Iowa's Radio News Network
Fire at the former Farmstead plant in Cedar Rapids.
A fire at an abandoned meatpacking plant in Cedar Rapids continues to burn and while firefighters say they’re making progress — the smoke from the fire has been a problem.
The fire began Tuesday morning at the old Farmstead Foods plant in southeast Iowa which includes several buildings linked together.
Demolition crews have been knocking down walls as firefighters pour thousands of gallons of water on the smoldering buildings.
Iowa State returns to action on Sunday by hosting Bradley. The Cyclones are 7-3 and coach Greg McDermott says if the Cyclones want to push the tempo they need to do a better job on the glass.
McDermott says they have to rebound better on the defensive end to get the transition game going. He says they did a better job of that against Iowa and they are a better team if they can play fast.
McDermott has always felt this team has a lot of potential and nothing that has happened has changed his mind. He says they are a couple of possessions from being a 9-1 team and he says part of that is the other teams made plays and part of it is they failed to make plays. McDermott says they are not as far away as some people think, but they have a lot of potential to grow.
Bradley is 5-4.
Iowa hosts Drake on Saturday in a Big Four basketball matchup. The Hawkeyes are 3-7 and coach Todd Lickliter returns to the bench after missing the last three following surgery. The Bulldogs are 5-5 after winning their own invitational last weekend. Lickliter says Drake seems to have found their rythm as the young players have come on.
Lickliter says the Bulldogs cause a number of concerns,a s they are excellent in transition and have great range. He says the can also drive the ball and get to the free throw line.
Drake coach Mark Phelps expects a hard fought game. Phelps says all the in-state games are “very passionate” and his team will be excited to play as will Iowa. Phelps says the outcome will be decided by defense. He says the team that can get their offense going will have the advantage. Phelps says his team is not very strong defensively right now and he says the three point shooting will likely have a big impact on the outcome.
Drake has won the last three games in the series.
The top two Republicans in the Iowa legislature say they’re open to the idea of ending some state tax credits, although they aren’t saying which ones. A review of state tax credits is underway after questions were raised about the way the state’s tax credit program for filmmakers was being run. Business groups are lobbying to retain other tax breaks, like the tax credit for research activities.
Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton says each tax break should be judged on its merit. “Is it improving the economy of Iowa and, generally, is it creating jobs?” McKinley lists as criteria. “…I think every one of them should be looked at.” House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha doesn’t have a list of credits he’d like to see end. “I’m not ready to identify any today,” Paulsen says.
“But I’m absolutely supportive of going through and making sure they’re doing what the legislature intended when we passed them.” Senator McKinley says this should be a starting point for a broader examination. “I think that a review of tax credits is a good thing. I think we need more transparency,” McKinley says.
“But I would not stop at tax credits. I think we have to look at each and every program government is involved with to see if we can save in other areas.” McKinley and Paulsen made their comments during taping of the Iowa Public Television program, “Iowa Press.”
Algona Nativity scene
A full restoration job is now complete on the famous Nativity scene that was built by German prisoners during World War Two while at a P-O-W camp in Algona. The scene is half-life-sized and composed of 60 concrete figures finished in molding plaster.
The Algona First United Methodist Church Men’s Club is the caretaker of the nativity scene and recently received a major donation for the renovation. Chairman Marvin Chickering says once they started looking at repairs to the building that houses the Nativity, they realized work needed to be done to restore the figures, too.
Chickering says there needed to be repairs made to cracks as well as a good cleaning of the 65-year-old figures, since it had been about 15 years since the last time they were restored. He says they made several repairs and changes to the room that houses the nativity, including raising the ceiling by four feet to provide visitors a better view.
He says they brought most of the figures out into the display room since they didn’t want to risk having those damaged while the ceiling work was underway. Chickering says the Nativity is a part of the whole story surrounding the housing of 10,000 German prisoners of war in Algona from April 1944 to February 1946.
Eduard Kaib was an architect by profession but was a non-commissioned officer in the German army. Kaib and five of his fellow prisoners built the scene and paid for all the materials themselves, using money they earned by working in Iowa farm fields. Chickering says everyone who visits the Nativity appreciates the history behind it.
He says he looks at it as “totally a God thing,” with the Lord bringing Kaib to the Algona camp and being the “brain thrust” behind the Nativity’s construction. He calls it “truly a miracle.” Kaib returned to Algona in the mid-1980s prior to his death in Germany in 1988. Visitors have the opportunity to hear Kaib’s own words about the Nativity.
Kaib says he never intended to create a piece of art, with the only intention to bring the joy of Christmas to the camp. The Nativity scene is located at the Kossuth County Fairgrounds. People can visit Monday through Saturday from 2:00-9:00 P.M. and on Sundays and Christmas Day from noon until 9 P.M. For more information, visit: “www.pwcamp.algona.org“.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City
Iowa’s unemployment rate move up slightly in November, but Kerry Koonce, a spokesperson for Iowa Workforce Development says, that’s a sign that things are getting to a leveling point. Koonce says the rate was 6.7% in November from the October adjusted rate of 6.6%. She says the labor market is showing signs of stabilizing.
Koonce says the tent of a percent increases in unemployment we’ve seen in the last few months is a contrast to the bigger jumps last year. She says we started to see the dramatic jumps in November of last year when the unemployment claims double and Iowa really started to see the recession.
A spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s consumer protection division says the agency will ask the legislature to approve a new Iowa index of all charities soliciting funds in the state, including how much of each dollar goes to charity instead of just fundraising. Bill Brauch says most states already do this.
“We’re one of only ten states that doesn’t have this kind of a law to benefit the residents of the state who want to make charitable contributions, and we think its important for people to be able to trust that when they donate to charity the money goes to a charitable purpose,” Brauch says. He says some fundraising would be exempt.
“We don’t want to require the local little league to have to file papers with us and pay a fee. There would be a fee for charities, which would be a graduated fee, a very small fee for small charities, but not for the ones that are exempt, the very small charities,” Brauch says. Brauch says in the meantime as Iowans make charitable contributions before the end of the calendar year, they should check with the Better Business Bureau which keeps track of how well charities put their contributions to use.
O.KayHenderson.com