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Zaun accused of being “insensitive” to flood victims

July 27, 2010 By

Democrats say Republican congressional candidate Brad Zaun of Urbandale is “insensitive” for complaining earlier this year about flood victims who seek government help.

Zaun made the comments four months ago during a forum in Des Moines.  “What has been forgotten is personal responsibility.  We’ve lost that as a country,” Zaun said. “We expect when there’s a flood or something that’s going on, the government to come in and help us.”

Zaun is challenging Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell in November and Zaun’s comments were posted on-line Tuesday by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Sue Dvorsky chimed in, too, saying Iowans believe there is a role for government when natural disaster strikes.

“Brad Zaun, talking about personal responsibility is where they need to go when their house gets washed away,” Dvorsky said during an IowaPolitics.com forum this morning.  “…People in this state do not believe for a minute that the people in Manchester or Cedar Rapids are standing there with their hand out, waiting for some kind of government…to come down and save them, but they’re looking for partnership.” 

Boswell, the Democrat Zaun hopes to unseat, issued a written statement this afternoon, calling Zaun’s comment about flood victims “insensitive and out-of-touch.”  Boswell accused Zaun of having a “long record of repeatedly voting against helping Iowa’s families, small businesses, and farmers in the aftermath of the 2008 floods.”  According to Boswell, Iowans pay taxes with the “expectation that when a disaster strikes” they’ll get some help from the government to rebuild their homes and businesses.”

Zaun is in Washington, D.C., and this evening he issued a written statement about the remarks he made in late March.  “My statements have been taken out of context by the liberal hit machine in DC.,” Zaun said in the written statement.  ”…Shame on Congressman Boswell and his liberal friends in DC for using people’s recent tragedy to attempt to score cheap political points. This specific display of politics is example of why Leonard Boswell will be retired this Fall.” 

Boswell and the four other men in Iowa’s congressional delegation issued a joint statement Tuesday, urging the Obama administration to speed up damage assessments in Iowa so federal disaster aid can be distributed more quickly. The group of two Republicans and three Democrats in Iowa’s congressional delegation co-signed a letter, complaining about red tape that delays the delivery of federal disaster aid.

(This story was updated at 6:45 p.m. with Zaun’s statement.)

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government, Weather Tagged With: , ,

National leaders poised to keep Iowa Caucuses first in 2012

July 27, 2010 By

The leaders of Iowa’s two major political parties say they’re confident Iowa’s Caucuses will remain first-in-the-nation.

The Caucuses have been the kick-off event of the presidential nominating season for nearly four decades. National leaders in the Democratic and Republican parties appear poised to adopt rules this summer which would schedule the 2012 Iowa Caucuses on February 6.

Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn says the proposed rules allow Iowa, then New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to hold Caucuses and Primaries before March 1, 2012.  ”I’m confident that we’ll move forward with that plan,”  Strawn says. “It’s just a great area where the parties do work well together.”

Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Sue Dvorsky says it’s a topic on which the two parties in Iowa are in total agreement.

“It is remarkably important for Iowa to remain first-in-the-nation and I think there are a multiple set of reasons for that, one of which is that we are a tremendously engaged electorate here — a politically-literate electorate,” Dvorsky says.  “And we can host these candidates from both sides in a way that really allows them to showcase themselves become better candidates.”

Dvorsky was elected chair of the Democratic Party in June after Michael Kiernan, her predecessor, resigned for health reasons. Dvorsky and Strawn made their comments earlier today during a forum sponsored by IowaPolitics.com. 

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, a potential Republican candidate in 2012, is due to campaign in Iowa this weekend. More than a handful of other Republicans who are pondering a bid for the White House have campaigned in Iowa since the 2008 General Election, including former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the winner of the Republican winner of the January 3, 2008 Iowa Caucuses.

Filed Under: Campaign Countdown, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Home-run hitting sparse at state tourney

July 27, 2010 By
Storm Lake batter awaits pitch in game against Charles City

Storm Lake batter awaits pitch in game against Charles City

High school baseball teams playing in the state tournament this week are forced to adjust to the more spacious conditions at Principal Park. Center field measures 400 feet and it is 335 feet down the first and third base lines. That means there are fewer home runs and more ground to cover for outfielders.

Martensdale-St. Mary’s, the top-ranked team in Class 1A, has hit 51 home runs this season but had none in a first round victory against AR-WE-VA (Westside). 

“We just go up there with the mindset of trying to get a good pitch to drive,” Martensdale-St. Mary’s coach Justin Dehmer says.  “Some of the home runs we hit certainly wouldn’t go out at Principal Park, but there were others that probably would have…Doubles, triples — we’ll take those, too.”

Dehmer says it’s worth it to have the state tournament in the stadium, even if it changes the game a little bit.  “What else could you want?  It’s the best place to play in Iowa as far as I’m concerned,” Dehmer says. “It’s second to none.  It’s awesome.  They take great care of it and they treat it well.”

