May 21, 2013

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Domestic violence and sexual assault services system undergoing overhaul

May 17, 2013 By

Iowa’s system of services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault is undergoing a major overhaul to address state and federal budget cuts. By dividing the state into six regions, each with a shelter, officials with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence hope to save money and serve more people with non-shelter based services.

That includes help in finding housing, counseling, and hiring advocates who work with clients in the communities where they live. But it also means 10 shelters will not receive state funding. One of those is the Clinton YWCA. Executive Director Lori Freudenberg says their board chose not to apply for the funding to become a regional shelter because the requirements were too difficult to meet.

“The expectations were for a program, such as Davenport, to still provide all the services throughout our entire region — which goes from Keokuk at the south end, Clinton at the north end, and Iowa City at the west end. We just felt a program our size wasn’t going to be able to do that with the amount of funding that was going to be provided,” Freudenberg said.

The Clinton YWCA is counting on fundraising to make up for the roughly 80% cut from the state. “We wanted to be a good partner for Davenport, who was going apply for the domestic violence program, and Iowa City for the sexual assault program, so we are working to raise $100,000 to sustain our programs, yet subcontract with others to keep those services local,” Freudenberg said.

Clients of the Clinton YWCA should not see any changes in the next year, according to Freudenberg. The funding amounts will be finalized in late June.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News

Maintenance at refinaries blamed for rapid increase in Iowa gas prices

May 16, 2013 By

Gas prices in Iowa have increased around 20-cents a gallon in the last 24 hours. Gail Weinholzer, spokesperson for Triple-A Iowa, says unleaded regular fuel is averaging $3.76 a gallon statewide.

“That is 16-cents more than the national average and 23-cents higher than this day last year,” Weinholzer says. Iowa normally has gas prices well below the national average. The sudden rise in gasoline prices across the Upper Midwest is blamed on the closing of two refineries for major repairs.

Weinholzer says the two closed refineries are located near Chicago and are among the biggest in the U.S. One is owned by BP and the other by Exxon Mobile. The refineries are not expected to restart operations until after Memorial Day.

“We probably won’t see price relief until the middle of June at the earliest and perhaps as late as the Fourth of July,” Weinholzer says. “Once a refinery restarts, it takes a while for them to ramp up production.”

It’s not unusual for a refinery to schedule maintenance during the spring or fall switch to new blends of gas, according to Weinholzer.

“What is irregular is that two refineries would close for such an extended period of time,” Weinholzer says. “However, you have to keep in mind that they are owned by two different companies so they don’t sit down, put their calendars side by side, and decide when their respective refineries need to have their maintenance work done.”

Because the refineries are both located in the Chicago area, the price spike in limited to Iowa and surrounding states. “In fact, of the top 10 states in the country for average price, six to seven of them are in the Upper Midwest and Upper Great Lakes region,” Weinholzer says.

She expects gas prices in Iowa will climb even higher by Friday. But, Weinholzer believes prices will remain below $4 a gallon.

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

Former Secretary of State Albright brings message pins to Cedar Rapids

May 16, 2013 By

AlbrightA collection of pins worn by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is finding a temporary home at the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids.

Albright, who was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, will visit the museum this Friday.

She recalls, in the summer of 2000, attending a summit with Bill Clinton and Russian president Vladmir Putin. At the time, Russia had invaded Chechnya, amid reports of human rights abuses and violations of international law.

Albright, who had become known for her decorative pins that carried symbolic messages in diplomatic meetings, wore a pin of three monkeys representing “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.”

“As we walked in, President Putin said to President Clinton, ‘we always watch what pins Secretary Albright wears, why are you wearing those three monkeys?’” Albright also remembers President Clinton as being a bit skeptical.

“He kind of looked at me like, are you out of your mind? You are supposed to be America’s chief diplomat and here you are, sending messages with your pins,” Albright said. The exhibit of nearly 300 pins will be in Cedar Rapids though October.

Albright said she hasn’t heard of anyone else using symbolism in their clothing to negotiate, and in that way, being a woman in politics served her well. “I don’t think that men send messages with their ties,” Albright said, “so, I think I did invent something new.”

