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Budget cuts threaten water quality watchdog bureau

May 30, 2011 By

The state geologist warns that budget cuts are landing especially hard on a lesser-known division of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Funds may be nearly cut in half next year for the Iowa Geological and Water Survey, which monitors the quality and quantity of both surface and underground water.

Bob Libra, at the Geological Survey, hopes for more money by the time the legislature’s budget negotiations end.

“There’s not much hope of that in the current world, I guess,” Libra says. “If they land somewhere pretty close to the base figure that the DNR’s been operating under, then then plan that we’re describing here is how they are going to address it.”

The Geological Survey’s cuts are particularly difficult because the bureau relies more on the state’s general fund than some other divisions of the DNR, plus, it had fewer vacant positions to absorb the cuts.

Libra says they haven’t decided how to compensate for the loss of talent if the anticipated layoffs occur.

“Some of our expertise on dealing with the health and quality of lakes in this state will not be there,” he says. “We’re not sure quite how to overcome that yet.”

The DNR’s budget has been cut by nearly 40-percent since 2009. Libra’s hoping budget negotiators land closer to the Senate’s proposed funding for the DNR which is about half a million dollars higher than the House.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation Tagged With:

Loebsack presses for end to “reservations” at Arlington

May 30, 2011 By

Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-Mt Vernon) says it’s wrong for “VIPs” to get “reserved” gravesites at Arlington National Cemetery.  According to Loebsack, those deals violate an Army policy established in 1962.

“Every eligible servicemember should be buried at Arlington without regard for rank or status,” Loebsack says. “Unfortunately, Army policy has gone unheeded for over 40 years and past supervisors of the cemetary have allowed to these to continue.”

A week ago the U.S. House unaniomously passed a  proposal Loebsack co-sponsored which forbids the practice of letting big wigs have reserved spots at Arlington.  ”Arlington National Cemetery, as we all know, is our nation’s most hallowed ground,” Loebsack says. “The promise we make to those who wear our nation’s uniform and to their families is that our nation will honor and remember their service, that we will never forget freedom is not free. I strongly believe that we should honor all of those who have served by putting an end to reservations at Arlington once and for all.”

The cemetery was established in 1864 and more than three-hundred thousand people are buried there. Cemetery officials report over three-thousand burial “reservations” are on file, but it’s not known how many were filed before the 1962 policy forbidding reservations went into effect.  Under that Army policy, veterans who received the Medal of Honor or other awards for distinguished or heroic service are eligible to be buried at Arlington and any soldier is eligible if they die while on active duty.

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

Man with “secrets to long life” to speak in Cedar Rapids

May 30, 2011 By

A man who’s traveled around the world for National Geographic will be visiting Iowa next month to share “the secrets to a long and happy life.” Dan Buettner’s presentation includes photos of what he calls “Blue Zones” – or the locations around the globe where he’s found humans are “healthiest and happiest.”

Buettner says he recently tested some of his methods for adding “quantity and quality” to people’s lives in Albert Lea, Minnesota. “We raised (Albert Lea residents’) life expectancy by about three years, we lowered their health care costs by 40 percent and everybody lost weight,” Buettner said. “I’m going to talk a little bit about this vitality project in Albert Lea and I think the people in Iowa will see very clearly, ‘we can do that here.’”

Buettner says Iowa already has a high concentration of elderly residents, but that’s due in part to a population shift.”Part of it is the good, clean living of our grandparents. Our grandparents really have something to teach us about living longer,” Buettner said. “But, part of it is that younger people tend to leave rural cities and leave a higher concentration of the very old.”

Running marathons and taking vitamins aren’t necessarily the key to healthy living, according Buettner. He says studies have shown people who eat just two ounces of nuts four times a week live up to three years longer than those who don’t eat nuts. And people who claim to wake up in the morning with “a sense of purpose” tend to live seven years longer.

“So, a lot of the things we think make us live longer – like supplements or weight watcher programs – really don’t have any effect at all and there are a lot of small things that really add up to helping us a lot,” Buettner said.

Buetter, who appeared as a regular guest on the Oprah Winfrey show, is scheduled to speak in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, June 16 from 7 to 8 p.m. The event is free at the Cedar Rapids Marriott (1200 Collins Road NE).

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Miscellaneous

Teacher killed when tree falls on tent during storm

May 30, 2011 By

An eastern Iowa teacher was killed in the Sunday morning storms when a tree fell on her tent while she was camping at Lake MacBride State Park, near Solon.

Administrators at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School confirm the woman killed was Jennifer Lewis, a chemistry teacher at the school. Principal Mary Wilcynski says Lewis had taught at Kennedy since 2009.

