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Study raises questions about the use of red light, speed cameras

October 27, 2011 By

A study released today by the Iowa Public Interest Research Group raises concern about the use of outside companies for red-light and speed cameras.

I-PIRG spokesperson, Sonia Ashe, says a couple of Iowa companies have contracts that could be a problem.

She says Des Moines and Cedar Rapids link the number of citations to the amount that’s paid to the company that sets up and operates the cameras. Ashe says the city of Clive also has a contract that pays the company based on the number of citations.

Des Moines pays Gatso $27 out of the $65 for each red light ticket. Cedar Rapids gets $30 of each $100 charged for a ticket. She says Clive has not released the information on its payment.

Ashe says the contracts should not be based on the number of violations. Ashe says a better option is a fee-for-service that pays the company a flat fee for running the cameras. She says that can give cities a better idea of how much the programs cost and can eliminate the lack of public trust. Ashe says mistrust in the process can be driven more by perception than reality when it comes to the contracts.

City officials in all three say the cameras were installed as a safety measure to prevent accidents. Ashe says there are a lot of other things that can be done before turning on the cameras. Ashe says you can lengthen yellow lights, install larger newer signals that are easier to see or lights that display red all the way around before changing. She says these things could be done to improve safety without focusing on ticketing motorists.

Ashe says the city governments should also be sure they can get out of the contracts if they want to, as that has been a problem in other parts of the country. The report is called “Caution: Red Light Cameras Ahead; The Risks of Privatizing Traffic Law Enforcement and How to Protect the Public” can be found on the I-PIRG websites at: www.iowapirg.org.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Featured Story, News

AARP official traveling state talking about Medicare, Social Security cuts

October 27, 2011 By

An A.A.R.P. official in Iowa is touring the state, urging the group’s members to speak out against the idea of cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits. A so-called “super committee” of U.S. House and Senate members has a November deadline to come up with a series of cuts to the federal budget or a mandatory across-the-board cut would be imposed. Anthony Carroll, associate director for the A.A.R.P. in Iowa, says benefits for seniors could be endangered.

“We’re asking our members of congress to use everything in their power to prevent those Medicare and Social Security cuts because this super committee is scheduled to look at and scheduled to come up with $1.2 trillion in cuts at a minimum,” Carroll says, “and everything’s on the table.” Carroll is holding “cookies and conversation” meetings with A.A.R.P. members around the state.

He was in Newton this morning, urging senior citizens to lobby Iowa’s five congressmen now because the super committee’s work is almost done. “They’re scheduled to come up with their proposal…by November 23, so November 23 is really a magical date,” Carroll says. “…Once that proposal’s out, that cannot be amended. It has to be taken as an up or down vote in both the senate and the house of representatives, so the chance to impact what is or is not in that proposal is now.”

The congressional “super committee” is meeting behind closed doors, so it’s difficult to know what’s being considered. But Carroll believes the committee may consider raising the age of Medicare eligibility from 65 to 67. “Two-thirds of those 65- and 66-year-olds would pay more out-of-pocket, an average of $2,200 per year, but it’s also important to know the impact that would have on beneficiaries over (the age of) 67,” Carroll says.

“…On average, 65-to-66-year-olds tend to be healthier, so they have lower expenses, so when you take them out of the pool, it’s estimates that Medicare Part B and D premiums would increase for all remaining beneficiaries by approximately three percent.” Carroll says his group understands adjustments to Medicare and Social Security need to be made if those programs are to remain solvent, but

Carroll says any significant changes should be made public soon so citizens have time talk with their representatives in congress about the proposals.

By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic

Filed Under: News, Politics & Government

Bachmann says “serious” foreign policy issues not getting attention

October 27, 2011 By

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says the candidates and the media need to pay more careful attention to national security issues as the 2012 campaign unfolds. 

“We live in a very dangerous world that’s very volatile. The president of the United States put this country into a fourth war and yet CNN didn’t even bring that up during the course of the debate (last week),” Bachmann said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “This is a serious issue. The president committed 100 special forces troops into part of Africa at the request of Uganda, to go into four different African countries.”

Obama sent the troops to help capture the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a group that has been accused of brutal attacks in central Africa for the past two decades. 

In addition, Bachmann contends the country of Iran committed an “act of war” in the recently thwarted plot to hire Mexican drug runners to kill Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador in Washington, D.C. 

“These are very serious issues,” Bachmann said, “…and clearly this is something that we need to pay attention to.”

