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Iowa State losing streak hits 10 games

February 23, 2011 By

Iowa State’s losing skid is now at ten games. Fifth ranked Texas blew the game open in the second half in a 76-53 win over the Cyclones. I.S.U. trailed by nine at halftime before the Longorns took control early in the second half.

Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg says he challenged them at halftime to make a run, but he says they came out to casual with the ball and that led to some easy baskets for Texas and the game got out of hand. The Cyclones shot only 33 percent from the field against a smothering Texas defense.

Hoiberg says Texas defends well and has been holding everyone under 60 and stay in games with their defense. He says they are fast and strong and deep and that caught up to his team.

The Cyclones fall to 1-12 in the Big 12 and 14-13 overall.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Budget plan requires an appraisal of the Iowa Communications Network

February 23, 2011 By

The House and Senate have agreed to require the state to take bids on the potential sale or lease of the state-owned fiber optic system known as the Iowa Communications Network (ICN). The requirement is part of a budget bill that will soon go to the governor.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, a Republican from Cedar Rapids, says the requirement doesn’t mean the ICN will be sold. He says it doesn’t require the state to sell the network, but it does require the state to see what the “fair market value” of the network is.

The network has linked schools and libraries statewide with two-way audio-visual communication for more than two decades. Paulsen says private industry provides a similar service. Paulsen says the private sector may be a better way to deliver the service, so they will take a look at it and see if they can serve Iowans better by getting out of the business and not pumping money into it every year.

Critics have long argued that the state should not be competing with private industry for telecommunications services. But Senate Democrat leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, says the Republican bill could result in a fire sale of the network.

Two Democrats ,including Swati Dandikar of Marion, broke with the Democratic party to get the measure through the Senate. Dandikar says the state should find out how much the network is worth before investing any more state dollars in its upkeep.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Former Cedar Rapids fire chief says budget caused him to leave

February 23, 2011 By

The man who became the fire chief of Iowa’s second largest city just nine months ago abruptly retired last week. Stephen Reid gave no reason for his decision, until now. Reid says he originally planned to stay with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department for three to five years. But, he claims a lack of support from administrators and a bare-bones budget forced him to leave less than a year after taking the job.

“They really don’t give two hoots about the fire department,” Reid said. A dispute with City Manager Jeff Pomeranz clinched Reid’s retirement plans. Reid says Pomeranz turned to him at a manager’s meeting and basically told him to leave. “He said, ‘if you’re not happy, just get out. Get out now,’” Reid said. “He went on five to seven minutes talking like that. He didn’t really look at anyone else. He stared at me the whole time.” Pomeranz denies singling out Reid and said his message was aimed at everyone in the room.

“The point was, we want you to be here, but if there’s someone who doesn’t want to be part of the leadership of Cedar Rapids and see this work in progress through, you need to think about your future,” Pomeranz said. Reid says the lack of funding and support for the fire department was unacceptable – placing the safety of both firefighters and citizens in jeopardy because of a lack of firefighter training.

Pomeranz admits there were items Reid requested that were rejected, but calls funding levels for the department appropriate. “We added to the department’s equipment. We added to the training department’s budget. We’re also in the middle of building a new facility for the fire department,” Pomeranz said. Reid said some city council members made him feel unwelcome during his entire tenure. Pomeranz said he’s confident the fire department is moving forward in the right direction.

By Mark Geary, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government

Lawmaker seeks limits on food stamp purchases

February 23, 2011 By

A long-time lawmaker wants to prohibit Iowans from using food stamps to buy junk food, but grocers warn the move may be difficult for stores in Iowa’s border communities.

Representative Dave Heaton, a Republican from Mount Pleasant, says he gets lots of calls from constituents who say they’ve been in the check-out line behind someone who used food stamps to buy candy and soda, but Heaton says whenever he’s tried to address the issue, officials in the Iowa Department of Human Services wave him off.

[Read more...]

