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Iowa delegation suggests Obama hit reset button

January 25, 2011 By

Democrats and Republicans in Iowa’s congressional delegation suggest President Obama tried to hit a reset button with tonight’s State of the Union address.

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, says Obama is trying to become a more “centrist” leader because of Republican gains in the 2010 elections.

“This is a miraculous transformation,” Grassley says. “I think it shows that he is responding to the electorate as you ought to with, using his words, the ‘shellacking’ that he took.”

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

Prosecutors raise concerns about gun bill

January 25, 2011 By

Some county attorneys are raising concerns about a gun-related bill that’s under consideration in the legislature. The bill would shield Iowans from prosecution if they use deadly force to defend themselves or others, wherever they may be.

Assistant Polk County Attorney Jeff Noble worries the bill would encourage people to go out looking for conflict rather than avoid it. Noble told a house subcommittee people in his office have a nickname for the bill.

“House File 007: the license to kill bill,” Noble said, a reference to the fictional secret agent James Bond, also known as 007.

Noble told legislators he worries people who are intoxicated or mentally ill will hear about the bill and feel they have greater freedom to shoot someone, wherever they are.  “Because of the specific language that encourages you to stand your ground and meet force with force,” Noble said. “That’s the big philosophical change from a statute that right now says de-escalate if you can, retreat if you have the opportunity.”

Steven Foritano is the bureau chief in the Polk County Attorney’s office.  He told the three legislators on the subcommittee that his office would never prosecute someone who acted in self defense or intervened to prevent a kidnapping or shooting. Foritano warned lawmakers this proposal could give blanket immunity to anyone with a gun.  

“Where we are going to see the use of this bill is in the gang shootouts; it’s in the domestic cases and it’s going to be in the bar fights where you have people that shouldn’t have guns do have guns and using this bill as a defense to further their criminal activities,” Foritano said.

Key Republicans who back the bill say they’ll work with prosecutors and may tweak the bill before it is considered by the House Public Safety Committee in a week or two.  Current law provides a sort of blanket immunity for those who use guns to defend themselves or their property when they’re at home or in their place of business. The bill would extend that immunity to other places.

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

Dwight, Rosenfels urge legislators to invest in solar energy

January 25, 2011 By

 Former Hawkeye football star Tim Dwight made a public pitch Tuesday, urging Iowa legislators to invest in solar energy. 

Dwight, who is director of business development for a company called iPower, says Iowa should position itself to be at the epicenter of the solar panel industry. 

“If you look all around us, we’re surrounded by all these other states — Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin — they all have this industry. This industry’s growing all over the world and if we have all these engineers and all these laborers that don’t have an industry to work in, where are they going to go?” Dwight says. “They’re going to go out of state.”

Dwight says having a solar panel to generate electricity for your home is like having a corn field on your roof.

“I mean, this technology is going to get to the point where it’s going to be cheaper to put in a PV and generate your own electricity than to buy (it),” Dwight says.

Dwight’s company — iPower — may open a production facility in Waterloo that would employ up to 20 people. It would be part of the so-called TechWorks center — a 40-acre site that sits next to the John Deere foundry. The TechWorks project’s backers are hoping to land $7 million in state funding, much of it for retooling two huge buildings on the site.

Dwight testified before the Senate Economic Growth Committee earlier this afternoon.  Former Iowa State quarterback Sage Rosenfels was in the room, too.  Rosenfels, a back-up quarterback for the New York Giants, is an investor in Dwight’s company.

“Tim and I grew up in this state.  We went to college here.  We think Iowa is a forward thinking state and when you talk about solar energy or wind energy, you’re not talking about something that’s going to help you in the next year or two or five years,” Rosenfels says. “It’s something that’s going to help us for generations down the line, if not forever.” 

Dwight, a native of Iowa City, and Rosenfels, a native of Maquoketa, have each played for five different teams in the NFL. Rosenfels did not testify at the committee meeting, but spoke with reporters afterwards about state investment in renewable energy. 

“We both feel strongly that the state needs to help its people realize how important it can be,” Rosenfels said.  “But at the very minimum, it’s creating jobs in this state.” 

