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Former ISU employee given probation for theft conviction

January 5, 2010 By

A former staff member at Iowa State University was sentenced to two years probation Monday for stealing from the school. Pamela Reinig of Elkader was found guilty of first-degree theft in November and faced up to 10 years in prison.

A Story County District Court judge suspended the 10 year term and followed the recommendation from prosecutors for probation, restitution and a suspended fine. Reinig was director of I.S.U.’s Engineering Communications and Marketing Department from 2003 to 2007.

She resigned shortly after investigators seized documents, computer gear and bank records from her home and office. An audit found she’d deposited more than $30,000 from Iowa State into her personal bank account over three years.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Iowa Catholic Conference calls for interest rate limit on payday loans

January 5, 2010 By
Iowa Catholic Conference executive director Tom Chapman speaks at news conference as Senator Bolkcom & Representative Petersen prepare to address reporters.

Iowa Catholic Conference executive director Tom Chapman speaks at news conference as Senator Bolkcom & Representative Petersen prepare to address reporters.

The Iowa Catholic Conference has joined with Democrats in the legislature to denounce the “payday” loan industry.  The group is calling for a 36% limit on the interest rate which can be charged on so-called “payday” loans.

At an estimated 250 locations in Iowa, clients of payday loan companies may write a personal check, put a future date on it, and receive a loan.  Critics say the problem is people end up paying as much as 400 percent interest on these loans.

“We believe that these type of interest rates are unjust and should be outlawed. Instead of promoting the financial stability of consumers, the system actually benefits more from their failure than their success,” says Tom Chapman, executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference. “State law should protect the public from these outrageous practices.” 

A bill that would enact new restrictions on payday loans cleared the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee last year and is eligible for debate in the full Senate this year.  Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says the “loan shark rates” of payday loans need to be limited.

“As we look at 50,000 Iowans out of work during this latest downturn, I think consumer protections are needed more now than ever,” Bolkcom says.  “I think the public is fed up with financial service entities taking advantage of hardworking people and I think the time is right under these conditions of economic downturn and the sentiments of the public to act.” 

According to Bolkcom, there were $1 million worth of payday loans issued last year in Iowa alone and most consumers who took out a payday loan would up with a dozen loans. 

Representative Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines who is chair of the House Commerce Committee, hopes to steer a bill through her committee which would place new restrictions on payday loans, but she’s not confident a majority of committee members would support limiting the interest rate on such loans.

“The starting point for the House does not limit the interest rate,” Petersen says.  “Now if the conversation turned that we had the political willpower to get an interest rate cap, I would most certainly vote for it.”

The Catholic Conference would still like to see the interest rate limited to 36 percent. ”We’d prefer to see a cap,” Chapman says. 

The Iowa legislature recently limited the interest rates on car title loans to 36 percent.  Jim Carney, an Iowa-based lobbyist for the payday loan industry, says that limit put the car title loan industry out of business in Iowa and a similar limit would ensure payday loan businesses would close as well. 

“You take away payday, you take away car title lending — there is no other alternative source of lending,” Carney says.  “Where do these folks go who have legitimate emergencies?” 

Carney says payday loan firms are not banks or savings and loans and their business model cannot be successful with a 36 percent limit on interest rates.  Carney cites reports from the Iowa Superintendent of Banking which found fewer than 20 complaints were filed by customers of payday loan companies in Iowa over a six year period in which about $4.6 million in payday loan transactions were made in the state.

“To me, that speaks volumes,” Carney says. 

Other groups are joining the Catholic Conference in calling for limits on payday loan interest rates.  Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement will hold a meeting on Thursday evening in Des Moines to craft its lobbying effort on the issue.

Click on the audio link below to listen to this morning’s statehouse news conference featuring Chapman, Bolkcom and Petersen.

cappayday

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

Game day is here for the Hawkeyes

January 5, 2010 By
Coach Johnson, Coach Ferentz at an even prior to the Orange Bowl.

Coach Johnson, Coach Ferentz at an event prior to the Orange Bowl.

The Iowa Hawkeyes will be in search of their biggest victory since 1959 when they take on Georgia Tech in the 76th Orange Bowl in Miami. The Hawkeyes enter the game with a mark of 10-2 and meet a Tech squad that is 11-2 after winning the ACC title.

The chore for the Iowa defense will be to slow down a Georgia Tech option attack that is unlike anything the Hawks have gone up against this season.

Linebacker Pat Angerer says the line is fast and physical and they cut the defenders on every play. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt and runningback Jonathan Dwyer lead an offense that is averaging more than 300 yards on the ground and nearly 35 points per game. Defending the option begins with the defensive ends.

Junior defensive end Adrian Clayborn says they option off the end, so he has to do his job right. He says they have to be assignment sound and not get out of position. Clayborn says they can’t try to make the plays they can’t make.

Georgia Tech does not throw it much but when they do it can result in a big play. Iowa safety Brett Greenwood says they have to be aware of the pass as Georgia Tech will run and run and then pull back and pass it. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi says it will be up to the Iowa offense to help keep the Georgia Tech offense off the field. He says they will have to execute at a high level when they are playing against a team that can move the ball on offense and eat up the clock. Stanzi says time possession could be an important part of the game.