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

Vaudt rates Branstad budget plan

February 22, 2011 By

State Auditor Dave Vaudt says the state budget outline Governor Bransad presented legislators nearly a month ago makes progress on a number of fronts, but Vaudt still sees a few pitfalls in the plan.  

“Even with the improvements that he’s made — he’s made a huge reduction in the reliance on one-time funds and so forth — but even with the proposal that he’s put forward, there’s a few concerns,” Vaudt says. 

Vaudt, a Republican, endorsed Branstad’s bid for a fifth term as governor last May and campaigned with Branstad extensively. Vaudt says Branstad has done more than Democrat Chet Culver did as governor in making longer-range budget plans, but Vaudt says Branstad and his staff are counting on a roughly 10 percent increase in state collections over the next two years to fuel state spending plans.

“And obviously, my concern is they might be too optimistic,” Vaudt says, “and if they are, that could have some impacts on whether we might have to do budget cuts down the road.”

 Vaudt was a frequent critic of the state budgets previous Democratic Governors Culver and Vilsack drafted. Vaudt gives Branstad high marks for proposing cuts in “selected areas” of the budget and for using far fewer one-time sources of revenue for routine state operations. 

 But Vaudt says five years from now, Branstad’s plan still would see the state spend more than it collects in taxes. “Which tells us, even on a long-term basis, we still have some improvements we need to make in order to bring ourselves into a truly balanced budget going forward,” Vaudt says.

Vaudt concludes the state budget outline Branstad presented legislators in late January would spend half a percent more than the current year. Democrats in the Iowa Senate released a sketch of their overall state spending goals late yesterday, saying it spends about $16 million less than Branstad’s plan.

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

Three Iowa National Guard soldiers injured in Afghanistan

February 22, 2011 By

The Iowa National Guard says three soldiers from a unit in Dubuque were injured in Afghanistan by an “Improvised Explosive Device.”

Guard spokesman, Colonel Greg Hapgood, says the soldiers were injured Monday. Hapgood says at approximately 11:45 A.M. local time, the soldiers with Company A of the First Battalion, 133rd Infantry, were injured when their uparmored vehicle was attacked during a patrol in the Laghman Province.

The soldiers injured are 23-year-old Specialist Adam Eilers of Garber, 20-year-old Specialist Andrew Zimmerman of Camanche and 22-year-old Private First Class Caleb Redell of Erie, Illinois. Hapgood says he doesn’t have an update condition report on the three. He says they are receiving medical at Bagram Air Base for their injuries and will be evaluated for possible evacuation for further treatment depending on the extent of their injuries.

PFC Caleb Redell

Hapgood says the Iowa soldiers where in a vehicle designed to protect them for such attacks. Hapgood says they were in a “mine resistant ambush protected all terrain vehicle” or MATV, the newest most sophisticated armored vehicle used by infantry units in the Army. He says the equipment made a difference in their surviving the attack.

“Certainly this vehicle saved these soldiers lives,” Hapgood said. Some 2,800 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers are on active duty now in Afghanistan.

Photos courtesy of the Iowa National Guard.  A photo of Andrew Zimmerman was not available.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

Cedar Rapids man’s bike ride leads to prison

February 22, 2011 By

A wayward bike ride has ended in a seven-and-a-half-year year prison sentence for an eastern Iowa man. A Cedar Rapids police officer noticed 29-year-old Shawn Jones riding a bike and weaving on the road and sidewalk in September of 2009.

The officer knew Jones had outstanding warrants and approached him and asked for identification. Jones got off the bike and told the officer his I-D was in his apartment, and then took off running. Jones caught his foot on a fence as he tried to jump over it and the officer saw something fall from his pant leg.

After arresting Jones, the officer discovered the item was a nine millimeter handgun. Jones had been convicted of going armed with intent, assault causing serious injury, and two counts of domestic battery, and was not allowed to have a weapon. He later pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. A district court judge has sentenced him to 90 months in prison on the charge.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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