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State plans more testing for chronic wasting disease in deer

November 30, 2011 By

State officials will continue testing deer this hunting season as they look for any signs of Chronic Wasting Disease or C-W-D in the animals. D.N.R. state deer biologist, Tom Litchfield, says they began looking for the disease that’s fatal to the animals in 2000.

Litchfield says they take samples in every county, but they do a concentrated effort in seven northeastern counties, beginning in Allamakee County and heading south into Scott County. The statewide goal is 4,500 samples annually. Last year they took 4,375 samples and they all came back negative for C-W-D.

The reason they focus in eastern Iowa is the disease has been found in both Wisconsin and Illinois. Litchfield says they plan to seek more samples in Howard, Mitchell and Winneshiek counties after a confirmed case of C-W-D in Pine Island, Minnesota. He says Minnesota has sampled over 800 deer since then, and they haven’t found another case of C-W-D in the area, which he says is hopefully a sign they have caught it early and it won’t be coming into Iowa.

A captive deer in Linn County, Missouri tested positive, so Litchfield says they will also look at more samples from Appanoose and Wayne counties in southern Iowa. “Missouri did extra testing last year, we did on our side of the border, we’re both doing it again this year,” Litchfield says, “so far everything has been clean out in the wild and hopefully it’ll stay that way.”

With C-W-D popping up all around Iowa, Litchfield says there’s no certainty it will or will not enter our state. He says whether C-W-D ever reaches Iowa or if it ever will “depends on whether you are a pessimist or optimist.” Litchfield says there’s a chance they could come up with a positive test this year, and it could be another 50 years before that happens.

A majority of the tissue samples tested for C-W-D come from deer shot by hunters that were voluntarily sent in. Many of the samples will start coming in as the shotgun deer season gets underway this weekend. Litchfield says C-W-D is fatal to deer, elk and moose, but there is no evidence to show to that humans can contract the disease.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News Tagged With:

Services set for Iowa Marine

November 30, 2011 By

An Iowa native who died while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan will be remembered in services Friday. Twenty-two-year old Corporal Zachary Reiff, a 2007 graduate of Preston High School, was on his second tour in Afghanistan when he was hit by an improvised explosive device in the Helmand Province on November 18th.

He died three days later from wounds he received in the explosion. Reiff had survived being wounded in an earlier tour and volunteered to return to Afghanistan. Memorial services are set for 10:30 Friday in Preston.

Reiff is survived by his parents Mathew and Marcia, along with a brother and sister.

Filed Under: Military, News

Cain aide says Iowans are “sticking with” the candidate

November 29, 2011 By

A key Herman Cain aide in Iowa says “a few” Cain supporters no longer back the businessman’s candidacy, but the “vast majority” of Cain backers are “sticking with” the candidate.

according to Steve Grubbs, Cain’s Iowa campaign chairman, nearly 900 precinct captains have pledged to talk-up Cain’s candidacy at the Caucuses.   

“We’ve lost a few, but considering all that’s occurred and the dramatic headlines of the last couple of days I look at where we are right now and have a sense of relief that the organization is still largely intact,” Grubbs said this evening, “and our supporters are largely still sticking with us.”

An Atlanta woman has alleged she had a 13-year affair with Cain. Cain sent an email to supporters saying the “woman’s story is completely false” but Cain has also talked about “reassessing” his campaign strategy amid dwindling donations and lingering questions about his foreign policy expertise. During an interview with Radio Iowa this evening, Grubbs said the Cain campaign is “charging ahead” in Iowa.

“Nothing has changed except the fact that we’re going to reassess where we’re at and I take that to mean that we’re reassessing where resources are being allocated,” Grubbs said. “We understand that, you know, with some of the recent controversies, some of our contributions may fall a bit so we have to squirrel away our resources for the end game which starts January 3 and runs through March.”

Cain’s Iowa campaign headquarters is across the street from rival Michele Bachmann’s. On Tuesday one of Bachmann’s Iowa backers Tweeted that “moving trucks” had pulled up to the Cain office, but it turns out the trucks were there to make a delivery.

“We do have 3000 yard signs there now,” Grubbs said. “If anyone would like one, we would be happy to provide them with one.”

Cain has not campaigned in Iowa since November 19.  Two of his rivals plan events in Iowa Wednesday. Michele Bachmann will speak at the University of Northern Iowa early Wednesday afternoon, then make stops in Waverly and Charles City. Newt Gingrich will attend a “Slice the Deficit” pizza party in Council Bluffs Wednesday evening.

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

Perry says he’s tired of “posturing” on illegal immigration issue

November 29, 2011 By

Republican candidate Rick Perry says he does not support “amnesty” for illegal immigrants in any form.