The Iowa offensive line must find a way to block All-American defensive end Derrick Morgan who had 12 and a half sacks during the regular season. Iowa center Rafael Eubanks says he plays on both side of the ball and try to put him in a position to make plays. Iowa’s last win in a major bowl game was back in the 1959 Rose Bowl.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says the Hawks have had an outstanding season and would love to finish it with a win. Ferentz says they come in confident, but respectful, knowing they face a great football team and are the underdogs. The Hawkeyes have been involved in a number of close, hard-fought games this season and Ferentz expects the Orange Bowl to be no different.

He says if you play in January in a BCS game that’s the way it’s going to be, and he says they’ve face those challenges all year and he is anxious to see how they handle it. Ferentz says the Hawks must find a way to slow down Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan. He says it’s like playing their offense, and he is in there on every play.

Ferentz says when the ball is in Iowa territory the Hawkeye defense needs to be ready to play all four downs because the Yellow Jackets are likely to go for it. He says their fourth down attempts are double what the opponents have done. Ferentz says time of possession could be a big factor in the outcome, as he says the first thing that jump out at the offense is the typical amount of plays the opponents have is in the 50′s, which is a low number. He says you have to maximize each possession.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson says they expected Ricky Stanzi to be back for the Hawks. He says they usually get ready for the system and don’t focus a lot on individual players, as he says Iowa won’t change a lot based on who is playing quarterback. Johnson says winning so many close games have made Iowa a confident team.

“I think they probably believe they are going to win, most good teams do,” Johnson says. Johnson says the Yellow Jackets pass defense will need to be strong. That unit was exploited in a number of games during the regular season.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Utilities Board turns down Alliant electric rate increase

January 5, 2010 By

State regulators say a temporary electric rate hike for some 500,000  Alliant Energy customers can stay in place, but they turned down a request to increase the rates by another 9%. Customers began paying the 7% increase began in March while the Iowa Utilities Board considered the request for the larger increase.

Utilities Board spokesman, Chuck Seel, says the three-member board didn’t agree with the arguments Alliant made for the increase. “The board in its deliberations basically found there was insufficient evidence to support some of the contentions that were brought forward in the case and felt like there was sufficient evidence to support what they approved,” Seel says.

Board members say the decision is a balance between allowing Alliant to raise more money and protecting consumers during the bad economy. While the electric bills won’t increase, they won’t go any lower either. Seel says, “Customers won’t see a change in their bill from what it’s been for the last nine months. It’s about a seven percent increase over where they were prior to that and that’s a little less than half of what the company had asked for from a petition to the board filed last March.”

A spokesman for Alliant says the rate increase is needed to help pay for rising costs associated with operating an electric utility as well as recovery from ice storms and floods over the past few years. Alliant could request another rate hike in the coming months.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Governor plans to take all available time to prepare budget

January 5, 2010 By

State law stipulates that Iowa’s governor is to present a budget outline to state legislators by the end of January. Governors, on occasion, have delivered their budget plan to lawmakers earlier in the month on the same day as the governor’s annual “Condition of the State” message. But Governor Culver plans to take all the time he can this year.

Dick Oshlo, interim director of the Iowa Department of Management, is the governor’s top budget advisor. “Obviously, this is a difficult budget year,” Oshlo says. Legislators pass a final version of the state budget in late spring, but the governor submits a draft to legislators in January outlining the governor’s spending priorities.

Troy Price, the Governor Culver’s press secretary, suggests this is no time to rush. “The governor’s going to take the time that he needs to introduce a budget that is balanced and protects the priorities of Iowans,” Price says. “It’s a very difficult budget year, so he’s going to take the time that is required to do that.” The governor is given the option of giving two formal speeches to legislators in January. The first — on the second day of the legislative session — is a “Condition of the State” address.

The second is a Budget Address, which can be delivered on the same day the governor submits his budget outline to legislators. Former Governor Terry Branstad ended the practice of delivering a “Budget Address” during the latter part of his 16-year tenure as governor and his successor, Governor Tom Vilsack, did not opt to give a formal address when he submitted his budget plans to legislators either.

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

Unemployment claims lower, but jobless number still higher than normal

January 5, 2010 By

Iowa is following a national trend toward lower initial claims for unemployment benefits, but the number of unemployed Iowans is still much higher than it’s been during normal economic times. Joe Bervid of the Iowa Workforce Development agency says for the last four weeks of 2009, the number of Iowans making first-time unemployment claims fell below what it was the year before.

“While these figures are encouraging in terms of stabilizing and improving, clearly we are not anywhere near the number of claims we would have…for an average year.” During the last four weeks of 2009, 46,000 Iowans made their first application for unemployment benefits. Nationwide, the number of newly-laid off workers filing for unemployment in December dropped to the lowest levels since July of 2008.

“We’re not out of the woods by any means. It’s probably going to probably be a long process to get there,” Bervid says. “It simply means that things are starting to look like they’re getting a little better.” Bervid is legal counsel for the Iowa Workforce Development agency.

A Creighton University report released Monday predicts some job growth in Iowa in the first half of 2010. But Creighton economics professor Ernie Goss says “manufacturing job growth will be nil.”

Filed Under: Business

Antiques Roadshow coming to Iowa

January 5, 2010 By

The producers of public television’s most watched program are planning to shoot an episode in Iowa later this year. Antiques Roadshow is now in its 14th season on public television. The show features auction house specialists who travel the country to appraise antiques and collectibles.

Producers of the show plan to shoot a segment for the 15th season in Des Moines on August 7th. Details on the exact time and venue will likely be announced in March. Antiques Roadshow last visited Iowa in 1999. About 7,000 people were on hand for the tour stop at the Polk County Convention Complex.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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