February 23, 2012

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Supreme Court hears arguments in Workforce Development item veto case

February 21, 2012 By

The Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday evening in Governor Terry Branstad’s appeal of a district court ruling that overturned his item veto of part of a bill that appropriated over eight million dollars to keep 36 Iowa Workforce Development offices open.

Richard Sapp presented the governor’s case and told the justices that the veto was legal because the governor created an alternative to the “brick and mortar” field offices. He says the definition of what constituted a field office was not clearly laid out by the legislature in the bill, and said a definition has been the test since the first challenge of the item veto.

 ”Since 1971 the legislature has been on notice of what it must write if it intends to make something a condition,” Sapp said. “There are numerous examples in this court’s jurisprudence since that first case that do the same thing, and the question is: Why didn’t they do that here? Why is there no conditioning language as to the field office section since they were clearly on notice? Could they not get enough votes in the legislature to make it an explicit condition? We don’t know.”

Mark Hedberg represented the group of legislators and union officials who challenged the governor’s veto. He said the issue was clearly defined.

“If we look at the definition section it says ‘for purposes of this section field offices and satellite offices it shall’…it’s not aspirational, it’s not may or whatever,” Hedberg said. “It says we have a product, this is what it shall consist of, this is how many we are going to make and here’s the money for it. When you take that out, and you’ve got virtual offices, you’ve distorted the whole section and what it was all about to begin with.

Justice Thomas Waterman asked Hedberg about the purpose of the item veto. “The intent of the framers of the item veto amendment was to give the governor more control over the budget than he’d have without it?,” Waterman asked Hedberg, who replied yes. “And wouldn’t you undermine that if you construed the item veto power so narrowly that he couldn’t strike out a policy provision that would tie his hands on ways to save money, ” Waterman asked.

Hedberg replied, “The item veto as I understand it was to prevent pork barrel politics is that fair enough? But I think in this case the governor vetoed the barrel and kept the pork for himself, that’s the problem. And I think that’s why you have got to veto the money. Because now you can take that $8.6-million and use it, distort it.”

Hedberg said in his summary that they are not trying to handcuff the governor’s use of the line item veto. “We’re not asking the governor to go through every line of a budget, we’re only asking to take a look at the ones you’re going to veto and when you veto it, you’d better make sure that it’s not a condition on an appropriation, which we believe this was, either a condition or restriction on that appropriation…and I think that’s all that’s required by our court system, not magic words not red lights, Hedberg said.

Sapp concluded his arguments by asking the justices to think about what their ruling would do to the item veto cases. “I keep thinking, haven’t we decided all the issues of the item veto amendment by now. Apparently not, and what the plaintiff’s proposing are going to take us backwards years and years because they have no good alternative test to give to a governor or to give to a court as to how you determine whether something is or is not a condition,” Sapp said.

The arguments were streamed lived on the court system website and there will be an archive of the arguments posted there too at: iowacourts.gov.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Featured Story, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

NAACP leaders say Civil Rights Commission is trying to address their concerns (audio)

February 20, 2012 By

Iowa NAACP president Keith Ratliff.

Leaders of the Iowa/Nebraska NAACP say they are happy that the new leader of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission is trying to make changes to how complaints are investigated by the commission, and they will keep monitoring the progress.

NAACP president Keith Ratliff,  says a review of complaints found those that didn’t involve housing  had an average probable cause for investigation rate of just under 2%.

“The Iowa Civils Rights Commission probable cause rate of one-point-five-percent is disturbingly low, and when placed in comparison to neighboring states for which comparable data is available,  is even more disturbing,” Ratliff says.

He says the rates in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois are 6.4%, 8.2% and 15.7%. The period covered 1996 to 2011.

The NAACP brought their concerns to Civil Rights Commission director Beth Townsend earlier this month, and Ratliff credits her with working to take action. Russell Lovell, a lawyer on the NAACP legal committee, says they’ve seen improvement. “We’ve been advised that already for the current fiscal year that began in July that there is a significant improvement, I think about double the  last year rate, now that’s still low, but none the less, there are changes going on,” Lovell says.

“We’ve been pleased with the meetings we’ve had with director Townsend, that she takes this seriously, that she realizes there’s a need for a very close look and changes to be made.” Lovell says it’s very important for the people who file complaints to be able to have a system that works as the Civil Rights Commission confirms that 80 to 90% of the people who file complaints don’t have a lawyer to represent them.

