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Study says Iowa teens buy alcohol at same rate as rest of nation

March 25, 2010 By

A federal study finds Iowa teenagers are drinking alcohol and buying it for themselves at a rate that’s dead even with the national average. A campaign of public service announcements is being launched on the radio in hopes of bringing the numbers down. Fran Harding, director of the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, says the PSAs target Iowa’s moms and dads.

Harding says, “Our campaign that we’re rolling out today focuses on giving tips to parents so that they can learn to talk to their young people earlier and more often.” Harding says the survey found alcohol is still the most widely-abused substance by youth between the ages of 12 and 20. With end-of-school-year events like prom and graduation approaching, she says temptation for alcohol abuse is ramped up.

“Parents tend to talk to their children after a problem is in front of them or around prom time, and then they don’t talk about it again,” Harding says. “We want parents to know that we need to talk to them earlier, ages 12, 13, 14, if not even earlier than that, and to talk to them often so it becomes more of a regular conversation.”

The launch of the PSA campaign is accompanied by a new website, “stopalcoholabuse.gov”, which Harding says has helpful, interactive tools for parents. She says, “Parents can go into the website and plug in the age and the gender and the particular situation they would like to address with their young person and get actual questions and feeders and information and programming and connect them with programs around their neighborhood.”

Research shows that children who start drinking before age 15 are six times more likely to have alcohol problems as adults. The National Survey of Drug Use and Health questioned 12 to 20-year-olds. It found, both nationwide and in Iowa, about 28% of those surveyed had used alcohol in the previous month and about nine-percent had bought it for themselves in the previous month.

The states with the lowest numbers on the survey are Alaska and New Mexico, while the highest numbers are in Louisiana and the District of Columbia.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Education funding under discussion at statehouse

March 25, 2010 By

Iowa currently ranks 26th in the nation when it comes to average teacher pay. The across-the-board cut in state spending that was ordered last October reduced state support of schools, too, so that teacher-pay ranking has probably dropped and may drop more. Mary Jane Cobb is executive director of the Iowa State Education Association, the state teachers’ union.

“What we all understand is the rankings that came out recently that us at 26th in the nation didn’t include any of the cuts that we’re talking about,” Cobb says. “And so I’m concerned that the next round of rankings that are going to come out will show us having slipped.”

According to the National Education Association, the average salary for a K-through-12 teacher in Iowa is 48-thousand dollars a year. Democrats who control the legislature’s debate agenda say schools will get a general increase in state aid, along with a bit more than $100-million to plug some holes in school budgets.

Republicans like Representative Mike May of Spirit Lake — a retired teacher — say that’s not enough. “The comment is constantly made in here that…’Well, those folks at the local level are going to have to make cuts, too. They’re going to have to scrimp and save, just like we have to,’” May says. “…What do you think they’ve been doing over the past several years, over the last two years in particular? Do you think they haven’t been throwing things overboard?”

To critics who say the state isn’t spending enough on schools, Governor Culver says the state’s K-through-12 schools will get more money from the state for the next academic year. “It may be the only area in the whole budget that will get an increase in state funding,” Culver says. “And that shows our commitment to our public schools, to our teachers, to our kids and to our administrators.”

According to Culver, he and Democrats in the legislature have agreed to send more than $2.4 billion to Iowa’s K-through-12 public schools for the next academic year, an increase of about 65 million.

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

Large amount of cash found in drug stop

March 25, 2010 By

A drug dog made a big bust this week after authorities pulled over a semi for a traffic violation in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area. Deputies with the Douglas County, Nebraska Sheriff’s Department searched the rig after they became suspicious of its contents. Chief Deputy Marty Bilek says they discovered a huge pile of cash.

“There was about $1.2 million hidden in the back of the truck,” Bilek said. “The truck was otherwise loaded with pallets of exotic cheeses.” The money was found in two large boxes. Bilek says investigators believe two people who were in the semi have ties to El Salvador and the M-S-13 gang.

