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Hoiberg confident he can overcome lack of coaching experience

April 28, 2010 By

Fred Hoiberg is confident he can overcome a lack of coaching experience in his efforts to turn the Iowa State basketball program around. The former Cyclone star was introduced as the new I.S.U. coach, two days after Greg McDermott resigned to take the job at Creighton.

Hoiberg is the third leading scorer in Iowa State history and first approached Athletic Director Jamie Pollard about becoming the head coach four years ago before McDermott was hired away from U.N.I.. Pollard says he called Hoiberg last Sunday and asked him if he was interested, and he says Hoiberg told him he was interested and had a plan. Pollard said Hoiberg said the plan would address concerns about his lack of coaching experience. Pollard said he told Hoiberg he would call him before anyone else if McDermott decided to leave.

Hoiberg retired from the NBA in 2006 and since then has been working in the front office for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hoiberg says he can’t even explain how excited he is to take the job. “There’s gonna be nights in the next year where we might not be making shots as a team, but I promise you one thing, we are gonna to defend, we’re gonna play hard, and we’re going to give you something to cheer about on a nightly basis,” Hoiberg says.

Hoiberg says he always hoped he would one day return to coach the Cyclones. He says he’s always wanted to coach and in the past few years had a couple of opportunities to leave the front office and coach for the N.B.A., but decided to stay where he was. Hoiberg says he “was floored” when Pollard called him and asked if he might be interested in the job. Hoiberg says Pollard drove up and they sat and talked for about three hours about his plan.

Hoiberg says he thought the talk went very well and he thought he might get a second interview when Pollard put a contract on the table.

Hoiberg has been talking with former Cyclone coach Tim Floyd about putting a staff together. T.J. Otzelberger is staying on and will be the associate head coach and former Cyclone great Jeff Grayer will be part of the staff as well. Grayer was hired by McDermott last week.

Hoiberg says he knows his biggest obstacle is getting a staff in place that will help him out and give him something to lean on. He says Floyd will put together of a list of people to call. Hoiberg has already had a chance to meet the current members of the team.

He says they met at 10:30 last night and he laid out some of his initial expectations. Hoiberg says he told them if they show a strong work ethic, if they defend and play their tails off every second they are on the floor, they can play for him. He says he will communicate with them and let them know what he expects every day. “They may not always like what I have to say, but I feel that is the best way to go about it in this business,” Hoiberg says.

Hoiberg wants to bring the energy back to the program that was there when he played. “I want that atmosphere back, I need that atmosphere back, and it’s time to bring the magic back to Hilton Coliseum,” Hoiberg said as the crowd applauded.

Hoiberg says his health has been good. He retired as a player after undergoing heart surgery back in 2006. He says he will have to have another heart surgery at some time, and he says as far as heart surgeries go, it will be pretty routine. Hoiberg says he hopes that surgery is years away. He says his aortic valve has started to deteriorate a little, but it should not impact his job.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Tougher seatbelt rules signed into law

April 28, 2010 By

The governor signed a bill into law today that will soon require all children under the age of 18 to wear a seatbelt while riding in the back seat of a car. Current law only applies to kids up to the age of ten. The Governor signed the bill at Blank Children’s hospital in Des Moines where he was joined by hospital president David Stark.

“We see firsthand, unfortunately, the affects of kids who don’t wear seat belts,” Stark said, “We see it in our emergency departments, we see it in our clinics, we see it in our therapy. And we would love nothing more than to avoid seeing that going forward. This bill will save lives.”

Stark says nearly half of all teenage deaths in Iowa result from car accidents which is why the hospital and child safety advocates have pressed for this law for nearly ten years. Eighteen-year-old Isaiah Krull of Shellrock was seriously injured in a car accident two years ago while riding from one field to another during detassling. Krull was in the back seat and wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Since then he has lobbied hard to strengthen Iowa’s seatbelt law.

“I’m extremely pleased. I worked for like a year on this bill,” Krull says, “But I don’t think this should be it. I think it should be for everybody. But I’m happy it’s just for teenagers.” Krull says he will continue to press state lawmakers to eventually mandate back seat seatbelt use for everyone. Authorities say parents who have more kids than seatbelts will not be ticketed. The new restrictions begin July 1st.

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

Fallen workers honored in ceremony in Des Moines

April 28, 2010 By

Several families who lost loved ones in workplace accidents last year gathered in Des Moines today for an Iowa Workers’ Memorial Day ceremony. Governor Chet Culver addressed the crowd outside the State Capitol. Two Iowans in the military were killed last year, while 46 people died in accidents on job sites.

“No one deserves the pain and grief that the families of these 48 people are feeling today and no words will take away that pain. But I do want to make one thing very clear – we will always remember the lives of these Iowans and their sacrifices,” Culver said. “Their lives will serve as a constant reminder to people…of the necessity of workplace safety.”

