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Iowa astronomer says Star of Bethlehem was real

December 25, 2009 By

A common element in the Christmas story is how the Star of Bethlehem led the three kings or magi to the birthplace of Jesus. Astronomer and Drake University lecturer Herb Schwartz says his years of research shows that bright star actually did exist some two-thousand years ago for a very short time, but it wasn’t really a star.

Schwartz says, “There was actually a conjunction of two planets but what makes this very special is the fact that one planet overrode the other one so that they saw literally two stars combine into one star.” We now know those were the planets of Jupiter and Venus but two millennia ago, all points of light in the night sky were simply thought of as stars.

Schwartz says this very bright “star” that appeared over Bethlehem that long-ago night would have only been visible for a short window of time in a limited area. Schwartz says, “Given the paralax on the earth, the chances are Jerusalem, actually the Middle East, was about the only place where you could actually see it come together as one star and the actual convergence only lasted one day.”

He says there was no recognition of the “star” by Herod, the king of Israel, but the celestial object was obvious to the magi. Schwartz says the magi were followers of astrology so signs in the sky would have been very important to them. He says, “Herod, and the Jews that lived at that time, were expressly forbidden by Judaic law, not to worship the sky, so they made it a point of not watching the sky.”

He says most astronomical phenomenon are repeated and this case is no different, as just last year, there was a near convergence of Jupiter and Venus again, as seen from Earth. Schwartz says the mystery of the Star of Bethlehem is fascinating, even for someone who scientifically studies the heavens. Schwartz says, “Whether it was something that was real or something that was a miracle, I think both could be one in the same.”

Schwartz notes the Star of Bethlehem shows up in pictures and in song and is as much a part of the Holiday Season as the snow on the ground.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Iowa military families prepare for ’10 deployment

December 25, 2009 By

Around 3,500 Iowa National Guard soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan next fall, placing a strain on both families and employers around the state.

Amy Ritekin is married to Captain Mark Ritekin, who will be part of the overseas mission. He previously served in Afghanistan in 2003. Amy remembers their three children had a difficult time adjusting to their father’s absence.

“They’re very proud of their dad, but it is very difficult emotionally for them because they miss the milestones,” Ritekin said. “Soldiers miss the birthday parties, the dance recitals and the promotions in Cub Scouts and such…so, it’s very hard for them.”

Amy and Mark are hoping to help other military families cope with the challenges of a long-term deployment by talking about their experience. Amy says other kids in the neighborhood or at school can say some cruel things to her children. 

“They say very negative things about those in the military, such as ‘they are just killers, they have no business protecting other people overseas’ and stuff like that. And the kids get very confused. Our children stand up for the military, obviously, since they’ve lived it their whole lives,” Amy said.

Amy says taking care of all three children on her own is a challenge and, at times, it can be overwhelming. But, she says friends and family – and even strangers – are willing to lend a hand.

In 2003, an elderly couple approached Amy in a grocery store. She says they noticed she was wearing an Army pin.

“They asked me if my husband was currently deployed and I said yes, he is. They said tell him thank you for fighting for our freedom. They offered to pay for our groceries, which was wonderful,” Amy said, noting that the encounter had a big impact on her kids.

At least 150 soldiers with the Iowa National Guard are spending this Christmas away from their families, in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Filed Under: Military

A four-day work week for state government?

December 25, 2009 By

Iowa’s governor is pushing the idea of a permanent, four-day work week for most workers in the executive branch of state government.

The State of Utah implemented a four-day work week last year. After just six months, Utah had saved $200,000 on custodial services alone. They’re saving twice as much on utility bills as nearly all state offices in Utah are closed on Friday. Today, about 17,000 Utah state employees work 10 hours a day, four days a week.  They get a three-day weekend.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver says while the Department of Corrections can’t shut down on Fridays — prisoners have to be guarded 24 hours a day, most state agencies could shift to a four-day work week.

“I like the idea,” Culver says.  “I like the concept.” 

[Read more...]

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

Top human interest stories of 2009

December 24, 2009 By

An Iowa band honored the man behind “The Music Man” and a group sang about “the day the music died” — just a couple of the human interest stories Radio Iowa covered in 2009.

In January, President Barack Obama was sworn into office and two groups from Iowa were invited to Washington D.C. to march down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Inaugural Parade – including a drum corps of 50 members between the ages of 7-and-18. President Obama and his wife, Michelle, clapped in time with the band’s drummers and the president did brief dance as the Isiserette Drill and Drum Corps of Des Moines marched by his reviewing stand.

