSI).

He says the institute’s programs, which include substance abuse prevention, are administered through public schools, I.S.U. Extension and other community agencies. “Research has been conducted through partnerships in three states,” Spoth said. “With the new funding, we’ll be in a position to build a national network of partnerships, starting with 11 additional states,” Spoth said.

Most of the funding will be focused on expanding PPSI’s program called PROSPER. Spoth says public schools that take part in the program team up with small community “teams” – which receive technical assistance from the university researchers. “They go through a number of procedures to make the community families aware of the programs and recruit them into the program,” Spoth explained.

“Then, in the following year, they offer a school-based program that is linked with the family program and shares the same outcome objectives.” Communities and schools that have implemented the PROSPER model have reported significantly lower rates of substance abuse and other problem behaviors.

Spoth says their research has found schools using the program have half as many students that start using marijuana compared to schools without the program. The $7.9 million in grants are coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Spoth says it’s money well spent.

He reports the research has found a $10 return on every $1 invested in the program.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »