Students from Iowa City West High School talk with legislators about a helmet law.

Four eastern Iowa high schoolers grieving the loss of a friend who died in a moped accident last fall are urging state legislators to pass a bill that would require kids under the age of 18 to wear a helmet.

The four made a direct pitch to three senators this morning. Seventeen-year-old Caroline Van Vorrhis, a senior at Iowa City West High School, gave the senators a pamphlet explaining their aims.

“We want to prevent other communities from going through the loss of a loved one that we’ve had to go through the past few months and, after doing some research, we are convinced that a helmet law would save lives,” Van Vorrhis said.

Caroline Found was riding a moped on an Iowa City street at about 9:30 at night this past August when she struck a curb, hit a tree and died from the impact. She was not wearing a helmet. She would have been a senior this year at Iowa City West. Her classmate, 17-year-old Leah Murray, argued a state law requiring helmet use would be more effective than any parental edict.

“As teenagers, we know first hand that our peers don’t always listen to their parents,” Murray said. “No matter how many times your parents tell you to wear a helmet, teenagers would be more likely to do so in order to avoid a smudge on their driving record or a fine than to appease their parents.”

Eighteen-year-old Olivia Lofgren, another Iowa City West senior, cited research suggesting helmets do not reduce visibility or impair the hearing of moped riders.

“No one plans to be in an accident,” Lofgren said. “Whether you drive a truck, RV, car or jeep, if you hit a moped driver, not only are they going to want to be protected, but you’re going to hope they have a helmet on.”

ABATE of Iowa represents motorcyclists who staunchly oppose mandatory helmet laws. Mark Maxwell, a member of the motorcycling group, spoke directly to the students.

“You don’t think that the responsibility lies on you kids to do what’s important for you?” Maxwell asked.

Murray, the 17-year-old, responded.

“Teenagers, we can’t always, like, think for ourselves,” Van Voorhis said. “We need the government to do it for us sometimes.”

None of the three senators who made up the initial subcommittee studying the bill supported it, however, killing its chances of becoming law this year. Senator Tom Hancock, a Democrat from Epworth, told the teens not to be too discouraged by the set back.

“I can tell by watching all of you, the expression on your faces and the moisture in your eyes that you really care,” Hancock said.

But Hancock suggested these kinds of mandates aren’t popular with legislators. Murray told reporters she and her friends won’t stop their lobbying campaign.

“They weren’t as open to it as we suspected, but they still left an opening and we’re going to sneak right in there and get this passed,” Murray said. A fourth high school student, from Solon, came to directly lobby legislators but did not testify during today’s subcommittee meeting.

“Let’s Move was born from a simple idea that each of us has a responsibility to give our children the healthy future they deserve,” Mrs. Obama said in a video posted on the White House website. Just last week, Michelle Obama went on The Ellen Show to talk about the initiative to encourage children to lead healthier lives.

Michelle Obama’s visit to Des Moines is an invitation-only event, but nearly 10,000 Iowa school children have been invited. Governor Branstad will also be on hand. He’s leading a project with the goal of making Iowa the healthiest state in the nation by 2016. Mrs. Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks at 11:15 a.m.

Some of the other guests and performers at the “Let’s Move Day in Iowa” event include:

* Former Iowa Governor and current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

* NASCAR racing champion Carl Edwards

* Olympic figure skating champion Michelle Kwan

* Olympic champion gymnast Shawn Johnson

* 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings

* Iowa State University Basketball coach Fred Hoiberg

* The Norwalk Show Choir

* The Southeast Polk High School Kick Team

* West Des Moines Valley High School Competition Cheerleaders

* West Des Moines Valley High School a cappella singing group

* Elite Edge Dance Company

* Storm Chasers Cheerleaders

* Iowa Skippers

* Waukee a cappella singing group

* University of Iowa Breakers

* American Idol’s Katelyn Epperly

* The Isiserettes

* The UNI Interlude creators

While Omaha continues to draw conventions, Hanafan says the same thing is happening in Council Bluffs. He says the reason some groups choose Council Bluffs instead of Omaha is because they are strictly Iowa-based, like the State Bowling Tournament.

“It’s 15 weeks,” the mayor says, “and that brings people from all over the state of Iowa that will come to our community and you wouldn’t have that in Omaha.” A long-term expansion of the Council Bluffs freeway system is in the works. Hanafan says the upgrade is needed as the current interstate system was drawn up many years ago and can’t handle the significant upturn in traffic.

“The design of our interstate system is for about 60,000 cars a day on I-80 and 29,” Hanafan says. “The new build-out is for 145,000 cars.”

 Hanafan says the roadways are now taking about 100,000 cars a day. He says they will need $175,000 per year for six years to complete the project. Hanafan is starting his second-quarter century as mayor of Council Bluffs.

By Karla James

Logo for the Cedar Rapids app.

The City of Cedar Rapids recently introduced an application for smartphones, allowing followers to gain unique access city services. But, the “app” is drawing attention for another reason.

The icon for the application on the city’s webpage features the letters C-R App — or as some are pronouncing it “CRAPP.” Cassie Willis, a spokesperson for the city, says she welcomes the publicity.

“You know what? Anybody who is willing to go take a look at the website and download the app is welcome to do so,” Willis said. “If this gets us more people who are willing to download and use the app, that would be fabulous.”

The abbreviation of Cedar Rapids to “C-R” is nothing new.

Willis believes the city is “lucky” to have initials with a sort of double-meaning.  ”We use the initials CR in all kinds of things. We have an e-newsletter called the CR City Source. We have a website called CR Progress, where you can learn more about all the progress we’re making on our flood recovery. We use CR in a new initiative to clean up our community called CleanUpCR. So, this is nothing new for us,” Willis said of CR App.

“But, hey, if it gets us more publicity and more people are willing to go take a look at the app, we’re willing to welcome them.” Once downloaded to a smartphone, the mobile application appears as “Cedar Rapids,” not “CR App.” Willis believes it’s been a successful venture.

Mug from the Sioux City airport.

She said the city has recorded 1,000 downloads of the mobile application since it was launched two months ago.

City leaders in Sioux City can probably relate to the struggles people in Cedar Rapids might have with “C-R App.” The three letter designation for the Sioux Gateway Airport is “SUX,” which some people pronounce “sucks.”

 Airport officials lobbied the F.A.A. for several years to change to code. Federal officials basically refused, so the airport decided to essentially embrace the designation by featuring the “SUX” code on t-shirts, hats, postcards and coffee mugs sold in the airport’s gift shop.

She says they have staff in Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona and Pottawattamie County to help you out. “Staff can make sure that they have applied for everything that they are eligible for, they can offer resources, referrals, guidance, stress management and emotional support if that’s needed,” Hyatt says.

The PRI staff have been on the ground since the flooding began, but Hyatt says they still haven’t reached everyone that might need some help. “We are finding people who didn’t apply for federal funding because they didn’t think they met the requirements,” Hyatt says.

“The Missouri River flooding was a little different this time, because a lot of people evacuated, but they didn’t have flooding to their homes. There are resources available to people who fit into that category, and that’s not typical, so we want to be sure that people explore all opportunities while the window is still open.”

Anyone who lives or lived in the counties hit by the flooding can check with the Project Recovery Iowa office by calling the Iowa Concerns Hotline. That line is open 24-hours-a-day.

She says just call 800-447-1985 and asked to be connected with Project Recovery Iowa staff. You can also go on-line to: www.projectrecoveryiowa.com, or search for the PRI page on Facebook. Hyatt says the Missouri River flooding was unlike any other recent disasters because of how long the water remained before the recovery efforts started.

Hyatt says, “It went on for months, and people are still recovering from that, financially, emotionally, physically. And so we certainly want people to realize that it’s normal at this point, even though it’s been months since the flooding started in the summer, there are still reasons that people may need to connect with services.”

Hyatt says if you work in Iowa but live in Nebraska, they can direct you to the appropriate help in Nebraska if you call the Iowa Concerns Hotline.

