February 23, 2012

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Cancer Society exec urges politicians to consider human side of health care debate

February 23, 2012 By

Otis Brawley

The American Cancer Society’s chief medical officer met with Iowa’s governor Wednesday, warning that the political fight over the national health care reform law isn’t solving the core problem. Dr. Otis Brawley is also a professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

 ”I’m hearing a lot of talk amongst politicians that end up talking about lots of numbers and become devoice of the fact that we’re talking about human being here,” Brawley says, “human beings who have, I think, an inalienable right to health care who are not getting that health care that they deserve.”

Brawley says politicians have “forgotten” the human side of the debate over health care reform.

“This health care reform thing is an interesting political and philosophical discussion until you or your loved one is the person who is sick,” Brawley says, “and you or your loved one is trying to figure out how you’re going to pay for the $80,000 a year cancer drug.”

Brawley says politicians need to stop quarreling about health care “rationing” and start devising a “rational” approach to ensuring all Americans have access to quality health care services.

“We have a group of people who are not getting the services that every human being should get,” Brawley says, “And, ironically, we also have a group of people who over-consume health care and are actually harmed by their over-consumption of health care.”

Brawley says he’s “open” to better solutions than he’s seen so far, but the federal “Affordable Care Act” seems to be the only viable option today to address access issues. Brawley met with a small group of legislators and then had a private meeting with Governor Branstad on Wednesday.

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

Expanding “Bottle Bill” to cover 500 million more bottles fails

February 23, 2012 By

Tomorrow is the deadline for a host of bills to clear a House or Senate committee and a bill that would have expanded Iowa’s “Bottle Bill” to cover water bottles has failed to survive the deadline.

Environmentalists and other supporters argue Iowans would have been able to return half a billion more empty containers for water and sports drinks and claim a deposit fee if the bill had become law. Grocers, beverage bottlers and beer distributors opposed the expansion.

Lobbyist Bill Wimmer represents Hy-Vee, the Iowa Beverage Association and Iowa Wholesaler Distributors. ”Frankly, what we would like to look at is going to a different system altogether,” Wimmer says.

Grocers complain of the filth that comes into their stores with the empties and have long sought to get rid of the “Bottle Bill” in favor of curbside recycling for empty bottles and cans. 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News, Politics & Government

Senate panel endorses Internet poker play, run by Iowa casinos (audio)

February 22, 2012 By

A bill that would let Iowa casinos run on-line poker games easily cleared the Senate State Government Committee this evening.

AUDIO of committee debate, runs 4:50.

Senator Bill Dix, a Republican from Shell Rock who voted for the bill, pointed to provisions that would forbid companies found guilty of criminal activity elsewhere from being involved.

“We have a situation here in Iowa where Iowa citizens are not being protected and this bill will do that,” Dix said. “We have unscrupulous operators from off-shore accounts who are preying on the citizens of Iowa and this bill seeks to solve that problem.”

Senator Rick Bertrand, a Republican from Sioux City, said senators began considering this issue a year ago and took their time working through the details.

“I don’t see this as an expansion of gaming. I see this as an expansion of an existing freedom,” Bertrand said. “I think has great potential for Iowa for us to get out in front of this and be a leader nationwide.”

In 1989 Iowa was the first state in the country to legalize “riverboat gambling” and Sioux City is home to one of the casinos.

It took less than five minutes for the Senate State Government Committee to debate the bill and only four senators on the 15-member panel voted against it. Senators Jack Hatch, a Democrat from Des Moines; Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull; Mark Chelgren, a Republican from Ottumwa; and Roby Smith, a Republican from Davenport all voted no.

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

Des Moines officials identify fatal fire victim

February 22, 2012 By

A woman was found dead this morning in a burned-out apartment in Des Moines. Fire Department spokesman Brian O’Keefe says it’s Des Moines’ first fire death in over a year-and-a-half.

Firefighters were called around 8:30 a.m. to the one-room apartment on the city’s southeast side at 1204 Hartford Ave, to check on the health of a resident. O’Keefe said it was clear by looking at the apartment’s windows that there had been a fire inside.

“They looked through the window, noticed a body, they kicked the door in and it was immediately apparent that there had been a fire an there was a victim in the room,” he said. The victim is identified as 53-year-old Debra Dillard.

