The senior quarterback passed for five touchdowns, rushed for another and returned a kickoff for a touchdown in a win over River Valley. Rohde connected on 10 of 11 passes for 192 yards.
Iowa Caucus date likely to move to early January
September 28, 2011 By
It appears more than likely that Iowa’s Caucuses will be held in early January rather than on February 6. Florida officials are reportedly set to announce that Florida’s Primary will be held on January 31.
“We’ll wait to see what Florida ultimately does on Friday,” Matt Strawn, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “But the one thing that Iowans need to know is that we will be first. The only open question is the date on which we hold our first-in-the-nation Caucuses.”
Iowa enjoys off week to get ready for Big Ten
September 28, 2011 By
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says the off week comes at a good time for the Hawkeyes. Iowa is 3-1 after a lopsided win over Louisiana-Monroe and opens Big Ten play on October first with a visit to Penn State. Ferentz says they’ve graduated a lot of good players the last couple of years and they are in a developmental mode, and this gives them a chance to review things.
Iowa’s passing game has made big strides and a talented receiving corps has given the Hawkeyes a vertical threat. Ferentz says he’s pleased about the development of the group, but says they have a long road in front of them with the knowledge that they have some potential.
The defense has struggled during non-conference play but Ferentz says that unit is making progress even if it does not always show. He says two weeks ago they gave up good plays, and he says the issues have been different every week. Ferentz says they have made improvements and before the end of the season they may have a decent defense.
The defense has received a boost from the play of Jordan Bernstine at safety. He says Bernstine had a “difficult, challenging” injury two years ago when he broke his ankle. Bernstine missed the Iowa State game with strep throat, but Ferentz says he has come back strong.
Grassley says disaster funding “mishandled terribly” by Democrat leader
September 28, 2011 By
The most recent near-shutdown of the federal government that threatened disaster relief funding was a disaster in itself, according to Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley. A vote Monday night averted the shutdown and assured money would be allocated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Grassley, a Republican, says the whole affair was “mishandled terribly” by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. “He drew a line in the sand that didn’t need to be drawn,” Grassley says. “It caused a lot of anxiety for disaster victims for reasons that were later discredited by FEMA, saying that they had money to get them through the end of the fiscal year.”
There was a funding flip-flop in the midst of the partisan debate. Some politicians said FEMA was down to $114-million and would run out of money as soon as Tuesday, while agency officials later said there was sufficient funding to get through the week, or longer. Grassley says the entire exercise was unnecessary.
“There has been and continues to be widespread support in Congress to fund disaster relief for Americans,” Grassley says. “We’ve had an obligation as an insurer of last resort and we’ve always kept that commitment.” It’s been a brutal year for natural disasters, with declarations in 45 states.
In Iowa, the disaster funding that was threatened included the Missouri River flooding along six western Iowa counties and damage from storms and flash-flooding in Dubuque and Jackson counties in the east. Grassley says disaster victims never should have been placed in the middle of the political bickering.
“If you ever wonder about the word ‘dysfunctional’ about government and Congress, you hear it again and again from Iowans,” Grassley says. “A lot of it comes from the polarizing way that the majority party is running the Senate.” The spending measure that passed the Senate on Monday night is short-term. It only funds the federal government for the first seven weeks of the fiscal year, which starts Saturday.
Postal workers rally in four Iowa cities
September 28, 2011 By
A state leader in the Postal Workers Union says Tuesday’s rallies in Sioux City, Waterloo, Dubuque and Des Moines Tuesday are just the start of an effort to build public support for postal workers and the U.S. Post Office.
“I think the truth is beginning to creep through all the barrage of misinformation,” says Bruce Clark of Dubuque, president of the Iowa chapter of the American Postal Workers Union.
Union leaders like Clark say there’s no need to close Post Offices and lay off thousands of postal workers if congress would pass a law to change the way the Postal Service pays for retirement benefits.
D.N.R. confirms mountain lion in Clinton County
September 28, 2011 By
A wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says a photo captured on a trail camera in Clinton County during the past week has been confirmed as a mountain lion. Vince Evelsizer says they are honoring the landowner’s request to not be identified.
He says the will only say the picture was taken somewhere near the Wapsipinicon River in the eastern part of Clinton County and D.N.R. law enforcement officers verified the location and camera where the photo was taken. Evelsizer says the officers also verified the trees and other things shown in the photo. Evelsizer says the mountain lion is likely just passing through Iowa on his search for a new home.
Evelsizer says it’s likely the animal was a young male from a western state as it’s common for some to come from the Black Hills of South Dakota, and it could’ve also come from one of the other western states. He says young males will often leave looking for their own territory.
There were reports of a mountain lion in Iowa City recently. Evelsizer says it is possible this animal came from there, but he says that sighting was never confirmed as a mountain lion. He says the first two sightings did not provide enough evidence that it was a mountain lion, and the third photo was either a dog or cat snapped with a cellphone camera.
Evelsizer says an examination showed the animal in that picture was too small to be a mountain lion. Evelsizer says mountain lion sightings generate lots of phone calls and rumors from the public. He says this confirmed sighting should not be a worry for anyone.
“Most of them are very secretive and shy and prefer to be left alone and don’t want to interact in and around humans,” Evelsizer says. He says the animals have plenty of food and don’t have much reason to bother humans. Evelsizer says the animals usually sense humans long before they are sighted and take off. He says very few of the sightings of the animals are ever confirmed.
Eastern Iowa native dies in Illinois classroom
September 28, 2011 By
Students and colleagues in East Moline, Illinois, are mourning the loss of an elementary school teacher. A custodian found the body of 25-year-old Sarah Knight in her kindergarten classroom Monday night.
Police do not suspect foul play. The results of an autopsy conducted Tuesday were inconclusive, but authorities may know more in the next two weeks when toxicology tests are completed. A school administrator says Knight, who was raised in the Cedar Rapids-Marion area, loved her students and loved to teach.
The former Linn-Mar High School soccer player was bi-lingual and most of her students were Hispanic.
By Phil Roberts, Davenport
