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Iowa State hosts UNI Saturday

September 24, 2010 By

Iowa State fans watch the season opener against Nothern Illinois.

The Iowa State Cyclones host the UNI Panthers in Jack Trice Stadium. The Cyclones are 1-2 after a loss to Kansas state and with games coming up against Utah, Oklahoma and Texas they badly need a win.

 Coach Paul Rhoads says they need to come out of the weekend at 2-2 and U.N.I. needs to come out 2-1, so there is a wall in front of them and the entire team knows it is an important football game.

The I.S.U. defense has had trouble stopping the run and the Panthers will provide another challenge. He says they have done well with the option and with the success that K-State had in the option game, they know they will see it. Rhoads says the Panthers can also pass the ball.

Rhoads says the Panthers always have a mental edge in this game as they have nothing to lose, they are not expected to win and come in playing loose. U.N.I. coach Mark Farley says being the third game of the season means this game has a different feel for his players. He says the purpose is to make the team better and do what they have to do to be successful. He says that’s different than when it is the first game of the season. He says there’s also not the sense of needing to get a win over a team in a higher division.

Farley says the first game of the year has an element of surprise, but by the third game the element of surprise is limited to one or two plays. He says most of the Panthers are from the state, and lining up against another in-state team makes it exciting.

U.N.I. beat the Cyclones in their last visit to Ames in 2007 but Farley says this is a much better Iowa State team. Farley says the note to make about Iowa State is that coach Rhoads has changed the attitude of the team and that makes them a challenge.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Iowa looks to bounce back against Ball State

September 24, 2010 By

The Iowa Hawkeyes close out non conference play by hosting Ball State. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz wants his team to bounce back with a solid effort after last week’s 34-27 loss at Arizona. Ferentz says they need to have a good effort to win and he says he was pleased with the way they battled back in the second half of last week.

The Hawkeyes are getting thin at running back after Jewel Hampton suffered a season ending knee injury last week. Sophomore Adam Robinson will be counted on to carry the load. Ferentz says there are a lot of teams that play one tailback and that’s the plan right now. He says it’s not unheard of for one guy to be the featured ballcarrier.

Ball State has used two quarterbacks this season: Keith Wennnig and Kelly Page. Ferentz says one guy throws better and one runs better, and they will find out Saturday which guy they go with.

Iowa is 2-1.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Two Illinois men are charged in 3 Iowa bank robberies

September 24, 2010 By

Two Illinois men are now charged in connection with three bank robberies in southeast Iowa. Morris Thompson III, 26, and Ryan Zasareti, 21, were arrested this week after police tracked down the owner of a red Ford van believed to be involved in robberies of banks in Ottumwa and Mt. Pleasant on August 9th and another robbery of the same bank in Mt. Pleasant on September 15th.

The owner of the van told investigators he allowed Thompson to use the van on several occasions over the past several months. Zasareti was arrested Tuesday as police served a search warrant at a home in Humboldt, Illinois – where the two men were known to reside. Thompson was arrested Thursday after a high speed chase with law enforcement in Illinois.

The two men are now facing first-degree robbery and other charges in Henry and Wapello Counties. The FBI believes Zasareti and Thompson could also be responsible for bank robberies in Louisville, Kentucky on August 17th.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Second district candidates agree on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

September 24, 2010 By

The two major party candidates in Iowa’s second congressional district support the move to repeal the “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy which forbids openly gay and lesbian soldiers from serving in the military. 

Republican candidate Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa served 24 years in the military, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in the Army, and she acknowledges her stand on the issue may be unpopular with some of her fellow Republicans.

“Be it popular or unpopular, I think given my stance in the military, given the needs of the military, people who have served their country, willing to serve their country and also the fact that we also have some translators who are in our military services or helping our military services that we need to remain in the military given our conflict in the Middle East,” she says.

Miller-Meeks says she was asked about this issue in a forum in February, and her answer indicated she will support what the top military brass recommends. 

“If it was the recommendation of the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, the Joints Chiefs of Staff, the generals on the ground, that it would not that affect retention or recruitment, that I would be in favor of repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Miller-Meeks says.  “So I think you have to take that in concert with the people that are actually there in the military.  Does it affect moral, retention of recruitment? Then, if not, then I would be in favor.”

The U.S. Secretary of Defense took the first steps toward repealing the policy in February, appointing a “working group” to come up with a plan for implementing the change.  Second District Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

“I actually agree with the top military leaders in our country — Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen, the chair of the Joints Chiefs of Staff.  They have both said publicly that we need to repeal that policy,” Loebsack says.  “It’s not in the interests of our country to keep that policy in place.” 

Admiral Mike Mullen told congress in February that “allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly (in the military) would be the right thing to do.” The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been in affect for 17 years, and Loebsack says many qualified gays and lesbians have been “excluded” from military service as a result.

“Of course, at the same time, I’m looking forward to the military, the Defense Department completing its study as to how best to implement the repeal of the policy,” Loebsack says.  “But I do support the repeal.”

The two candidates made their comments this morning during a joint appearance on “Iowa Press” — an Iowa Public Television program which airs tonight at 7:30 and will be rebroadcast Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

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

Nebraska man charged in deaths of four motorcyclists on I-29

September 24, 2010 By

A 21-year-old Murray, Nebraska man is now facing charges in the August accident that killed four motorcyclists on I-29 in western Iowa.

A complaint and affidavit was filed in Harrison County District Court charging Andrew Schlichtemeier with four counts of vehicular homicide.

According to a complaint Schlichtemeier was operating a 2004 Chevy pickup north on I-29 at mile marker 95.5 near the Little Sioux exit in Harrison County. It was reported Schlichtemeier’s truck crossed the center line and collided head on with 4 motorcyclists. All four men died as a result of the injuries.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Study finds no adverse impact on in vitro babies

September 24, 2010 By

A University of Iowa study finds children who were conceived using in vitro fertilization, or IVF, perform at least as well as their peers on academic tests — and in some cases, score higher. Dr. Bradley Van Voorhis, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the U-of-I, says this is the largest study of its kind on the subject.

“We’re interpreting the findings as meaning there’s no adverse effect that we can determine from IVF,” Dr. Van Voorhis says. “We’re a little reluctant to say that by doing IVF, kids actually achieve better on their testing, rather, we’re saying we don’t think there’s any evidence of a detrimental effect.”

Van Voorhis, who’s director of the Center for Advanced Reproductive Care at the U-of-I Hospitals and Clinics, says IVF is still a relatively new procedure. It’s been used for about 30 years and is considered highly-effective in enabling infertile couples to conceive. Still, IFV costs between 12 and 15-thousand dollars per cycle, an expense Van Voorhis says makes it available only to certain couples. Thus, that may have an impact on the study.

“It’s possible that the kids’ parents were better educated so there may be some genetic influence,” Van Voorhis says. “It’s also possible that the kids who were conceived by IVF were from a higher socio-economic status which is also linked to better test scores.” More than 460 Iowa children who were IVF babies were compared to some 370 age- and gender-matched peers from the same Iowa schools. They ranged from grades seven through 12.

The study also showed that different IVF procedures — using fresh versus frozen embryos — and different methods of insemination had no effect on children’s test scores. Several factors which researchers thought might have an influence on test scores did end up being an issue, while he says other factors are still a bit of a mystery.

“The higher the mother’s or father’s education was, the higher test scores the kids got,” Van Voorhis says. “Likewise, if a child was in a family where divorce had occurred, than lower scores were found. What was also interesting though was that we found that the older the mother at the time of delivery, the higher test scores of the children.” He speculates that older mothers who use IVF may have fewer children and are able to pay more attention to the child.

Among children born by IVF, the researchers did find a potentially concerning trend toward worse test scores for multiple births — single babies performed better than twins, who performed better than triplets. The study is being published in the October issue of the journal Human Reproduction.

Filed Under: Education, Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Former Clinton schools employee accused of stealing $1.2 million

September 24, 2010 By

A former employee of the Clinton Community School District is accused in the theft of more than $1.2 million from the district. A report from State Auditor David Vaudt covers an investigation of the school district’s books between July 2005 and February of this year.

Auditors found over $1.2 million in undeposited collections, interest and improper disbursements. The district requested the state audit after discovering an alleged misappropriation of funds by the district’s former business office supervisor, 36-year-old Denisa Babcock. Earlier this week, Babcock was indicted on federal charges she stole at least $5,000 from Clinton Community Schools.

Vaudt says the misappropriation of funds includes 177 checks, collected by the district, but not deposited into the district’s bank accounts. Instead, Babcock deposited the checks into personal accounts or used checks to establish or add to a checking account and 30 certificates of deposit at five separate financial institutions.

The investigation found district officials were unaware of the accounts for which Babcock was the only authorized signer. Vaudt says the report has been filed with the FBI, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Education
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