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Grassley takes credit for delay in Wellmark rate increase

March 9, 2010 By

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is taking credit for helping to delay a rate increase from the state’s largest health insurance company, as state regulators review the proposal. Late last month, Grassley sent a letter to the CEO of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, asking for justification of the rate increases that were being planned.

“I’m glad my letter got more information for consumers on that rate increase,” Grassley says. “It also seems to have gotten the attention of the governor, who now has reversed his own insurance commissioner.” Governor Culver is directing the state insurance commissioner to “stay” the premium increase.

Culver, a Democrat, is calling for a third party, independent actuary to review the matter and determine whether rate increases are justified.

[Read more...]

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

Briefcase causes bomb scare at Polk County jail

March 9, 2010 By

There was a bomb scare at the Polk County jail Monday. The Polk County Sheriff’s Department says the bomb squad was called to the jail just after 3 p.m. over a suspicious briefcase.

The department says a person who was arrested and brought to the jail had the briefcase with them. Jail officials became concerned after putting the briefcase through an x-ray machine. Employees and visitors were evacuated from the jail while the bomb squad examined the brief ase and determined it was not a bomb.

Officials are not saying what caused them to become suspicious, and have not identified the person who brought the briefcase to the jail.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

AD says McDermott staying as ISU coach

March 9, 2010 By

Iowa State A.D. Jamie Pollard says basketball coach Greg McDermott will return for a fifth season. The Cyclones open the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City after a disappointing regular season in which they finished 4-12 in the Big-12 and 15-16 overall.

McDermott says he’s had conversations with Pollard throughout the season like he has every season, and his job was never in jeopardy. He says you can’t worry about those things when you are in the season, as you have to coach and prepare your team for the next game while also recruiting. McDermott says you can’t worry about what other people think.

The Cyclones closed the regular season with their most impressive victory by winning at fifth ranked Kansas State. McDermott says they have played some pretty good basketball lately, with none of the losses over five points. McDermott says the win at K-State was something the Cyclones needed.

McDermott credits the team for sticking with it through a lot of diversity and doing what the coaches asked them to do, and he says that led to the reward of the win.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Iowa will face Michigan again in Big Ten tourney

March 9, 2010 By

Two things have remained constant during Todd Lickliter’s tenure at Iowa: the Hawkeyes lose a lot of games and they always play Michigan in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawks and Wolverines meet for the third year in a row in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday. Iowa is 10-21 overall and finished 4-14 in the Big Ten after a 35-point loss at Minnesota.

Likcliter says he thinks the team will fight back as it’s a new opportunity on a neutral floor. The Hawks will try to turn the tables after losing to the Wolverines the past two years in the opening round. He says they have not played well in the tournament, while Michigan has, and he says he’d like to think his team could be competitive.

Iowa lost both games to the Wolverines during the regular season, a lopsided loss in Ann Arbor and an overtime setback in Iowa City. Lickliter says they have to prepare well and compete, as the last two years have no impact on this year.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Boys’ tournament opens with class 1A, 2A

March 9, 2010 By

The favorites advanced in class 1A during the opening day of the boys state basketball tournament. Defending champion Rock Valley is headed back to the class 1A semifinals. The #2 Rockets got 23 points from Nic Bakker and a triple-double from Marcus Heemstra in an 86-67 win over eighth ranked Council Bluffs St. Albert.

Heemstra scored 16 points and also added 10 rebounds and 12 assists.Heemstra says the Rockets were not looking ahead to a possible rematch of last year’s title game against NU High. He says they don’t look past anybody and he says St. Albert played really, really well.

Rock Valley took control by outscoring the Falcons 25-15 in the third quarter. St. Albert coach Dale Scott says the high-low offense hurt them and they couldn’t force any turnovers. The Falcons finish the season with a record of 18-5.

The NU High Panthers jumped out to a 32-10 lead at the half and rolled past Coon Rapids-Bayard 72-29 in the tournament opener. Panther coach Paul Elser who says the Panthers were not looking past this game even though they entered as heavy favorites. He says they look for the weaknesses and try to defend them, and he says they have to keep doing that for every game.

Tanner Cooke led the Panthers with 16 points as they improve to 25-1. Coon Rapids-Bayard closes the season with a record of 16-10.

Crusaders coach Cory Meyer says they went from 5-7 to winning 16 games and making the tournament this year, so they have a lot to be proud of.

Lynnville-Sully’s offense got going in the second half and the fifth ranked Hawks pulled away to a 59-43 win over Algona Garrigan. After connecting on just 30% in the opening half the Hawks made 12 of 21 shots in the second quarter.

Lynnville-Sully coach Nick Harthoorn says they were shooting the ball too quickly in the first half and they slowed it down in the second and got some easy baskets.

In the class 2A quarterfinals, Calamus-Wheatland downed Ankeny Christian 50-39, Caroll Keumper beat Des Moines Christian 65-53 and Western Christian beat Wapsie Valley 53-46.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

Overall smoking down, tobacco use among kids levels off

March 9, 2010 By

A new report shows fewer Iowans are buying cigarettes, but the percentage of young people using tobacco has leveled off. The 2009 Tobacco Control Progress Report was compiled by researchers at the University of Northern Iowa.

It shows cigarette consumption in the state dropped 52% from 2006 to 2009. Cathy Callaway, chair of the Iowa Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Commission, gives credit to the buck-a-pack hike in the cigarette excise tax in 2007 and the 2008 Smokefree Air Act. The news is offset by very slight changes in tobacco use among young people.

Callaway believes more funding for the Just Eliminate Lies, or JEL, program would help reduce smoking rates among Iowa youth. JEL is a youth-led, anti-tobacco campaign. The study found awareness of the campaign by young people decreased between 2004 and 2008. Callaway says state funding for the program also dropped off over that same period, so fewer JEL ads were being produced.

“Across the state, we’ve had to limit the amount of advertising we’re able to do because of the budget,” Callaway said. “That really is impacting the number of students that are being reached by that message.” The study shows cigarette use among high school students was at 19.9% in 2008, up slightly from 19.5% in 2004.

Callaway believes JEL messages helped reduce tobacco use by Iowa kids earlier this decade.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Flood warnings out with rain expected

March 9, 2010 By

The National Weather Service has issued minor to major flood warnings across the state as rainfall is expected to move through Iowa today. Rob Deroy of the National Weather Service says this system could bring in as much as one inch of rain. He says add that to melting snow and then more is expected this week.

Deroy says a secondary system Thursday which will probably move along the same track and could dump another inch of rain from southwest through central and northeast Iowa. He says we would have a moderate risk of flooding just with the melting snowpack, but the rain has increased the risk.

Deroy says melting snow and rain is the worst possible combination for flooding. He says the soil has stayed relatively warm and it is also saturated, which leaves little room for the soil to soak into the ground and it will run off. Deroy says some areas raise more concern than others.

Deroy says the Raccoon River basin is probably the area of the biggest concern with the water levels at Perry. He says that area will be a concern over the next four to seven days. Deroy says the flooding problems could stretch across the state with the rain track.

He says the rainfall will move from the southwest through northeast Iowa today and Thursday and the rivers will go up and flood more in the southern and central areas first.

As temperatures continue to warm, the melting snow in the northwest will become more of a problem. Deroy says we had some slow melting last week, but not enough to hold off the flooding problems. You can find out more about the flood warnings on the National Weather Service’s website.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather
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