January 27, 2012

You are here: Home / 2011 / Archives for November 2011

The campaign calls it “Newt-mentum”

November 28, 2011 By

A couple of the Iowa political insiders who left Newt Gingrich’s Iowa presidential campaign this past spring are back working for Gingrich again and, with a little more than a month to go before votes are cast in Iowa, there’s a mad rush to build a functioning Gingrich campaign apparatus here. 

Jeremy Freeman, 20, an Iowa State University student, has just this month decided that Gingrich will get his vote on Caucus Night.

“I looked at every candidate…and what I like about Newt is the sheer brilliance of the man,” Freeman said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “Nobody can out-think him.”

Freeman saw many of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates in person and kept up with what happened in this fall’s televised debates.   

“I just really don’t think Barack Obama can stand up to him in a debate,” Freeman said of Gingrich.

The political fortunes of Gingrich rose steadily this fall as Gingrich turned in notable performances in the debates. The Gingrich campaign calls it “Newt-mentum” and Will Rogers, the former Gingrich political director in Iowa, said Gingrich has gained ground because he has been able to deliver a “coherent message” when people started paying attention.

“I think Newt’s going to surprise a lot of people,” Rogers said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “Going back to May of this year there were a lot of the national pundits who said his campaign was over with – but with his momentum in Iowa and New Hampshire, at this point he could certainly be our party nominee.”

Rogers has made a host of other commitments since leaving the Gingrich campaign on May 31, so he isn’t going back on the Gingrich campaign payroll. Two other Iowans who left in June have returned. Katie Koberg helped organize a series of Gingrich campaign events this past spring which drew hundreds of potential supporters, but she was among the mass exodus of staff from the Gingrich campaign after Gingrich went on a 10-day cruise in Greece with his wife. About 10 days ago, Koberg returned to the Gingrich campaign staff. 

“The volunteers are coming out of the woodwork, yet again,” Koberg said during an interview with Radio Iowa earlier today. “The crowds of people who are showing up in other states are also tremendous and promising.”

Gingrich is due in Iowa Thursday for at a Polk County GOP banquet in Urbandale. Organizers say a crush of media and reporters from as far away as Sweden plan to cover the event and ticket sales are “through the roof.”

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

Rhoads says Cyclones continue to improve

November 28, 2011 By

Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads says his team has steadily improved and the loss at Oklahoma on Saturday will not diminish that improvement as they prepare for the final regular season game at Kansas State.

Rhoads says his team is playing its best football of the year and they go into December with the opportunity to win two more

games, and that’s the position any team wants to be in. The second game will be a bowl game as the Cyclones are 6-5. They went to a bowl game in Rhoads’ first year, but weren’t eligible last year. He says they are in a position now to sustain a winning effort.

Roads says there are things he’s seen in the last two games that he didn’t see two years ago. He says then they played Oklahoma State and Oklahoma two years ago they “got whipped.” But he says they are physically stronger now and it has taken three years.

The defense played well in the win against Oklahoma State, and they also held the high-powered Oklahoma offense in check. Rhoads says experience is part of the reason.

He says they have a heightened understanding of the game plan and how specific it is to their success, an he says they are tackling well and speeding to the ball. While they are improving, Rhoads says Kansas State has a lot of advantages heading into this game. He says they have had two weeks to rest and prepare, it will be senior day, and they will be playing for a conference championship and a chance to upgrade their bowl. Rhoads says they have to be sure their preparation is what it needs to be to compete.

Jared Barnett lost his first start since taking over at quarterback for the Cyclones in the loss to the Sooners. He says the offense made too many mistakes. He says they offense didn’t execute and didn’t start well, and then the turnovers and penalties hurt them. Barnett says the defense held them in the game.

“The defense is playing great football right now, they are definitely the heart of this team right now,” Barnett said. He says they had too many three-and-outs and turnovers that didn’t give the defense time to rest. Barnett says they will have to do better against the Wildcats.

He says they have to run the ball better and he has to do a better job of realizing where the blitz is coming from, as that opens up running lanes that he has to take advantage of and run. Barnett says the offense will have to play better to have a chance at Kansas State.

Barnett says they need to get the ball to the backs early and avoid turning it over as he says K-State is good at taking advantage of turnovers. Kansas State is 9-2 overall. Kickoff is 11:30 in Manhattan.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Quad Cities couple cashes in one million dollar Powerball ticket

November 28, 2011 By

A Quad Cities couple got a big surprise over the holiday weekend. Esteban and Linda Ramos of East Moline, Illinois claimed a $1-million Powerball prize today at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines. Esteban handed the winning ticket to his wife as she was preparing Thanksgiving dinner.

