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Iowa coach pleased with spring practice thus far

April 13, 2010 By

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz wants his Hawkeyes to close out spring drills with a good week. The Hawks will have a controlled practice on Saturday in Kinnick Stadium. Ferentz says this spring has been like a lot of others, outside the fact that the weather has been great. He says the team has worked hard, but has a lot of work ahead of it.

An area of concern is the offensive line which lost several starters from last year’s team. Ferentz says the biggest concern right now is depth up front. He says they have six guys who’re doing a good job, and then they have some concerns about the depth. Ferentz says that has been a common issue throughout his tenure, and it’s not unusual for any program in the country.

Ferentz the first line guys on the offensive line are progressing, and they will have to make a lot of improvement as they get their first game experience. Iowa will open the 2010 season at home on September fourth against Eastern Illinois.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Drake Relays official expects another Saturday sell out

April 13, 2010 By

Drake University officials report brisk ticket sales for next week’s Drake Relays. Assistant ticket manager Troy Anderson says the great weather and strong field have led to the strong sales. He expects another sell out for Saturday, which would make it the 43rd consecutive sell out. Anderson says there are a variety of ticket packages available to try and accommodate a variety of fans.

Anderson says there will be another run on tickets once the high school qualifiers are announced, which he says will likely happen on Monday as people find out who has qualified. Anderson says while they are confident they will have a 43rd consecutive sellout for the Saturday session there are still tickets available.

Anderson says all of the seats in Drake Stadium are close to the action, with events taking place in all four corners of the stadium.

The Drake Relays are April 22nd through the 24th.

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State resists Mark Becker’s call for a new trial

April 13, 2010 By

The Iowa Attorney General’s office has filed a response resisting a request for a new trial for the man found guilty in the shooting death of Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas. Mark Becker’s attorney filed the motion for a new trial after his first-degree murder conviction, saying that the verdict was contrary to the law and evidence for the insanity defense that Becker used.

The Attorney General’s response asks the judge to deny a new trial The response says there was ample evidence presented at the trial that Becker had sufficient mental capacity to understand the nature and quality of his acts. It lists several examples, including: Becker had a detailed plan for the murder, he practiced with the weapon prior to the murder and Becker repeatedly referred to Thomas as a human being and not a supernatural being.

Becker’s lawyer also said the district court erred in failing to give two jury instructions. The A-G’s response says the jury instructions were properly dismissed by the court. Becker is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

See the complete response from the Attorney General on the Becker motion here: A.G. Becker response PDF

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Governor signs measure on recruiting minority teachers

April 13, 2010 By
Governor Culver signs the bill as school kids and Representative Ako Abdul-Samad look on.

Governor Culver signs the bill as school kids and Representative Ako Abdul-Samad look on.

Governor Chet Culver signed a bill into law today that seeks to get more minorities to become teachers in Iowa.

The bill requires the Department of Education to work with other education groups, including community colleges and the state supported universities, to study ways to encourage minorities to become teachers and eventually continue as administrators.

State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, a Democrat from Des Moines, supported the bill after concerns were raised in the Des Moines district.

Abdul-Samad says when the new superintendent took over, she was trying to find minorities to go into administrative positions, and they couldn’t find them. He says there were minorities, but the laws in the state meant those individuals weren’t qualified and didn’t get the classes they needed to move into administrative positions.

Abdul-Samad says this change will help bring in more minorities to teach and move up into administration. He says it’s not just a problem in Des Moines, it’s a problem with the whole state, with Latinos, Bosnians, Sudanese. “We need to reach out to minorities to bring them in…to be in positions to be administrators so children can see that they can have the opportunity to make the same steps,” Abdul-Samad says.

The education group was given three specific issues to examine: strategies to encourage racial and ethnic minority students to enter the teaching profession; methods to recruit these racial and ethnic minority students into attending an Iowa college or university teacher preparatory program, and strategies to recruit racial and ethnic minority teachers to continue their careers as school administrators in Iowa Governor Culver signed the bill at a Des Moines elementary school.

