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Burlington’s Moyer named cross country runner of the year

January 22, 2010 By

After a banner year, Burlington High School junior Marshall Moyer was named the Gatorade Iowa Cross Country Runner of the Year. Moyer, the 2009 Class 4A state champion, received the award on Thursday. Moyer says he was surprised to win the award as a junior and was surprised to find out right away.

Moyer says the award says a lot about the program. He says it is a nice testament to the work he gave, but also to the coaches and the whole team. With his first place finish, Moyer helped the Grayhounds to the state title. He also finished tenth place at the Nike Cross Nationals Heartland Regional Championships last fall.

Burlington Cross Country Coach Jim Hoffman says the ward isn’t based just on running, but also on grades and other activities. Moyer is a 4.0 student and a member of the student council. Hoffman noted that the award couldn’t go to a more deserving athlete. Hoffman says it’s amazing that Moyer won the award as a junior with all the great runners in the state.

This is the third straight year The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN RISE, has honored a cross country runner from the state of Iowa and the first for a Burlington High School runner to receive the honor. Moyer is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced later this month.

By Michael Cation KBUR Burlington

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

ISU at home, UNI on the road in weekend basketball

January 22, 2010 By

The schedule makers in the Big 12 did Iowa State no favors to start conference play. After falling to top ranked Texas in their Big 12 home opener the Cyclones now face a third ranked Kansas team that has spent much of this season at the top of the polls.

The Cyclones lost at Texas Tech on Wednesday night, one day after junior guard Lucca Staiger quit the team and returned to Germany to play professionally. The Cyclones are 1-2 in the league race and 12-6 overall.

The U.N.I. Panthers return to action on Sunday with a visit to Indiana State. The Panthers had their 15 game winning streak snapped at Wichita State and coach Ben Jacobsen says the depth in the Missouri Valley Conference will make it difficult for any team to run away with the league title.

Jacobsen says that is playing out now with a number of experienced teams that can win games. He says they all thought this would happen with the number of returning players and the depth of the league.

Jacobsen says it is a conference that is full of veteran players and there are some new guys playing to that transferred in that have added to the experience.

U.N.I. and Indiana State met for the first time last Saturday and the Panthers claimed a lopsided win. Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna says they didn’t play very well in that game and that is still fresh in his team’s mind.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Unemployment rate drops to 6.6%

January 22, 2010 By

Iowa’s unemployment rate fell to 6.6% in December, down from 6.7% in November. Iowa Workforce Development spokesperson Kerry Koonce says the state’s jobless figures have been holding steady for about six months. She says companies are still reluctant to hire, making it difficult for unemployed Iowans to find work.

“We’re really kind of in this holding pattern,” Koonce said. “We’re starting to see signs of growth in the number of hours people worked, but we’re not adding jobs yet.” The slight bit of good news in today’s report is offset by word that two meatpacking plants in western Iowa will be cutting nearly 2,000 jobs.

Tyson Foods announced this morning it’ll trim 480 positions at its plant in Council Bluffs in March. That follows Wednesday’s announcement by Smithfield Foods that it’ll close a hog processing plant in Sioux City. The April shutdown will eliminate 1,450 jobs.

“Those reductions won’t start to take place until March and April, so we won’t see those (in the unemployment reports) until then. But, it will definitely have an effect over there,” Koonce said. The total number of unemployed Iowans stood at 110,800 in December. The manufacturing sector trimmed 1,800 jobs last month.

Koonce says manufacturing had started to show some improvements before December. Compared to a year ago, manufacturing in Iowa is down 19,900 jobs. Koonce says that figure was close to 30,000 just a few months ago.

See the full jobs report here.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With:

Governor tours areas damaged by ice storm

January 22, 2010 By

Governor Chet Culver has issued emergency proclamations for Carroll, Cass, Crawford and Sac Counties to allow them to get state help in recovering from the ice storm. Culver is touring the areas today and talked with Radio Iowa after reviewing the damage in Carroll County.

Culver says there is “very severe” damage and the worst ice storm the area has seen since a storm hit in 1988. Culver says the state is working with local officials to help the thousands who have been without power since the storm. He says the key thing the state is supplying are generators to help supply some power.

Culver says the state is providing support to shelters and says the Red Cross has also been very helpful. Culver says even with state help, things are not going to be back to normal right away. Culver says the problems are going to “last for several more days unfortunately.” He says the snow and ice is making it tough to get to some of the downed power lines.

The governor’s other stops today include Breda, and the Cass, Sac and Crawford County courthouses.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government, Weather Tagged With: ,

Court of Appeals rules in the case of the snowy license plate

January 22, 2010 By

The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled against a man who sought to have his drug conviction thrown out because of the weather. Timothy Klinghammer was convicted of possession of marijuana, a drug tax stamp violation and carrying weapons after a traffic stop in Waterloo in January of 2008.

The officer had been following the car in the belief that Klinghammer and others inside had illegally purchased alcohol at a local liquor store. The officer wanted to run the license plate number on the car to determine the age of the driver, but said snow covered the plate and he could not read it.

He then pulled the car over and arrested Klinghammer, the driver and two other passenger after smelling and finding marijuana in the car. Klinghammer appealed, saying the officer had no probable cause to pull over the car, as it was virtually impossible to keep a license plate “clearly legible” given winter driving conditions.

The Appeals Court ruled against Klinghammer, saying they readily acknowledge that a license plate may become obstructed by such elements as snow, ice, or mud as a result of weather or road conditions. But the court says the law does not allow an exception to accommodate blowing snow, accumulating ice, or splattering mud on the plates. The law simply requires that a license plate be clearly legible at all times.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,

Legislators to consider gambling package

January 22, 2010 By

A Democratic leader in the Iowa Legislature says lawmakers are considering a package that would yield as much as $25 million more in payments to the state from the state-licensed casinos. 

House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines says some casinos host poker tournaments on the gaming floor, amid the slot machines and black jack tables.  The proposal under consideration would allow the casinos to hold larger poker tournaments in adjacent conference centers.

“All these casinos have convention areas, ballrooms, places where they have boxing tournaments or whatever it is and we’d be looking at some sort of non-electronic form of gaming, so poker-type games…under the same existing rules and regulations we have right now in Iowa,” McCarthy says.  “That would be a win-win because you’d have these gaming institutions make a little bit more money.”

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

Utility crews continue working to repair ice storm damage

January 22, 2010 By

Utility crews from across Iowa and a half-dozen other states are working around-the-clock to restore power to tens of thousands of Iowans.

The electricity has been out since Wednesday’s ice storm, which hit parts of western Iowa the hardest. Crawford County Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Miller says the ice accumulation is worse than he’s ever seen.

Miller says some of the power lines have ice that’s more than four inches thick causing “horrible stress” on the pole and the lines. Miller says Crawford County was declared a disaster area this morning. He says many residents in the area haven’t had the lights on in two days or more.

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Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:
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