May 21, 2013

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Ag Secretary says progress is good but work remains in planting season

May 21, 2013 By

For the first time this spring, farmers were able to get into the fields every day last week and the U.S.D.A. crop report says they planted nine-million acres of corn and soybeans. But Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey says there’s still a lot of work to be done to finish the planting season.

“Hopefully if we can get some weather at the end of this week and through the weekend , farmers will work on holidays, if the weather’s fit, maybe by next week we can be mostly wrapped up on corn production and have a good dent in the soybean production,” Northey says.

The crop report out Monday showed 71-percent of the corn has been planted, which is behind the five-year average of 92-percent. Only 16-percent of the beans have been planted. Northey is still optimistic for the growing season despite the slow start.

“We certainly caught up on planting , now again we don’t get those days back, as far as heat and growing the crop, and we had some very cold weather and our early planted crop is behind,” Northey says. On the plus side, Northey says soil moisture levels in all but the extreme northwest counties have improved and are more than 90 percent adequate or surplus.

Farmers are projected to plant 23 million acres of corn and soybeans this year.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News Tagged With: ,

Planting progress zooms ahead with a dry week

May 20, 2013 By

Iowa farmers made up a lot of time planting last week with a stretch of dry weather. The latest crop report from the U.S.D.A. shows 71-percent of the corn is now in the ground — an increase of 56-percent compared to last week’s report.

Even with that progress, the corn planting at this point in the spring remains well behind the 97-percent that was in the ground last year, and also behind the five year average is 92-percent.

Soybean planting is 16-percent complete, well behind the 78-percent that was completed at this time last year. The wet weather has helped the soil moisture, with just three percent of the topsoil moisture reported as short. Just two percent of subsoil moisture was reported very short and 13-percent short.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News, Weather Tagged With:

Minnesota man given probation for bumping Iowa attorney

May 20, 2013 By

A Minnesota man who got physical with a prosecutor in federal court in Davenport in 2011 has been given probation and a fine. Court information says 51-year-old Timothy Demuth of Plymouth, Minnesota bumped shoulders with and stepped in the way of the Assistant U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Iowa following the sentencing of his son on February 14, 2011.

Demuth testified that he had not intentionally made contact with the attorney, but prosecutors said Demuth intentionally bumped and squared off with the attorney in an attempt to intimidate him and interfere with his ability to leave the courtroom. The judge didn’t believe Demuth’s story and sentenced him to one year probation, 200 hours of community service and a $2,000.

The judge said the incident was serious and could not be excused because of stress on the family from the sentencing of Demuth’s son. He said it was important to maintain the “integrity of the judicial system” so that all participants could do their jobs without intimidation.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News

Former Secretary of State Albright tours National Czech and Slovak Museum

May 20, 2013 By

Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. Secretary of State, visited Cedar Rapids this weekend to introduce a collection of pins she wore throughout her career that will be housed in the National Czech and Slovak Museum. Each pin in the collection comes with a memory of crucial diplomatic decisions, from casual moments in the White House, to tense meetings with international heads of state such as North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen in this meeting, I decided to wear the largest American flag I had so that in the pictures it would show that the dear leader was standing there with somebody who was wearing an American flag,” Albright told reporters. “Our intelligence on him was very minimal. People thought he was crazy or a pervert. He was not crazy.”

Born in Czechoslovakia, Albright developed an expertise in diplomatic relations with Eastern Europe. She said her background came into play when the Clinton administration faced the crisis in the Balkans.

“I understood that country and I could see what was happening, that people were being ethnically cleansed. It did make me feel that we needed to make a difference there,” Albright said. As Secretary of State, Albright pushed the U.S. to intervene in wars in Kosovo and Bosnia.

“Yes, my background definitely had something to do with it. And I think it taught me lessons about how major powers need to behave in considering the lives of those who live in smaller countries,” Albright said. She said she sees parallels today in Syria and Afghanistan.

Following her tour of the museum, Albright met with local high school students to discuss her career.

Filed Under: Human Interest, Military, News

Gardners asked to take steps to protect honey bees

May 20, 2013 By

Iowa State University’s Extension entomologists are asking you to be careful about harming honeybees as you get out an about in the warm weather and tend to your plants. Entomologist, Laura Jesse, says insecticides were one of the things mentioned in a recent report on the decline of the honeybee population across the U.S.

Jesse says it’s not easy to protect bees while you are trying to rid your garden of pests. “Bees are insects, and yet we have insect pests, so insecticides in general will harm bees. One class of insecticides that we’re concerned about right now is a class called neonicotinoids,” Jesse says.

She says this class of insecticides is very toxic to bees. And she says the neonicotinoids are systemic. “With most of our spray insecticides where you’ve got caterpillars, aphids and things, you spray it on and it dries. As long as you aren’t treating the plant when it’s flowering you are very unlikely to harm pollinating insects,” Jesse explains.

“Whereas with the systemic insecticides you can be putting it on long before the plant flowers and the insecticide is in the pollen and nectar. And we don’t know how much is in the pollen and nectar and for how long.” Jesse says you should determine if the damage to your plant is merely cosmetic, or there is still a problem that needs to be treated.

