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College students using mopeds to save gas

May 17, 2010 By

Communities across the state are sponsoring events over the next several day in recognition of Bike to Work Week. One of those events is in Iowa City where many University of Iowa students are riding motorized two-wheelers. Angela Saak is a U-I sophomore from Reinbeck.

“I have a moped here and it’s just really convenient for me because I live off campus,” Saak said. Many college students say riding a moped or scooter saves them both time and money.

“It saves me gas money because if I didn’t have a moped, I’d probably be driving my car. The bus just takes too much time, plus a bus pass costs $50 a semester,” Saak said. “It’s about $1.30 to fill up my moped and I only have to do it about once a week, so I’m saving a lot of money.”

Mopeds have become especially popular with U-I athletes, who need to make quick trips from practice to class. Saak says she’s notice a lot more mopeds competing for street space with buses and cars. “Usually I have a helmet…there are some pretty crazy drivers in Iowa City,” Saak said. Mopeds vary in price depending on the model, but a new 50 C-C scooter is generally in the range of $2,000.

Find out more about bike to work week here. www.bikeiowa.com/asp/bike/

Filed Under: Education, Environment & Conservation, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Cedar Rapids convenience store clerk kidnapped

May 17, 2010 By
Missing Cedar Rapids convenience store clerk Amanda Daniel. Call CR Police at 319-286-5400 with any info.

Missing Cedar Rapids convenience store clerk Amanda Daniel. Call CR Police at 319-286-5400 with any info.

Cedar Rapids police say a man entered a local convenience store early this morning and kidnapped the 19-year-old woman clerk. Sergeant Cristy Hamblin says police were called after a delivery man stopped at a Kwik Shop store on the west side of the city around 4:20 this morning.

She says when the delivery man walked in, there wasn’t a clerk in the store, and he called police right away.

Hamblin says they learned the clerk who was supposed to be on duty was Amanda Daniel. She says they did some checking and found out more about what happened.

“She’s a great employee (who) would never just leave, so we began looking at some surveillance video and found that she had been forced against her will to leave the building,” Hamblin said.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

May is National Foster Care month

May 17, 2010 By

May is celebrated as “National Foster Care Month” and a spokesperson for an Iowa organization says there are many people involved. Amy Juhnke of Iowa KidsNet says the recognition goes beyond the foster and adoptive families. Juhnke says it also includes all the people who work in child welfare across the state and nation, and those in the court system that help families and children to heal and move on.

Juhnke says they are always looking for more families to take part. “We have a great need specifically for more family foster homes for teens, sibling groups of three or more, African American families, Native American families and Latino families,” Juhnke says. She says they do targeted recruitment to try and find the families that fit those needs. Juhnke says anyone can be a foster parent.

She says there isn’t a “typical foster family” as every child has a perfect match and each is different. Juhnke says all you need is “room in your home and room in your heart” to help the kids. You can find out more by calling 1-800-243-0756, or by going on-line at:www.iowakidsnet.com. Juhnke says once you contact them, they will help you find out more information.

Juhnke says there are information session across the state every month which are about an hour to an hour-and-a-half. You will learn about foster kids and they will walk you through the process. Juhnke says those who decide to become foster parents aren’t left on their own.

The help includes support in a paymentfrom the state. She says the payment covers about 65% of the cost of having a child in your home. Juhnke says they also have support specialists that are tied to the family and they can help with anything from needs in the middle of the night, to the best approach to visiting with the biological parents.

There are also support groups across the state. Iowa KidsNet is a partnership of six Iowa social service agencies, including Four Oaks, Boys and Girls Home and Family Services, Children’s Square U.S.A./Child Connect, Family Resources, Lutheran Services in Iowa and Quakerdale.

Filed Under: Human Interest

More people expected to pedal to work this week

May 17, 2010 By

More Iowans than ever before are expected to use pedal power during this Bike to Work Week. The event last year registered 2,400 Iowa bike commuters and had participation from more than 700 employers and 114 towns. Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, says he expects higher turnouts this year.

