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UNI and Drake softball playing for tourney seed

May 6, 2010 By

The U.N.I. and Drake softball teams are both assured of playing in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and this weekend will try to improve their seeding. The Panthers and Bulldogs are tied for fifth at 11-11 heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

U.N.I. coach Ryan Jacobs says coming from a past where they always had to fight to the end of the season to get a tournament bid, it is nice to know they are in, and now it’s a matter of fighting for a seed. He says getting a top four seed in the conference tournament is a big advantage.

Jacobs says the three and four seeds don’t have to play two games on the first day as you get a first round bye. So if you win that one game you get into the double elimination portion of the tournament. U.N.I. hosts Missouri State in a three game series beginning on Saturday.

The Bears are 12-10 and currently hold fourth place. Jacobs says the good thing is they are going up against the team that is currently in the fourth spot and they are coming to Cedar Falls. Jacobs says the Panthers hope to close out their home schedule on a positive note.

He says the way they’ve had to adjust to playing at home was new to the team after playing the first 20 games on the road. Jacobs says with finals ending, they should be upbeat and ready to go for the weekend. Drake hosts a three game series against Valley leader Southern Illinois beginning Friday. The Conference tournament is next week in Des Moines.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Buena Vista looks to lock up Iowa Conference title

May 6, 2010 By

The Buena Vista baseball team will try to lock up the Iowa Conference regular season title this evening when they open a three game series at Cornell. The Beavers have already clinched at least a share of the title and they will be the top seed in next week’s conference tournament in Cedar Rapids.

Buena Vista coach Steve Eddie says he’s very happy for the players as it has been 29 years since they were on top of the conference. Eddie wants his team to close the regular season with a good weekend. He says it would be a little disheartening to go into the conference tournament losing a few games.

Eddie says pitching depth has been a plus this season and he wants to see more of it this weekend. He says they need good outings from their pitchers and they want to play solid defense. Eddie says it has taken a consistent effort to win the conference race.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

Gay marriage opponent questions family camping policy for state parks

May 6, 2010 By

A state senator who opposes gay marriage is asking questions about plans to change a camping rule in the state park system. Just over a year ago the Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling which legalized gay marriage in Iowa.

Senator Merlin Bartz, a Republican from Grafton, says it appears to him that the Department of Natural Resources wants to make gay couples eligible for family camping at state parks. “They’re citing the Supreme Court case and changing, you know, ‘husband and wife’ language to ‘spouse,’” Bartz says.

The rates or fees for camp sites are the same, whether you’re a family or a non-family, but the state allows families to put up more than one tent on a camp site. “They’re changing their language even though the state legislature has not had a debate on this particular issue,” Bartz says.

Bartz is a member of the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee which meets on Monday. He’s asked D.N.R. officials to explain their proposal at that meeting. Bartz says he wants to be “vigilant” and keep state agencies from writing rules that extend new benefits to gay couples. “A lot of the advocates of gay marriage in Iowa have said, ‘It doesn’t affect anything. Nothing has changed,’” Bartz says. “The reality of it is that everything is changing.”

Bartz concedes the D.N.R. might be sued if they fail to ensure “family” policies for camping apply to gay couples, although Bartz says the state may be sued by gay marriage opponents if the rule is changed. The proposed rule will be formally presented to Bartz and the rest of the legislative panel on May10th, but the final draft won’t be up for a committee vote until later this summer.  At that point the Administrative Rules Review Committee has several options to delay implementation, including a move which would delay a decision on family camping policies until 2011 so the full legislature could make the decision.

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

Council Bluffs mayor says he’s taking flack for attending prayer breakfast

May 6, 2010 By

A city leader in southwest Iowa says he’s catching flack for attending a prayer event on this National Day of Prayer. In the face of persecution, Council Bluffs Mayor Tom Hanafan attended his 20th National Day of Prayer breakfast this morning.

“Prayer makes a difference to a lot of people,” Mayor Hanafan says, “and I think it says a lot about our values that we have here in the Midwest.” Hanafan says he was sent a grievance letter recently by several organizations about his attending the breakfasts.

“We make our own choices and if we want to have a prayer breakfast, it’s our choice to do that,” he says. “I don’t think there’s anybody within government who should control what we do.” More than 500 people attended the event at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs.

By Kristan Gray, KMA, Shenandoah

Filed Under: Politics & Government, Religion

Anamosa School District looks to alternate plan for new school

May 6, 2010 By

Voters have twice rejected multi-million dollar school bond referendums, but now the leaders of an eastern Iowa school district are going ahead with alternate plans to build a new school. Dale Monroe, superintendent of the Anamosa School District, says the current century-old building is, literally, falling apart around the students’ heads.