There’s no determination yet how the fire started. O’Keefe said it does, however, appear to be “accidental in nature.” He said Dillard was a smoker.

It’s unclear exactly when the fire occurred because no one reported the fire while it was burning. “There were smoke detectors in the apartment, but they were not active at the time, that’s another issue we’re concerned about,” O’Keefe said.

The building, because of its construction, is not required to have a sprinkler system. The fire was isolated to Dillard’s apartment.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News

DOT official happy with new driver’s license procedure

February 22, 2012 By

The state is approaching the two-year mark since it changed the way driver’s licenses are issued, and the D.O.T. official who oversees the system is happy with the result. The state stopped giving out new licenses on the spot in April of 2010, and instead now gives drivers a temporary driving document that’s good for 30 days.

The new license is mailed out later. Kim Snook is the director of the D.O.T.’s office of driver services. “I would say since we started, there’s only been a couple contacts that people really didn’t like it, but other than that, everyone’s getting their licenses much faster than what we ever had anticipated,” Snook says.

 ”You know, there’s times when we have issues with mailing addresses, but we ‘ve got a system worked out where they get them and can pick them up at certain places within their counties…But, you know, it’s been very successful.”

Snook says waiting to send the license by mail allows them time to do Social Security, address and image verifications to be sure the license is going to the proper person. “We just don’t see the fraudulent activity like we had before when we were issuing over the counter, so I can really say that it was a very successful program,” according to Snook.

There are 19 D.O.T. driver’s license stations, and 81 county treasurers offices where licenses are issued across the state. Find out more on the D.O.T.’s website at: www.iowadot.gov.

Filed Under: Human Interest, News Tagged With:

Triple-A says we’ll see $4 gas before Memorial Day

February 22, 2012 By

Gasoline prices are steadily climbing in Iowa and one market analyst says we’ll likely see gas hit four-bucks a gallon by summer. Gail Weinholzer, with Triple-A Iowa, says pump prices have risen some 35-cents a gallon since January first.

“We’ve seen a 20-cent increase just in the last month,” Weinholzer says. “The current average in Iowa is $3.50, which is up from $3.15 right after the first of the year. We’ve seen a substantial increase, but not as much as other states. Iowa is still below the national average, which is $3.58.”

Weinholzer is still predicting gas will reach the landmark of four-dollars a gallon sometime this spring. “Oh, we’ll certainly see $4 in the Midwest before Memorial Day,” she says. “The East and West Coasts will go significantly higher than that. In fact, California is already above $4 a gallon, as is Hawaii.”

Weinholzer said there are several factors coming into play in the price increase. “Crude oil is maintaining itself above $100 a barrel, in fact, the last day or two, it’s been about $105 a barrel,” she says. “Beyond that, we saw the tax credit for ethanol come off the books effective January first. That was 45-cents a gallon for ethanol, especially E-85 fuel.”

She says the winter blend of gasoline will stop being distributed within a few weeks, too, and the summer-grade fuel is usually more expensive by about 15-cents a gallon.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Human Interest, News Tagged With:

Number of deer taken statewide is down 4.5%

February 22, 2012 By

Iowa hunters, during the recent 2011-12 deer hunting seasons, killed 121,407 deer. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports that’s down 4.5% from the previous year. D.N.R. wildlife biologist Willy Suchy says deer numbers in Iowa hit their high mark six years ago.

“It peaked in about 2006-07 and the best indication is we’re now about 30% below that,” Suchy said. Deer numbers in some areas of the state, especially in eastern Iowa, are considered near or below the D.N.R.’s objective. Some hunters are voicing concerns to deer reduction efforts have gone too far.

“I think hunters are, in some instances, frustrated. I think there’s concern out there and they’d like to see us cut back (on deer reduction efforts),” Suchy said. “We proposed to cut back last year, but we were not allowed to do that.”

Suchy said the governor’s staff rejected a D.N.R. plan last year to reduce the kill and stabilize deer where the numbers are at or below the goal. The D.N.R. will review the harvest and population surveys this spring and schedule a public hearing before making a recommendation on what direction to take with the deer population.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, News Tagged With: ,
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