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Second half run allows Texas to down ISU

January 14, 2010 By

Top ranked Texas opened the second half with a 16-4 run enroute to a 90-83 win over Iowa State in the Cyclones Big-12 opener. Iowa State led 44-42 at the half and got to within seven with just of three minute but could get no closer.

Iowa State coach Greg McDermott says there will be a lot of good things when they watch the tape, but there were too many mistakes at critical times. Overall he says he’s happy with the effort. Freshman Avery Bradley led Texas with 24 points, including 16 after halftime. He says his is sold on Bradley and the way he played.

Marquis Gilstrap led Iowa State with 20 points and 13 rebounds, Craig Brackins added 18 points, Lucca Staiger had 17 points and says the Cyclones had a solid game plan. Gilstrap says they had a good practice and scouting report and played hard during the entire game.

Staiger says the game showed the potential of the Cyclones. He says the game helped them and if they learn and prepare like they did, then they will win a lot of games. Iowa State falls to 11-5.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Iowa women to face Penn State

January 14, 2010 By

The Iowa Hawkeye women are at home tonight in the Big Ten to take on Penn State. The Hawkeyes have not played since a lopsided loss at Michigan last Thursday night and coach Lisa Bluder believes the Hawks will bounce back with a good effort. Bluder says they are anxious to get back out on the floor. Bluder says they are sitting at 1-4 in the Big Ten and feel the could easily be 4-1.

Penn State is 3-2 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes are 8-8 overall.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Altoona deaths believe to be murder/suicide

January 14, 2010 By

Authorities in the Des Moines area are investigating the deaths of a husband and wife as an apparent murder-suicide. Laura Wharff didn’t show up to work on Wednesday at Iowa Health Systems and police were asked to check on her at her home in Altoona.

Mid-afternoon, police entered the home and found the bodies of Wharff and her husband, Mark. Both were 51. Both reportedly died of gunshot wounds and there was no sign of forced entry. The state D.C.I. is investigating.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Judge approves state psychiatric evaluation of Mark Becker

January 14, 2010 By

A Butler County District Court judge says he will allow experts representing the state to conduct a psychiatric evaluation of the man accused of murdering Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas last June. Judge Stephen Carroll issued the ruling Wednesday in the case of Mark Becker, granting the prosecution’s application for two separate examinations of Becker at a time to be determined.

The defense did not resist the state’s motion as long as they were provided reports of the examinations. Carroll also set January 29th as the date to hear all pre-trial motions in the case. That hearing will be held at the Cerro Gordo County Law Enforcement Center, where Becker is being held on $1 million bond. His trial is scheduled to begin at the Butler County Courthouse in Allison on February 8th.

By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Grocers run promotion to recycle plastic bags

January 14, 2010 By

Iowa grocers launched a statewide program this week to encourage customers to recycle plastic grocery bags or bring in reusable bags. Iowa Grocery Industry Association spokesperson Phillip Nicolino says the two-week long “Build With Bags” initiative includes several goals.

They include doubling the amount of plastic bags recycled in Iowa over the next two years. The effort involves informative displays and plastic bag recycling barrels in hundreds of grocery stores – including all Dahls, Fareway and Hy-Vee locations. Prior to this week’s program launch, Nicolino says the grocers conducted a pilot project with 40 elementary schools in Des Moines.

He says the schools recycled nearly seven-thousand pounds of plastic bags – the equivalent of 422-thousand bags – over a five-week period. The program is called “Build With Bags” because the plastic bags can be reused to make outdoor furniture or other equipment through a grant program with parks and schools. Nicolino says customers who take groceries out in plastic bags should bring them back during their next visit and place the bags in the recycling barrel.

“From there, the retailers send the plastic bags to a company that deals with the actual recycling of the bags. That gets turned into the furniture and equipment,” Nicolino said.

