The sophomore forward averaged 20 points, seven rebounds and more than three steals in four victories. Hay scored 29 points, pulled down six rebounds and had three steals in a vioctory over Mid-Prairie. He finished 11 of 13 from the foul line. He also had 24 points and nine rebounds in a victory over Durant-Bennett.
Class 1A: Heath Huntley, Sidney
January 26, 2010 By
The senior forward averaged nearly 23 points a seven rebounds in three games. Huntley poured in 32 points, added five rebounds and four assists in a victory over Farragut. He had a double-double in a win over Stanton with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Push to help Iowa veterans take Veterans Day off
January 26, 2010 By
An Iraq war veteran is pushing a bill that would help working veterans take Veterans Day as a vacation day, a holiday, or an unpaid day off.
The bill would allow honorably discharged veterans to ask for time off from work on Veterans Day. Businesses or government agencies that refuse to allow veterans to take the day off could be fined $500. Representative Ray Zirkelbach, a Democrat from Monticello, spent nearly two years in Iraq with an Iowa National Guard unit.
“Besides children and senior citizens, I think the next group that should be protected in Iowa is veterans,” Zirkelbach says.
Zirkelbach, a recipient of the Purple Heart after he was wounded in Iraq, calls Veterans Day “sacred” and he says veterans need that day to honor themselves and those with whom they served.
“How many businesses give Veterans Day off?” Zirkelbach asks.
Nicole Molt of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry says she’s not sure how many Iowa businesses let veterans on their payroll take Veterans Day off, but she says about 158,000 veterans currently work in the private sector here in Iowa.
“In manufacturing, the production needs to continue on all days and all times, so that is something — with the penalties — that is concerning,” Molt says. “because if you’re making a product, you have to make sure you can make the product 24/7, 365 days a year.”
Representative Ralph Watts, a Republican from Adel, says he respects the service of veterans, but he says this proposal creates a new, select group of employees in the private sector.
“I am concerned about a bill that is one more bill that adds a burden on Iowa employers,” Watts says.
Watts suggests retired veterans are “the best ones” to be out, telling others their stories of service and sacrifice. But Zirkelbach says with more and more World War II veterans dying of old age every day, younger veterans need to tell their stories to school groups and at public events on Veterans Day.
“It’s more than that. It’s about honoring the veteran and how do you honor the veteran by saying, ‘Well, it’s your day, but be here at work,’” Zirkelbach says. “It is a day that was set forth to honor veterans. Shouldn’t veterans be honored on that day?”
Representative Elesha Gayman, a Democrat from Davenport, says it’s important for veterans to tell their stories.
“I teach as an adjunct professor at Scott Community College and do government classes and I realized this year for the first time my incoming class does not have a recollection of September 11, my freshmen didn’t. They were too young to understand what was going on,” Gayman says, “…I think it really underscores the importance of the veterans getting out there and working with the kids in the classrooms and different programs and really keeping those stories alive so that future generations don’t forget.”
Lisa Purvis, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs, says veterans are able to “bring relevance” to the concepts of service and sacrifice.
“So, giving today’s workforce the opportunity to take some time off to share with their classrooms and other people in their communities how important being a veteran is and how important defending our freedom is,” Purvis says, “and we feel that this bill would be an excellent way to do that.”
The bill has cleared a subcommittee and will next be considered by the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Grassley undecided on another term for fed reserve chairman
January 26, 2010 By
America’s emerging from what analysts say is its worst financial situation since the Great Depression and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is getting some of the blame. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote as soon as tomorrow on whether to give Bernanke another four-year term and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s still undecided.
“It depends on what he’s going to do on inflation and he hasn’t been very clear about what he’s going to do on inflation and he ought to be very clear,” Grassley says. “That’s the impending economic problem that we face.” Grassley, a Republican, says billions of federal tax dollars were spent in recent months in an effort to offset the economy’s downward spiral through a variety of bail-outs and stimulus packages.
“So much money was shoveled out the airplane door, the printing presses were turned on, and until that’s starting to be sopped up or mopped up, we’re going to be in a stage of hyper-inflation, worse than what we had in ’79 and ’80,” Grassley says. “He hasn’t spoken out on that issue yet.”
Bernanke was appointed by President George W. Bush and succeeded Alan Greenspan as Fed chairman on February 1st of 2006. He was nominated for a second term by President Obama last year. Bernanke’s first four-year term as chairman ends on Sunday.
Cement company agrees to emission controls in settlement
January 26, 2010 By
A cement maker has agreed to a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several states, including Iowa. As part of the deal, Lafarge North America will make improvements to reduce emissions at 13 plants around the country. Bob Brammer, with the Iowa Attorney General’s office, says the company will spend $3 million on their plant located near Davenport.
Brammer says all of the improvements across the country will cost Lafarge roughly $170 million. The states and the U.S. E.P.A. alleged Lafarge had converted its fuel over the last 20 years – resulting in a significant increase in air pollution. The plant in Buffalo, Iowa produces more than a million tons of cement annually. The improvements are designed to cut sulfur dioxide emissions.
Brammer says the company estimates the improvements will reduce the emissions at the Buffalo plant by 970 tons per year. In addition to the plant improvements, Lafarge will pay a $5 million civil penalty. Each of the states will share one-third of the penalty, approximately $1.7 million, based on emissions from each of the plants.
Iowa’s share equals $135,000. The other two-thirds of the penalty will go to the federal government. Lafarge North America is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia and employs more than 16,600 people in the U.S. and Canada.
Snow continues piling up at record pace
January 26, 2010 By
It’s still January, but this has already been one of the harshest winters in Iowa history. National Weather Service Meteorologist Mindy Beerends says the Des Moines Airport received 6.4 inches of new snow Monday, bringing the total snowfall since December 1st to 41.4 inches. That makes this the second snowiest December-January period on record in Des Moines.
“It overtook the previous second snowiest December-January period, which was in 1897-1898, when 37.2 inches of snow fell,” Beerends said. “But the snowiest December-January period remains 1885-1886 when 50.2 inches of snow fell.” Beerends says the snowfall totals in Des Moines are similar to what other cities have received around the state. Today is the 49th consecutive day on which the snow depth in Des Moines has measured at least five inches.
Beerends says that’s currently the third longest streak on record. The record holder for consecutive days with five or more inches of snow is 54 days – which occurred between December 1961 and February 1962. “So it looks like, with the cold weather in place throughout the rest of the week and an additional half-inch to an inch of snow tomorrow, that record will probably be broken this year,” Beerends said.
The record for consecutive days with at least one inch of snow on the ground is 99 – set during the winter of 2000-2001.
Interstate back open, ditches littered with cars
January 26, 2010 By
State Patrol car wrecked in crash.
Interstate 35 is now open again from Ames to the Minnesota border, but an Iowa State Patrolman says people still need to use caution if they are traveling.
Trooper Mark Domino, of the Mason City post, says while the interstate is open again for traffic, road conditions won’t be the best.
Domino says traffic can flow once again, but the shoulders and ditches are still littered with vehicles up and down the interstate.
He says people need to be aware of the many tow trucks that are working to free wrecked and stranded vehicles that were left on the roads overnight.
