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Criminals won’t be able to buy way out of community service

February 23, 2011 By

Criminals wouldn’t be able to “buy” their way out of community service under legislation that has cleared the Iowa Senate.

A recently enacted state law gave judges the authority to let those convicted of lesser crimes make a contribution to a charity of their choice in order to skip court-ordered community service. Senator Gene Fraise, a Democrat from Fort Madison, says the state’s judges don’t like it.

“The courts have told us they have no way of tracking whether those people make those contributions or not,” Fraise says.

Fraise sees irony in the current state law. ”You make a donation to a charitable organization and you become a real nice person because you committed a crime, and so I just can’t accept that,” Fraise says. “So all this does is just say you will now do your community service instead of making a contribution.” 

Senator Nancy Boettger, a Republican from Harlan, says allowing criminals to write a check so they avoid community service reminds her of the worst side of machine-style politics.

“I grew up in Chicago where there was an opportunity all the time to donate to the policeman’s ball or some other form of a ‘non-profit’ sort of organization,” Boettger says. “And this (bill) really gets to the heart of cleaning that up.” 

The bill passed the Senate on a 48-0 vote and now goes to the House for consideration.

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

New poll: 63 percent want smoking banned at casinos (audio)

February 23, 2011 By

Cathy Calloway

Anti-smoking forces are renewing their push for legislation that would ban smoking at the state-licensed casinos in Iowa. 

The Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance commissioned a poll which found 63 percent of the Iowans surveyed want to see smoking banned on the casino floors. 

Cathy Callaway, a spokesperson for the Tobacco Prevention Alliance, says casinos in the neighboring states of South Dakota and Illinois are smoke-free, and Iowa’s should be, too.

[Read more...]

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

ISU economist says report doesn’t account for differences in public/private pay

February 23, 2011 By

A report release by the Iowa Policy Project Tuesday says when you compare public and private sector workers with similar education — public sector workers make less in pay and benefits than the private sector. (report story)

 Iowa State University economics professor, Peter Orazem says the new report doesn’t account for some factors that determine what a public employee truly makes over a lifetime.

“People are willing to pay potentially more than dollar-for-dollar for benefits. And the reason is benefits aren’t taxed,” Orazem says, “and the benefit of having much more secure employment status is something that people are willing to pay for in the form of lower compensation.” Orazem says the stability of public sector jobs is important.

“There’s a lot of people in the private sector who aren’t earning very much because they’ve lost their jobs and are having trouble finding one. And that’s why that benefit of having a much more secure employment status is something people are willing to pay for in the form of lower compensation,” Orazem says.

Still, Orazem says the report is correct that public employees aren’t making more than their private sector counterparts — but they may just be compensated differently.

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Bill would transfer oversight of egg production to Ag Department

February 23, 2011 By

A bill that would transfer state oversight of egg handling and marketing from one state agency to another is set for debate in a House Committee. Three legislators reviewed the bill early this morning.

Representative Dan Muhlbauer, a Democrat from Manilla, says transferring jurisdiction from the Department of Inspections and Appeals over to the Ag Department makes sense.

[Read more...]

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

Davenport police identify body found in Mississippi

February 23, 2011 By

Davenport police have identified the body of a man found in the Mississippi River. The body of the white man in his 20s or 30s was found in the river by a passerby last week in east Davenport.

On Tuesday, police released a detailed description of the man and his clothing, along with a photo his of tattoos, in hopes someone would be able to help identify him. It worked.

An acquaintance recognized the tattoos and I-D’d the victim. His name has not been released pending the notification of relatives. Police say the man did not drown and the death is suspicious.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Appeals court rules in cases of dual driver’s licenses

February 23, 2011 By

The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled in two similar cases involving drunken driving and the loss of a driver’s license. Both drivers, in Adams and Polk counties, had a regular driver’s license and a commercial driver’s license, or CDL.

Both men were stopped in a private vehicle and refused to take a blood test. In both cases, officers advised the men their license would be revoked if they refused, but didn’t mention the possible loss of their CDL. The D.O.T. argued the information given to the men was sufficient, but the court ruled the drivers need to be told so they can evaluate whether to take to the chemical test.

The court said failing to provide the information on the potential loss of a CDL doesn’t allow them to make a fully-informed decision. The court ruled the licenses of Rodolfo Morales Junior in Adams County and David Dereus in Polk County should be reinstated.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,

Violence in Libya leads to higher gas prices

February 23, 2011 By

The violence in Libya is leading to a spike in oil prices which may quickly translate to higher pump prices in Iowa. Libya is the world’s 18th largest oil producer and also sits atop the biggest oil reserves in Africa. Triple-A spokesman Tom Crosby says crude oil prices are rising for a couple of reasons.

“Right now, we have some issues with the refineries,” Crosby says. “Some of them have cut down production a bit to get ready for the summer months and we also have the unrest in the Middle East. Typically, this is the time of year when the prices climb upward.” Gasoline prices in Iowa are now averaging three-21 a gallon, which is four cents higher than the national average. Crosby says he wouldn’t expect gas prices to jump much further.

“We have plenty of inventory,” he says, “and hopefully, once the refineries get back online around the middle of April, we should start seeing some price abatement.” Crosby says the approaching spring and summer travel season will likely push gas prices higher as demand rises.

“How strong that effect will be will also depend on how well the economy is recovering,” he says. “People that are working, we’ve gone through these run-ups in gas prices before. It’ll all depend on how comfortable people feel paying that extra money for gas, how well their job is, etcetera.”

Global oil prices rose about 7% on Tuesday. Triple-A says Iowa’s current statewide average price of $3.21 a gallon is 62-cents higher than a year ago.

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