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Gun lovers gather at statehouse

April 19, 2010 By

About three dozen gun rights advocates rallied at the statehouse in Des Moines today, urging Governor Culver to sign a gun-related bill into law. 

Robert Fowler, the event’s organizer, owns a gun shop in Des Moines.  He says Iowa gun owners are working hard to convince Governor Culver to sign a bill that sets a statewide standard for issuing permits to Iowans who want to carry a concealed weapon.

“It would make everybody in the state equal because here in Polk County all I have to do is go out to the sheriff’s office and get my permit,” Fowler says. “And people in some of the other counties can’t get a permit and the sheriff will not give them a reason.” 

Iowa’s 99 county sheriffs currently have the authority to decide who can and cannot get a concealed weapon permit.  The bill would require Iowa sheriffs, in nearly all cases, to grant a gun permit if the person has taken safety courses and hasn’t been convicted of a felony.  Fowler says nearly everyone has a right to keep and bear arms.  

“The only reasonable restriction is to keep the gun out of the hands of felons,” Fowler says. “Other than that, if Joe down the street wants to (carry) a gun, there’s no reason he shouldn’t — as long as he passes the background check.” 

Today’s statehouse rally was one of the “Second Amendment Marches” held across the country.  April 19 is the date which gun rights groups have dubbed “Patriot’s Day” to mark the anniversary of the opening battle of the Revolutionary War.  Many of the three dozen rally-goers in Des Moines wore National Rifle Association caps or N.R.A. stickers that read: “Guns Save Lives.”

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Military, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , ,

Culver chief-of-staff leaves for role in Cedar Rapids redevelopment

April 19, 2010 By

The Governor’s chief of staff has resigned after about half a year on the job to take on a new role in Cedar Rapids redevelopment. John Frew joined the Culver administration last fall and his “immediate” departure follows last week’s news that a third Culver campaign manager was leaving. 

Frew says Culver always knew he would leave his chief-of-staff role once the 2010 legislative session was over.  ”It’s bittersweet,” Frew says.  “I like Chet Culver a great deal. He’s a very good friend, but this was the length of time we agreed on and so it was time to go.”

Frew says Culver hired him to negotiate a new deal with the state employee labor unions, push Culver’s legislative agenda during the session and root out problems in the Iowa film office.

“He’s entering into a period where it’s very little government and the focus is on the campaign,” Frew says. “And my role was to get (Culver) to this point.” 

Frew worked for Culver’s father, former U.S. Senator John Culver, and Frew ran Tom Harkin’s first campaign for the U.S. Senate. Frew had a long career in private development in the Denver area and in 1995 ran unsuccessfully to be that city’s mayor. Frew is leaving Culver’s staff and taking over as project manager for the construction of a new “events center” in Cedar Rapids.

“This is like a 14-person relay race,” Frew says. “I merely handed the baton to the next person.”

Culver’s legal counsel, Jim Larew, has been named the governor’s new chief of staff. 

Frew’s exit and the double-duty for Culver’s legal counsel comes as campaign contributions to Culver’s reelection bid which came from backers of a new Fort Dodge casino are being investigated by the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

Culver’s new campaign manager, Donn Stanley, says neither he, his campaign staff nor anyone in the governor’s office can comment on an ongoing D.C.I. investigation.

“However, neither the governor’s office nor the governor’s campaign has any reason to believe that anyone with either organization is a target in the investigation,” Stanley said in a written statement. “Further, the governor’s office and the campaign office have fully cooperated with the investigators at the governor’s direction.”

Stanley was named Culver’s campaign chief last week.  He said on April 9, the campaign donated the $25,000 it received from three Fort Dodge casino supporters to an undisclosed charity.

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

Branstad, Culver, Vander Plaats release personal income tax returns

April 19, 2010 By

Former Governor Terry Branstad’s campaign staff released Branstad’s tax returns this afternoon for review by reporters and Governor Chet Culver’s stafff released similar information half an hour later. 

The documents reveal Branstad walked away from a more than $330,000 annual salary to seek a fifth term as governor. Branstad, who is 63, retired from his job as president of Des Moines University this past October to run for governor, a job that carries a yearly salary of $130,000.

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

Iowa Lottery and Tourism Office offer another summer promotion

April 19, 2010 By
Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich shows off "Silver ticket"

Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich shows off the "Silver ticket"

The Iowa Lottery and the Iowa Tourism Office are teaming up for a summer promotion that seeks to encourage people to travel to events across the state.

