February 9, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / December / Archives for 4th

Palin book-signing event in Sioux City Sunday

December 4, 2009 By

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will appear at a book-signing event in Sioux City on Sunday, but some locals say the line may not be as long as it might have been, based on the timing.

Palin’s scheduled to start signing copies of her book in the Barnes and Noble in Sioux City at noon. Folks can get in line, starting at six o’clock Sunday morning, to get a wristband for entry into the store when Palin’s autograph session starts. Senator Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says he would love to go, but can’t.

“This is right during when most of us people in northwest Iowa go to church,” Feenstra says. “So it becomes a little bit of a problem for some of us.” 

The drive from Feenstra’s front door to the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Sioux City which is hosting Palin’s book-signing is about an hour. Feenstra lives in Sioux County, which as of December 1, 2009 had over 14,000 registered Republicans, compared to fewer than 2000 Democrats. Two other northwest Iowa counties — Lyon and Plymouth Counties — are Republican strongholds, too, but they’re even farther from Sioux City and Feenstra says many Republicans will decide it’s too far to drive on a Sunday morning. 

“However, she does have a great following and I think some people will set church aside for a week and come see her,” Feenstra says.

Feenstra, by the way, already has Palin’s autograph.  He got it when Palin made a campaign stop in Sioux City in 2008, about two months after Republican presidential nominee John McCain asked Palin to be his running mate. 

Mark Lundberg of Orange City, the chairman of Sioux County Republicans, is a big Palin fan, too, but he’s not going to the book-signing.

“I don’t like standing in line for anything,” Lundberg says, with a laugh.  “To me, it’s just not something I’m interested in doing.”

However, Lundberg says he expects a “significant” number of people to stand in line to meet Palin on Sunday.

“If people want to go down and get their book signed, they’ll skip church to do that,” Lundberg says.

Lundberg considers Palin’s speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention to have been a “rock star” moment and he says Palin has a “solid” shot at the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nomination.

“I think she brings a lot to the table as far as the conservative base and her philosophy and she’s very popular with what we call the ‘fly over’ country of the United States, you know, and she’s very common sense oriented,” Lundberg says. “Would she be my number one candidate at this time? Probably not, but she’d be in the top five or six. Right now, I’d be happy with anybody but what we have.” 

In 2008, the McCain/Palin ticket garnered 13,490 votes in Lundberg’s Sioux County, compared to 3030 for the Obama/Biden ticket. 

Sioux City, the site of Palin’s book-signing event,  is located in neighboring Woodbury County which saw a McCain/Obama draw in 2008, with both winning about 22,000 votes in Woodbury County.  While McCain ended up winning Woodbury County by 236 votes, Obama won the entire State of Iowa in 2008 enroute to winning the presidency.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Four charged in northeast Iowa meth operation

December 4, 2009 By
Kim Eckhadt

Kim Eckhadt

Four people were arrested Thursday after authorities dismantled a suspected methamphetamine operation near Randalia in northeast Iowa. The Fayette County Sheriff’s office says the arrests followed a weeklong investigation.

All four people lived in a house where a search warrant was conducted. Deputies say they found a meth lab inside and recovered a quantity of meth, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and “several wildlife parts,” which a state game warden seized.

Arrested were 42-year-old Kimberly Eckhadt, 38-year-old David Heidt, 40-year-old Kristy Heidt and 46-year-old Gregory Winter. All are accused of a felony charge of manufacturing a controlled substance. If convicted, they could serve up to 25 years in prison.

The sheriff’s office says more people may have been involved in the operation. An investigation is also under way to determine whether violations of Iowa Department of Natural Resources regulations occurred.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Iowa State visits California Saturday

December 4, 2009 By

The Iowa State Cyclones visit California on Saturday night as part of the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series. The Cyclones have dropped back-to-back games to Northwestern and U.N.I. and both games were played mostly in the half court. Cyclone coach Greg McDermott says this game will be played at a faster pace.

McDermott says the last three games were played at a deliberate pace, and this one is going to be more up and down, which fits their style. He says they have to be able to win games in different styles and that is his job.

Sophomore guard Scott Christopherson says the Cyclones need to find a way to start winning close games. He says they have to execute on both ends under pressure and have to keep fighting.

Iowa State is 6-2. California has also dropped two straight and is 4-3.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Iowa hosts Prairie View A&M

December 4, 2009 By

The Iowa Hawkeyes will be at home to take on Prairie View A&M. The Hawkeyes are 2-5 after a loss to Virginia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge but the Hawks played well for much of that game.