Sam Kass

The assistant White House chef who is coordinator of the first lady’s food initiatives says Michele Obama’s trip to Iowa later this week is intended as a salute, a celebration and, hopefully, an inspiration to Iowa kids. 

As you may know, the first lady launched an initiative aimed at America’s kids, to promote healthy eating habits and encourage exercise. The goal is to end childhood obesity within a generation. Over 10,000 Iowa kids are expected in Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Thursday to see First Lady Michele Obama and participate in “Let’s Move Day” in Iowa.

Sam Kass is the first lady’s chef and chief assistant in the nationwide “Let’s Move” effort.  During a telephone interview with Radio Iowa early this morning, Kass said Iowa Governor Terry Branstad’s “Healthiest State Initiative” is the reason Obama’s coming.

“We want to celebrate the great work that’s going on there, show how the country’s really unifying around these issues: trying to ensure that our kids and our communities are as healthy as they can be,” Kass said.

Republican Terry Branstad has been a vocal critic of Obama Administration policies, but on this particular issue he’s in harmony with Mrs. Obama.

“We share the goal of a healthier nation and people taking ownership of their own health,” Branstad said.

Private companies in Iowa are participating in the governor’s “Healthiest State” iniatitive, along with hundreds of individual Iowans who’ve signed up for this winter’s “Live Healthy, Iowa” 100-day weight-loss challenge. Kass, the chef in the White House, suggests one way to live healthier is to buy local.

“In Iowa, I know there’s great work being done to try to produce more food and more vegetables for Iowans to eat and, you know, we think that’s great,” Kass said. “But every community is going to have to step back and take a look at what’s happening around them and figure out what are the best solutions.”

AUDIO of Radio Iowa’s five-minute interview of Sam Kass.

Kass helped plan and plant the White House garden. From that garden experience, Kass understands kids can play a role in improving their family’s approach to food.

“When they dug up a carrot, they ended up taking it home and saying, ‘Mom, dad, let’s have some carrots tonight.’ When a kid’s asking for that, you can’t say, ‘No,’” Kass said. “We’ve kept in touch with these kids and they telling us how they’re eating (differently) in their home…They’re baking the chicken instead of frying it. That’s the true power and essense of all that we’re doing here.”

Thursday’s “Let’s Move” party in Wells Fargo Arena will feature some notable sports figures, like skater Michele Kwan, gymnast Shawn Johnson and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards. TV star Bob Harper — one of the trainers on “The Biggest Loser” — will be there, as will Iowa State basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, a former player in the NBA. Kass hopes Thursday’s event will be a motivating experience for the more than 10,000 sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth graders who’ll participate.

“I honestly believe, and I know the first lady does as well, that kids who are stepping up and making changes and being leaders in their communities is maybe our greatest tool in overcoming some of these challenges,” Kass said.

Kass has been involved in behind-the-scenes discussions about federal strategies that could improve the health of America’s children.

“Just two weeks ago, the first lady celebrated the finalizing of the new standards for school lunch and they’ve been raised for the first time in 15 years,” Kass said. “These new standards are going to be transformative to the food that kids are being served every day. Thirty-two million kids every day eat breakfast and lunch — or some combination — in our schools, so knowing that our kids are going to school eating the best food possible is just critical.”

The new standards call for doubling the amount of fruits and vegetables served in school cafeterias and cutting in half the sodium content in school lunches. Kids can still drink chocolate milk, but it has to be skim — fat-free — milk.

“So what we found in Iowa is that nearly 23% of households were asset poor, meaning, they didn’t have enough income to meet their day-to-day needs at the poverty level if their income was interrupted,” Brooks says. “So if they lost a job or they had some kind of medical emergency, 23% didn’t have enough to sort of make it.” She says the financial security of Iowans was slightly better than the nationwide picture.

“When we last did the score card in 2009, 22% of households were asset poor,” Brooks says. “That number’s increased to 27%, so Iowa’s doing a little bit better than the national average but there are still a significant proportion of folks in Iowa who really can’t make it.”