Rosenfels has been playing the NFL since the 2001 season.  Dwight retired in 2007 after nine seasons in the NFL.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

U.S. House resolution recognizes Medal of Honor recipient from Iowa

January 25, 2011 By

The U.S. Congress today passed a resolution named for a Medal of Honor recipient from Iowa. All five members of Iowa’s House delegation cosponsored the measure – the Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta Medal of Honor Flag Resolution.

Last year, Giunta became the first living soldier since the Vietnam era to be awarded the nation’s highest military honor. Congressman Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mt. Vernon, spoke about Giunta on the House floor. “While he may not think of himself as such, to me, Sergeant Giunta is a true American hero,” Loebsack said. “He is who I want my grandkids to grow up looking up to. That is a sentiment shared by thousands of Iowans who are tremendously proud of the soldier we’ve come to think of as our hometown hero.”

The 25-year-old Giunta, who was born in Clinton and later moved with his family to Hiawatha, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery in battle in Afghanistan. The resolution approved today will allow Medal of Honor recipients or their families to receive an American flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in the recipient’s honor and a specialized certificate.

Iowa Congressman Tom Latham, a Republican from Ames, called for support of the resolution in a speech on the House floor. “Sergeant Giunta’s service embodies the spirit of selflessness, humility and determination that Iowans are known for both in the military and in civilian life,” Latham said. “We pass this resolution as a heartfelt and profoundly sincere ‘thank you’ for those receiving the highest of honors – the Medal of Honor.”

Giunta will attend the State of the Union Address tonight as a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama and will be honored during a Capitol Hill ceremony tomorrow afternoon.

Filed Under: Military, Politics & Government

Gingrich attacks “big city” critics of ethanol (Audio)

January 25, 2011 By

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich today dismissed the “big city” critics of corn-based ethanol and suggested the biofuels industry will be able to “stand on its own” without federal subsidies once all autos are “flexible-fuel” vehicles.

Gingrich was the keynote speaker at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Summit in Des Moines. ”If we kept $400 billion a year at home that is currently going out of the United States to buy energy, we would be dramatically better off,” Gingrich said. “And, frankly, I would rather have the next building boom in Des Moines than in Dubqi so I think we ought to have a policy that focuses on it.”

Gingrich attacked critics of ethanol, saying a recent Wall Street Journal editorial on the subject was “flat out wrong.” 

“I don’t mind people having an honest argument about ideology, but they ought to at least use facts that are accurate,” Gingrich said. “…This is an interest group fight in which a number of very sophisticated, big interest groups have set up a myth and are busy actively propagating the myth, but the truth is it hurts the farmer.  It hurts rural America and it’s fundamentally unfair to America’s future.”

Gingrich called for new federal regulations to ensure every vehicle made in the U.S. is able to run on ethanol or methane. Gingrich told reporters after his speech that he does not support extension of the federal tax create for ethanol fuel “beyond this year.”  

“If they’re prepared to insist on a flex-fuel vehicle and every car in America’s capable of buying ethanol, I think the industry can stand on its own,” Gingrich said. 

Gingrich has indicated he will announce by March 1st if he intends to seek the G.O.P.’s 2012 presidential nomination. Gingrich joked about one of the themes of President Obama’s State of the Union speech this evening.  Gingrich wrote a book titled “Winning the Future” and Gingrich told the audience he’ll send out a newsletter tomorrow evaluating the president’s proposals and comparing them with those outlined in his own 2005 book.

Listen to Gingrich’s speech here:  Gingrich 27:38 MP3

Listen to Gingrich with reporters after the speech: Gingrich post speech 3:17 MP3

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

Class 4A: Corey Schaefer, Johnston

January 25, 2011 By

The senior guard averaged 25 and a half points and four assists in two games. Schaefer scored 25 points and dished out six assists in a win over Waukee. He connected on eight of 13 shots from the field ad made all nine of his free throws.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports

Class 3A: Derek Bradley, Iowa Falls-Alden

January 25, 2011 By

The junior forward averaged 12 points, more than eight rebounds and nearly eight blocked shots in two wins. Bradley scored 12 points and had 11 rebounds in a win over Fort Dodge St. Edmond. He also scored 12 points and blocked ten shots in a victory over Clear Lake.

Filed Under: INS Player of the Week, Sports
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