“I looked down at the ticket and realized we had the (winning) numbers. At first I thought I was seeing things. I just felt really dizzy, the room was spinning and I fell over backyards,” Linda Ramos said. “I couldn’t stop crying. I was just flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe it.”

The couple’s winning ticket for the November 19 drawing was purchased at a convenience store in Bettendorf. Fifty-four-year-old Esteban Ramos immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 and became an American citizen in 1990. He works as a machine operator at Production Cutting Services in East Moline. Linda, 47, works as a dispatcher for a school bus company.

After taxes, the couple is collecting $700,000. “A million dollars seems like a lot of money, but after taxes…we’re just going to live comfortable,” Linda said. “We don’t have any children. Our life is going to be a little bit easier now.”

The couple plans to pay bills, plan for retirement, help their families and make some donations to charities they already support. The Ramos’ ticket is the ninth lottery prize of at least $1 million won in Iowa this year.

Filed Under: News, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With: ,

Iowa Christmas tree growers donate to the troops

November 28, 2011 By

The Iowa Christmas Tree Growers Association loaded up 80 trees today at the Iowa State Fairgrounds to be sent to U.S. servicemembers in the “Trees for Troops” program. Iowa association executive director, Jan Pacovsky (Puh-chew-skee), says it’s an annual tradition the growers look forward to.

Pacovsky says they have been taking part in the program since 2005 as a way to say thank you to all of the military members for the things that they do. The growers bring in the trees and FedEx donates the shipping. She says the shipping started in October, sending trees to Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan, and then they use trucks here to hall the donated trees to bases where they can be shipped out.

Pocvsky says it has been a popular program. “We get a lot of good response back, and we get a lot of response even from people who have (family members) in the military, that they really feel it’s a good cause,” Pacovsky says. She says people who don’t have family members in the military like the program and will sometimes donate trees or money to help with the costs.

Pacovsky says the growers in the U.S. have a goal of reaching 100,000 trees since the start of the program in 2005. She believes they will get close to that goal this year.

There are just over 100 choose and cut Christmas Tree farms in Iowa, with close to 1,500 acres in tree production. Approximately 39-thousand trees are harvested annually across the state.

This year trees were donated by:
Mel & Jan Pacovsky, Pine Acres, New Hampton; Ken & Shirley Andrews, Wickiup Tree Farm, Alburnett; Andrew & Diane Davis, Scotch Hill Christmas Trees, Oskaloosa; Jerald & Cindy Deal, Deal’s Orchard. Jefferson; Dale & Julie Fagner, DJ Christmas Pines, Elkader; Mark & Jackie Fisher, Fisher Tree Farm, Clear Lake; Gary & Jane Harman, Walnut Ridge Farm, Indianola; Harold & Carol Hill, Hill’s Tree Farm, Minburn; Steven Hoogestraat & Joann Martin, Hoogestraat Christmas Tree Farm, Arcadia; Sandra Hunter, The Christmas Tree Farm, Maxwell; Mike & Renee Kidman, Kidman Tree Farm, Polk City; Loren & Liz Kruse, Kruse Christmas Farm, Grundy Center; Terry & Lona Lewis, Horse Creek Farm, Sidney; Bob & Karla Moulds, Wapsie Pines Tree Farm, Fairbanks; Jim & Marilyn Murphy, Murphy’s Walnut Hill Nursery, Runnells;
Joe & Janice Reutter, Enchanted Valley Tree Farm, Boone; Bob & Terry Strohbehn, Poweshiek Pines Tree Farm, Brooklyn; Michael & Deb White, White Christmas Tree Farm, Indianola; David & Norma Bappe, Holiday Pines, Decorah; Cynthia Bruins, Indianola Tree Farm, Indianola; Jack and Beth Miller, Miller Tree Farm, Runnells.

Filed Under: Agriculture, Human Interest, Military, News

ISU professor uses smart phone app in place of textbook

November 28, 2011 By

An Iowa State University horticulture professor is turning to a smart phone app to replace a textbook in one of her classes. Cindy Haynes helped develop the app to help students learn to identify more than 250 garden plants by their color, height, physical features, growing zones and other stats. The app is available to the general public for $20 and to students for just $10, versus textbooks which routinely run more than $100.

“This is cheaper than the textbooks that I could require for the class,” Haynes says. “Twenty dollars isn’t that substantial and $10 for the students isn’t bad at all. And yes, it’s a way to filter it back to the university and not to a book publisher and the author of a published book sees less than this.”

Haynes says one-third of the purchase price goes back to the university. She says the app, called “Mobile Educator: Flowers 101,” is going over very well with students and she thinks it’s also allowed her to improve on her craft, too.

