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National Guard dedicates Iowa City readiness center

May 11, 2010 By

The Iowa National Guard dedicated its new $17-million Readiness Center in Iowa City Monday. The center replaces a 1930’s era armory. Iowa Guard commander, Adjutant General Timothy Orr, says the center serves deploying guardsmen and their families.

Orr says,”It’s the newest and largest facility that we have built outside of Camp Dodge in the last 20 years.” Orr says more Readiness Centers are being built. The first one is in Cedar Rapids, followed by Muscatine and Middletown. He says they are working with state legislators to replace the armory in Davenport.

General Orr says Iowa City’s Readiness Center has 44-full-time employees — and adding in those who come for training — it adds some $8-million to the region’s economy.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

Iowa Conference sends three softball teams to regionals

May 11, 2010 By

The Iowa Conference regularly receives multiple bids to the NCAA Division three softball regionals and this season is no different as three teams will be advancing. Simpson won the regular season championship and will host a regional in Indianola. The school just hosted the Iowa Conference Tournament and coach Henry Christowski says it takes a lot of work to serve as host.

Christowski says there’s a lot of pressure on the faculty and workers on the field and behind the scenes to pull of the regional. He says they have a very good group working on it, and with graduation coming up, it doubles the duties of some of those people. Christowski says they hope to use the home field to their advantage.

He says being at home is nice as the players get to stay in their own beds and have the same routine and don’t miss many classes. Simpson is 31-10 and will open against St. Thomas of Minnesota. Christokski says the goal every year is to win the conference and make the post season.

Central is also part of the regional at Simpson. The Dutch are 30-12 and coach George Wares’ team received an at-large bid into the field.

Wares says there were some upsets across the country, but the conference has always been strong and able to get several bids.

Wares says the goal every season is to get into the regionals. He says they enjoy the whole process through the season, but making the regionals is why they play. Wares says he likes their draw. Central plays Claremont Mudd-Scripps of California in the opening round. Wares says they didn’t care where they went, he just wanted to see some different teams. He says the first couple of opponents won’t be someone they’ve faced, and he thinks that a bit of an advantage.

Luther won the Iowa Conference post season tournament and will travel tyo Whiewater, Wisconsin for a regional.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

Fate of DNR rules regarding gay campers unknown

May 11, 2010 By

It’s unclear whether state officials will proceed with proposed rules that officials say are designed to limit overcrowding at state park camp sites. It’s all about how many tents can be set up on a “family” camp site and Senator Merlin Bartz last week argued the proposed change was being made because the Department of Natural Resources was classifying gay couples as families.

The Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee discussed the matter Monday and Senator Jack Kibbie was none too happy with Bartz, who is also a member of the panel.

“That’s baloney, Merlin,” Kibbie said. According to Kibbie, Bartz was stirring up speculation about a “non-issue” when it comes to camping at the state parks. “If it’s controlled and the right number, who the hell cares what their relationship is,” Kibbie said. Kibbie is a Democrat.

Bartz, the legislator who asked for a review of the proposed D.N.R. policy, is a Republican. The director of the state park system says his agency will take a second look at the new campsite rules because of other concerns lawmakers raised.

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

Man missing in the Mississippi is identified

May 11, 2010 By

A man who’s missing in the Mississippi River has been identified. His friends say his name is Matt Haessler. They have been watching the river since the 32-year-old Davenport man jumped or fell from the I-74 Bridge Saturday night.

Bettendorf police say he was driving a stolen car. He led them on a chase into Moline before turning back toward Bettendorf. Police used stop sticks on the bridge to blow out the car’s tires. It slowed and crashed. A passenger was taken into custody, but police say the driver climbed over a bridge railing onto the bridge structure. Then he ended up in the water and disappeared. Search efforts have turned up nothing.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

U-I law professor has concerns about Supreme Court nominee

May 11, 2010 By

A University of Iowa Law School professor says she has some concerns about the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court by President Barrack Obama. Professor Angela Onwuachi-Willig was among those who questioned Kagan’s record on diversity while Kagan was the dean of the Harvard Law School.

“She presided over a large expansion of the faculty — an expansion that’s virtually unheard of in academia — she hired 32 tenured and tenure tract academic faculty, and of those numbers, only seven were women,” Onwuachi-Willig says, “and also during the time of her deanship, four women left so it was a net gain of three.”

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:

Rebuild Iowa Office plans seminars on future flooding

May 11, 2010 By

Community leaders and individual Iowans can learn more about preparing for and preventing future flooding at several upcoming seminars. Tina Potthoff, spokesperson for the Rebuild Iowa office, says the events stem from a flood seminar held two months ago in Des Moines.

“We had a such a good response to that particular seminar, we decided to take it on the road,” Potthoff said.

Five additional seminars are now scheduled through June and July in Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Waverly, Mason City and Ames. The events will be led by officials with the University of Iowa’s Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research. Potthoff says the seminars are primarily intended for anyone who has an interest in disaster management.

“They’re going to cover everything from what an individual can do to prevent future flood damage to their home all the way into the more specific stuff, such as state and federal policy legislation that might be coming down the pipeline,” Potthoff said. Other agencies involved in hosting the seminars include the Iowa Flood Center and the Iowa League of Cities.

Potthoff says one of the highlights will involve speakers from the City of Cedar Falls, which has been recognized nationally for floodplain management. The initial seminar, held in March in Des Moines, was based on the book “A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Iowa Floods of 2008.”

Potthoff says several of the people who involved in the research and writing of the book will take part in the five upcoming seminars. All of the seminars are free, open to the public and will take place from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. No registration is required.

Dates and locations:
6/16 – Burlington – City Council Chambers
6/21 – Cedar Rapids – Kirkwood Training and Outreach Services Building
6/30 – Waverly – Waverly-Shell Rock High School Auditorium
7/14 – Mason City – North Iowa Community College Muse Norris Center
7/19 – Ames – City Council Chambers

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters
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