The money seizure on Wednesday was the third for deputies in Omaha/Council Bluffs in the past week. Bilek says the first one was for $320,000 and the second was for nearly $100,000.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

President touts passage of health care bill in Iowa City

March 25, 2010 By

President Obama traveled to Iowa City today, crediting the state for being the place where he planted the seeds that grew into the health care reform plan he signed into law this week. “This is the state that believed in our campaign when all the pundits had written us off,” Obama said, “this is the state that inspired us to keep going, even when the path was uncertain. And because of you, this is the place where change began.”

Obama spent part of his speech outlining details of the new health care reform law. He said leaders of the Republican Party have actually been calling the passage of this bill ‘Armageddon. Obama says Republicans are already saying they are going to run on a platform of repealing the bill, and he said “go for it.”

[Read more...]

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

Davenport prepares for flooding

March 25, 2010 By

The city of Davenport is preparing for a flood fight. Mike Clarke is the city’s public works director. He says holding back the rising Mississippi is his department’s top priority right now.

Parts of two low-lying streets are already under water and the National Weather Service says the river will be near the 15-foot flood stage on April 1st. Clarke says he doesn’t trust Mother Nature, so he’ll be ready for 16 feet. An emergency operations center has opened, jail inmates are filling sandbags and a floodwall is being erected to keep the entrance to the city’s riverfront baseball park dry.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

University of Iowa prepared for possible flooding

March 25, 2010 By

A University of Iowa official told the Board of Regents Wednesday that the school has put several measures in place to be prepared for flooding this spring. The school was hit hard by the floods of 2008 and is still in the process of recovering. U-I senior vice president of finance, Doug True, told the board the school is prepared if flooding develops.

True says the river is flowing at 10,000 cubic feet a second right now, which he says looks like a lot, but it’s hard to believe the flow was four times that much in the summer of 2008. He says they’ve been coordinating with the Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service.

True says they’ve put bulkheads in the campus tunnels to prevent water from seeping into them, and have talked with the HESCO Company about using their flood barriers. They also acquired a logistics site east of Iowa City where they will keep necessary flood supplies, and have gone through individual building plans so they know the trigger points to begin taking action to keep floodwaters out.

True says they went ahead and purchased several supplies and equipment in anticipation of flooding to be sure they are on hand. He says they purchased supplies and equipment early to be sure they had them because of the enormous demand from the upper midwest due to the large snowmelt that makes flooding possible this spring. He says they have stockpiled the supplies in case they are needed.

True says that includes pumps, sand and the HESCO barriers. He says they have three miles of the HESCO barriers on hand. The barriers are filled with sand and are faster to put in place than sandbags. True told the regents he would have an update on the replacement of the flooded music building at their meeting in April.

Filed Under: Education, Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Baby slings recalled over safety concerns

March 25, 2010 By

The Consumer Products Safety Commission has ordered a recall of one-million baby slings made by the company Infantino. The C.P.S.C. says the slings in question act more like a bag and make it difficult for some babies to breathe because the sling forces the baby’s chin against their chest. Tammy Bayer, who owns Birth, Baby and Beyond in Cedar Rapids, says baby slings are popular – but they should hold the infant upright. She provides demonstrations in her shop.

“With this little girl, she’s sleeping and I have my hands free and I could do the dishes or vacuuming. There are some carriers you could put on your side or back and could be cooking at the stove too,” Bayer said. The C-P-S-C says at least three infant deaths could be related to the Infantino slings. Leslie Kung of Cedar Rapids noticed problems with the sling after using one herself and complained to the company.

“I didn’t get a response,” Kung said. “The response is the government stepping in and saying you have to stop this.” Kung switched to other slings which hold the baby closer and tighter to the body. Bayer says moms she talks with rave about slings and their usefulness.

“Instead of your arms doing all the work, your baby is attached to your trunk and your body does the work, not just your arms,” Bayer said. The president of Infantino said his company is working with the commission on its sling concerns.

By Justin Foss, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids

Filed Under: Health & Medicine
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