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Legal expert, supporter, discuss abortion bill

February 22, 2011 By

A Drake University Law professor says legislation designed to ban all abortions in Iowa would face years of legal challenges if adopted by state lawmakers. The measure, currently awaiting debate by the House Human Resources Committee, is a direct challenge to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe versus Wade ruling.

Professor Ian Bartrum says the South Dakota legislature approved a similar ban a couple of years ago only to have voters rescind the law in order to avoid a lengthy court battle. “We would first have a federal trial court process and that would take a couple of months, then go through the court of appeals which would take a year to year-and-a-half and then if the Supreme court were to take it, it would probably be at least another year and maybe longer than that depending on what the court wanted to do,” Bartrum said.

In addition, Bartrum says it’s unclear if the current Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold an outright ban on abortion. He says while the court is more conservative than it used to be, swing vote Justice Anthony Kennedy is still more likely to support a partial ban on abortion than a full prohibition.

The head of a leading conservative group in Iowa says he will support legislation that bans abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy if the even stricter ban fails. Chuck Hurley, president of the Iowa Family Policy Center, says he prefers a ban on all abortions but he understands why some Republicans are willing to accept a partial ban.

“There is a sense of desperation when you can’t pass a law that’s plain as the nose on your face to protect innocent human life,” Hurley said. “Then, do you try to save the lives you can? Probably, yes.” Neither abortion bill has made it out of full committee yet. The Iowa Department of Public Health reports more than 6,000 abortions are performed in Iowa annually.

Around 94% of those are before the 13th week of pregnancy. Hurley and Bartrum made their comments Monday on the Iowa Public Radio program The Exchange.

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

Study will look at corn production and weather impacts

February 22, 2011 By

A $20-million  research project funded by the U.S.D.A.’s National Institute of Food plans to examine climate impacts on the U.S. corn crop. Iowa State University sociology professor, Lois Wright, is overseeing the effort of 42 scientists from 10 universities. She says they are looking at several factors that impact the growing of corn.

She says they’ll be looking at the carbon-nitrogen and water footprints in the corn-bases system, with particular interest in what happens when long-term weather patterns change, and how it impacts the corn-based cropping system. Wright says the various scientists come from a lot of different areas of study, and that is what should lead to a more diverse study.

Wright says it should lead to a flow of ideas where people in one discipline are asking questions that another discipline haven’t asked before. She says it puts people together who may not have interacted before and now they are asking new questions, and she says that’s the exciting part of the study. Wright says the data already suggests weather patterns are changing.

Wright says there are eight to nine more days in the growing season than in the past, higher dew point temperatures and some extreme weather events that have some really big implications. Wright says the end result of the study should allow corn growers to make some better decisions on planting and producing their crop.

She says the work will go from the research to the extension, so producers will have good research and science to make some decisions for their own farm and land. Wright says those decisions have an impact that goes beyond the grower, something that is already being seen today as food prices are impacted worldwide by weather. The study will cover five years.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Weather Tagged With: ,

Ottumwa escapee back in custody

February 22, 2011 By

A man who escaped from a work release facility in Ottumwa eight months ago is back in custody. Twenty-four-year-old Travis Musgrove was captured Sunday by police in Knoxville. He was taken to the Marion County Jail.

Iowa Department of Corrections officials say Musgrove failed to return to a work release facility in Ottumwa on June 19

He was transferred to the program last March. Musgrove was convicted of three counts of child endangerment and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2007.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Survey shows 80% of hay is energy deficient

February 22, 2011 By

Livestock specialists at Iowa State University say lab tests show nearly 80% of the hay harvested in Iowa last summer could be energy-deficient. Denise Schwab, with I.S.U. Extension, says the tests involved more than 500 hay samples and the implications are especially critical for pregnant cows.

“We either need to supplement with better quality hay or with energy feed – such as corn, corn gluten or corn distillers grain – in order to provide enough energy for the cow to maintain herself, grow that fetus and be able to rebreed for the next year,” Schwab said. The nutrient-deficient hay is blamed on last summer’s heavy rains which prevented timely harvesting of the grasses. Schwab says the problem has been compounded by this winter’s cold temperatures.

“The harsher the winter, the more energy that’s needed just to maintain that cow – let alone provide for that fetus growing inside her,” Schwab explained, “so this winter, which was very cold through December and January, really made the problem that much worse.” Sheep are also affected and Schwab says many Iowa dairies are importing hay from outside the state.

Filed Under: Agriculture Tagged With:

Unions to hold rally at statehouse today

February 22, 2011 By

A group of Iowa-based unions plans to hold a rally at the statehouse in Des Moines this afternoon as a “show of solidarity” with protests in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s governor has proposed major changes in that state’s labor laws, sparking days of protest at the state capitol in Madison. Danny Homan, president of AFSCME Council 61 in Iowa, says Iowa’s governor and some Republican legislators are pushing a bill in Iowa that he calls “Wisconsin Lite.”

[Read more...]

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

Sale of U-I Pollock painting abandoned by legislators

February 21, 2011 By

A controversial proposal to sell a valuable painting at the University of Iowa to raise money for scholarships has stalled at the statehouse. Representative Scott Raecker, a Republican from Urbandale, says lawmakers will no longer be considering the sale of the Jackson Pollock painting.

“Definitely it was an emotional issue on both sides, and trying to reach a consensus, I believe was going to be extremely difficult and would take up an extraordinary amount of time, and right now the legislature needs to focus on passing a budget,” Raecker said. The painting is valued at $140-million.

Raecker says talk of its sale touched a nerve, and there’s not enough time in the session to reach a consensus on the issue. Raecker says there were logical arguments made about the accreditation of the museum, about the impacts on donor relations, and about having an asset that won’t be on campus until the year 2015.

Raecker says there was disagreement about the sale even among members of the Board of Regents. Governor Branstad expressed concern during his weekly meeting with the media Monday, after philanthropist and art collector John Pappajohn weighed in against selling the painting. Branstad said the sale could have a chilling effect on future donations, but Raecker says that didn’t affect his decision to back off on his bill.

See the painting here: uima.uiowa.edu/jackson-pollock

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

Vanderbeken still uncertain for the Cyclones

February 21, 2011 By

Iowa State basketball coach Fred Hoiberg hopes senior forward Jamie Vanderbeken will be able to return to the lineup for tomorrow night’s game at fifth ranked Texas. Vanderbeken has missed the past two games with a sprained ankle.

Hoiberg says Vanderbeken got better right away, and then hit a plateau and has still not been able to complete a full practice and will remain a game time decision.

The Cyclones are 1-11 in the Big-12 and have lost nine straight games. Hoiberg says the team really wants to end the streak and they continue to work on their weaknesses in practice. Hoiberg says the Cyclones need to stop digging themselves an early hole.

He says the big thing that has cost them games is the slow start they get off to, and says the Missouri game is a good example, as they got down 12 points early. Hoiberg says if they play a full 40 minutes they are going to win a game.

The Longhorns are coming off a loss at Nebraska and coach Rick Barnes says he could see it coming. Barnes says he can count on one hand the number of bad practices they have, but he says they haven’t had a game where they have played well throughout.

Barnes wants to see his team bounce back with an inspired effort, as he says they have to continue worrying about improving what they are doing and not the opponent.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,
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