“We have great events across the state, every place from Sioux City where you can test out their new bike racks on their buses,” Wyatt says. “Iowa City has a Ride with the Mayor that’s a big celebration, Mason City is doing a Ride of Silence (to honor and remember cyclists who’ve been hit or killed by motorists), Cedar Falls is doing a Pack the Rack event.” Some cities are holding free breakfasts for bicycle riders, including Iowa City, Cedar Falls and Burlington. If you haven’t been on the bike in a while, it’s as easy as, well, riding a bike. Wyatt says bicycling to work is simpler than you’d think with a little forethought.

“Make sure your bike’s in good working order,” Wyatt says. “Start to plan out your route and you can test it on weekends and see if it’s going to work for you. Go slow. Take your time and enjoy yourself. Once you get to work, if you have a place to shower or to towel off, change clothes and you’re ready to go.” He says you’ll find yourself more refreshed and ready for the day if the morning starts with an exhilarating bike ride. Hardcore biking enthusiasts may spend thousands of dollars in their bikes, but Wyatt says most folks can get along fine for significantly less.

“That’s the thing about a bicycle,” Wyatt says. “The technology really hasn’t changed much over the years. That bike that’s hanging in the garage or sitting in the basement could be an effective mode of transportation. As gas prices creep up, people will pump up the tires and get out and give bicycling a try.” An estimate finds 350-thousand adult Iowans ride bikes during the summer months, but Wyatt believes there are many tens of thousands more. Wyatt says he’s a perfect example of why biking to work — works. He lives in Iowa City and works in Coralville.

“It’s shorter for me to ride my bike to work than it is to drive because I don’t have to go around the interstate and over to a bridge and I can just go directly to work on a trail that takes me there,” Wyatt says. “Sometimes, it’s about the same time, too. With traffic lights and signals, if you take some of the back roads, you don’t hit that traffic backup.”

He says biking to work can be part of a healthier lifestyle, decrease traffic congestion, lessen parking constraints, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Learn about local rides and all sorts of bicycling information at: www.bikeiowa.com, and register for Bike to Work Week to be eligible for prizes.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Body recovered from Mississippi River

May 17, 2010 By

Davenport police are working to identify a body found floating in the Mississippi River. Police Captain David Struckman says a boater called police Saturday afternoon, saying he had spotted the body of a white man south of the I-280 bridge.

Firefighters recovered the body minutes later. An autopsy is being scheduled. There is speculation the body may be that of Matthew Haessler. He has been missing since May 8th when he fell or jumped from the I-74 bridge while trying to elude Bettendorf police.

Haessler has been identified as the driver of a car that had been reported stolen. Police stopped the car on the bridge, Haessler fled on foot and climbed over a railing. Police say they saw Haessler in the water but he disappeared under the surface.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Iowa among top states in returned Census forms

May 17, 2010 By

U.S. Census workers aren’t ringing many doorbells in Iowa. That’s because most Iowans filled out and returned their census questionnaires in the mail in March.

Dennis Johnson, Director of the Regional Census Bureau office in Kansas City, says around 78% of the forms mailed in Iowa were completed and returned. “That’s pretty good,” Johnson said. “Iowa’s one of the top three states in the nation as far as percentage of households that mailed it back.” Only Wisconsin and Minnesota have topped Iowa in terms of census form rate of return.

Iowa’s population is currently estimated at just over 3 million people. The new population count for 2010 will be released in December. “It’s at that point when the determination will be made if there will be any changes in the Congressional representation for each state,” Johnson said. “The more detailed demographic information about how old we are and how diverse our population is…those things will be coming out over the next several months after the end of the year.”

Iowa is expected to lose a Congressional seat after this year’s census count – which is still being conducted. Johnson says census takers will be visiting households that failed to return forms in the mail through the end of June.

For more information: 2010.census.gov

Filed Under: Human Interest, Politics & Government

Culver formally kicks off reelection bid today

May 17, 2010 By

Governor Chet Culver formally kicks off his bid for reelection this morning  with an event in Des Moines.  “As I’ve said quite often recently, you know, governing really is tough and difficult,” Culver said this weekend during an appearance on Iowa Public Television.  “Campaigning in fun, so I’m looking forward to hitting the trail.” 

Culver’s seeking a second term in a year when voters seem to be in an anti-incumbent mood. Drake University political science professor Dennis Goldford says in this environment, Culver has had a puzzling campaign strategy.

“One of the most important things in politics is the capacity to define your opponents and avoid being defined by your opponent and Governor Culver thus far has run a curiously passive operation,” Goldford says. 

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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