Iowa Tourism Office manager, Nancy Landess, says the promotion involves a silver scratch ticket that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Iowa Lottery.

Landess says people are going to have a chance to get savings throughout the state and go to 25 “must see” events throughout the state where they can win cash.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Final piece of federal animal research facility dedicated in Ames

April 19, 2010 By

The National Centers for Animal Health (NCAH) in Ames are finally complete. Today’s official dedication marked the end of a nearly 10-year project to bring three federal research facilities onto a single campus. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was on hand for the ceremony.

The former Iowa governor says scientists in the giant research laboratory were invaluable when more than three dozen countries banned imports of U.S. pork during the H-1-N-1 scare. “It was people in this facility, who set the record straight,” Vilsack said. “It was people in this facility who worked on a vaccine that allowed us to consistently and, over the course of time, to reopen those markets.”

The million square foot operation in northeast Ames cost 462-million dollars. It’s now home to the National Animal Disease Center, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and the Center for Veterinary Biologics. U.S. Senator Tom Harkin says the work done there protects consumers from things like mad cow disease.

“Since 9/11, we’ve had to deal with the occurrence of BSE in our country. We’ve had outbreaks of other animal diseases around the world, including most recently H1N1. And we’ve become acutely aware that animal health and human health are inextricably linked,” Harkin said. Planning to bring the centers together as a way to save on operating costs began in early 2001.

Officials say it was the largest project ever attempted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Around 700 people work at the NCAH.

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

Number of tornadoes down in the state

April 19, 2010 By

Not that anyone’s complaining, but Iowa isn’t seeing its usual share of tornadoes this year. Iowa had already recorded five tornadoes by this date last year, all five of which came on the same day, March 23rd, 2009. State climatologist Harry Hillaker says, “Two years ago, 2008, which was a very active tornado year, we’d already had 11 by this date, and in that case, all of those also came on just one day, on April the 10th.”

Hillaker says Iowa’s tornado season usually begins in late March or early April and often peaks around early-to-mid-May. “So far in 2010, we’ve had a grand total of zero tornadoes reported in the state,” Hillaker says. “We did have some very severe wind damage, particularly in the Grinnell area roughly a week ago but that was from straight line winds rather than tornadoes. Typically, by this time of year, normally (there are) about four tornadoes in Iowa.”

Some experts attribute the lower tornado numbers, in Iowa and across the region, to an unusual weather pattern that’s keeping the Midwest slightly warmer than usual and the South a bit cooler. There have only been about 75 tornadoes reported nationwide this year. That compares to 270 on this date a year ago and 470 two years ago. Hillaker says Iowa’s seen an about-face in its tornado numbers over the past two years.

“Overall, say for the whole season, Iowa in recent years is averaging about 48 per year,” Hillaker says. “Last year being a very quiet year, we only had 25 for the entire year and 105 in 2008, which of course was a very busy year for severe weather.”

 That year’s major weather events included two killer tornadoes that hit Parkersburg in northeast Iowa and the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in western Iowa’s Harrison County, in addition to the record floods which washed over much of the state.

Filed Under: Weather

Spoon is one of the headliners for the 80/35 festival

April 19, 2010 By

The Austin, Texas-based rock band Spoon will serve as one of the headliners for this summer’s 80/35 Music Festival in downtown Des Moines. Festival organizer Amedeo Rossi says Spoon doesn’t get much radio airplay, but a lot of people are buying their albums and paying to see them live.

“Spoon is a band that’s on a steady accent,” Rossi said. “They played the Aragon (Ballroom) in Chicago, which is probably one of the bigger non-arena venues in America, and sold it out…4,500 people.” Spoon will be the final band on Saturday, July 3. The other headliner, to be announced in a couple weeks, will play on Sunday, July 4. This is the third year for the 80/35 Festival. Rossi is hoping this will be the biggest one yet.

The festival grounds can accommodate around 12,000 people. “I think at the peak last year, we were at 7,500 for the Ben Harper show,” Rossi said. Spoon released their seventh studio album, Transference, earlier this year. It hit number four (#4) on the Billboard Top 200. A few other acts have been announced for this year’s 80/35 Festival. They include jam-reggae group Slightly Stoopid, roots jam band Railroad Earth and Brooklyn’s blues-rock trio Earl Greyhound.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment
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