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Soldiers have training exercise at Living History Farms

June 17, 2010 By

A group of Iowa National Guard members who’re headed to Afghanistan in a couple of weeks are getting special training in the farming practices that were in vogue when Iowa was first settled. Colonel Neil Stockfletch is leading the “Agribusiness Development Team” that visited Living History Farms in Urbandale today.

“We’ve had an opportunity to hitch up and drive a horse team as well as an ox team,” Stockfleth says.  “Those are technologies that are probably appropriate for the area that we’re going in. It might even, surprisingly, as we think how ancient in our view those practices are, but those are probably quite advanced practices in the area that we’re going to in Afghanistan.”

The team of 60 Iowa National Guard members will take over from a group of Californians who’ve been helping Afghan farmers modernize.  According to Stockfleth, most Afghans are working the land by hand, raising just enough crops for their own families. 

“Some of the other things that we’re going to face is that they’ve had a whole generation of war there, 30 years, and when the Russians were there they really tried to destroy a lot of the rural infrastructure: crops, orchards, flocks, irrigation systems and there’s a lot of that that hasn’t been rebuilt and irrigation is probably key in that,” Stockfleth says. “It’s such a dry country, they need the irrigation to raise crops.”

Stockfleth, who grew up on a western Iowa farm near Schleswig, says the 60-member “Agribusiness Development Team” of Iowa Guard troops should be in Afghanistan in early July.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment & Conservation, Human Interest, Military, Politics & Government

Winnebago posts profits for first time in two years

June 17, 2010 By
Forest City based motor home maker Winnebago Industries has returned to profitability in the fiscal year third quarter. Winnebago CEO Bob Olson says it’s been a long two years. “The last time we had an operating profit was in the second quarter of 2008,” Olson said. “There’s been a lot of sacrifices and hard work on the part of our employees. It’s been a total team effort to get to the point where we’re at right now.”

The company’s net income for the third quarter was $6 million. That compares to a loss of $8.6 million over the same period last year. Olson says Winnebago’s deliveries to dealers have more than doubled. “Over the course of the last 12 months, (dealers) have taken their inventories to historic low levels,” Olson said. “They saw the need to start the replenishment cycle…I think now they’re at levels where they’re in pretty good shape.” Winnebago delivered a total of 1,366 recreational vehicles during the third quarter.

Olson says now’s not the time for the company to celebrate and become complacent. “We are a manufacturer of a product that people love to have, but they don’t have to have it,” Olsen said. “So, we have to be very careful going forward. Our economy right now, I think, is extremely fragile and all it would take is one or two disasters that could reverse this trend we’re on right now.” Despite the third quarter profits, Winnebago still shows an operating loss of $4.4 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2010.

By Bob Fisher (KGLO, Mason City) and Pat Curtis (Radio Iowa)

 

 

Filed Under: Business

Braley: does BP think $20 billion fund a “shakedown” or slush fund?

June 17, 2010 By

Congressman Bruce Braley this afternoon asked British Petroleum’s chief executive if he considers the $20 billion account B.P. has set aside to compensate oil spill victims a “slush fund.”

Tony Hayward, B.P.’s C.E.O., is testifying before the House Energy Committee.  Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo, is a member of the panel, as is a Texas congressman who apologized to Hayward early this morning for what he called a White House “shakedown” of B.P. 

Braley asked Hayward a question: ”Did you consider this compensation fund…to be a slush fund?”  

Hayward said the fund is a “signal” of B.P.’s commitment to “do right.”  Hayward added, when pressed again by Braley, that B.P. “certainly didn’t think it was a slush fund.”  Braley also pressed Hayward about the allegation that the Obama Administration had “shaken down” by B.P.  

“We speak the same language, but it’s not always the same language when we speak English in the United States and English in Great Britain so I can to make sure I’m clear on this,” Braley said. “Here in this country, the word shaken down means somebody in a position of disadvantage is forced to do something against their will. Is that how you viewed these negotiations at the White House yesterday?” 

Hayward replied:  “As I said, we came together to figure out a way of working together to resolve what is clearly a very, very serious situation.”  Braley suggested the compensation was not only in the best interest of U.S. taxpayers, but also in B.P’s best interest “to get this problem solved” so the company can “move forward.” 

Read more about the exchange between Braley and Hayward.

Earlier, during Braley’s initial comments at the hearing, Braley told British Petroleum executives that the residents of the Gulf Coast “deserve answers” from the company.

“Mr. Hayward, you’re not going to get a lecture from me today, and you’re not going to get an apology, either,” Braley said. “We are here to get to the bottom of the decision-making process that BP followed, and I think, quite frankly, the people who live along the affected area of the Gulf Coast deserve those answers from you.”

Braley asked the B.P. executives to listen to comments from two women whose husbands died when the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico.  In the video which was played during the hearing, one of the widows asked that B.P. and other companies that “ignore safety standards” face “harsh punishments.”

“These are now widows with small children to take care of and they are the symbols and the faces of this disaster,” Braley said.  Braley said not only have those families suffered catastrophic losses, but the Gulf Coast economy has been devastated by what he called an “oil disaster.”

“And I use the word disaster specifically because I don’t think ‘spill’ quite captures the magnitude of what’s going on.” Braley said.  According to Braley, the American people are “frustrated” with B.P. because the magnitude of the spill has been downplayed.

“We were first told that this was a thousand barrel per day release,” Braley said. “Then, about a week later, that was updated to a 5,000 barrels per day and at the end of May it was adjusted upward to 15,000 to 19,000 barrels per day, and then this week we were warned that it could be as high as 60,000 barrels per day. That works out to 2.5 million gallons a day, 17.5 million gallons per week, and over the length of this disaster, it could be up to the level of the largest release of oil in the North American continent in history.” 