Another measure used in the study of residents’ financial instability goes one step beyond asset poverty and into a category called liquid asset poverty. “To get that measure, we basically take out some resources like a home or a car or a business that would be very difficult to turn into cash if you lost your job to figure out what resources people actually have,” Brooks says, “so it’s money in the bank, retirement savings, that type of asset that they could easily access.”

In Iowa, 29% of residents were liquid asset poor — nearly one third of the population. The survey ranks all 50 states in 52 measures of financial security. See the full report at: “scorecard.cfed.org“

Waldron says many athletes she interviewed perceived hazing as just harmless fun, when in reality, the conduct could be illegal. “There’s also huge a social acceptance and social pressure…so many athletes talk about, ‘it’s not something I wanted to do, but I wanted to be seen as a real teammate or I wanted to be accepted by my teammates, so I went through it even though I wasn’t necessarily comfortable with or it made me stressed out,’ or there are other ramifications of it,” Waldron said.

Waldron said some athletes she questioned noted their coaches even played a role hazing, while others enforced a strict, no tolerance policy toward such activity. “Most of the athletes said their coach knew that hazing was going on, but as long as no one got hurt and there were no ill consequences the coach heard about, then it would be okay,” Waldron said.

Hazing or bullying cases involving high school wrestling team have surfaced in Iowa this season. In at least three cases, criminal charges have been filed. “I’m hoping that, we in the state, use this as a teachable moment and try to be proactive before more cases break,” Waldron said.

Waldron has given lectures at anti-hazing workshops and is currently collecting data on better prediction methods in initiation rituals among sports teams.

“Life was hard, you know, there were other things to worry about, like decent housing, water, electricity, stuff like that,” Buffalo explains. “So a museum has always taken a back seat to whatever we had to do, even with the casino, we had to build a high school first, our health clinic, roads, housing. And now things are settling down so the idea of a museum is coming back.”

The museum has started out small and is in the tribe preservation office. Buffalo says it includes artifacts, utensils, photographs, documents, art, bead work, and other items passed down from the Tribe through the years.

“In some parts it’s a tribal thing, but then it’s open to the public because we can’t tell our history without telling state history, national history, you have to intertwine that stuff to understand us. And hopefully, when a non-Indian visitor visits, they walk away knowing a little bit about the tribe, and knowing a little bit about themselves too,” Buffalo explains.

There are approximately 1,300 members of the Meskwaki Tribe. Some probably already know about the Meskwaki settlement from its annual Pow Wows where they show off their native dress and dance. Buffalo says many others no doubt have seen or heard about the casino owned by the tribe and see it as the symbol of the group.

“And what they don’t realize is, we are a tribe with a casino, not a casino with a tribe. So hopefully our museum will explain that. That we have been here for a long time, that we are an ancient people on this continent,” Buffalo says. He hopes to expand the museum as they move forward.

The museum is now open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays. Buffalo says if the demand increases, they would look at opening on Saturdays too. For more information on the Meskwaki Nation, go to their website: www.meskwaki.org.

The band’s name, Solas, come from an Irish word for light.

Clark Williams, president of the Des Moines-based Celtic Music Association, talks about the sound of the five-member group, with roots in Philadelphia, Boston, New York — and Ireland.

“I’d describe them as an American Celtic music band,” Williams says. “Not really classified as an Irish band, but a Celtic band.” He thinks the style will appeal to a wide spectrum of Iowans of all ages.

“The Irish type of jigs and reels and all that actually metamorphosed into a bluegrass sound, into Appalachia and now country-western music,” Williams says. “I look at the Celtic music and Solas music as being a very pure version of that type of music.”

VIDEO: Solas, performing “The Seven Curses”

Solas will take the stage at Hoyt Sherman Auditorium in Des Moines on February 18th.

Williams says, “We want to make sure our audience, which has been so nice to us in coming to all of these concerts all of these years, keep returning but we also want to have our young people get to know and understand some of this music.”

Learn more about the band at: www.solasmusic.com and the concert at: www.thecma.org