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Mauro says incumbents face tougher year

January 14, 2010 By

Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro says this may be a difficult election year for incumbents.

“Because we have an unstable economy right now people are asking a lot of questions and, I think, you know, the incumbency might not be as good as it’s been in the past,” Mauro says.

According to research from the Pew Center, only one-third of Americans who were polled this fall said they wanted to see incumbents reelected to congress in 2010.  That is the lowet level of support for congressional incumbents in two decades.

Mauro, a Democrat, became Iowa’s secretary of state in 2007 and plans to seek a second, four-year term to that state-level office this November.

“We look forward to the opportunity to participate in this election and let people know what we’re doing in our office,” Mauro says.

Mauro, as secretary of state, is the commissioner of elections in Iowa and he works with county auditors to run both the primary election in June and the general election in November.

“I think you’re going to see lots of interest,” Mauro says.  “I think the economy’s going to be a big part of how people make decisions in this election and jobs — those are the two main issues I see as I travel the state.”

In other election-related news, former Governor Terry Branstad’s staff revealed Branstad has raised over one-and-a-half million dollars for his attempt to win a fifth term as governor.  None of Branstad’s other Republican rivals for the G-O-P’s 2010 nomination have publicly revealed how much money they raised by December 31st.  Next Tuesday is the deadline for each campaign to file fundraising reports with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

(Ric Hanson from KJAN Radio reporting in Atlantic; additional reporting from Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson in Des Moines)

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

Former Iowa college players in the middle of NFL postseason games

January 14, 2010 By

A dozen former college football standouts from Iowa will take part in the National Football League divisional playoffs this weekend. Former Iowa linebacker Chad Greenway is one of four college players from the state on the roster for the Minnesota Vikings and they will play host to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. The Vikings lost their playoff opener last season to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Greenway says they are upset that they lost and says the made some mistakes they can’t make. The Vikings hope the home field will be an advantage but Greenway says a lot of road teams are having success in the postseason. He says teams are used to it and have been able to go to different counts.

The Cowboys are on a roll and Greenway says the Viking defense needs to shut down their running game. Greenway says they want to make them have to throw the ball every time and he says that gives them a chance. He says if they can run the ball and pick their spots to throw it, that’s when they are really good.

Former UNI defensive back Benny Sapp, Iowa State quarterback Sage Rosenfels and Iowa running back Albert Young are also on the roster. Former Hawkeye running back Sean Greene and the New York Jets will visit San Diego. Former Iowa kicker Nate Kaeding and Iowa State linebacker Tim Dobbins are on the Charger’s roster.

Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals will visit the New Orleans Saints. The former UNI star tossed five touchdown passes in last week’s victory over Green Bay in overtime. Brandon Keith from UNI is a reserve offensive lineman while Kenny Iwebema is a backup defensive end. Former Drake kicker Billy Cundiff was a acquired at mid-season by the Baltimore Ravens and they will visit the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.

Former Iowa Hawkeye Marshall Yanda is the starting right guard for the Ravens while former Hawkeye Dallas Clark had a pro bowl season for the Colts with 100 receptions and ten touchdowns during the regular season.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , ,

Winning creates confidence and more success for UNI

January 14, 2010 By

The U.N.I. Panthers may finally break into the nation’s top 25 if they can beat Indiana State at home on Saturday night. The Panthers are riding the country’s third longest winning streak at 14 and are off to a 6-0 start in the Missouri Valley Conference race. But, despite a 15-1overall mark the Panthers were still just outside of both the Associated Press and coaches poll this week.

U.N.I. coach Ben Jacobsen says his main focus is on improvement and he likes the fact they are better defensively and as a team they are getting better and they have to continue doing that. Jacobsen says the Panthers are unselfish team that is smart enough to ride the hot hand.

Jacobsen says they have a good understanding and feel if someone has it going and they want to get that person another look before they go somewhere else with the ball. He says that approach makes the group better than an individual.

Jacobsen says experience is a big part of the unselfish play. He says winning last year helped them develop into an unselfish team as they gained confidence and that let them be more unselfish. He says that confidence has carried over to this year.

Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich is convinced the Panthers deserve to be ranked. He says he is very impressed with U.N.I. and says it’s almost comical that they are just on the outside of the rankings. Jankovich says all the other teams in the MVC are chasing the Panthers right now.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Veterans can get free flu shots

January 14, 2010 By

Veterans are being reminded — along with all Iowans — to get vaccinated for both the seasonal and H1N1 flu strains. While the flu got a lot of attention in recent months, flu season usually peaks in February and March. Will Ackerman, spokesman for the V-A Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, says veterans can get the flu shot for free.