Iowa Federation of Labor President Ken Sagar also spoke to the families as they sat near 48 white crosses marked with each of the victims’ names. “I say it’s time that we work to make sure there are no white crosses on the lawn over here,” Sagar said. “There are fewer than in years past, but there are still too many.”

The first Workers Memorial Day was observed in 1989. Sagar has spoke at many of those past ceremonies. “I don’t want to stand here, year in and year out, looking at a crowd of people who have lost a loved one,” Sagar said. “If we truly believe that workers are valuable and safety is important, than we have to take action.”

Mark Cooper, President of South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, called on state and federal lawmakers to increase penalties on employers when workers are injured or killed on the job. Cooper is also requesting increased funding to agencies that inspect workplaces to prevent accidents.

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

Davis the leader at qb after UNI spring ball

April 28, 2010 By

Zach Davis is the leader but U.N.I. coach Mark Farley says there is a good battle this spring to see who will replace Pat Grace as the starting quarterback for the Panthers. Davis appeared in seven game last year and in 2008 was 3-0 as the starter when Grace was injured. Davis is being pushed by former Ellsworth quarterback Terrell Rennie.

Farley says he likes what he sees out of Davis and says he has really improved this spring after having a chance to start last year.

Farley says right now Davis has the edge, but he says Rennie has made it competitive with his talent. Farley says it will come down to who can make the players around him better. He says Davis is ahead in that area now, but Rennie shouldn’t be counted out.

U.N.I.’s spring game is Friday night.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Tonni Engle

April 28, 2010 By

Tonni Engle is a senior at Ottumwa High School. She was nominated by her mother, Julie Engle:

TonniEngle200“Tonni is an all around superior young lady! I am, of course, a little biased, being her mother. However, Tonni is a very dedicated student and her hard work over the years has earned her very good results. Tonni is very mature and highly committed to her education and extracurricular activities. Here are a few examples…President of the Ottumwa High Scool Future Educations Association (FEA), President of Tes Trams Sorority, member of Friends of Rachel, Teen Pregnancy Task Force, Students Against Destructive Desicions (SADD), Just Eliminate Lies (JEL), Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Girls Scouts (13 years), cheerleader (4 years), jazz-tap-ballet (15 years).

I could go on and on. While being involved in all these activities and working a part-time job she maintained an excellant GPA. Also her community service with Festival of Trees, Race For The Cure, Relay For Life, these are just a few to mention. She also started and organized a fundraiser in Ottumwa, Flock for the Cure to raise money for local Breast Cancer Awareness by flocking yards with Flamingos (because of my breast CA).

I believe her outstanding leadership, community service, dedication and leadership by example shows why she is a worthy candidate for INS Student of the Month.”

AUDIO: INS Superior Student

Filed Under: INS Superior Student

Looking for crisis manager at IASB

April 28, 2010 By
IASB sign

IASB sign

Within the next week the Iowa Association of School Boards likely will have a new interim director, someone who’s had experience in handling a “crisis in the past.” 

The association’s former executive director is under scrutiny over allegations of inflated salaries and questionable spending decisions and she was fired in late March. Iowa Association of School Boards spokeswoman Megan Forgrave says the group’s board of directors plans to name an interim director in the next few days.

“The board just feels this is not the time to try and take on a big search process so what they’ve done is go out to experts in the field, gotten some recommendations, taken people’s names who’ve said they’re interested in the position, held some interviews,” Forgrave says. “They’re doing some background checks and they want to make sure they’re very, very thorough in that this time around.” 

The association’s long-time executive director retired last year and the group hired Maxine Kilcrease as his replacement. Nolden Gentry is the attorney who was hired in March to sort through the group’s affairs.

“I think that there are a number of board members who are concerned that they didn’t go far enough last time and so we want to try to avoid that this trip,” Gentry says. “We want to do our due dilligence before we select and designate a person who comes into a pretty bad situation and tries to make it better.”

According to Gentry, the candidates for the interim role as director of the association are four people who have run school districts that “have had some degree of crisis in the past.”

Two members of the group’s board of directors have resigned, including the man who went on the board in January as the treasurer for the Iowa Association of School Boards.  In addition, the group’s past-president has resigned. Jack Hill, a member of the North Scott School board, had been on the Iowa Association of School Board’s executive board for eight years. What looks like Hill’s signature is on a document that outlined a hefty salary hike for Kilcrease just a few months after her hire.  Hill told The Des Moines Register he had signed the document, but later said he had not.

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

Iowa’s congressional delegation votes against pay raise

April 28, 2010 By

Iowa’s congressional delegation has voted against giving themselves a pay raise. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution that stops the “cost-of-living” pay bump which had been scheduled to show up in congressional pay checks.

 All five Iowa congressmen — Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack, Leonard Boswell, Tom Latham and Steve King, all voted for it. By their action, those five congressmen and the rest of the U.S. House had voted to freeze their pay though the end of next year.

The U.S. Senate last week had already voted to freeze senators’ pay. Officials expect the pay freeze for members of the House and Senate will save the U.S. treasury about a million dollars.

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