Bachmann faults the Obama Administration for failing to reach a deal with Iraqi leaders to keep some American troops in Iraq.

“The real issue here is that Iran is a very aggressive nation and the president has put up no barriers to Iran having undue influence in Iraq and this is a very serious issue,” Bachmann said. “And it shows the president has completely failed the American people on foreign policy.”

Bachmann has been touting her membership on the House Intelligence Committee to voters as a way to bolster her foreign policy credentials. Rival Herman Cain, by comparison, has surged in the polls while stumbling on some foreign policy questions, like whether a U.S. president should negotiate with terrorists for the release of U.S. hostages.

Shifting to campaign tactics, Bachmann has asked the man who managed Mike Huckabee’s successful 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign to lead her Iowa team. Eric Woolson had worked on former presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty’s 2012 campaign and Woolson had recently been helping Bachmann’s campaign with communications and logistics. He’s now Bachmann’s Iowa campaign manager. 

Bachmann is scheduled to campaign in Davenport and Muscatine Friday afternoon, with a stop in Burlington Friday evening.  On Saturday, Bachmann has stops scheduled in Fairfield, Ottumwa and Oskaloosa. On Sunday, she’s scheduled to speak at a church in Marion.

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

Student leaders support tuition increase for UNI, U-I, ISU

October 27, 2011 By

In a somewhat rare move, the student body representatives for the three state-supported universities spoke out in favor of the proposed tuition increase today. They also called for the state to increase funding for the schools.

The Board of Regents heard the first reading of a proposed 3.75% tuition increase for in-state students at their meeting in Cedar Falls. University of Northern Iowa student body president, Spencer Walrath, said the increase is acceptable.

Walrath says the majority of students he has talked to support the increase because they “understand that without it, U.N.I. faces an even greater deficit than it already has.” He says the students want to be able maintain the “high quality education they already receive” and want to be able to get the classes they need.

Walrath say students are concerned about the way tuition has historically increased. “I believe that we have reached a turning point,” Walrath says, “students have been willing to cover our share of the costs, but we are now doing more than our share. When students are paying for almost 60% of the cost of their education at a public university, something in the formula must change.”

Iowa State University student body president, Dakota Hoben, had similar comments. He says it is “very encouraging” to see a tuition increase that falls in line with the higher education price index. Hoben says students understand the need for an increase in tuition to keep up with inflation.

But Hoben says students want to see the state put more money into the universities. Hoben says students hope the regents and legislature take not of the quality of work being done at the universities and understand it is important part of the U.S. being a global leader. “It is of significant importance that the regents and legislators view education as an investment, an investment in tomorrow,” Hoben said.

Hoben’s counterpart at the University of Iowa, Elliot Higgens said he also found support for the increase. Higgens says he understands that we are in a time that requires sacrifices, but he says public higher education has already “taken more than its fair share of cuts” as he says state support for the universities has fallen 23% in 2009 and 2010 alone.

Higgens says the tuition increase is well below what they’ve been used to. Higgens says increase would be one of the lowest in the last 30 years, as the average tuition increase in that time has been 7.3%, or almost double the current proposal.

Regents president, Craig Lang, continued the theme by pointing out the need for the legislature to come up with funding for the schools.

Lang says the request is “highly dependent upon the Iowa Legislature in coming through with the request in the appropriation.” He encouraged the students to continue working with the schools to press the legislature for funding.

The regents will take a final vote on the proposed tuition at their meeting in December.

Filed Under: Education, Featured Story, News Tagged With: ,

State senate candidates avoid talk about gay marriage

October 27, 2011 By

With party control of the Iowa Senate at stake, national groups involved in the same-sex marriage debate have gotten involved in a state senate race in eastern Iowa. The two candidates who are running, however, never mentioned gay marriage in a public forum last night at Linn-Mar High School in Marion.

Republican candidate Cindy Golding, a farmer and businesswoman, argued getting government out of the way would allow the “true genius” of Iowans help the state grow and prosper.

“The approach to encouraging economic development, encouraging education, encouraging business is getting some of the regulatory red tape out of the way so Iowans can pursue the excellence that this state has been known for,” Golding said.

Democrat Liz Mathis, a former TV anchor in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, argued state policymakers must do a better job of setting priorities and providing incentives to jump-start the economy. “Support companies that hire new Iowans, new Iowa hires, and you give them a $2000 tax credit to do that and that will stimulate growth,” Mathis said.