Wilcynski calls Lewis: “Just an outstanding young woman, just in the beginning of her career, really.” She describes Lewis as a “chemist by nature and a teacher by heart.”

Wilcynski says counselors will be available for students and for teachers. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Record snowpack could mean river flooding into July

May 30, 2011 By

While we’ve already heard plenty about record flooding of the Mississippi River the past few weeks, more floods may be coming across the region, including on Iowa’s opposite border, the Missouri River. Climatologist Al Dutcher says record snowfall in the Rocky Mountains will keep many Midwestern rivers running high well into the summer.

“The big problem is, there’s just a tremendous snowpack,” Dutcher says. “We’ve seen a real delay in the onset of the snowmelt season in the inter-mountain region and we keep getting upper air lows that sink into the central Rockies and then slowly drift onto the Plains. It’s caused a lot of problems across the Midwest in terms of planting delays and very heavy precipitation.”

Dutcher says all of those factors coupled with a continued rainy pattern could mean more swollen waterways soon. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

June brides can get down the aisle & not break the bank

May 30, 2011 By

June is the busiest month of the year in Iowa for wedding bells to ring and most brides who are planning their big days are having to mind a tight budget.

One vital element is capturing the ceremony in pictures, but wedding planner Jessica Bishop says don’t let the photographer rope you into buying a massive pile of prints.

“Finding one that will allow you to purchase the digital files from them instead of paying for a big package with a fancy album,” Bishop says. “Somewhere down the road, when we save a little money, we’ll get our album finally but it wasn’t really included in our day-of budget.”

Every bride has to have a bouquet, but she says you don’t need to spend a bundle on the flowers to come off smelling like a rose.

“You can really save a lot of money by choosing blooms that are in season,” Bishop says. “You can definitely save money by using more of the ‘filler’ kind of flowers, like carnations and babies breath, and you can get a lot of them for a reasonable price and they look really stunning.”

In addition to the cost, Bishop says many Iowa brides are concerned about the environment. She has a few tips for saving trees while trumpeting the matrimonial news.

“Sending out email ‘save the dates’ instead of a formal paper ‘save the date,’” she says. “Not only will you save the paper, but you’ll save the postage. They animate and come out of the envelope and it’s really a cool experience.”

She says depending on the cost, you might consider biodegradable wooden utensils for the guests to eat with instead of using plastic spoons and forks or renting silverware.

Bishop says the recent royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is setting trends in Iowa already.

“We’re going to see a lot of white,” she says. “Even her bridesmaid-sister, Pippa, wore a white bridesmaid’s dress. I think that’s kind of like saying, ‘Hey, it’s okay for the bride to not be the only person wearing white.’”

She says the royal wedding was very elegant and that may also influence a change in Iowa weddings to more formal affairs, away from the more rustic, outdoor events we’ve been seeing frequently in the last few years.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Corn stalks, ethanol & the environment

May 30, 2011 By

A central Iowan who’s been heavily involved in Iowa’s ethanol industry says making ethanol from corn stalks will help row crop farmers reduce the amount of fertilizer they use. Bill Couser, a farmer who is on the board of directors for the “Lincolnway Energy” ethanol plant near Nevada. suggests Iowa farmers will be able to scale back the amount of farm chemicals they apply if corn stalks are cleared off the land and used to make ethanol.

“What’s happening is when we put our fertilizer down, a lot of that fertilizer is going to the residue that’s there to help break it down,” Couser says. “…We can, managed right, take some of this residue off and utilize it for another purpose.”

Couser rejects the notion the soil will blow away when the corn stalks are removed, as he says the root systems remain in place.

“With the hybreds that we’re developing today…when you look at drought-tolerant corn, it’s all about the root…The root system underneath the ground is tremendous compared to what we had 20 years ago,” Couser says. “…When you look at what’s above the ground today, as a farmer it’s become a real issue when it comes to residue management. When you drive by these corn fields, this residue on top there is a real problem.” 

And Couser argues removing those stalks for ethanol production will be a boon to the environment, as farmers will use less fertilizer, and the stalks will another income source for farmers.

According to Couser, Lincolnway Energy is one of two plants “in the running” as the site of a new “cellulosic” facility that would convert corn stalks into ethanol. Couser says it could boost per-acre profits significanlty.

“What happens if they need 4 ton per acre of corn stalks, now, to be able to produce 47 more gallons of ethanol?” Couser says. “…We’ve taken that 4 tons of corn stalks per acre…We’ve just added another $180.60 to the economic growth of the state of Iowa.” 

Couser made his comments during a speech at the Iowa Energy Forum.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Environment & Conservation, Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,
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