Remsen St. Mary’s opened the Class 1A tournament with a victory over Southeast Warren and coach Jim Klein says the surrondings seem “massive” to the players as there’s a bigger field, bigger stands and larger crowds — .    “You probably get a lot less home runs, which is fine with me.  I don’t have a problem with that,” Klein says.  “It’s just the euphoria of everything going on.”

Class 2A third ranked Davis County has 47 home runs this season, but did not have one in Monday night’s quarterfinal round victory over PCM (Monroe). Davis County coach Todd White says the dimension are not all that much different from what his team experienced during the regular season.  “In our conference we play in a couple of parks of very similar size to what Principal Park is, so our kids are kind of used to it,” White says.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

Pella man sentenced to 15 years in prison

July 27, 2010 By

A Pella man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on child pornography charges. 

Forty-four-year-old James Allen Russell of Pella was convicted of receipt of child pornography. Prosecutors say Russell had downloaded and saved about 150 images of child pornography from the internet.  Russell entered a guilty plea in April.  This week Russell was sentenced to 180 months in prison. After that 15 year term is up, he’ll be on parole for another 10 years. 

Russell was nabbed through a nationwide initiative called “Project Safe Childhood” that involves federal, state and local authorities. The U.S. Attorney for Southern Iowa issued a statement on Russell’s case, saying “while the internet has many practical uses, it is also a place where sexual predators lurk and attempt to sexually-exploit children.”

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Flood victims told to separate curbside trash

July 27, 2010 By

Tons of appliances, hazardous materials, furniture and carpeting are among the items being pulled from flooded homes and businesses in northeast Iowa. Mike Wade, an environmental specialist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, is asking flood victims to separate “white goods” or appliances and chemicals from other trash.

“It’s the same thing we did in Cedar Rapids (in 2008),” Wade said. “At the curb, just separate them out so there are separate piles with stuff that can be taken directly to a landfill. A contractor can decommission the white goods so they can be disposed of properly and then the household hazardous wastes like paints and those types of things can be taken to a facility to be properly disposed of.”

The DNR is working with waste disposal companies to coordinate flood debris pickup. Wade says much of the debris will end up in the Dubuque County landfill. “So, we’re trying to work out those details now of how we can actually get stuff picked up not only at Lake Delhi, but Monticello and all the places up and down the river,” Wade said.

Businesses are required to contact a contractor who can verify that no asbestos is in the building materials that may need removed. Wade says building materials likely to contain asbestos include ceiling and floor tiles, insulation and slate siding.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Four percent decline in number of Iowa construction jobs

July 27, 2010 By

There’s been a four percent drop in the number of jobs in Iowa’s construction industry over the past year.  

An Associated General Contractors of America analysis found just 25 of the country’s metropolitan areas had growth in the construction industry.  The analysis covered the 12-month period that ended June 30th.

In the Des Moines metro, there’s been a loss of about 500 construction jobs — a decline of about five percent. In Cedar Rapids, the drop in construction jobs was less, about one percent. There was a two percent decline in the number of construction jobs in the Quad Cities.  The Omaha/Council Bluffs metro recorded a loss of about 2500 construction jobs, a 10 percent decline. 

Over the past 12 months there was a 10 percent decline in the number of construction jobs in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  In neighboring Wisconsin, the Associated General Contractors report shows stability, with essentially no job losses from June of 2009 through June of 2010.  In Missouri, there was an overall 12 percent drop in construction jobs.  In Illinois, the drop was eight percent for the year.

State-by-state analysis from Associated General Contractors of America.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Miller-Meeks blasts Loebsack for siding with “old boys club”

July 27, 2010 By

The Republican candidate in Iowa’s second congressional district says the ethics investigation of a New York congressman is an indictment of Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack of Mount Vernon, too.

The House Ethics Committee voted last week to have a full House investigation of Charlie Rangel over accusations he didn’t pay taxes on $75,000 worth of rental income from a Caribbean villa and other alleged ethics violations. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, the Republican challenging Loebsack in November, says Loebsack voted in 2008 to “block” an investigation of Rangel. 

“I think voters need to know that we continue to have corruption that exists and we have members of congress who give a pass and even impede investigations when they vote not to investigate members of their own party,” Miller-Meeks says. 

Miller-Meeks ran against Loebsack in 2008 and lost. She raised this issue in the last campaign, but she says it’s an issue again in 2010 because there’s now to be a high-profile investigation of Rangel that Loebsack had voted to block two years ago.

“That’s the same politics as usual, the same ‘old-boys club’ if you will, that’s caused a lot of discontent,” Miller-Meeks says.  “And it’s caused distrust of people in their elected officials.”

On Monday morning Lindsay Burr, Loebsack’s campaign manager, said she would issue a response to Miller-Meeks’ charges, but 24 hours later Burr had not yet done so.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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