“And so the investigation done by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission is critical to those people having any reasonable access to justice. And if probably cause is found, the Attorney General’s office will provide representation too,” Lovell explains. Ratliff and Lovell talked about some of the reasons for the low rate of cases that move forward, and Lovell says one is that the definition of “probable cause.”

“To our surprise there is no definition of probable cause in the commission’s rules or the statue. And indeed that seems like that would be foundational to trying to determine what probable cause is certainly,” according to Lovell. “The possibility of uneven and inconsistent application of that of course could exist if you don’t have a defined definition for staff to apply.”

The cases that do get a probably cause designation can take from four to eight years before they get closed. Ratliff says the commission director is also working on that issue. He says director Townsend has stated that they are now trying for a goal of having each case closed 180 days from start to finish.

“And we certainly stand behind and support that as what needs to be done. To go from four, six eight years for a case to close, and moving to down to a standard of 180 days, will certainly be a great improvement when they reach that,” Ratliff says. Townsend was appointed to lead the Civil Rights Commission in January of 2010.

Ratliff and Lovell say they want to continue meeting with her on a periodic basis to ensure that progress is being made.

Governor Branstad talked about the issue today at his weekley meeting with reporters. Branstad story.

News conference audio: NAACP 18:27

 

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Group seeks to preserve the Ottumwa air station

February 19, 2012 By

A preservation group is hoping to save one of the last remnants of an air station in southeast Iowa that closed at the end of World War Two. Today, the Ottumwa Airport handles roughly two dozen flights a day. But 70 years ago, it was the state’s busiest airport.

Just after Pearl Harbor, farmland near Ottumwa was converted into one of just 14 naval air stations in the country to train pilots for aerial combat. Ottumwa native Steve Black says only a handful of the original buildings remain on the site, including the old brick Administration Building.

“This represents not only the efforts of the greatest generation…anybody who stepped on that base, went into that building,” Black said. He and others hope to transform the building into an air and space museum. Nearly 5,000 pilots “got their wings” at the Ottumwa air station.

“They would start there, possibly never having been in an airplane, and leaving there successfully able to fly a plane,” Black said. “Otherwise, they were washed out and about a third of them were.” The Ottumwa training facility opening in March of 1943. Elsie May Cofer, who wrote the history of the air station, says pilots were trained to master the Boeing Stearman Biplane.

“If you’ve ever heard a Stearman airplane, it’s not quiet,” Cofer said. “I interviewed one fellow who had come into the base and saw 150 planes taking off from one mat and 150 taking off from another mat, just like 8 in a row, one right after the other going to the air. He said it looked like bees coming out of the hive.”

There were so many planes in the air at once, that the Navy rented farmland to build 18 auxiliary fields for takeoff and landing practice. Accidents were common, but Cofer said just 17 deaths were reported in 600,000 hours of flying. Jesse Brown, the Navy’s first black pilot and astronaut Scott Carpenter were among the Ottumwa air station’s most famous graduates.

Volunteers are already gathering exhibit materials, period flight manuals and old training films. The Stearman Biplanes vanished from the skies over southern Iowa in 1945, but if fundraising goes well, the preservation group hopes to bring one back in time for the museum’s opening in 2017, the Ottumwa air station’s 75th anniversary.

Filed Under: Featured Story, Human Interest, Military, News

State board approves record investment in southeast Iowa fertilizer plant

February 17, 2012 By

IPEP board meets in Des Moines.

Economic development officials today approved the state’s largest ever capital investment in a business that intends to build a nitrogen fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa.

The Iowa Fertilizer Company will receive a package of incentives that includes nearly $32 million in tax credits and $1.6 million in loans.

Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress Director Debi Durham says there are a couple of reasons for the state to make such a big investment.

“The quality of jobs that are attached to it and the location of it,” Durham told Radio Iowa. “It’s going to a county that does have one of the state’s highest unemployment rates. I think when you look at this, it’s just a win on so many fronts.”

The $1.3 billion dollar plant will be built near the tiny town of Wever in Lee County, which recorded an average unemployment rate of 9.4% last year.

The statewide average was 6%. Durham admits the $32 million in tax credits is relatively large compared to other state supported projects. “The reason for that is because a great deal of their supply or product will be sold within the state of Iowa. That’s why this one tends to be more heavy on the tax credit side than the direct financial investment,” Durham said.

Farmers use nitrogen fertilizer to help grow crops. Construction on the plant could begin in the fall. Officials believe the plant will be operational sometime in 2014 and create 165 jobs. Local incentives for the project are still under negotiation.