The other Iowa group to march in front of the president was the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps of Dubuque. The band played “76 Trombones” — written by Iowan Meredith Willson.

This summer, three members of a construction crew working in Des Moines made national news when they saved a woman from drowning. The workers used a crane to lower Jason Oglesbee down to lift the woman out of churning waters below a dam. The workers were recognized with an award ceremony at Des Moines City Hall. Oglesbee remained humble in the national spotlight.

“I just want all this to be over with,” Oglesbee.  “…All this press attention — I’m not used to it and I just want to go back to work.”

While Oglesbee and his co-workers were able to rescue the woman, her husband drowned after the boat they were in overturned on the Des Moines River.

In August, a Johnston High School teacher learned she was selected as the 2010 Iowa Teacher of the Year. Sarah Brown Wessling will begin her tenure in January and plans to talk about the importance of community with parents and teachers around the state. 

“I think that anyway we can, as a profession, cultivate communities as learners, we’re going to put ourselves in a position to collaborate with each other, learn from each other and to really use the gifts of all the people around us to enhance the learning experience of all students,” she said during an interview with Radio Iowa. Wessling’s a Winterset native who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from Iowa State University.

In early February, some 1800 people packed the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Day the Music Died.  They honored the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper who died in a plane crash shortly after takeoff from the Mason City Airport.

Claire Richardson traveled from Chino Hills, California, to attend the Winter Dance Party festival. 

“I’ve been here three of the last four years and I wouldn’t miss it,” Richardson said.  “That’s just part of the best way to pay respects for all they’ve given us in the music world — the three of them.”

Richardson was among a handful of people who broke into song – while gathered at the crash site in frigid early morning temperatures.

Two southern Iowa couples split a big Powerball prize in August.  They bought the one-million dollar ticket while camping together at the Iowa State Fair.   Rick Hamilton describes the moment he discovered he was holding the winning ticket:  “Oh, my knees went weak, I lost my breath and I got dizzy.”

Hamilton and Sharon Sulser of Chariton and Vickie and Terry Chambers of Columbia returned to the fairgrounds “for a few cold ones” after collecting their prize at lottery headquarters.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Top political stories of 2009

December 24, 2009 By

Gay marriage and a quick start to the next gubernatorial campaign are among the top political stories of 2009. 

This year Iowa became the third state in the country to legalize gay marriage.The Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling in early April which paved the way for same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses in Iowa. Danny Carroll of Grinnell, chairman of the Iowa Family Policy Center’s board of directors, railed against the court ruling on the day it was issued.

“A handful of people who were not elected to office — they were appointed — have rendered a decision, a decision that is contrary to the will of the people, it is contrary to God’s law and it’s time for the people through their elected officials and elected representatives to decide what the law is going to be in this state,” Carroll said.

But soon after the court’s ruling, Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs promised to block a legislative vote to set up a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Iowa.

“Last Friday night, I hugged my wife — you know I’ve been married for 37 years….I felt like our love was just a little more meaningful last Friday night because thousands of other Iowa citizens could hug each other and have the State of Iowa recognize their love for each other,” Gronstal said during a short speech on the floor of the Iowa Senate. 

Opponents of gay marriage held two rallies at the statehouse this spring.

Opponents of some income tax changes that were proposed by Democrats in the legislature gathered for a statehouse rally, too.  The crowd of nearly 600 was ordered out of the Iowa House when chaos erupted during a public hearing.  

Public campaigning for the 2010 gubernatorial race got underway early in 2009, with six Republican candidates emerging by July. State Representative Chris Rants of Sioux City announced his candidacy via Twitter. In September, Bob Vander Plaats went to his hometown of Sheldon to formally kick-off his third bid to be the G.O.P.’s gubernatorial nominee. 

“People are discouraged with kind of the entitlement, the establishment,” Vander Plaats said during a telephone interview with Radio Iowa in early September. “They want fresh blood.”

In October, former Governor Terry Branstad retired from his job as president of Des Moines University to seek a fifth term as governor. Branstad said his wife, Chris, asked why he had to run when there were already a handful of candidates.

“They don’t have the name-recognition that I have.  They don’t have the experience that I have,” Branstad said during a news conference at D.M.U.  “And I guess I think that at this point in time the people of Iowa by the thousands are saying, ‘We want a leader with experience, that we know proven ability to do it.’”

Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, intends to seek a second term in 2010.

In the fall of 2009, Culver ordered a 10-percent, across-the-board cut in the state executive branch budget.

“We can debate all day long about how we got here, what caused it.  I don’t think that’s very productive,” Culver said in early December.  “The question is: what are we going to do about it?”

In November, two unions representing workers in the executive branch of state government voted to accept wage and benefit reductions in order to avoid layoffs.

In other political news this year, the town hall meetings Iowa’s congressional delegation held this August were sometimes heated.  Hundreds showed up for the town hall meetings Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, held in August. Vicki Crawford of Granger drew repeated bursts of applause as she spoke out against health care reform. 

“This is no less than liberty versus tyranny, good versus evil and there is no middle ground,” Crawford told Grassley.  “With whom will you choose to stand?”

Grassley stood on an outdoor statue in a  Winterset park for one of his August town hall meetings, and drew national attention for this remark about a provision in the House health care plan: “You know, I don’t have any problem with things like living wills, but they ought to be done within the family. We should not have a government program that determines you’re going to pull the plug on grandma.” 

By the end of 2009, former state legislators Bob Krause and Tom Fiegen and Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin announced they were seeking the Democratic Party’s 2010 U.S. Senate nomination — for a chance to face-off against Grassley next fall. 

The 2012 Iowa Caucuses are over two years away, but a few potential Republican candidates of the future stopped in Iowa this past year, including former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. 

Former Senator Rick Santorum, a Republican from Pennsylvania, made two speeches in Iowa this fall, but during an interview with Radio Iowa the Republican said he’s far from declaring himself a candidate for the G.O.P.’s 2012 presidential nomination. However, Santorum said he’s been prompted to think more seriously about a run for the White House because of the attention his visit to Iowa received after he discussed the trip with Politico.

“If you Googled ‘Santorum in Iowa’ before I did that Politico interview, there were 350…entries that would come up on the search. I Googled it this morning. You know how many came up? Guess….1,360,000 entries!” Santorum said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “That surprised me, you know, I mean, when I see that…it makes you step back and think when I actually wasn’t thinking about it.”

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

Iowa sees uptick in new diabetes cases

December 24, 2009 By

State health officials say the number of Iowans with diabetes is climbing. Lorene Hinderks is coordinator for the Iowa Diabetes Prevention and Control Program for the Iowa Department of Public Health. Hinderks says the latest rise in cases is startling.

She says there are about 160,000 adults in Iowa with diabetes, of both types one and two. That’s more than 5% of the state’s population. Potential risk factors include being overweight and having a family history of diabetes, while ethnicity and age also play a role.

Hinderks says Iowans who may be at risk need to be educated about diabetes and the other dangers it can bring. “There’s a lot of things associated with diabetes, such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness and amputation,” she says. “It’s very serious but there are ways to manage the disease and we like to create awareness of that, too.”

Hinderks gives some examples of how Iowans who have diabetes are dealing with it. “There’s healthy eating habits, physical activity that’s appropriate, there’s medications, there’s self-management education.”

Hinderks says there’s plenty of information about diabetes at the website: www.diabetes.org

Thanks to Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

E.P.A. review finds no air problems at Roland Story High School

December 24, 2009 By

The Roland Story High School is one of 63 schools across the country being tested by the U-S Environmental Protection Agency for toxic air problems. David Bryan of the Kansas City E.P.A. regional office says they began testing after an article in a national publication.

Bryan says the “U.S.A. Today” ran an article that said there was a problem with toxic chemicals in the air around schools. He says the E.P.A. then decided to establish 63 test schools to find out if there are problems with the air. Bryan says the testing at Roland Story found no problems.

He says they did some monitoring at the high school in Story City and found that most of the chemicals were non-detectable, and says they anticipated that would happen as the Iowa D.N.R. had gotten the same result. Bryan says the tests did not match up with the original assessment of the newspaper.

Bryan says the “U.S.A. Today” study found Roland Story was in the top one-percent of schools that were “at risk” for toxic chemicals. He says that study used some general rules for chemicals that are used at plants to guide their study. Bryan says the E.P.A. is still wrapping up all the tests and then will issue a final report.

He says the report will include all 63 schools and will determine if there are any trends or need for additional monitoring. The final report is expected in March or April. You can find out more about the air study online at: www.epa.gov/schoolair/schools.html.

Filed Under: Education, Environment & Conservation, Health & Medicine
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