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Republicans enter last weekend of campaigning before primary

June 5, 2010 By

The chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa says he learned that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin had endorsed Terry Branstad’s bid for a fifth term by reading about it on his Blackberry. Palin announced she was backing Branstad on Thursday, an announcement Palin made on Twitter and on Palin’s Facebook page. Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn was en route to an event in Jones County on Thursday when he checked Palin’s Twitter feed.

“I do follow the governor on Twitter and I believe I’m a Facebook friend as well,” Strawn says, with a laugh. In her Tweet, Palin cited the state motto of Iowa which is “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.” She said “that motto will be well served by voting for Terry Branstad for governor next Tuesday!” Strawn isn’t using his own Twitter account or his Facebook page to announce his voting intentions for Tuesday. Strawn has stayed neutral in the G-O-P Primary for governor and is not publicly backing any of the three candidates. Strawn isn’t offering a prediction on voter turn-out next Tuesday, either, merely saying he sees “enthusiasm” among Republicans.

“I think that’s the great thing about the competitive primary process is that we see whether they’re third party groups, whether they’re national politicians or whether they’re just regular folks here in Iowa investing in the process and getting engaged,” Strawn says. Palin, the G-O-P’s vice presidential nominee, drew huge crowds in Iowa during the 2008 general election campaign. In her first trip to Iowa with Republican presidential candidate John McCain, an airplane hanger in Cedar Rapids overflowed with a huge crowd and many began leaving after Palin finished and McCain began his speech.

Palin later campaigned solo in Iowa, drawing large crowds at events in Sioux City and Des Moines. Strawn says Palin is an “important voice within the party,” and there are “certain Iowa Republicans” who may be swayed by her endorsement of Branstad. As for whether Palin’s endorsement will influence the Primary’s outcome…

“I think we’ll find out on Tuesday,” Strawn says. Branstad has just one public event this weekend. He’s walking in the “My Waterloo Days” parade this morning, as is the current governor, Democrat Chet Culver. Branstad’s rival Bob Vander Plaats  is holding three campaign rallies today in West Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Hinton.

Chuck Norris, the martial arts specialist who starred in his own TV show, has endorsed Vander Plaats and is appearing with Vander Plaats at each event.

The third candidate in the race for the Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination is Rod Roberts of Carroll. He’s making campaign appearances today in Treynor at 8 a.m.; in Logan at 1 p.m. and in Atlantic at 4:30 p.m. Roberts is the only one of the three who plans to appear in public on Sunday. Roberts will campaign in Davenport Sunday afternoon.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

State applying for second round of Race to Top funds

June 5, 2010 By

State officials announced this week they have submitted an application for the second round of federal “Race to the Top” funding for education. Iowa Department of Education spokesperson, Elaine Watkins-Miller, says one change this time around is all eight of the state’s largest school districts have signed on.

Watkins-Miller says that is a positive as it increases the number of students in the state that could be helped by the funding. She says they are now looking at impacting 73-percent of the state’s K-12 population, where the first round application would have only impacted 47-percent. “Race to the Top” is a competitive federal grant program designed to encourage and reward states that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform.

Watkins-Miller says concerns about how the funds would be used were part of the reason only one of the largest school districts took part in the first round. Watkins-Miller says it was part of getting a better understanding of what districts would be required to do and what they wouldn’t be required to do. Watkins-Miller says they didn’t have to start from scratch with the second round application.

Watkins-Miller says they got a variety of input on the first round application and then got comments from reviewers that helped them know where they needed to strengthen their application in the second round. Iowa is applying for up to $175-million in the second round. Only two states won funding in the first round of applications. An announcement on funding for the second round is expected in September.

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government

United Methodist Church opens annual conference today

June 5, 2010 By

Iowa leaders of the United Methodist Church are opening their annual conference today  in Des Moines. Reverend Arthur McClanahan, the Church’s communications director, says the gathered clergy and lay leaders are representing 824 Methodist churches across Iowa with 195-thousand members.

Reverend McClanahan says, “We will gather together to worship and we will ordain 13 United Methodist clergy as elders and that’s up a factor of ten from last year’s group of three that we ordained as elders.” The meeting corresponds with what he says is Statewide Missions Day, where members of congregations across Iowa embark on a variety of community projects.

The projects may be as small as cleaning out an elderly person’s garage to helping collect food to feed the hungry. One congregation will spend the day making stuffed animals which will be taken in a few weeks by a surgical team to Guatemala, a team that will perform facial repair surgeries on children. This is the first time in many years that the conference is being held in Des Moines, after some 20 years in Ames. The conference underway at Hy-Vee Hall continues through Tuesday. Proceedings can be viewed on line at “www.iaumc.org”.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Religion