“It’s really important for our veterans to get the vaccine because it’s the number-one protection against getting the flu,” Ackerman says. “In the past when there were priority categories, veterans were able to get the vaccine if they fit those categories but now we’ve opened it up to all veterans who are eligible for V-A healthcare.” Ackerman says the H1N1 vaccines are being made available to all veterans, not just those in a specific high-risk grouping.

“The vaccinations are at no cost to eligible veterans,” he says. “It’s part of our effort to protect our veterans and to help prevent them from getting the flu.” This is National Influenza Vaccination Week and Ackerman says health care providers are emphasizing the importance of vaccination. He says the V-A wants every veteran protected against these serious illnesses.

“We’re using this as an opportunity to highlight not only the importance of H1N1 vaccine but also the regular seasonal flu (vaccine),” Ackerman says. “It’s really important that our veterans, especially since we have a lot of older veterans, get the H1N1 vaccine and if they haven’t got it, the seasonal flu.”

He notes, we’re entering a very high risk period for the flu. Ackerman says any veteran can contact their local inpatient or outpatient facility to make arrangements to get the vaccine, including at facilities in Omaha, Shenandoah, Iowa City, Des Moines and Marshalltown. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports 40 H1N1 deaths in the state during 2009 and around 700 hospitalizations. State health officials say about one in every ten Iowans had H1N1 flu during the past year.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Military

Cedar Rapids mayor asks for DED waiver

January 14, 2010 By

The new mayor of Cedar Rapids says he plans to ask the Iowa Department of Economic Development for a waiver that would save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. When the state or federal government allocates money to a community, there’s often a local match requirement – sometimes 5 or 10% of the total cost of a project.

 Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett says the flood of 2008 caused tax revenue to drop, so the city doesn’t have a lot of flexibility to spend money. “We’re going to ask the state for the next 36 months at least, waive some of the local match because of our declining property tax base,” Corbett said. Since the floods, Corbett says the city’s assessed property value has declined by about $100 million.

“All the programs at the state level, for good reasons, are designed for a partnership between the state and the local. But right now with our budget situation, we don’t have as much flexibility as we used to come up with that match,” Corbett said. He says the waiver would allow the city to invest more money in homes and businesses affected by the disaster.

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

Racing and Gaming Commission raises questions on casino financing proposals

January 14, 2010 By

Groups from Lyon County and Fort Dodge which hope to win a new casino license breezed through reviews of their financial proposals today, while the Racing and Gaming Commission raised several questions about financing proposals for projects in Tama County and Ottumwa. The four groups explained their financing proposals and answered questions from the commission at the meeting in Johnston.

Kehl Management is proposing a casino in northwest Iowa’s Lyon County, and chief executive Dan Kehl says they have had success in selling stock during the recent holiday. Kehl says they are looking to raise $28-million to $42-million on the high end, and in the week before Christmas they collected $14.2 million in subscriptions and since that time they have raised another one million dollars.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

State gov’t reorganization may be bipartisan hallmark of ’10 session

January 14, 2010 By

A sweeping state government reorganization effort is getting bipartisan support, even though details of the package are still being crafted. 

A 10-member panel of legislators from both parties started discussing ideas this past summer and next Wednesday a Senate committee will consider a bill to implement many of the changes being proposed.  Senator Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, has been part of the on-going discussion.

“It’s amazing what happens when a budget is so tight,” Feenstra says.  “All of a sudden, everybody comes to the table and says, ‘Where can we make a difference?’”

Feenstra says it’s been an “exciting” process that could yield up to $150 million in savings in the next state budgeting year.

“When we can reduce the number of commissions and reduce the number of government workers, I think it’s a good thing for all Iowans,” Feenstra says. 

Democratic leaders in the legislature are reluctant to put a price tag on potential savings at this point.  House Speaker Pat Murphy, a Democrat from Dubuque, puts it this way:  “the more the better.”

“We really don’t want to go out and say it’s ‘X’ amount of dollars and then find out we were a little bit high or a little bit low.  We really want people to see legitimatly what those savings are going to be,” Murphy says.  “And quite frankly, we think we’ve got a very bipartisan bill that we will have, hopefully, broad bipartisan support for…so I think it’s something that could be one of the major pieces of legislation we get done this year to make things work more efficiently and save taxpayers a lot of money.”

Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says there may be some “legitimate” objections raised about some of the proposals. 

 ”We don’t have things priced out yet…so we may in fact think we had a really good idea…that frankly doesn’t save you hardly any money and in that case,  we might decide there’s a piece or two of this that we’re not going to do,” Gronsal says. “But overall…what we’re telling everybody involved in this is the less we accomplish in terms of savings, the more we have to cut budgets.” 

Gronstal says he’s been telling legislators that saying, “No,” to government reorganization is not an option this year.

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