“Going through this process has made me realize how my students study for this particular class and how I can better connect with them or help them learn different studying techniques or different ways to use technology,” Haynes says. “It made me think about how they study and how I teach and that in itself makes me a better teacher.”

The app is designed to be compatible with i-Phones and Droids. In addition to saving students money and making it easier to study, Haynes says the app is also catching on with master gardeners and garden center employees.

Filed Under: Education, News Tagged With:

Iowa Democrats tout “Mitt versus Mitt” effort (audio)

November 28, 2011 By

Iowa Democrats have joined their national party’s effort to cast Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a serial flip-flopper on issues ranging from gays in the military to immigration reform.  The Romney campaign, in turn, accuses Democrats of trying to shift attention away from the economy.

During an early afternoon news conference at Iowa Democratic Party headquarters, State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald said “character matters” to Iowans.

“You expect someone to be running for president to know what they believe in and have their core beliefs,” Fitzgerald said. “Occasionally something can and will change, but when everything changes, something’s wrong.”

The Democratic National Committee is running a “Mitt versus Mitt” television ad in a handful of states, but not in Iowa. However, Democrats organized a series of news conferences in states like Iowa to press the anti-Romney message and Fitzgerald is part of that effort. 

“(Romney) consistently changes his position on all the issues and then criticizes the other candidates for having his old position even,” Fitzgerald said.

AUDIO of news conference at Iowa Democratic Party headquarters.

Fitzgerald was an early and very public supporter of Obama’s candidacy four years ago. In February of 2007 Fitzgerald endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama’s bid for the White House during Obama’s first trip to Iowa as a declared candidate.

Last week during a campaign stop in Iowa, Romney told reporters his own ad attacking President Obama had gotten under the skin of the Obama campaign.  The ad quotes Obama in 2008 saying, “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Obama’s camp cried foul, as Obama was quoting rival John McCain at the time.

“What’s sauce for the goose is now sauce for the gander,” Romney said of the ad last week.

Former Iowa Republican Party chairman Brian Kennedy, co-chairman of Romney’s 2012 Iowa campaign effort, spoke with reporters in telephone conference call this afternoon, about two hours after the Iowa Democratic Party’s news conference.

“Mitt Romney – with a record of working in the private sector, with an understanding how the real economy works – can get this country moving again and President Obama knows he can’t win that debate, so he’s trying…to change the subject,” Kennedy said.  ”…It’s clear with that being the number one issue and the central focus to the campaign, that voters see Mitt Romney as a leader on those issues. They see President Obama with a failed track record on those issues.” 

(This story was updated with additional information at 3:35 p.m.)

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

Campaign Countdown Report: 11.28.11

November 28, 2011 By

AUDIO

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talked with employees of a Des Moines insurance company this past week. His trip came amid the chatter about an attack ad Romney ran against President Obama.

Obama is quoted in the ad saying, “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.”

Obama made that statement in 2008, quoting something John McCain had said. Democrats cried foul. An unapologetic Romney put it another way.

“What’s sauce for the goose is now sauce for the gander,” Romney said during a news conference in Des Moines.

According to the polls, many Iowans are taking a gander at Newt Gingrich, but if an Iowan were trying to call Gingrich campaign headquarters, they’d be out of luck.

“I’m sorry,” the directory assistance operator said on Sunday. “I don’t have anything in Des Moines for ‘Gingrich for President’…nothing at all in the Des Moines area.”

Gingrich has just started to build a campaign organization here with just 36 days to go until Caucus Night. Michele Bachmann issued a statement this weekend calling Gingrich “the most liberal GOP candidate” on the issue of immigration reform. Gingrich has proposed creating local boards that would decide if illegal immigrants who’ve been in the U.S. for years could be granted some sort of legal status. Bachmann calls that “amnesty.”

“There’s a real distinction between the candidates on this issue,” Bachmann said Saturday. “And that’s an issue that I think people are very interested in.”

Bachmann made stops Friday, Saturday and Sunday at eight different bookstores in Iowa. As she signed copies of her new book, Bachmann made another sales pitch. “Be sure you come out to the Caucuses on January 3. That’s going to make such a huge difference,” Bachmann told the first person waiting in line at a West Des Moines bookstore for Bachmann’s autograph. “I need your support.”

Jean Smith of West Des Moines was among those who got the author’s signature on Bachmann’s book this past Saturday. “She’s a good Christian and I think she’ll bring that into the White House with her,” Smith said, “and we need that badly.”

Filed Under: 2012 Campaign Countdown Reports
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »