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ISU says Hoiberg is next basketball coach

April 27, 2010 By

Iowa State officials have confirmed that Ames native and former Cyclone player Fred Hoiberg will become the next head men’s basketball coach. He will be introduced at a 10:30 a.m. news conference Wednesday in the Jacobson Athletic Building.

Hoiberg, who has no coaching experience, will replace Greg McDermott, who left after four seasons to take the Creighton job.

Hoiberg, who is now 37, led Ames High School to a state championship in 1991 and was named Iowa’s Mr. Basketball. He stayed in his home town to play college basketball for Johnny Orr and the Cyclones, and was nicknamed “The Mayor” by his teammates because of his popularity there.

Hoiberg went on to a 10-year NBA career, and retired in 2005 after having heart surgery.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With: ,

Obama says “status quo on Wall Street” must change (audio)

April 27, 2010 By
Crowd waits for President Obama's visit to Ottumwa.

Crowd waits for President Obama's visit to Ottumwa.

Over 2,100 people gathered in a gymnasium in Ottumwa late this afternoon for a “town hall” meeting with President Obama.  

Obama spent about an hour on stage in Ottumwa and he began by reminiscing about his 2008 Iowa Caucus victory. 

 ”It is just good to be back in Iowa.  If it weren’t for Iowa, I wouldn’t be president,” Obama said, as the crowd applauded and cheered.  “I believe that.”

Obama touched on a variety of topics, from health care to trade policy to deficit reduction. He also criticized Republicans in the U.S. Senate for taking a procedural vote that blocks senate debate on a financial reform bill. ”It’s one thing to oppose reform, but to oppose just even talking about reform in front of the American people and having a legitimate debate — that’s not right,” Obama said. 

[Read more...]

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

Obama says Fort Madison plant an example of stimulus plan success

April 27, 2010 By

President Barrack Obama toured the Siemens wind turbine plant in Fort Madison today and told 300 of the plant’s employees that wind energy is a top priority.

Obama says, “So you’re manufacturing blades for some of the most advanced wind turbines in the world. Each one is as tall as Air Force One is long, each is capable of generating enough power for hundreds of homes, just by harnessing the wind. So what’s going on here, what each of the employees of Siemens are involved with, is helping stake America’s claim on a clean energy future, and you’re staking Fort Madison’s claim on America’s future.”

The Siemens plant received almost $3.5-million in tax credits through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Obama says the Fort Madison factory is a great example of what the act has done.

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Filed Under: Business, Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Third District congressional debate tonight in Benton County

April 27, 2010 By

A Benton County group will host a debate tonight for three of the seven Republican candidates running for congress in Iowa’s third district. Organizer Bill Keller says a forum with seven candidates would have been too crowded.

“It just didn’t fit,” Keller says. So the group invited the three candidates who have raised the most money. That means former I.S.U. wrestling coach Jim Gibbons, state Senator Brad Zaun and retired pilot Dave Funk will be on the panel tonight.

Retired architect Mark Rees objects. He’s also running in the district and has plowed over $50,000 dollars of his own money to his campaign. “Because my campaign has primarily been self-funded to date, my focus has been, you know, on other issues,” Rees says. The latest disclosure statements show Rees raised about $12,000 in the first three months of this year. Rees argues he’s being penalized because he isn’t spending a lot of time raising money.

“I have all the necessary elements, and then some, of a legitimate campaign,” Rees says. “I’ve got a campaign staff of three paid campaign staffers. I’ve driven thousands of miles in the district. I’ve knocked on thousands of doors.” Benton County Advocates, the group that organized tonight’s forum, would have invited a four candidate to the forum if one of the others — including Rees — had raised at least half as much as Funk, the third-place fundraiser in the race.

Rees fell far short of that threshold. Lynn Campbell of IowaPolitics.com recently hosted a broadcast forum featuring all seven candidates and, in a bid for brevity, she asked the candidates to raise their hands if they favored repeal of the new health care reform law.

“Every candidate raised their hand except Dave Funk who, you know, publicly issued a criticism that he’s not in the second grade and that it’s not becoming of a congressional candidate to raise your hand,” she says. Each candidate was given a minute to explain their stand on the health care repeal issue.