Both candidates said they support cutting property taxes and neither support raising the state gas tax. A man in the audience last night shouted at the end of the forum, asking the candidates for their stand on same-sex marriage. Opponents of same-sex marriage are running ads, passing out fliers and planning a national bus tour stop in the district two days before the special election.

One Iowa, a group which supports same-sex marriage, has emailed supporters, warning this race has become a “referendum” on the issue. The two candidates will meet on stage again tonight for their second forum ahead of the November 8th special election for the senate seat that includes with city of Marion and other areas of Linn County, but not Cedar Rapids.

The Democratic senator who had represented the area quit so Governor Branstad could appoint her to the Iowa Utilities Board.

Filed Under: Featured Story, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

ISU ag college sees 34-year high in enrollment

October 27, 2011 By

Enrollment in the ag college at Iowa State University has reached its highest peak in more than three decades. Wendy Wintersteen, dean of I.S.U.’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, says unlike most of the national economy, demand for workers in the many fields of agriculture is very robust.

“Five years or so ago, the industries in the state came to us and said we were not producing enough graduates for them to employ,” Wintersteen says. “As we looked at the growing needs, not just in Iowa but the nation and the world, we knew we had to do a better job of helping students understand the diversity of opportunities and the sciences of agriculture.”

She says they’re succeeding, as agriculture is wide-ranging in scope. “Whether it’s about farming or it’s about genetics or microbiology or animal science, the opportunities are really limitless,” Wintersteen says. Undergraduate enrollment in the I.S.U. ag college climbed to 3,585 students this fall, hitting a 34-year high.

She says it is part of a dedicated effort to attract more young people to careers in ag. According to Wintersteen, any of the big issues facing the world have solutions rooted in agriculture. “Whether it’s food production, whether it’s fuel, whether it’s environmental and water quality concerns, you pick a topic that we need to be addressing in this country and the basis of the science and technology is really coming from agriculture and associated engineering disciplines,” she says.

Representatives from 175 companies were in Ames last week for an Agriculture Career Fair, which Wintersteen says resulted in 525 individual interviews. The Earth’s population is expected to exceed seven-billion this month and may reach nine-billion by 2050. Experts say food production must increase by 70-percent in the next four decades to meet the needs of that population.

By Dan Skelton, KICD, Spencer

Filed Under: Agriculture, Education, News Tagged With: ,

Eastern Iowa transplant features rare swap among identical twins

October 27, 2011 By

Twin brothers from eastern Iowa are recovering from a rare kidney transplant surgery. Doctors at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics say it’s the first “perfect match” kidney transplant performed at the hospital since 1967. Fifty-year-old Merlin Hamm of West Branch received the kidney from his identical twin brother, Marlin, of North Liberty. Both brothers were discharged from the hospital after spending only four days in recovery.

“I am just amazed,” Merlin said. “I am amazed at how well I feel.” Merlin was diagnosed with near complete kidney failure in 2009. Marlin said he never hesitated to donate his brother a kidney after he learned of his illness.

“I can survive on one kidney just fine and help (Merlin) live a longer life. I didn’t want to lose my brother, not only because he’s my brother, he’s also my best friend,” Marlin said. “I’d have to say it was probably one of the most important decisions I’ve made in my life, but it was also one of the quickest decisions I’ve made in my life.”

Kay Tupper, the twin’s mother, said she was overwhelmed but not surprised by how much her sons supported each other. “It’s because we’re close…you’re a family and that’s what you do,” Tupper said. The brothers learned just prior to surgery they were identical, rather than just fraternal, twins. The discovery meant the twins were a 100% compatible match and that Merlin risked few complications and wouldn’t require anti-rejection treatment.

The Hamm’s next battle will be paying for the operation. Both brothers are self-employed contractors and pay their own medical bills. The family is planning a benefit for November 5 at the Eagles Lodge in Iowa City to help lessen the financial burden of the surgery.

Here’s information on the benefit:

The family of Merlin and Marlin Hamm will host a benefit for the twins at 5pm on November 5 at the Eagles Lodge in Iowa City. A $10/plate chili dinner will be followed by a silent auction and raffle. Donations can be made to the Hamm Brothers Benefit Fund in care of Don and Kay Tupper at 402 Waterway Drive, Iowa City, IA 52246 or sent to Hills Bank and Trust Company/Hamm Brothers Benefit Fund at 131 Main Street, Hills, IA. 52235.

By Mark Carlson, KCRG, Cedar Rapids

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, News Tagged With:
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