Albright will visit the exhibit on Friday and meet with local students on Saturday to talk about how she became the first female Secretary of State.

http://www.ncsml.org/

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, Politics & Government

Indianola city attorney admits to overbilling city

May 15, 2013 By

A state investigation shows a southern Iowa city attorney over-billed the city by tens of thousands of dollars over a six year period. Tami Kusian, with the State Auditor’s Office, says the interim city manager in Indianola called for the special investigation after noticing some “unusually high” invoices filed by Indianola City Attorney John Hoyman.

Kusian says they found Hoyman over-billed the city by more than $90,000. The investigation covered invoices submitted by Hoyman between June 2006 and July 2012.

“In an interview with a DCI agent, Mr. Hoyman did admit that he falsified some invoices,” Kusian says. Hoyman was initially hired in 1986 to serve as the general legal counsel for Indianola and Indianola Municipal Utilities.

“We did an analysis…and we identified that the hours he billed them from 1996 to 2012 increased over 80 percent,” Kusian says. Hoyman was suspended from his position with the city in August of last year.

The auditor’s report has been turned over to the Iowa Attorney General’s office.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, News, Politics & Government

FEMA has final decision on funding for Cedar Rapids electric plant

May 15, 2013 By

The city of Cedar Rapids is awaiting a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to approve an appeal for $13.8-million in disaster assistance for a hydroelectric plant damaged in the 2008 flood. As part of an audit for how FEMA funds have been used in Cedar Rapids, the Office of the Inspector General issued a report stating that the city had provided inaccurate information about the condition of the plant when they appealed for FEMA funding.

Joe O’Hern, an administrator in the city manager’s office, says the city provided the agency with as much information as possible and he believes it was accurate. “We were very exhaustive in our appeal documents,” O’Hern said. “A concern may have been, on their part, that the FEMA Washington staff couldn’t have been expected to look through all the information we provided.”

It will be up to FEMA to decide whether Cedar Rapids will receive this funding, as well as two other appeals still in process. The city has already started work on a parking ramp downtown under the impression that the funds would be available. So, what happens if the federal funding is rejected?

“We would have to find another way to pay for that parking ramp,” O’Hern said. “We’ve entered into contracts with a construction company to build the ramp. So we have to honor those contracts, we have to pay those bills.”

In the report, the Office of the Inspector General said the hydroelectric plant damaged in the 2008 flood was inactive at the time, and therefore ineligible for federal disaster funding. The report recommends that FEMA not pay $13.8-million they have already obligated to the City of Cedar Rapids.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News Tagged With:

Five year plan in place to improve Iowa roads

May 15, 2013 By

Iowa Department of Transportation officials on Tuesday presented a new five year plan to improve the state’s roadways. Jon Ranney is director of the Iowa DOT’s Office of Program Management. He says $2.6 billion is forecast to be available for highway right of way and construction between fiscal years 2014-2018.

The largest chunk of the spending will be directed at ongoing maintenance to make Iowa’s roads safer. “More than $1.1 billion is programmed for years 2014-18 to modernize Iowa’s existing highway system,” Ranney says.

A number of interstate improvement projects are also part of the five-year plan. Ranney says significant investments will be made on Interstate 29 in Sioux City, I-29/80/480 in Council Bluffs, and I-74 in Bettendorf/Davenport.

A number of multiyear improvement projects that were previously scheduled are part of the five year plan, but the Iowa Transportation Commission is not adding additional segments. Officials are blaming “flat or uncertain revenue at the federal and state level, increasing construction costs, and the need to invest in the existing highway system.”

You can find out more about the plan here.

Filed Under: News

Time is running out on ethanol tax break

May 14, 2013 By

Time is running out at the statehouse to extend a state tax break which makes ethanol-blended gasoline cheaper than pure petroleum. Jim McNulty at the Iowa Department of Revenue says the law which keeps the state gasoline tax two cents less per gallon for ethanol blends will expire at the end of June.

A bill under consideration in the Senate would extend that for another year. “It will be 21 cents a gallon for non-ethanol blended gasoline and 19 cents for ethanol blended gasoline,” McNulty says. “The schedule is already in place. We’ll continue that two-cent difference.”

But if the bill doesn’t pass, the tax will be 20 cents a gallon for both blended and unblended fuel. That would increase the amount money available to spend on road and bridge repairs across the state. “If everything went to 20 cents a gallon, if this didn’t pass, we’d be looking at 8-million dollars more for the Road Use Tax Fund,” McNulty says.

The tax break is part of a larger bill governing ethanol blending. The House passed the bill last week and a Senate panel took it up Monday.

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