Steve Bisenius is executive director of the Lee County Economic Development Group. “It’s such a large project and it certainly has a huge impact on our region,” Bisenius said. “We certainly know that all of Lee County, the surrounding counties and the surrounding states will be very much looking forward to this project.”

Company officials report the product produced in southeast Iowa will replace much of the nitrogen fertilizer currently being imported from other countries. Iowa Fertilizer Company is a subsidiary of Orascom Construction Industries, with headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

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

Navy names ships after Sioux City and Omaha

February 16, 2012 By

USS Independence (LCS-2) is the same type of ship as the proposed USS Sioux City. (U.S. Navy photo)

The U.S. Navy has announced that two of its new ships will carry the names of western Iowa cities.

In an interview with Radio Iowa, Navy Secretary Ray Maybus, said the ships will be the U.S.S. Sioux City and the U.S.S. Omaha.

“These are the littoral combat ships, they’re some of our newest types of ships. They’re shallow draft, they’re very fast, and they’re modular — they can take off one weapons system and put on another,” Maybus said.

 He said they will buy 55 of the ships over the next few years and the Sioux City will be LCS 11 and the Omaha LCS 12.

Maybus says he chose the names as a tribute to the heartland of America. “It was to honor the people of Iowa, and the people of Nebraska, and the people of Sioux City, the people of Omaha. There’s always been a great milliary connection with the towns and cities of the midwest,” Maybus said.

That connection ties to the battleship U.S.S. Iowa, and the U.S.S. Nebraska, which is today is in service as a submarine. “It’s the work ethic, the patriotism that these two cities and these two states represent, and also the strong military connection that these two states and these two cities have demonstrated,” Secretary Maybus explained.

There are two types of ships in the L-C-S class. The Sioux City will be built Marinette, Wisconsin as a single hull steel ship. The Omaha will be built in Mobile, Alabama and will be an aluminum tri-moran.

The Sioux City will be 378 feet long and the Omaha will be 419 feet long with both have a top speed over 40 knots. The military is looking at making big cuts in all branches, but Maybus says this ship program will move ahead after some work to lower their cost.

He said when he took over the bids for the ships came in way too high and he decided to have the two builders bid against each other, even though he thought they need two variations of the ships. “And over the course of the next year, the prices came down by almost 40%,” Maybus continued. “So we have 10 ships from each builder locked in at fixed price contracts, it’s one of the best values that we have. We’ll be getting the last of these ships at about 350-million dollars.”

The keels will be laid for the Sioux City and Omaha in 2013 and Maybus says they should be ready to launch in 2016. Each ship will have a crew of around 80 sailors.

You can see more about the littoral combat ship class on the Navy’s website at: www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=1650&ct=4> .

Filed Under: Featured Story, Military, News

Chinese VP touts flourishing trade ties with Iowa, U.S. (audio)

February 15, 2012 By

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping and Governor Branstad.

The man who’s likely to be the next leader of China spent the first part of his visit to Iowa reminiscing about a previous trip, but also predicting expansion of Chinese trade with Iowa in the years ahead.

Xi Jinping, China’s vice president, spoke through an interpreter tonight as he addressed an invited crowd gathered inside the statehouse.

“Coming to Iowa brings back many fond memories,” Xi said. “In 1985, during my first visit to the United States, I visited the state of Iowa and that was my first direct encounter with the people of the United States.”

AUDIO of toasts from Governor Terry Branstad & Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (runs 27:30)

Xi revealed that as a young boy in China he had read Mark Twain’s tales of life along the Mississippi and Xi said reconnecting with the Iowans who had hosted him in 1985 had been a “joy”.

“And I want to engage with a broad cross-section of American society to help deepen the relationship between the Chinese and American people,” Xi said.

Xi mentioned two Iowa companies by name — Principal and Pioneer — and spoke of other “flourishing” trade ties between China and Iowa.

“Earlier today at the Sino-America Agricultural Products Trade and Cooperation Symposium held in Des Moines, the two sides signed 15 soybean purchase agreements whose total value reached $4.3 billion U.S. dollars,” Xi told the crowd.

Mark Jackson of Rose Hill, the president-elect of the Iowa Soybean Association, said it shows the “seeds that were planted” during Xi’s first visit to Iowa are starting to bear fruit.

“It’s just an outstanding opportunity for us,” said Jackson, who was one of the guests at tonight’s banquet. 

North central Iowa businessman Steve Sukup was also in tonight’s statehouse crowd. Sukup first met Xi in 1985.

