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Bachmann questions timing of Obama’s September 7 address to nation

August 31, 2011 By

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann suggests President Obama fears the message she and the rest of the GOP candidates will deliver at a debate next week in California. 

Bachmann spoke to a small crowd in a Des Moines park earlier this evening, telling the group Obama was showing his “insecurity” by trying to schedule an address to the nation on September 7.  That’s the same night as the Republican candidate debate at the Reagan Library in California. According to Bachmann, Obama either wants to distract the American people or he doesn’t want the American people to hear the Republican candidates critique Obama’s job creation record.

“He hasn’t exactly delivered on his promises for jobs. Is that an understatement?” Bachmann asked the crowd, which let out a sort of collective grumble before she answered her own question with: “I think so.” 

A White House spokesman said the timing for the president’s speech was “coincidental” and he suggested the Republican candidates might like the opportunity, during their debate, to respond to Obama”s new plan.

Tonight in Des Moines, Bachmann told the crowd she had spent the day in Iowa meeting with “job creators”, but the evening “Tea Party Express” was the only public event on her schedule. Bachmann spoke for a few minutes and then talked with people at the rally for about 10 minutes, but two musical acts followed her on stage and their singing drowned out most of the conversation. A few reporters tried to speak with Bachmann as she made her way to the campaign’s bus, but the candidate boarded the vehicle and departed for the airport without answering questions.

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

Drake opens the season Thursday in North Dakota

August 31, 2011 By

The Drake Bulldogs open the season on the road, tomorrow night, with a visit to North Dakota. Drake coach Chris Creighton has been impressed with his team during pre-season workouts. He says they lost some big names defensively and he likes the way they have been playing team defense as everyone seems to have raised their game.

This will be a tough opener against a North Dakota team that is entering its fourth year as a division one program and competes in the Great West Conference. Creighton says it is critical that the Bulldogs limit mistakes, as the first game of the year turnovers and special teams are the things that always pop out.

Creighton says North Dakota will have a physical advantage and they will try to use it with their offense and running the football. He says defensively they will try to stop the Bulldog run.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Effort underway to reduce accidents on Jasper County highway

August 31, 2011 By

The Iowa Department of Transportation is taking action in hopes of reducing the number of accidents on a dangerous stretch of highway in central Iowa. The speed limit is being reduced from 65 to 60 miles-an-hour along a 1.5 mile section of U.S. Highway 65 and Iowa Highway 330 in Jasper County.

Iowa D.O.T. spokesperson Scott Dockstader says the road’s intersection Iowa Highway 117 has a history of severe, fatal accidents.

“We’ve been analyzing it for a while and we’ve done numerous signing changes and modifications. Speed limit is just one of the tools we’re using at the intersection,” Dockstader said.

The high accident rate is blamed, in part, on a high traffic count. “It’s a four-lane state roadway with another high volume, two-lane state roadway. There’s just a lot of traffic movements, which is difficult for folks to get through,” Dockstader said.

The change will take effect Thursday as D.O.T. workers will be installing the new 60 miles-an-hour speed limit signs.

By Randy Van, KCOB, Newton

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With: ,

Palin will be in Indianola Saturday

August 31, 2011 By

Sarah Palin at the Iowa State Fair.

A source familiar with her plans says former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will appear at a “Tea Party of America” event in Indianola this weekend. 

A person close to the Palins told Radio Iowa this afternoon Sarah Palin will be at the event Saturday. It will be staged at the balloon fields in Indianola.

There’s been ongoing confusion about the speaking roster for the event. For example, Delaware Republican Christine O’Donnell, an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010, was invited.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Iowa CCI tactics called “unproductive and embarrassing”

August 31, 2011 By

The chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party has publicly rebuked a liberal activist group that has gained media attention by confronting politicians of both parties.  

Martha Scarpellino, a member of the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, described her group this way after they pestered presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Iowa State Fair: “I’m with these guys: the loud, noisy question-askers.”

The group also heckled the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee spoke at the Fair.

This past week Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sent out a press release with details of how the group had “confronted” Republican Senator Chuck Grassley at a town-hall meeting in Carroll “for over an hour” and “demanded” that the senator not cut Social Security. A columnist for the newspaper in Carroll blasted the group’s “ambush tactics” during and after the event.

Sue Dvorsky, chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party, issued a statement, calling the actions of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement members “unproductive and embarrassing.” She accused the group of being “less focused on results and more focused on creating chaos” that gets written about by the media.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement issued a statement in response, saying Dvorsky’s attack was “baseless” but the statement also quoted another CCI member as saying “sitting back quietly while career politicians debate cuts to our livelihood would be unacceptable.”

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Holiday travel expected to be down

August 31, 2011 By

A busy travel holiday is just ahead, but industry experts say the number of travelers will be down about 2.5% across the state and nation compared to Labor Day weekend last year. Gene LaDoucer, spokeman for Triple-A-Iowa, says several factors play into the estimate.

LaDoucer says, “Largely, it’s a mixed economic outlook, consumer uncertainty and recent downturns that are effecting discretionary income and are forcing people, particularly in the lower-income levels, to stay closer to home or at home.” A survey finds airfares are up 13-percent compared to last year.

Gasoline prices in Iowa are now averaging $3.61 a gallon. He says on Labor Day weekend of 2010, gas prices were exactly one dollar cheaper. “Gas prices are up about 30% from where they were at this time last year,” LaDoucer says. “People are telling us that the higher prices aren’t necessarily going to keep them from traveling. What it is going to do, however, it’s going to keep them closer to home. They’re going to find different ways to cut back to make up that increased expense.”

He says hotels, restaurants and attractions in Iowa may actually benefit from the reduced travel prediction. “If you can cater to the audience that’s in your particular area, you could do quite well,” LaDoucer says. “Because of the outdoor activities that are prevalent in the Midwest, there’s a lot of things people can go out and enjoy for one last hurrah for the end of the summer travel season.”

He notes, travel nationwide may be down even more than forecast as communities on the East Coast recover from damage caused by Hurricane Irene.

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

“Not sure yet” whether Palin to appear in Indianola Saturday

August 31, 2011 By

(An update to this ongoing story is available here.)

It’s unclear now whether former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will appear at an event in Indianola on Saturday. 

A person close to the Palins tells Radio Iowa they are “not sure yet” whether Sarah Palin will speak at the “Tea Party of America” event to be held at the balloon fields in Indianola.

There’s been some confusion about the speaking roster for the event. Delaware Republican Christine O’Donnell, an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010, was invited, then dis-invited, then re-invited to speak.  The Des Moines Register is reporting O’Donnell is now off the invite list again, as of today. 

When Palin’s appearance at the event was first announced weeks ago, it served to amp-up the speculation about whether Palin intends to run for president in 2012. 

[Read more...]

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