Earlier this fall Perry’s competitors criticized the law he signed as Texas governor which allows illegal immigrants — primarily kids brought into the country by their parents — to pay in-state college tuition if they’ve filed the paperwork to become a citizen. Now that an immigration reform proposal from rival Newt Gingrich is getting scrutiny, Perry is pouncing.

“I don’t think the American people are ever going to agree to amnesty in any form or fashion,” Perry says. “…The country’s going to have a conversation about how to deal with immigration reform, but that is not going to happen until we secure the border.” 

Perry, though, isn’t ready to offer a detailed plan today about how to deal with the 11-12 million illegal immigrants who are already in the country.

“I can assure you that we’re wise enough people to figure out how to deal with them,” Perry says, “but it will not be amnesty in any form or fashion.”

Perry touts the hundreds of millions of dollars the State of Texas has spent on border security during his time as Texas governor. Perry pledges that as president, he would deploy “thousands” of national guard troops to the border with Mexico and have the area secured by January of 2014.

“If you don’t secure the border and if you don’t have a sustainable effort to secure the border, then all the talk that you have about immigration reform is just that. It’s just talk,” Perry says. “It’s just posturing and I’m tired of that.”

He also pledges a get-tough on “criminal aliens” policy if he’s elected president.

“Under my administration, we’ll detain and deport every illegal alien that we pick up,” Perry says. “And we’ll do so with expedited hearings on their citizenship status and then we’ll deal with them appropriately.”

Perry made his comments earlier this evening during a telephone town hall meeting with what his campaign said were “tens of thousands” of Iowans.

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

No endorsement from Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition

November 29, 2011 By

The Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition — a group that started out a couple of decades ago as the Iowa Christian Coalition — will not single out one of 2012 GOP presidential candidates for a public endorsement. Steve Scheffler, the group’s leader, does not plan to issue a public endorsement of his own either.

“Frankly I don’t think Iowans…like to be told who they should vote for when they go to the Caucuses on January 3,” Scheffler says.

There has been speculation that a coalition of Iowa conservative groups might endorse a candidate, to try to rally support around a single, alternative candidate to Mitt Romney. Scheffler says if his own ”Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition” had endorsed a candidate, it would have caused “friction” among Christian conservatives.

“It just seems like a diversion from what the real goal is to turning out a lot of conservative voters to the Caucuses and trusting them to make their choices,” Scheffler says. 

Republican Congressman Steve King is holding out the possibility he will publicly endorse a candidate before the Caucuses, while Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and Governor Terry Branstad have said they will not. The Iowa Family Leader, another conservative group that has led the charge against gay marriage in Iowa, has ruled out backing candidates Mitt Romney, Herman Cain or Ron Paul, but may issue a public endorsement of Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry or Rick Santorum.

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

UNI and Iowa State meet in Ames Wednesday

November 29, 2011 By

The 47th meeting between Iowa State and Northern Iowa is Wednesday night in Hilton Coliseum and the Panthers will be looking for their third straight win in Ames. Both teams are 5-1 and both posted 4-0 records during the South Padre Island Invitational.

Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg says U.N.I. is one of the best coached teams in the country that does not make mistakes and makes you work for everything that you get. He says the Panthers will want to control the tempo and make it a game of execution. Hoiberg says they can’t rush into things and get hurried, as they did that last year and didn’t have good shot selection and didn’t rebound well.

Hoiberg says the Cyclones will need to be patient on defense as he says they think they know what the Panthers are going to do, but he says whether they can stop that is yet to be determined, as they do a good job of taking what the defense gives. He says they will have to keep their concentration for the whole 35 seconds of the shot clock.

Panther coach Ben Jacobson says the Cyclones are a tough team to defend, because everyone can score. Jacobson says all five guys can score and that makes them dangerous offensively. He says you have to pay attention to everyone on the floor and they also can bring guys off the bench who can score.

Jacobson says the Cyclones it will be the biggest test for the Panthers to date. He says a lot of them are new and it takes some time to jell together. Early in the year he says new guys take some time to adjust.

U.N.I. has won four of the last five meetings with the Cyclones.

By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Hull city officials looking for home after fire

November 29, 2011 By

Firefighters working at Hull city offices.

A weekend fire has left the northwest Iowa town of Hull without a city office building. The Hull city office building and an attached shop sustained heavy damage in a fire on Saturday.

The State Fire Marshal’s office has determined an electrical malfunction in a second floor storage area sparked the fire. The shop area sustained fire damage, while the office area received smoke and water damage. City leaders are saying it will be at least six months until they’re able to use the building again.

So in the meantime, they need to decide where to house the city offices. The city does have another building where equipment can be stored, but they’re not sure where to move the offices. For now, they’re in the Hull Public Safety Building.

By Scott Van Aartsen, KIWA, Sheldon

Photo courtesy of the Sioux County Sheriff.

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