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

Google Earth creator makes stops in Iowa

April 13, 2010 By

The creator of Google Maps, Earth says people in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area are helping transform lives around the world. Michael T. Jones spoke with Radio Iowa today between speaking engagements at the Qwest Center in Omaha and Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.

Jones acts as an ambassador for Google, meeting with government leaders and others to explain changes in technology and potential social implications. “Some of them are very subtle and hard to anticipate and Google may not have the answer, but we have a position to see changes that are happening,” Jones explained. “It’s almost like we can see the tidal wave, so we want to tell people, ‘I see a tidal wave, you might want to think about that.’ We can’t tell them what they should do, but we can at least point out things we see happening.”

Google Earth displays satellite images of the Earth’s surface, allowing users to zoom in on cities, buildings and houses. It’s a valuable tool for people looking to purchase a house near a good school, but Jones says Google Earth helps Jane Goodall track chimpanzee behavior in Africa and tribes living along the Amazon find plants for food or medicine. Jones says computer technology in similar to a power tool or a piece of farm machinery.

“Computers are a tool to make a person have like a super brain, to really put your intellect and judgment in high gear,” Jones said. “What computer science people do is learn the tools, techniques, tricks and skills to do that for other people.” Computer giant Google opened a data center in Council Bluffs in May of last year.

Jones says the data center is doing more than just providing the area with roughly 200 high tech jobs. “Council Bluffs, having us and welcoming us, is really transforming lives of people all around the world,” Jones said. “It may not be obvious to people, but I want to make it a little more obvious than it may already be.”

Filed Under: Human Interest

UNI preparing now for late start to season

April 13, 2010 By

U.N.I. football coach Mark Farley says the Panthers are working to build segments this spring before putting all the pieces together. Thirteen starters need to be replaced from last year’s team that finished 7-4 and missed out on the national playoffs. To help the process, Farley says he is extending spring practice until the end of the month and spreading the practices out.

Farley says you have to build from the ground up and that means individual growth. He says they have to build groups, the segments like the offensive line, defensive line, and after those segments are built, then you can build the rest of the team. Farley says spring is even more important this year because U.N.I. does not even start the season until a September 11th game against North Dakota State.

He says they need to have a great understanding of what they are going to do offensively and defensively now with the late start as he believes that will factor into the way they start the season. The Panthers will play on 11 consecutive weeks so Farley says there will be no off-week to try and “fix things”.

Farley says that means they will have to be sound and have a good understanding of what they are going to do, and that is why they are having more meetings. The Panthers conclude spring workouts with an intrasquad game on April 30th.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein

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Walk-on runningback making an impact on ISU football

April 13, 2010 By

After entering Iowa State as a walk-on it has not taken Jeff Woody long to make an impact on the Cyclone football team. The former Southeast Polk standout is listed on depth chart at running back and could also see time on special teams as a redshirt freshman.

Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads says Woody is hard to tackle and has given them an “h-back” type player who can line up all over the field and catch the ball. The key has been finding a spot where Woody fits in. Rhoads says he thought Woody lacked speed and quickness in the open field as a high school player that would keep him from being an immediate scholarship player. But Rhoads says that is not what they ask him to do in this offense.

Rhoads says Woody has not had to over achieve to get on the depth chart. He says even if Woody feels that way, it’s not bad as he says that means he’ll play hard.

Woody says he has been working hard to prove himself to the coaches. He says the coach says there are three types of people on the team, leader, responders or jerks. Woody says he wants to be one of the leaders.

Woody admits he is motivated to show he can play in the Big-12, as he says when someone says you can’t do something that does put a chip on your shoulder. He says Rhoads has shown faith in him and that inspired him to do it.

Woody says he will accept any role given to him, and says he feels he can contribute in many ways from block or running in short yardage situations. Woody says as long as he gets on the field, he doesn’t care what he does.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
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