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Governor touts I-JOBS program

December 18, 2009 By

Governor Chet Culver is touting his “I-JOBS” initiative which saw the state borrow 830 million dollars for a series of infrastructure projects as well as flood recovery. The legislature approved the package last spring and Culver issued a status report this week.

“To date, 1400 projects have been approved totalling $530 million,” Culver says. “These projects are moving forward. We’re very excited about how quickly the I-JOBS  initiative is being implemented.”

According to Culver’s staff, projects in each of Iowa’s 99 counties have received I-JOBS funding. In Linn County — the site of massive flooding in June of 2008, 42 projects have been approved for I-JOBS funding, with a combined price tag of 88 million. Twenty-one million dollars worth of I-JOBS projects have been approved for Black Hawk County, which includes the Waterloo/Cedar Falls metro.

The state’s largest metro area is in Polk County, where 56 projects have received a total of 92 million dollars in I-JOBS funds. A large portion of the borrowing plan — about 100-million — is being used for flood recovery projects on the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City.

Culver and Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge have been traveling the state these past few months, attending ribbon cuttings and announcing I-JOBS grants for a variety of projects. Republicans have criticized Democrats Culver and Judge, saying the state shouldn’t be borrowing that much money in a recession. Culver counters that it’s a state-level economic stimulus package that is helping create jobs.

“It’s also a great opportunity to modernize our infrastructure whether it’s related to roads or bridges or telecommunications, renewable energy, sewer and water,” Culver says. “This will bring our state into the 21st century in terms of having a modern, world-class infrastructure — while creating good jobs.” Culver made his comments this week during a statehouse forum sponsored by the Associated Press. Go to www.radioiowa.com to find a link to a website which lists all the I-JOBS projects.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Cedar Rapids fire expensive to fight

December 18, 2009 By

A smoldering fire that’s been sending smoke across the city of Cedar Rapids this week is growing more expensive to fight by the hour. The fire at the former Farmstead Foods meatpacking plant on Cedar Rapids’ southeast side was first reported Tuesday morning. Since then, firefighters have dumped foam and more than 750,000 gallons of water on the interlocked buildings.

Fire department spokesperson Greg Buelow says the effort is costing nearly $1,000 an hour and there’s a strong chance the fire was started by a person trespassing on the property. “Is it possible somebody was in there? Yes. Is it possible somebody intentionally did this? Yes. Is it possible there’s another cause? Absolutely,” Buelow said.

A similar fire at the old packing plant started in late July and firefighters continued to douse hot spots from that event through October. Buelow estimates the cost of fighting the current fire at $650,000 so far. City building official Matthew Widner says the city has been studying the property for months – hoping to get it torn down.

“The benefit of the fire, I hate to say it…it is going to expedite the demolition itself,” Widner said. Ironically, Widner said a day after the fire started the city finally got verbal approval to demolish many of the buildings. There are signs and gates to keep people out of the buildings, but police say they’ve arrested several people in the past for vandalism inside the property.

The city received $3.5 million in insurance money from the last fire in July, but Flood Recovery Director Greg Eyerly says the city won’t get any insurance money from this fire. The fire has raised concern about air quality in the neighborhood. An advisory recommends people, especially those with preexisting respiratory conditions, to limit outside exposure.

By Justin Foss, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

One financial analyst sees good things in 2010

December 18, 2009 By

Financial analysts are still debating over the degree to which the state and nation are recovering from the many months of recession. As 2009 nears its conclusion, a financial advisor from north-central Iowa says he views the new year with encouragement. Jim Tausz, owner of the Bradford Financial Center in Clarion, says 2010 looks very promising.

“I think we’re going to finish in good shape this year compared to where we were,” Tausz says. “If we look back at March of this year, it was not just a disaster waiting to happen it was a disaster that had happened.” He notes, it’s the worst off our nation’s economy has been since the Great Depression. Tausz says the state of Iowa and the nation have endured major economic setbacks before and bounced back, though we were in pretty foul financial shape a year ago.

“We’ve come a long ways since then but that doesn’t mean we aren’t down right now, because we are, we’re severely down,” Tausz says. The Dow Jones was over 14,000 at its height and it’s now around 10,000, so we need to make 40-percent more just to get back to where we were. “But I tell you what,” he says, “it’s a whole lot better than what it was.” Tausz says he anticipates the new year’s arrival with much optimism.

