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Winnebago CEO reports good news

December 17, 2009 By

The C.E.O. of Winnebago Industries says the company has narrowed its net loss from a year ago and the 2010 fiscal year is off to a good start. Revenues for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending November 28th were $81-million, a 16.7% increase when compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2009.

The company did end up losing $1.3- million during the first three months, better than the $9.6-million it lost in the same period a year ago. Winnebago C.E.O. Bob Olson says it looks like the company’s financial woes are beginning to end.

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Filed Under: Business, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Eichhorn to run for Secretary of State in ’10

December 17, 2009 By

A former state legislator who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 plans to run for a statewide office in 2010. 

George Eichhorn of Stratford is an attorney who served in the Iowa House for six years, losing his reelection bid in 2006.  He’ll be a Republican candidate for Secretary of State in 2010.

“I think everybody’s aware that elections matter and who you have in a particular position is pretty critical for where we’re going in the future,” Eichhorn says. “When I look at the secretary of state’s office, you know, I think that people want to have that job done responsibly and they want to make sure that their taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. Unfortunately I think we have some problems in that office and I think we need to correct them.”

Eichhorn cites an audit which raised questions about how former Secretary of State Chet Culver — the state’s current governor — spent federal money allocated under the “Help America Vote Act.”

“It clearly looks like there was money that was misspent by the secretary of state’s office and unfortunately the interest is being accrued during this term and now we are paying the consequences for it,” Eichhorn says. “And somebody should have done something about that quite some time ago.”

The current Secretary of State, Democrat Michael Mauro, says he had no role in making the spending decisions Culver made as secretary of state and the interest payment Eichhorn mentioned is for spending Culver authorized. Mauro intends to seek reelection in 2010.

Eichhorn spoke with Pat Powers of KQWC Radio in Webster City this week and during the interview Eichhorn said he’d seek greater “security” to ensure the ballots that are cast are from legitimate voters.

“In election laws, we’ve made monumental changes under the Democrats in the last few years and we need to make sure that our laws are both fair and that people trust them and there’s a big concern right now,” Eichhorn said. “Do we have the right access?  Do we have the right security for our voting to make sure that those that are truly elected are the people who are, ultimately, serving us?” 

Republicans unsuccessfully sought a requirement that voters present a photo I.D. to help prove their eligibility to vote as part of the state’s new law that lets eligible Iowans register to vote at their polling place, on the day of the election.

Eichhorn lost the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in 2008 by about 600 votes — out of the more than 85,000 that were cast in the three-way race, but he did not ask for a recount.  Eichhorn faces a Republican primary as Council Bluffs City Councilman Matt Schultz said this summer he will likely seek the Republican nomination for Secretary of State.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

AFSCME president not happy some U-I hospital employees avoiding furloughs

December 17, 2009 By

The president of the union representing University of Iowa health care employees is not happy with an announcement by hospital leaders that non-union employees will not have to take furlough days as part of the budget cuts. AFSCME Council 61 president, Danny Homan, says that is unacceptable.

Homan says his concern is “an issue of fairness.” He says the governor asked union members to take seven furlough days and they agreed to take five, while the management and exempt employees are not taking any furloughs. “That seems to be highly unfair,” Homan says. Homan is also critical of the hospital plans to send management personnel on a trip to Orlando, Florida for training on customer service.

Homan says:”It wasn’t but a few weeks ago, or a month ago that the University of Iowa Hospital was crying about how broke they were. All of a sudden they seem to have found a pot of gold. I guess that is why they are going to go to Disney World.” Homan says everyone should do their part in the budget cuts. He questions how the university can raise fees on students and while some employees are not taking furloughs.

“I think it’s counterproductive for the regents system to say they are going to charge a 19, 20, 21,22-year-old an additional 100 bucks to go to college, and yet take no mandatory unpaid days, furlough days for the management or the exempt people at that university. Maybe they ought to give the kids their 100 bucks back, and they ought to be taking some furlough days instead of charging the kid,” Homan says. U-I Hospitals spokesman, Tom Moore, says all employees have taken cuts to help with the budget.

“The non-AFSCME employees have contributed in multiple ways, in addition to the reduction in their retirement benefits,” Moore says, “for example professional and scientific employees have also participated in our voluntary vacation give back and voluntary temporary pay reduction programs to the tune of two million dollars.” Moore says those cuts taken by the non-union employees are part of the overall effort to cut the budget.

Moore says those employees have made sacrifices, as have the faculty who participated in those programs. He says through those measures they were their budget goals, “As a matter of fact here this last month we have just reported that we have a 12-million dollar positive operating margin.” Moore says the furloughs were never part of their budget cutting plans.

Moore says they had no plans to require employees to take mandatory unpaid days. “And so the agreement that was reached with AFSCME and the state was separate from our plans. We did not intend to ask anyone to take mandatory unpaid days,” Moore says. Hospital officials made the announcement Tuesday that non-AFSCME employees will not have to take furloughs.