Filed Under: Business

Iowa gets mixed grades from American Lung Association

January 14, 2010 By

Iowa’s latest report card from the American Lung Association on tobacco control policies is all over the board — with one A grade, one C and two F’s. Kerry Wise, spokeswoman for the agency’s Iowa chapter, says one of the failing grades the state received was for how much money Iowa spends — or doesn’t spend — on tobacco use prevention.

“The ‘F’ for spending is because we are far below the CDC recommendation of spending,” Wise says. “The tobacco control budget is about 11-million. The CDC recommends that we have, on average, about 37-million spent in Iowa to combat the tobacco companies’ influence here.”

Iowa also flunked the cessation coverage category. Wise says the state Medicaid program offers limited reimbursement and coverage of some elements, while many other states provide full coverage of things like medications and counseling, with no barriers. She says Iowa got a C grade, or just average, for the level of its tobacco tax.

“Iowa’s cigarette tax is $1.36 and that moved up a dollar a pack several years ago from just 36-cents,” Wise says. “We want to see a tax that insures youth are deterred from using cigarettes. We know that the higher the tax, the lower the use rate for cigarettes, so that’s why the tobacco tax is so important.” She says some states have a three-dollar-per-pack tax, while others are as low as 17-cents. Iowa’s only A on the report card was in the category of smokefree air.

“When the Smokefree Air Act was passed on July 1st, 2008, we protected 99.9% of Iowans who are in the workplace,” Wise says. “The main exemption is casinos. That is something that, in the future, we would like to see included as well.” Wise says tobacco-related illness remains the number-one preventable cause of death in the U.S. and is responsible for more than 44-hundred deaths in Iowa every year. She says six states received all F’s — Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia — and no state earned straight A’s. To see the full report on Iowa and all states, visit: “www.stateoftobaccocontrol.org“.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine

Transportation Commission approves money for several projects

January 14, 2010 By

The state Transportation Commission approved spending several million federal dollars this week for projects designed to improve trails, cut pollution and get more kids to walk to school. Craig Markley of the Department of Transportation says $4.5 million was approved for 15 projects in Iowa’s “Clean Air Attainment Program.”

Markley says it’s an application-based program that awards funds based on the highest potential for reducing traffic congestion and pollution. The projects included street improvements and fixing traffic lights to make the flow of traffic more efficient. The commission approved $1.7 million dollars for the “Safe Routes to School” program.

Markley says the purpose of the program is to increase the number of elementary and middle school students who walk or ride bikes to school. The funding is available to local governments, private nonprofit groups, regional organizations, public or private schools. He says it can be used for variety of projects.

He says it can be used for sidewalk improvements, street calming or speed reduction, bicycle crossings, curriculum or promotional materials to encourage kids to walk or bike to school, and also for enforcement activities. The commission also approved nearly five million dollars for what are called “Transportation Enhancement Programs.”

One of the largest projects spends $750,000 on the Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District in Sioux City. Markley says it provides a place for people to come in and get our of their vehicles, it also has a walking trail and a one mile segment of the Big Sioux River Trail. The Siouxland Historical Railroad Association and Sioux City are conducting the project. there’s also $350,000 for the Stuart Rock Island Depot restoration.

Markley says this is phase two of this project as they received funding a couple of years ago for some outside maintenance work. You can see more about the projects on the Iowa Department of Transportation’s website at: www.iowadot.org.