“The first step is kind of look –there are still insects here it might be worth treating — and then consider other options. In the case of aphids, you can often blast a lot of them off with a hose and then come back with maybe a soap-based insecticide,” Jesse says.

She says always go through the other options before you move in with insecticides. Sometimes people miss the window to treat the insects that have done the damage, but spray anyway. “We call it a revenge spray, where you spray after the damage is done.”

Some people might be afraid of being stung and spray bees anytime they see them. Jesse says that’s not a good strategy.

She says honeybees and bumblebees are not that aggressive, while the yellow jackets are probably the most aggressive. But Jesse says yellow jackets eat a lot of insect pests and are very beneficial. Jesse says if you have questions you can call her or others at the Iowa State Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic at 515-294-0581.

Filed Under: Agriculture, News Tagged With:

Lottery fever ramps up again with latest big jackpot

May 18, 2013 By

Tonight’s Powerball jackpot is already projected to be the largest in the 21-year history of the game at 600-million-dollars. Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says they urge you to play responsibly.

“We always remind people to play with your head, not over your head, We don’t want to see people playing beyond their means at a time like this or any time,” Neubauer says. “And the good news is that even when the Powerball jackpot was at its record amount back in November — it was 587-million dollars then — but event at that time, the average purchase that we saw being made here in Iowa was still just six dollars. That’s just three plays.”

That record jackpot was split between two tickets in Arizona an Missouri. Neubauer says take some precautions if you go in with someone else to buy tickets.

“When the jackpot reaches this amount, we see a lots of people starting to play in pools, whether it’s at the office or maybe a bunch of neighbors are getting together or maybe you and your family are all buying tickets together. On the lottery website at www.iowaottery.com, we keep some reminders on there as a permanent feature of the page of what to do when you are playing in a group,” Neubauer says.

She says taking the steps ahead of time could prevent legal hassles later. “Keep careful track of everyone who has put money into the pool. Maybe give copies of the pool tickets to everyone who is in the group beforehand. That way you just help eliminate questions later,” according to Neubauer.

The next Powerball drawing is at 9:59 tonight. In Iowa, you can buy a ticket for the drawing up until 8:59 p.m.

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

Surprise reunion brings Wisconsin Marine back together with bomb detection dog

May 17, 2013 By
Sergeant Ross Gundlach was reunited with Casey in a surprise at the Iowa Capitol.

Sergeant Ross Gundlach was reunited with Casey in a surprise at the Iowa Capitol.

A Marine from Wisconsin was reunited with the bomb dog he served with in Afghanistan in a surprise ceremony today at the Iowa State Capitol.

Twenty-five-year-old Sergeant Ross Gundlach of Madison, Wisconsin thought he was visiting Des Moines to appear at a hearing where he would ask to be allowed to adopt Casey, a bomb detection dog who came to the Iowa Fire Marshal’s Office after serving in Afghanistan.

State officials asked Gundlach to attend what they said was a ceremony for Armed Forces Day in the capitol rotunda before his hearing.

The ceremony was a ruse, and State Fire Marshal Ray Reynolds called Gundlach forward and told the story of how he was trying to adopt Casey.

Reynolds then told Gundlach that they’d already taken care of the adoption and revealed another surprise — Marine Sergeant Kyle Williams — who served as Gundlach’s security officer.

“You know every time he and Casey were put in harm’s way, he could usually turn around and within 10 feet he’d see his sergeant, Sergeant Williams. So, what we’d like to do is maybe have Sergeant Williams reacquaint you with Casey,”Reynolds said. Williams brought Casey in and the dog and Gundlach spent several minutes together as the crowed looked on.

Gundlach talked about the surprise after the ceremony. “It was a total surprise, I came here planning to plead my case,” Gundlach says. He says Fire Marshal Reynolds kept saying it was an “if situation” you get your dog so he had no idea. And then Sergeant Williams came out. “It was pretty overwhelming, I don’t think I deserve all this attention,” Gundlach said.

Gundlach says it was very tough when Casey left. “It’s a little rough, it’s a little rough losing your dog a after spending 24-hours a day with her. But like I said, about midway through, I promised if we made it out alive I’d do what I could to find her,” Gundlach explained.

Gundlach-Casey-2And that’s why he tried to adopt the four-and-half year-old purebred lab as soon as he got back from active duty. He calls her a special dog. “Well as any bomb dog handler knows anywhere, combat or not in combat, all that matters is that you don’t miss anything,” Gundlach says. “And she didn’t. Out of all the hundreds of searches, she didn’t miss anything. So that is all that matters.”

Gundlach was emotional, but told reporters he would not cry while in uniform. The Iowa Elks Association donated money for the Fire Marshal’s Office to buy a replacement dog.

Casey was promoted to special agent in the Fire Marshal’s office, and then Iowa Governor Terry Branstad immediately issued a proclamation retiring her from duty.

Gundlach is bringing Casey back to Madison where he plans to go to school in June to become a physical therapist.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Human Interest, Military, News
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