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UNI coach proud of football season

November 29, 2010 By

U.N.I. coach Mark Farley says he’s proud of the season his Panthers put together. U.N.I. was eliminated in the opening round of the FCS playoffs after a 14-7 loss to Lehigh and finished the season with a 7-5 record after winning the Missouri Valley regular season title.

Farley says the team did play well together and he is pleased with the coaches and team and how they played through the season. He says they were making thing happen as they were playing as a total team, even though they were a young team.

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Panthers but Farley says senior leadership helped get the program back to the playoffs. He says it was night and day compared to last year what this team did with its talent compared to last year. Farley says they won this year not because of talent, but because of leadership.

By Elwin Huffman KOEL Oelwein

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Iowa basketball faces Wake Forest in ACC/Big 10 Challenge

November 29, 2010 By

The Iowa basketball team returns to action on Tuesday night at Wake Forest. It’s part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says he thinks it is a great series that he has enjoyed watching over the years. He says it generates interest in the game.

The Hawkeyes are 3-3 on the season while Wake Forest is also 3-3 under first year coach Jeff Bzdelik who took over the program after a three year stint at Colorado. McCaffery says Wake has tremendous talent and quickness, but are making some mistakes because of their youth.

McCaffery says this would be a big early win for the Hawkeyes, as he says any time you play an established program like Wake Forest, it is another step to where you want to take the program. He says any good team has to show they can win games on the road.

This will be the Hawks’ first true road test of the season. McCaffrey says it will be similar to what they see in the Big Ten as the energy level will be dramatically different and they will have to make sure they don’t make as many mistakes as they have made.

Sophomore Cully Payne is sidelined with a sports hernia so junior college transfer Bryce Cartwright becomes the starting point guard. He has been averaging over nine points per game off the bench. McCaffrey says he expects good things from Cartwright and he will have to be ready to play more minutes.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

UNI volleyball team to host NCAA opening round

November 29, 2010 By

The U.N.I. volleyball team will be at home next weekend for the opening round of the N.C.C.A. Tournament. The Panthers are 30-2 and received the fifth seed in their region after winning the Missouri Valley tournament in Cedar Falls.

U.N.I. coach Bobbi Peterson says they felt like they did what they needed to do to be the host of the tournament and are happy to get the opportunity to show what they can do. Petterson says she is happy with their five-seed as there were a lot of things that happened that go them into that position.

The Panthers will take on Missouri in Friday’s opening round. Arizona and Northwestern meet in the other first round contest. She says it is huge to get the exposure and she expects a big turnout of fans. Iowa State travels to Minneapolis for a first round matchup against Creighton on Friday.

North Dakota State and Minnesota collide in the other first round contest.

By Elwin Huffman,KOEL, Oelwein

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With:

Holiday traffic deaths drop compared to last year

November 29, 2010 By

Traffic accidents claimed at least seven lives in Iowa over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Scott Falb, with the Iowa Department of Transportation, says another incident could raise the death toll to eight.

“We’re not sure if that one will qualify as a traffic fatality yet, so we’re waiting for more information,” Falb said. The fatal accidents between Wednesday and Sunday occurred in Polk, Cerro Gordo, Worth, Harrison, Montgomery and Sioux Counties. Falb says at least three of the accidents happened last Wednesday and are blamed on icy roads.

Ten people were killed in traffic crashes over the Thanksgiving period last year. “We have been at or near double digits most of the last five years,” Falb said. The last time Iowa recorded fewer than seven traffic deaths over Thanksgiving was 2004, when there were two.

The crash in Montgomery County happened Sunday night and claimed the lives of two children. They’re identified as 5-year-old Maliki Todd and 4-year-old Alex Todd, both of Cumberland. Two adults were badly injured in the crash.

Authorities say the fatal crash in Sioux County may’ve involved alcohol. A South Dakota man died in that crash when his vehicle left Highway 10 and ended up on its top in a river embankment.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Record number of Iowans voted in general election

November 29, 2010 By

Iowa Secretary of State, Michael Mauro, says a record number of voters cast ballots in the general election this month. Mauro says 54%percent of registered voters went to the polls.

Mauro says that wasn’t a record percentage, but it was a record for number of participants as just over 1.133-million people voted. Mauro says  over 350,000 people voted early and he says it looked like several of the people who voted early had in the past voted in person on election day.

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Filed Under: Politics & Government

Branstad raising money from private donors to supplement $10,000 transition budget

November 29, 2010 By

Governor-elect Terry Branstad is hosting a fundraiser next week at a Des Moines restaurant to raise money from private donors to finance the transition of power in state government.

The current budget is $10,000. That’s the amount of state tax dollars set aside by a long-standing state law for a transition to a new governor. Dave Roederer, the Branstad aide who’s managing the transition, says Branstad’s staff is being both cautious and creative with those limited resources.

“It’s no different than what Iowans are doing every day with a tough economy,” Roederer says. “They’re having to be innovative. They’re having to do things that they wouldn’t maybe have thought of, had they had the resources to do it, so we’re no different than anyone else.” 

However, a lot more money was set aside for the last two transition periods for a new governor. Back in the spring of 1998, Branstad agreed with legislators to set aside $125,000 in state tax money to finance what became Tom Vilsack’s transition to governor. In 2006 when Vilsack prepared to leave office, Vilsack also set aside far more than just the $10,000 stipulated by Iowa law.

Roederer says he can understand why the Democratically-controlled legislature may not have wanted to draw up a six-figure budget for a new governor’s transition when Democrat Chet Culver was seeking reelection. 

“In fairness, what makes this unique is it’s been 50 years since an incument governor (of Iowa) did not leave office voluntarily, so I can understand a governor running for reelection wouldn’t necessarily want to put in his budget that there was going to be a transition — assuming that he wasn’t going to win,” Roederer says.

Roederer and two other Branstad staffers are being paid a salary to work on the transition. Everyone else who’s working on the project is volunteering their time. 

Roederer will ask legislators to change state law to ensure a larger amount is set aside for future transitions, avoiding the prospect of a governor who seeks reelection having to suggest an amount be allocated for his opponent’s transition to power.

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

Report says most Iowa banks are making a profit

November 29, 2010 By

A federal report concludes most Iowa banks were making a profit this fall, and the delinquent loan rate in Iowa banks is about half the national average. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released its third quarter report last week. It found net earnings at Iowa banks increased 24 percent compared to the same period last year.

About 80% of banks in the United States were making a profit during the third quarter, but an even larger proportion of Iowa banks, 92%, were in the profit zone. More than 360 banking institutions in Iowa were included in the F.D.I.C. report.

Those Iowa’s banks had about 43-billion dollars in outstanding loans and leases over the past four quarters according to the Iowa Bankers Association. Just under two percent of the loans in Iowa’s banks are “non-current” meaning they’re delinquent or the folks paying back the loans have fallen behind in making their payments.

That’s about half the national average according to the Iowa Bankers Association. The F.D.I.C. reports Iowa banks are holding about $67-billion in deposits.

Filed Under: Business
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