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter says they have guys who will have to understand the level and intensity that it takes to play the 40 minute game at this level. He says the attitude of the players remains positive. Lickliter says this group takes coaching very well and that gives them the chance to be a good team.

Sophomore guard Anthony Tucker tied a career high with 24 points in the loss to the Hokies. Tucker says they are getting better every day and they are excited about that, even though they’ve had some disappointing losses.

Prairie View A@M is 3-3 on the season.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Shotgun deer season opens Saturday

December 4, 2009 By

The first of two shotgun deer seasons opens Saturday in Iowa, with the deer populations above the Department of Natural Resources goals in the northeastern, southern and west central portions of the state. D.N.R. deer biologist, Tom Litchfield, says the first five-day season is usually the busiest.

He says he expects 70 to 80,000 hunters in the field with between 50 and 60,000 hunters in the field for the second season. The second season runs from December 12 through the 20th. The corn harvest has been lagging way behind and Litchfield says that might make it tougher to get to some of the deer.

Litchfield says areas that have a lot of standing corn make it difficult, as it is hard to push deer out of standing corn. He says southern Iowa has had a lot of standing corn and that could have a negative impact. Hunters took around 80-thousand deer last year, and Litchfield says that number could be higher this time.

He estimates the harvest will be between 70 and 80,000 deer, as he says the harvest has already been running ahead for the early hunts, but the shotgun season makes up 55-65% of the annual harvest. The first seasons are held for youth, muzzle loader bow hunters, and some county antlerless hunts.

Throughout the early seasons as of this morning, Litchfield says they are running 11-hundred to 12-hundred deer above last year. Hunters are now required to report when they take a deer, and Litchfield says that is very important in helping him track deer numbers. Litchfield says the weather should be good for the start of the hunt and says many hunters like having some snow on the ground for the hunt.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With: ,

House speaker: one MHI likely to be closed

December 4, 2009 By

The speaker of the Iowa House says it’s likely legislators will close one of the state’s Mental Health Institutes. 

The state has four Mental Health Institutes, in Cherokee, Clarinda, Independence and Mount Pleasant. House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, says legislators may decide to close one of them.

“Because of the budget situation, we’re going to review everything this year,” Murphy says. “But there’s no question in my mind we will look closely at that.” 

The four Mental Health Institutes were built between 1861 and 1902.

“I think the big question is: do we need four of them and can we get the services we need?” Murphy says.  “Mental health (treatment) has changed due to the expansion of medications and that stuff.  We don’t have a lot of people sitting permanently in institutions anymore like they were 50, 60, 70 years ago and they aren’t state farms any more, where people used to work on them, so I think a lot of things have changed from when those facilities were built — not in the last century, but the century before.”

This past spring, the Iowa legislature directed managers in the Department of Human Services to review the four institutions, to evaluate the service and economic impact of each one, and decide which one should close.  That review is due December 15. 

“There is reason to look at changing the way that we do service delivery there,” Murphy says.

A task force created by the legislature and appointed by the governor held meetings around the state to discuss the future of the Mental Health Institutes.  That group plans to recommend that all four facilities remain open.  But Murphy, the house speaker, says other states looked at consolidating similar facilities “years ago” and it should be no surprise to anyone that state officials are seriously considering closure of one of the Mental Health Institutes.

“Look at the economic conditions we’re in,” Murphy says.  “We have to make a lot of tough decisions, and so the M.H.I.s are that we will have to look at.”

The Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute opened in 1861.  The Mental Health Institute in Independence opened in 1873. The Clarinda Mental Health Institute opened in 1888 and Cherokee’s Mental Health Institute was the last to open, in 1902. 

The most recent state records indicate fewer than 300 people stay in the four Mental Health Institutes on a 24/7 basis.  Supporters of the facilities say they play a crucial role in providing mental health services to those who live outside the facilities, not just to those who live within what used to be considered asylums.

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

Iowa students encouraged to enter EPA contest

December 4, 2009 By

Iowa students who come up with creative ways to keep the planet green are eligible to enter the President’s Environmental Youth Awards before the month is out. Denise Morrison, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, says the program honors projects developed by students across the region — in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

It’s an annual competition where students can submit environmental projects they’ve been working on all year. One project is selected from each region and if the project is chosen as national award winner, the student will receive a trip to Washington D.C. to be recognized by President Obama.

Morrison says they see lots of innovative student projects every year. She says a lot of recycling projects have to do with water, trying to find creative ways to save water and use energy efficiently. The competition is for students in grades K-12. All projects must be postmarked by December 31st to be considered for the competition. Applications are available on-line at the federal E-P-A website.

Filed Under: Education, Environment & Conservation
« Older Posts