“There was a presence about him,” Sukup said. “We remember the visit. He came to the factory.” Sukup Manufacturing in Sheffield makes grain-handling equipment and Sukup last night wore on his jacket lapel three of the pins Xi gave Sukup as a gift back in 1985.

Governor Branstad extended banquet invitations to dozens of Iowa businesspeople like Sukup as well as every member of Iowa’s legislature and the top judges in Iowa’s court system. Iowa Supreme Court Justice Thomas Waterman said it was “neat” to be included.

“I thought it was a wonderful evening for Iowa and for America and, I tell you, just the rewards of Iowans just being ourselves and being nice and hospitable to people — 1985 and look what happens,” Waterman said after the banquet. “There’s a lesson here for everybody.”

Last this afternoon Xi had tea in Muscatine with 17 of the people he met in Iowa during a visit here in 1985. Joan Axel helped plan and host Xi’s previous trip and she was there today for the reunion.

“He remembered every picnic. He remembered the home in which he stayed, what the room looked like that was some teenager’s room,” Axel said. “He reminded us that we were the first Americans he had ever met.”

Dick Maeglin helped host Xi and the rest of the Chinese delegation during that trip in the mid ’80s and he described today’s reunion as something special.

“Each of the old friends introduced themselves and told what they remembered. He talked about their children and sometimes he would recite something that one of the people who was involved didn’t even remember,” Maeglin told reporters afterwards.

Xi will appear early Thursday morning at an agriculture symposium in Des Moines and visit a central Iowa farm before he leaves for Los Angeles, his last U.S. stop before returning to China.

(This story was updated at 11:30 p.m. with additional information from Muscatine.)

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Nobel Prize winner returns to Iowa State to talk about the experience

February 14, 2012 By

Dan Shechtman talks about wining the Nobel Prize.

Iowa State professor Dan Shechtman returned to campus today for the first time since winning the 2011 Nobel Prize for chemistry. Shechtman won the prize for his 1982 discovery of what are called quasicrystals.

The discovery of the quasicrystals caused the scientific world to rethink how matter is viewed. Shechtman talked at a news conference in Ames about being in his office at the Israel Institute of Technology and finding out he had won.

He was sitting at his desk working when the phone rang and the person on the line said it was the World Swedish Academy of Sciences with a very important message.

“I say, uh oh, I didn’t know that that day they announced the Nobel Prize in chemistry, I never knew that I was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in chemistry,” Shechtman says.

A short time later a colleague came in an confirmed that he had actually won the prize. “They do that because many people think that it is a hoax, and so just to make sure, there is one person who talks to you whom you know,” Shechtman explains. “It’s especially important for American laureates, because it is three o’clock in the morning when they wake them up.”

Shechtman says after the phone call he tried to comprehend how winning the prize would change his life. “What does it mean, what will happen now, and I didn’t even imagine one percent of what was going to happen, I knew vaguely that there would be more activities and talks,” Shechtman says.

He says it was a totally new phase of his life. It has been a whirlwind of attention and speeches since he won the prize. Shechtman talked about flying to Sweden to accept the prize and says when his plane landed he quickly found he did not have to go out the way normal passengers do.

They took him down where they take the suitcases and there was a “very posh” car waiting, and he got in and they took him away. Shechtman compared his own treatment to that of a suitcase as everything was planned for him and he was taken from one event to another without having to worry about making any arrangements. The professor says it was hard going back to class and getting used to scheduling everything for himself again.

Shechtman says he has talked to hundreds of students since winning the Nobel Prize. “My message to them is, if you want to succeed in your career, become an expert in something, be a professional. And I stress that and explain that to them,” Shechtman says.

“Regardless of the age — sometimes I speak to high school students — and I tell them you can start now. Be an expert, if you are an expert, you will succeed in your career, I promise you.” Shechtman has also used his newfound fame to spread a message about the importance of what he calls “technological entrepreneurship.”

He voluntarily teaches a class in Israel that encourages students to open start-up companies, and to keep trying to create something new.

“When you open a start-up you take a risk, and in most cases you will fail. But then, try again. So this is the point,” Shechtman says. He says he will invest in someone who has started and failed because they have experience.

Shechtman says Israelis and Americans are willing to take the risk. But he says in the Far East it is a cultural matter because failure is a disgrace. Shechtman is an Iowa State professor of materials science and engineering, and a research scientist for the Ames Laboratory.

He joined Iowa State and the Ames Laboratory in 2004 and spends about four months a year on campus. Shechtman studies magnesium alloys and teaches students to use transmission electron microscopes.

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