February 9, 2012

You are here: Home / 2010 / June / Archives for 15th

King seeing if “pot will come to a boil” after his Obama remarks

June 15, 2010 By

Republican Congressman Steve King says he stands by comments he made Monday that have drawn national attention and prompted a Republican congressional candidate in another state to cancel King’s speech at his campaign fundraiser in Colorado. 

During an interview on the G. Gordon Liddy talk show, King said President Obama has a “default mechanism” that “favors the black person.”  King also accused U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder of not pursuing a series of cases because those accused were minorities.   

“I have no regrets about what I said.  I stand by what I said because what I said is accurate.  It’s factual,” King said during a telephone interview with Radio Iowa late this afternoon.  “I think the president should answer and Attorney General Holder should answer for the justice department being used in the way it is, but what I said was accurate and it was objective.” 

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Transportation Secretary says Iowa has shown strong commitment to passenger rail

June 15, 2010 By

U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, spoke to state and local officials today about passenger rail service in the state. LaHood says Iowa is in the mix for the  $2.5 billion that’s included in the second round of federal rail funding.

LaHood says part of the plan would be to bring high-speed rail through the Quad Cities to Iowa City, and then across Iowa to Nebraska. He says they talked about how Iowa is going to be in the competition for the money. The Chicago to Iowa City and Chicago to Dubuque routes were not in the first round of eight-billion dollars in funding announced in January. LaHood credited state officials for putting six-point-five million dollars toward the proposal.

“One of the things that I would say I’m impressed with is that the legislature passed some match money, which is not true in every region, and certainly not true in every state,” LaHood says, “that really, it helps them and enables them to really compete for the money ’cause they have the match, and it shows the commitment from the state that they’re very interested — it’s not just the governor speaking or some mayor — it’s really the commitment of the state for the matching money.” LaHood was asked if he made any promises to Iowa officials.

LaHood says he doesn’t make promises, because it’s a strong competition for the money, but he says Iowa has shown a “pretty strong commitment” by the legislature approving match money. He was asked if Iowa will be hurt in the competition for the funds because it’s not a large population state.

“No, look….if you build it, they will come, I can cite you examples all over America, if you build a streetcar line, a bus line, any kind of transportation, a highway, a road, high-speed rail, people will use it,” LaHood says. LaHood says it’s going to take at least two decades before the U.S. is connected together by high-speed rail lines.

He says we’re right at the point in this country where we were with the start of the interstate highway system, as “not all the lines were on the map and we didn’t know where all the money was coming from.” But LaHood says there are foreign companies in America that want to find places to locate so they can hire U.S. workers and build “train sets” and rail infrastructure.

“High-speed intercity rail is coming to America,” LaHood said. LaHood was in Des Moines to speak at the North American Super Corridor Coalition Conference.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Big 12 commissioner says 10 teams is enough

June 15, 2010 By

Ten is fine with the Big-12 Conference according to commissioner Dan Beebe. The University Of  Texas on Monday declined an invitation to join the Pac-10 Conference and several other members of the south division followed suit, leaving a smaller version of the league to move forward.

Beebe says the 12 they had were ideal, but now that they have 10 remaining, there are a lot of positive feelings. He says they are looking forward to having a football schedule with 9 conference games and then a double round robin basketball schedule.

Colorado left to join the Pac 10 last week and Nebraska is headed to the Big Ten. But, Bebee says there are no plans to replace those schools. With 10 members the league may not have a conference championship game in football down the road. He says they are not looking to expand, and would not expand with any institutions in the five state geographic area.

Bebee convinced Texas and several other schools that they would make more money in television deals with the Big-12 than an expanded Pac-10. But he admits that is just speculation at this point. Bebee says they don’t have a deal, but have strong verification based on analysis that they are in a good condition to get tv a contract on par with any conference in the country.

Bebee says in the end it was more than money. It was location. He says the strong consideration was the association of the schools and the fact that college athletics is a regionally supported endeavor.

The new deal means Iowa State and several other of the north division schools still have a conference but it comes at a price. All of the money the Big-12 recieves from Colorado and Nebraska leaving will be given to Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A@M.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

King blasts Obama for bias “that favors the black person”

June 15, 2010 By

Republican Congressman Steve King is drawing national attention for remarks he made on talk radio about President Obama. 

On Monday, King was a guest on G. Gordon Liddy’s nationally syndicated radio show and King made these comments: ”The president has demonstrated he’s got a default mechanism in him that breaks down on the side of race, that favors the black person. In the case of professor Gates and officer Crowley, that was a case where he knew nothing about it, threw himself into it and concluded that the cop had operated on a race bias or race basis, and then he ended up having to have a ‘beer summit’ because of that.”

That’s a reference to last July’s flap after a white Boston cop arrested a black Harvard professor after a neighbor called to report a possible break-in at the professor’s home. King was also critical of Attorney General Eric Holder who, like Obama, is black.   

“When you look at this administration, I’m offended by Eric Holder and the president also, their posture of this,” King said on Liddy’s show.  “But it looks like Eric Holder said that we were, that white people in America are cowards when it comes to race and I don’t know what the basis of that is, but I’m not a coward when it comes to that and I’m happy to talk about these things and I think we should.” King accused the attorney general of pulling the plug on a case involving the New Black Panthers “for political reasons.” 

King, who is from Kiron in western Iowa, also blasted Holder for not pursuing a case against black people wearing “paramilitary uniforms” who called white people “crackers.” And King suggests the Department of Justice isn’t investigating the group ACORN because many ACORN members are minorities.

In the wake of King’s comments on Liddy’s show, a Republican congressional candidate in Colorado has canceled King’s appearance as the headliner for a campaign fundraiser on Saturday.  King’s campaign staff has referred questions to his congressional office in Washington, D.C., but a spokesman for King’s congressional office has not responded to requests for comment.