Later, Braley pressed the head of B.P. about its overall safety record.

(This story was updated at 2:46 p.m.)

Filed Under: Business, Environment & Conservation, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Indy car driver credits Boy Scout program with helping him grow up

June 17, 2010 By

The #19 car in Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at the Iowa Speedway in Newton is emblazoned with the logo of the Boy Scouts of America, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. For the car’s driver, the Scouts are much more than a main sponsor. Alex Lloyd credits the Boy Scouting program with helping him to grow up.

“Being involved in Scouting is promoting living a good way of life, being active, living with good morals and doing things the right way and going out of your way to help other people,” Lloyd says. “Being involved in Scouting at a young age, as I was, certainly helps install that into your system.”

The 25-year-old Lloyd grew up in Manchester, England, and has been living in Indianapolis, Indiana, the past four years. He was involved in Boy Scouts in England and learned a host of important lessons through the program, from first aid and survival skills to citizenship and physical fitness.

Lloyd says, “At that age where you’re very impressionable and you’re looking for different things to lead you in a direction, being involved in Scouting certainly helps lead you in the right direction and keep you on the right path at a young age, put some good morals and good values into you and also to have fun, have a good active lifestyle, go out there, go camping.”

Lloyd was involved in Tiger Scouts and Cub Scouts for four years or so and he regrets missing out on the chance to advance farther in the program to become an Eagle Scout. He started racing karts at age nine and eventually chose to pursue that as his profession.

“Racing came about and other things came about that meant that I couldn’t go on in the Scouts as long as I’d wanted to and I’d planned when I joined,” Lloyd says, “but still, those years of being able to get all the lessons that you learn, and have fun with everybody and make a whole group of friends, was definitely very valuable to me.”

Lloyd placed fourth in this year’s Indy 500 and has raced at Newton once before. He’ll be appearing tomorrow, with the Boy Scouts of America Indy Car at Bass Pro Shops in Altoona to sign autographs. A Pinewood Derby racetrack will also be set up there so Scouts can race their own hand-crafted cars against the Indy car team and get a picture behind the wheel of Lloyd’s real race car.

Filed Under: Education, Human Interest, Recreation & Entertainment

ISEA president pushing for “second” stimulus for schools

June 17, 2010 By

The president of the state teacher’s union is asking Iowa’s congressional delegation to support legislation that would send millions more in federal aid to America’s schools. Iowa State Education Association president Chris Bern has met with Iowa’s five congressmen and two senators — and he says the Democrats appear supportive of the Education Jobs Bill. 

“Teachers all across the state along with all across the country are being ‘pink-slipped’ and positions are not being filled and so forth,” Bern says. “We need some money to keep people in their positions.”

The bill, in its present form, is sometimes called the “second” economic stimulus package, too.  It would provide an addition $23 billion in salary money for teachers and other school staff.  The first stimulus bill included money targeted for education, too. “We would have been facing large (teacher) layoffs a year ago had that money not come through,” Bern says. “The trouble is the economy hasn’t turned around quick enough so, you know, we need the second stimulus.” 

This “second” stimulus package was first introduced by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, who is chairman of the U.S. Senate committee that deals with education issues.  Bern was in Washington, D.C. this spring to testify before Harkin’s committee.  Bern estimates 3400 jobs in Iowa’s public schools would be saved if the bill becomes law.

“Those positions would be in schools all across the state.  I mean, nobody is being spared from this,” Bern says.  “And so we have small schools, we have large schools that need to have positions restored.” 

Bern says he is “optimistic” congress will forward more federal money to the nation’s schools. ”When I talk to the people in Washington, D.C., when I talk to our national people who are dealing with it more on a daily basis, they see more and more people up on ‘The Hill’ — up in the Capitol — starting to sign onto this, saying that we need it,” Bern says. “So I’m hopeful that we will soon have an Education Jobs Bill passed.” 

None of the three Republicans who serve in Iowa’s congressional delegation voted for the first stimulus package, while all four Iowa Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate voted for it.

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

USDA: farmers’ conservation efforts are reducing runoff

June 17, 2010 By
Conservation practices used by farmers in the Midwest are working to reduce runoff from cropland according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report covers the environmental protections installed by landowners in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, which stretches 190,000 square miles.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, the former Iowa Governor, says the findings are significant. The report shows landowners reduced the loss of sediment by nearly 70%, the loss of phosphorous by almost 50% and the loss of nitrogen by around 20%. Pesticide risk to human health, which Vilsack said is “relatively small,” was reduced by 48%.

Vilsack says more work needs to be done to reduce the subsurface loss of nitrogen through drainage systems, but he believes the report shows progress is being made. “I think this is an extremely important validation of what farmers and ranchers have been saying for some time, that they care deeply about the land and natural resources and they are backing that belief with action and that action is making a significant difference in the Upper Mississippi,” Vilsack said.

The report shows about 15% of the cultivated cropland acres in the Midwest still have excessive sediment losses and require additional conservation treatment. Vilsack notes consistent nutrient management systems are generally lacking in the region, posing a risk to rivers and streams.

 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Environment & Conservation

NE IA felon faces prison for gun possession

June 17, 2010 By

A Waterloo man could face up to 10 years in a federal prison for a threatening two women with a loaded handgun.  

Forty-four-year-old Andre Ross of Waterloo has pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a handgun.  Ross was convicted of second degree burglary — a felony — in 1992.  Authorities say this past January he threatened his girlfriend and another woman with a loaded handgun.  When cops arrived, Ross admitted he had a loaded .22 calibert revolver in one of his coat sleeves and a box of ammunition in the other sleeve. 

Ross is in federal custody, awaiting sentencing.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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