Tonight’s forum begins at 7 o’clock at the Community Bank Building in Vinton.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Burned out businesses in Maquoketa come down

April 27, 2010 By

Four businesses on Main Street in Maquoketa that were destroyed by fire nearly two-and-a-half years ago, are being knocked down and hauled away today. The discovery of asbestos in the buildings complicated things as the cost to remove them became more than their value.

The city of Maquoketa took possession of the buildings and secured nearly a $500,000 in federal and state grants to safely clean them up. Brandon Nielson is overseeing the workers who are tearing out the buildings. He says the workers are wetting down the material to ensure that no fibers or dust from the asbestos move off the property. Nielson says they are also taking precautions as they haul away the material.

Nielson says the trucks are lined with poly plastic so they can be covered as the material is taken off to a landfill. Workers were wearing masks as they cleaned up the asbestos contaminated material. The material will end up in an Illinois landfill that takes contaminated waste, and the city plans to turn the site into a green space.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Health & Medicine

Camping Kickoff Weekend is coming up

April 27, 2010 By

It’s time to set up the pup tent, air out the sleeping bags and test the camping stove. Iowa Camping Kickoff Weekend is just ahead and reservations can be made as late as Wednesday if you’re interested in camping out in an Iowa park on Friday night.

Kevin Szcodronski, the State Parks Bureau chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, expects a busy weekend. Szcodronski says the first weekend in May is a good time to dust off the camping gear, make sure it’s all in good working order and head for the outdoors, especially after such a long winter of snow and ice. He says there will be all sorts of activities in each of Iowa’s parks this weekend.

All campgrounds will be open and the water will be switched on. “Just like we want the campers to get outside and enjoy it, we’ve been hustling,” Szcodronski says. “This is our busy time of the year, too. We get excited after the long winter to get the facilities open and cleaned up and to welcome the people back to their state parks.” While the past few years have seen a downturn in the economy, he says park usage has gone up during that time.

“People are looking for activities closer to home,” Szcodronski says. “We’re fortunate in Iowa. We don’t have a park entrance fee so you can come into any state park at no cost for day use, to hike and picnic and enjoy the outdoors.” There is a fee for overnight camping and use of cabins or lodges. For more information, visit “www.iowadnr.gov“.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

McDermott takes over as Creighton coach

April 27, 2010 By
Greg McDermott with ISU AD Jamie Pollard after being named Cyclone coach 4 years ago.

Greg McDermott with ISU AD Jamie Pollard after being named Cyclone coach 4 years ago.

Greg McDermott was introduced this morning as the new head coach at Creighton. McDermott resigned as the Iowa State coach on Monday and replaces long-time coach Dana Altman at Creighton. Altman was named the new coach at Oregon on Monday.

McDermott says when he took the Wayne State job 14 years ago they were coming off a 7-20 season, and he says U.N.I. was 7-24 when he took that job. He says they were truly rebuilding jobs, but he says Creighton is not. McDermott says Altman did an unbelievable job building the program to the level it is, and knows he has big shoes to fill and he takes that very seriously.

McDermott never had a winning season in four years at I.S.U.  but says he is a better coach and better person because of the experience. He says his relationship with Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and womens’ coach Bill Fennelly and the friendship he forged with them and the things they taught him are “invaluable.”

The Cyclones were 15-17 this past season and McDermott’s four year mark was 59-68. McDermott says they faced some adversity at Iowa State as he says it seemed that whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. He says he was fortunate to have a support system to get through those times and says “Our family wouldn’t trade our experiences in Ames for anything, we’ve made some lifelong friends there, and for that reason it was difficult to leave.”

McDermott says he is happy to be back in the Missouri Valley Conference. McDermott led U.N.I. to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances before taking over at Iowa State in 2006. He says it is a league where the teams care about each other and the decisions that are made are in the best interest of the league and sometimes you have to put your own interests aside.

McDermott will also get a chance to coach his son at Creighton. Doug McDermott helped lead Ames to back-to-back 4A state championships and will join the Creighton program after originally signing with U.N.I. McDermott says they both talked to U.N.I. coach Ben Jacobson and says he was “100-percent in support of Doug having the opportunity to play for me.” He says there is a process to go through, but he is confident that will not be a problem because of Jacobson’s support.

By Tom Stanton KFAB Omaha

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
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