King’s also drawing fire for comments he made Monday night on the House floor in defense of Arizona’s new law that seeks to crackdown on illegal immigration. “Some claim that the Arizona law will bring about racial discrimination profiling,” King said. “…Profiling has always been an important component of legitimate law enforcement. If you can’t profile someone, you can’t use those common sense indicators that are before your very eyes.”

King has long advocated a “get tougher” approach to illegal immigration. ”I think it’s wrong to use racial profiling for the reasons of discriminating against people,” King said Monday night. “But it’s not wrong to use race or other indicators for the sake of identifying people that are violating the law.”

King was speaking during a portion of the day in which House members are allowed to give what are called “special order speeches” that are broadcast “live” on C-SPAN, but there are rarely other members of the House present.  During his “special order speech” Monday night, King said he had been “profiled” by a D.C. cab driver earlier in the day.

“There I was, profiled, because I’m a guy in a suit in a time of the day when it’d be logical that I’d be looking for a ride somewhere,” King said.  “It’s just a common sense thing. Law enforcement needs to use common sense indicators. Those common sense indicators are all kinds of things from what kind of clothes people wear — my suit in my case; what kind of shoes people wear; what kind of accident they have; the type of grooming they might have.  There are all kind of indicators there and sometime’s it’s just a sixth sense and they can’t put their fingers on it.”

King may have meant “accent” rather than “accident” when referring to indicators which may lead law enforcement to believe someone is an illegal immigrant.

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

Elder abuse called an underrecognized, unspoken problem

June 15, 2010 By

Today is the fifth “World Elder Abuse Day” and an Iowa expert says it’s designed to bring more awareness to the problem. Linda Hildreth oversees the Department on Aging program that seeks to raise awareness in Iowa.

Hildreth says elder abuse, neglect and exploitation is such and underrecognized and unspoken problem and the June 15th day is a time when they ask Iowans to stay alert to the possible signs of abuse of elder Iowans. She says if you see such abuse, you can call 1-800-362-2168 to report abuse.

Hildreth says abuse can take many forms including pressuring someone for money or property or illegally using a person’s money and assets. She says you should look for signs that indicate this could be happening.

Hildreth says the elderly person may not have wanted for much, and then they start having trouble paying bills or for food and don’t seem to have money for prescriptions, while the person that is supposed to be taking care of them may seem to have more things, like a new car for example. “That…makes you a little more suspicious that some financial exploitation is occurring,” Hildreth explains. Hildreth says there can also be emotional signs that abuse is taking place.

“If somebody is typically outgoing and all of a sudden they’re withdrawn and isolated and you just don’t see them as much or when you do see them, their personality has changed….when people’s personalities change and their situations change, it really should arouse your suspicion,” Hildreth says. You are dealing with adults and Hildreth says that sometimes raises issues, but Hildreth says there is help available.

“It’s rather embarrassing at times when you have say family members or a close friend of neighbor that is taking advantage of you, and to have to admit that, that’s difficult,” Hildreth says. But she says if you call and let them know what’s going on the Area Agencies on Aging can go out and do a welfare check and see if they need any help or assistance.

Hildreth says over 2,800  people were assisted by the Iowa Department on Aging Elder Abuse Initiative Program in 2009. To find out more information, go on-line to: www.aging.iowa.gov, and to locate resources for older adults and people with disabilities go to: www.lifelonglinks.org.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Human Interest, Politics & Government

Council Bluffs park facelift is complete

June 15, 2010 By

A million-plus-dollar facelift to a central park in Council Bluffs is finally complete and city leaders are elated over the improvements. Mayor Tom Hanafan says Big Lake Park has been a key fixture in the city’s park system for decades. Mayor Hanafan says, “Ever since I’ve been a kid, it was a place everybody went to their 4th of July picnics, fishing.”

He says the longtime park is sporting some renovated old features as well as some brand new ones. “We’ll have natural habitat, you can fish, we’ve got a picnic grounds there,” Hanafan says. “We’ve got a new boardwalk.” The lake was stocked with fish by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Hanafan says it’s remarkable how the park can give visitors the chance to get away from the bustle of the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro area.

“You’ve got all the natural habitat and you’re sitting right in the middle of a million population and it looks like you’re right in the middle of a forest somewhere,” he says. The one-point-two million-dollar rehab was paid for with city funds, a grant from the Iowa DNR and a donation from Iowa West.

By Karla James

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Medical marijuana backer plans to petition Board of Pharmacy

June 15, 2010 By

A Des Moines man who’s been leading the push to legalize medical marijuana in Iowa says he plans to petition the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to write the rules allowing use of the drug. Carl Olsen’s comments follow House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s announcement that legislative leaders have dropped plans to have a committee study the issue.

McCarthy says it appears the Iowa Code states it’s the board’s duty to write the rules – not lawmakers. Olsen says the matter could wind up being reviewed by the courts.

“The question in the judicial review would be whether (the pharmacy board) has a duty to make the rules. McCarthy seems to be saying they do and he’s an attorney,” Olsen said. “So, I would file for the judicial review and whatever outcome came out of it, the question McCarthy is raising would be answered by it.” The pharmacy board earlier this year recommended lawmakers change the classification of marijuana to make it easier for doctors to prescribe the drug to patients. Olsen says it seems both the pharmacy board and lawmakers are unwilling to take the next step.

“It’s going to break somewhere,” Olsen said. “I think the Board of Pharmacy took a good first step in looking at the scientific literature and reaching the conclusion that it does have medical use. That creates an obligation on the part of the state to move forward and do something about it.” Fourteen states have legalized the use of medical marijuana.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With:
« Older Posts