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

Clayton County deputy charged, suspended after accident

December 17, 2009 By

A lawman from northeast Iowa is facing charges in connection with a hit and run accident. Shortly after 4 AM Monday, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a hit and run on Highway 18, just west of Marquette.

The investigating officer discovered the suspect vehicle that had left the scene was a personal vehicle belonging to a Clayton County deputy. The Iowa State Patrol was then called in to investigate. Subsequently, Clayton County Deputy Brian Berger has been charged with OWI and failure to maintain control. He’s been suspended from the sheriff’s department.

By Roger King, KOEL, Oelwein

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Minor earthquake felt in southwest Iowa

December 17, 2009 By

A minor earthquake rattled parts of southwestern Iowa shortly before 9 o’clock on Wednesday night. The quake was centered in southeast Nebraska, near the town of Auburn but was felt across the Missouri River in towns like Hamburg, Iowa.

Geophysicist Amy Vaughan, with the U.S. Geological Survey Center in Colorado, says the quake measured 3.5 on the Richter scale, but was nearly three miles deep, so on the surface, it measured closer to a four in intensity. Vaughan says there would usually be damage reported from a quake of this magnitude.

“Houses were obviously shaking, windows and cabinets would have rattled, pictures may have fallen off walls or objects off cabinets, windows may have cracked,” she says. As yet, there have been no reports of any damage and no injuries. Vaughan calls it typical earthquake for this region of the United States.

Vaughan asks those who felt the earthquake to go to the website “usgs.gov” and fill out a “Did You Feel It” report. Vaughan says this was not a widely-spread, deadly earthquake, but those that are deadly typically occur at night when people have no opportunity to position themselves safely under a door frame of their house.

By Kristan Gray, KMA, Shenandoah

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Harkin says Senate on the cusp of history with health care reform

December 17, 2009 By

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says Congress is on the cusp of something “truly historic” with its health care reform proposal, which he vows will win passage before Christmas. Harkin says the significance of the plan compares to passage of Social Security in 1935 and to Medicare in 1965. He says the health care legislation’s crowning element is extending coverage to more than 30-million Americans who don’t now have it.

“The second great reform in this bill is an array of provisions cracking down on abuses by health insurance companies, abuses that currently leave most Americans just one serious illness away from bankruptcy,” Harkin says. “Among other things, the bill will extend coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. It will stop insurers from canceling the policies of people who get sick.”

Harkin chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which created many provisions in the massive bill, which reports say could end up costing one-trillion dollars over ten years. Harkin says the legislation has the power to help change the way the nation lives.

“Our bill includes a whole array of provisions designed to jump-start Americans’ transformation into a genuine wellness society,” Harkin says. “We are going to require coverage of preventive services, such as mammograms, without deductibles. This will begin to transform our current sick care system into a true health care system.”

Harkin, a Democrat, blames Republicans for putting roadblocks in the way of the bill’s progress. The Senate was brought to standstill Wednesday after a Republican senator called for an amendment to the bill to be read aloud, all 767 pages. Harkin says progress and politics has always involved the art of compromise. Harkin says he’s disappointed with the bill’s current form, saying, “We have compromised away a lot of things that I think are essential for good health care reform.”

“What we’re buying here with this health care reform bill is a modest home, not a mansion, in fact, I call it a starter home,” Harkin says. “It’s got a good foundation, to cover 31-million Americans, it’s got a good roof for protection, it cuts down on abuses, and it provides for the biggest infusion of money into wellness and prevention that we’ve ever done.”

Harkin says this isn’t the end of health care reform, but it’s just the beginning, as he says additions can be built onto the “house” as needed. Today marks the 18th day of Senate floor debate on the health care bill.

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

Cedar Rapids makes buyout offers to flooded homeowners

December 17, 2009 By

A year and a half after the flood, more than two dozen residents of Cedar Rapids have become the first in the city to accept buyout offers. The city mailed out 62 buyout offers this week. So far, 28 have accepted those offers, 13 are in the process of accepting, 10 have rejected the buyout offer and 11 have not responded. Brandon Slaymaker could receive about $29,000 from FEMA for his home on Third Street Northwest.

“It’s kind of nice for it just to be over so we can move on and get everything taken care of,” Slaymaker said. “We’re just happy to be done with all the paperwork and everything we had to go through to get it.” Several of Slaymaker’s neighbors also accepted the city’s offer to buy them out. Cedar Rapids Flood Recovery Director Greg Eyerly says city officials are happy to see people reach this stage of the recovery process.

“It’s been a lot of hard work for city staff. They’ve walked through this process with homeowners every step of the way and they feel a lot of the emotions,” Eyerly said. Over the next few months, hundreds of other properties will move through the system. “We’re working a lot of the bugs out of the system. So, there are a lot of lessons learned through these first couple of acquisitions,” Eyerly said. Slaymaker says he’s relieved to know he won’t have to pay taxes or insurance for a house where he and his family no longer live. The family has purchased a new home and plans to spend the holidays there together.

The city could officially take ownership of some properties by the end of January. Then, once the weather warms up, they’ll start demolishing the houses.

By Mark Geary, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government
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