Monroe says, “We will, in two years, fall of 2012, hopefully have a very nice facility for the students of Anamosa to learn in.” The school was in the news in January after a ceiling and a row of lights collapsed while 18 students and two teachers were in the room. No one was seriously hurt. This week, the Anamosa School Board unanimously approved a plan to accept the Iowa Department of Education’s offer of $12.4 million under the Qualified School Construction Bond Program.

Monroe says the program allows lenders to get tax credits in lieu of interest, so districts get interest-free money for construction projects. “I’m really pleased for the students and for the staff,” he says. “You have to only spend 20 or 30 minutes in our current 100-year-old building to realize it’s a grand building, it’s lived its life and unfortunately, it’s not going to get any better no matter how much money you put into it.”

Exactly a month ago, the district’s voters rejected the latest bond issue proposal to build a new school, priced at $15-million. Monroe says most Anamosa residents recognized a new school needed to be built, but they had concerns. Monroe says, “By the time we got done with the meeting, I think there was a genuine feeling that we’re doing this for our students, let’s get on with it, we’ve had our say now, it’s time to make things happen for the students of Anamosa.”

The district will pay back the debt with proceeds from the local-option sales tax for school infrastructure. Voter approval was not required and there will be no increase in property taxes.

By Janelle Tucker, KMCH, Manchester

Filed Under: Education

Utilities Board approves sale of Iowa Telecom

May 6, 2010 By

State regulators have signed off on the purchase of the Newton-based Iowa Telecom communications company by the Arkansas-based Windstream Corporation. Iowa Telecom provides phone, high-speed internet and digital T.V. to mostly rural areas of the state. Iowa Utilities Board spokesman, Rob Hillesland says the utility board issued a written approval after reviewing the merger.

Hillesland says the board reviews such mergers to determine if they are in the best interest of the public and ratepayers and if they find that’s not the case they can turn down the transaction. “The board did not do that in this case, they found this to be overwhelmingly a good thing,” Hillesland says.

Hillesland says there were so few concerns raised about the merger that the board approval was given without going to a hearing. He says there’s written testimony filed in the case and anyone who contests the merger can file their reply, and an evidentiary hearing is then held to hear the concerns. “In this case there were not very many contested issues and everything was pretty much ironed out and a decision was reached quite early in the case,” Hillesland explains.

The Utilities Board said it appears that Iowa Telecom’s overall financial position will improve as a result of the merger, and more jobs will eventually be created. Hillesland says both Windstream and Iowa Telecom said they will look to expand the Newton call center after the merger, and they also hope to expand the number of wire lines and business products offered. Hillesland says the merger should lead to more service in some areas of the state.

“They do serve lot of small towns and rural areas in Iowa, and that’s one of the areas where the legislature and also our board has kind of looked at trying to expand the high speed internet service, and (we’re) hopeful this will be a good thing for that as well,” Hillesland says. Iowa Telecom began operation in June of 2000 taking over the rural assets of several regional telephone companies and provides service to over 450 communities. The company employs around 800 people.

Windstream is headquartered in Little Rock and operates in 16 states. The deal to purchase Iowa Telecom was valued at $1.1 billion when it was announced in November.

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Omaha remembers deadly tornado of 35 years ago

May 6, 2010 By

A deadly tornado hit Omaha 35 years ago today. The twister left a ten-mile path of destruction through the city’s heart, killing three people and injuring more than 200. A moment of silence will be held at 4:14 this afternoon during a reception to mark the anniversary.

George Matuella was working radar for the National Weather Service that day and recalls it was a very foggy, humid morning. Matuella says, “I can remember my old boss came in and said ‘oh boy, we could be in for a corker’, and sure enough, he was right.” Matuella says he was keeping a close eye on the radar scope that afternoon in 1975.

“I saw a signature on the radar that indicated a possible tornado,” Matuella says. “I looked it over a couple of times and I told the boss and he said ‘go with it’ and we sent the tornado warning out.” That warning was issued at 4:14 P.M. Matuella said that was a good call as a spotter watching the skies over Omaha saw the deadly twister taking shape.

“Then Mr. Jim Tracy, who was a spotter, approximately at the same time, saw the funnel cloud develop and it hit the ground.” The tornado targeted 72 Street, a major corridor within the city. It first touched down in southwest Omaha and traveled north and lifted near Benson Park. More than 1,600 homes and dozens of businesses were damaged or destroyed, as well as two schools.

Matuella says, “I think the government officials estimated when it was going up 72nd Street, there was between 30 and 35,000 people in the path of that tornado at one time.” Causing millions of dollars damage, it remains one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history.

Today’s reception is being held at the Omaha office of Together Incorporated. That group was formed by several Omaha churches in 1975 to help coordinate a charitable response to the storm. The nonprofit continued on after the storm to help people who were struggling to afford the basic necessities of life — and it’s still a staple in Omaha today.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters
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