Iowa’s Clean Air Attainment Program projects and approved funding amounts are listed below.
·73rd Street/Hickman Road Intersection Improvements (Windsor Heights), $388,000
·86th Street and Douglas Avenue Intersection Improvements (Urbandale), $480,000
·A Avenue Northeast from Seventh Street to 10th Street Traffic Signal Interconnect and Detection Upgrade (Cedar apids), $74,850
·Bi-State Clean Air Partnership (CAP) “Make Outdoor Air Quality Visible” (Bi-State Regional Commission), $40,000
·Citywide, Fixed-Time Signal Upgrade (Des Moines), $320,000
·Cottage Grove Avenue Southeast and Forest Drive Southeast Traffic Control and Capacity Improvements (Cedar Rapids), $514,160
·Des Moines River Trail, Phase 1 (Des Moines), $426,526
·Gordon Drive (Iowa 12) Traffic Signal Coordination (Sioux City), $545,995
·Keyline Transit Medical Loop (Dubuque), $300,160
·Kirkwood Boulevard Southwest and 76th Avenue Southwest Traffic Control and Capacity Improvements (Cedar Rapids), $239,200
·Route No. 7 Fort Des Moines/Hubbell Service Improvements (Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority), $224,250
·Route No. 11 Jordan Creek/Mills Civic Parkway Service Improvements (Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority), $42,011
·Traffic-Adaptive Signal Control System, Jordan Creek Parkway (West Des Moines), $216,000
·U.S. 30/Iowa 1 Intersection Improvements (Mount Vernon), $373,419
·U.S. 151/Iowa 13 and Mount Vernon Road (Linn County Road E-48) Signalization (Linn County and Iowa Department of Transportation), $352,000
Transportation Enhancement Program projects and approved funding amounts:
Trail and bicycle facility
·Cedar Valley Nature Trail Reconstruction and Surfacing Phase 3 (Linn County Conservation Board), $750,000
·Flint River Trail (Des Moines County and Burlington), $474,345
·Heart of Iowa Nature Trail Phase VII and VIII, Surfacing and Bridge Completion (Story County Conservation Board), $381,600
·Khrushchev in Iowa Trail (Guthrie County and Creating Great Places), $365,000
·Rolling Prairie Trail Bridge (Butler County Conservation Board), $210,000
·Urban Youth Corps (Iowa Department of Transportation), $100,000
Scenic and environmental
·Des Moines River Greenbelt Scenic Overlook on the High Trestle Trail (Boone County Conservation Board and Polk County Conservation Board), $140,000
·Iowa’s Living Roadways Projects™ Program (Trees Forever and Iowa DOT), $400,000
·Roadside Beautification/Maintenance Reduction: County Highways (Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa DOT), $225,000
·U.S. 63 Streetscape Enhancements (Waterloo), $476,938 

Historic and archaeological
·Archaeological Survey of the Glenwood Resource Center (Golden Hills RC&D), $292,402
·Milwaukee Railroad Shops Historic District: Alternative Transportation Project (Siouxland Historical Railroad ssociation and Sioux City), $750,000
·Stuart Rock Island Depot Restoration (Stuart), $350,000
Safe Routes to School projects:
Noninfrastructure
·Clinton County School District Safe Routes to School Plan (East Central Intergovernmental Association), $50,000
·Delaware County School District Safe Routes to School Plan (East Central Intergovernmental Association), $50,000
·Iowa Safe Routes to School (Iowa Bicycle Coalition), $136,295
·Pleasant Valley Community School District Safe Routes to School Study and Plan (Pleasant Valley Community School District), $7,000
·Safe Routes to School: I-WALK Model (Iowa Department of Public Health), $209,916
·Noninfrastructure costs for recommended infrastructure projects, $7,000

Infrastructure
·Anita Chestnut Street Safe Routes to School (Anita), $151,200
·Belmond Sidewalk Program (Belmond), $43,812
·Cedar Heights Elementary Safe Routes to School Project (Cedar Falls), $76,450
·Harrison Elementary Sidewalks (plus $1,000 for noninfrastructure activities) (Cedar Rapids), $131,353
·Hubbell Elementary School Enhanced School Crossings (Des Moines), $120,000
·Lincoln Elementary School Safe Routes to School Project (Waterloo), $154,620
·Polk Elementary Sidewalks (plus $1,000 for noninfrastructure activities) (Cedar Rapids), $116,220
·Richardson Elementary School Priority Improvements Project (Fort Madison), $77,356
·Sioux Center Schools Sidewalk Improvement Project (plus $5,000 for noninfrastructure activities) (Sioux Center), $136,530
·Spencer School Sidewalk Improvement Program (Spencer), $79,475
·Sunnyside Sidewalk Extension to Aldo Leopold Middle School (Burlington), $186,809

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:
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