“I look forward to a great year in 2010,” Tausz says. “When you have a severe down like this, usually you have a substantial rally on the other end. That rally runs for 12 to 18 months. This rally did not begin until the end of March so we’re just in the youthful part of this rally.” He says the rally has the potential to be huge before things return to a more normal picture.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Business

Foul play involved in Clinton fatal fire

December 18, 2009 By

Investigators now say the mother and child who were found dead after a Clinton apartment fire was extinguished were likely victims of foul play and the case is now considered a criminal homicide. In a press release issued Thursday night from the Clinton Police Department, Captain Randy Meier stated that the homicide investigation was declared as a result of autopsies conducted on the two victims, 22-year-old Angel Herman and her two-year-old son, Cyrus Shoup.

Their bodies were found after a fire at their apartment early Wednesday morning. The cause of death or other details were not released on the case that prompted the investigation. The autopsies were conducted Thursday at the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the police department at (563) 243-1458 or Clinton County CrimeStoppers at (563) 242-6595.

By Dave Vickers, KROS, Clinton

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Two charged in beating of man

December 18, 2009 By

Authorities in western Iowa say two Council Bluffs men were arrested for beating another man before dumping his body into the frigid Missouri River. Members of the Omaha police SWAT team surrounded a house near 23rd and Manderson Streets in Omaha Thursday before arresting the two suspects, 25-year-old Jeremy Gibler, and 32-year-old David Maddox.

Both men were charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and first degree kidnapping. Their bonds were set at $750,000 each. The man are accused of beating and robbing 26-year-old Council Bluffs resident Rodney Koehrsen early Thursday morning. Investigators said the men used rocks to beat Koehrsen before tossing him into the river.

Koehrsen was able to make his way to shore and walk more than a mile to a gas station and get help. The man was taken to Mercy Hospital in Council Bluffs for treatment, and later released. Investigators have not released a motive for the attack.

By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

State sets deadline for movie companies to decide on projects

December 18, 2009 By

The Department of Economic Development is asking filmmakers to make a decision on whether they want to complete their projects and take advantage of the state tax credits. The film credit program was suspended after problems turned up, but DED. spokesperson Kay Snyder says they are ready to move ahead.

Snyder says they are working with the companies currently in the pipeline that can move forward if they choose to do so. She says those companies will have until December 21st to decide if they want to move forward. Snyder says there are about 100 companies that could decided to use the credits.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government

Iowa will continue updgrading rest stops

December 18, 2009 By

Around 17-million people a year make a pit stop at an Iowa rest area and many of them will do so while traveling over the holidays. Steve McMenamin is the rest area administrator with the Iowa Department of Transportation. He says, unlike many other states, Iowa is keeping money in the budget to upgrade roadside facilities.

“We’re not closing rest areas like some states and we are taking a proactive approach here to replacing those buildings,” McMenamin said. “Most of them were built in the 1960s and early 70s and they weren’t designed to accommodate the kind of traffic we have out there today.” There are 40 rest areas around Iowa, all located along the interstates. In recent years, the state has replaced 13 of the facilities. The D.O.T. is wrapping up work on a new rest area in Johnson County and will begin building a new facility along I-80 in western Iowa early next year.

“The oldest one that hasn’t been replaced is in Adair County on the westbound side (of I-80),” McMenamin said. “We’ve done the eastbound side, and now Adair County is the next one that we’ll do next year. That was built in 1965 or ’66.” A rest area along eastbound I-80 near Davenport is also believed to be one of the oldest in the state. McMenamin says last week’s blizzard served as a reminder about the importance of Iowa’s rest areas.

“We’re actually adding backup generators to most of our buildings so, even in severe power outages, there will be heat, functioning rest rooms and vending available,” McMenamin said. Ten of Iowa’s rest areas are now equipped with those generators. Many of the new rest areas include expanded information kiosks and artwork associated with that region of the state. Iowa was one of the first states to install free wireless internet services at all its rest areas. McMenamin says many out-of-state travelers may make just one stop while driving through Iowa, and if it’s at a rest area, it could be the only chance for the state to make a good impression.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:
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