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Stand on your head and spin! Central Iowa hosts breakdance battle

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Photos thanks to Tae Kim

A dancing style that got its start on the streets of the Bronx in the mid-1970s is still very much alive in Iowa.

Dozens of the top breakdancers from across the Hawkeye State are competing in Des Moines tomorrow in what’s dubbed Iowa’s Illest Breakdance Battle.

Organizer Tae Kim admits many of the competitors weren’t even around when this first became a national fad.

“It’s a lot of kids in high school,” Kim says. “They see these YouTube videos and say, ‘Wow, I’d really like to do this.’ That’s how a lot of people learn. We have a local community here. We all practice together and hang out.”

Competitors are as young as 12 and the oldest ones are 30-plus, Kim says.

While the term “breakdancing” is part of our pop culture lexicon, he says the purists prefer the term “breaking” and call themselves “b-boys” and “b-girls.” Kim explains how the competition works.

“One dancer comes out against another dancer, so it’s one v. one and they each do their best set and we have three judges that determine who is the best out of the two,” Kim says. “It’s a bracket style so we have a top 16, it goes down to eight, four and then the finals.”

The dancing is usually set to hip-hop, funk or breakbeat music, and one of the signature moves features a head spin. Kim says it’s not for amateurs.

“There’s definitely a risk involved and that’s why we definitely preach foundation. Don’t start by spinning on your head,” Kim says, laughing. “Maybe slowly work up to that.” These events are very popular in other “progressive communities” across the country, Kim says, “and now is the ideal time to bring this to our city.”

The showdown will run from 4 to 8 PM at Jordan Creek Mall. The event is free.

State health officials confirm first 2017 case of West Nile virus

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For the first time this year, an Iowan is testing positive for West Nile virus. Deputy state epidemiologist Dr. Ann Garvey says the case should serve as a reminder for all of us.

“That was in a middle-aged man in Ida County,” Dr. Garvey says. “He was not hospitalized and is recovering, so that’s really good news.”

State health officials say surveillance has also identified four mosquito pools that tested positive for West Nile, one each in Polk and Story counties and two in Pottawattamie County. Garvey says West Nile virus season typically lasts from late summer into early autumn so Iowans need to be taking precautions to reduce the risk.

“Use repellant when outdoors and make sure that you’re following that label carefully,” Garvey says. “The percentage of the repellant dictates how long it will be effective. Make sure you’re checking the label and that you’re reapplying appropriately.”

Avoid being outside at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active and if you’ll be out, wear long-sleeved shirts, pants, shoes and socks when possible.

“Other things you can do are making sure the screens are intact in your house to keep mosquitoes outdoors where we want them to be, not indoors with you,” Garvey says. “Dump out standing water. It’s so hot and dry this week, it’s hard to think about standing water around our houses but even things like bird baths. Make sure you change that water regularly.”

The virus first appeared in Iowa in 2002 and it’s since been found in every county, either in humans, horses or birds.

“About eight out of ten people who are infected with West Nile virus won’t have any symptoms,” Garvey says. “One in five will have symptoms and in many people that’s fever, headaches, body aches. Less than one-percent will have very serious symptoms that are sometimes fatal.”

Last year, 37 human cases of West Nile virus were reported to the Iowa Department of Public Health, including one case that resulted in death.

Learn more about West Nile here.

 

 

 

Algae blooms bring toxins to SW Iowa lake, banishing swimmers

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Iowa DNR photo

It’s the hottest week of the year so far and some Iowans are finding “No Swimming” signs posted on their nearby beaches, thwarting hopes of cooling off with a dip.

One such body of water is Green Valley Lake at Green Valley State Park just north of Creston. Amanda Husband, an environmental health specialist in Union County, says there’s no swimming at the lake until further notice.

“Fishing would be fine,” Husband says. “We just advise folks to make sure they’re cleaning their fish of all of their guts and stuff with clean water and are then cooking them to the proper temperature.”

The problem is known as microcystin toxin, which is a byproduct of blue-green algae.

Husband says, “Some lakes are really nutrient-rich lakes and that causes the algae to make blooms and those blooms can give off toxins and those toxins are what we test for to advise folks not to swim.”

Coincidentally, the hot weather that prompts many of us to head for the water is exactly the reason why we can’t go swimming.

“I would expect the problem will persist until we have cooler temperatures and some rain,” Husband says. “If it’s any indication as in previous years, we could see this problem all throughout late summer and into early fall.” That toxin can be just as dangerous for pets as it is for people.

“There is a walking trail around there and if pets get that algae on their paws and on their coats, if they lick that algae off, they can get a really high concentration of it and it can be deadly to their pets,” she says.

Check the Iowa Department of Natural Resources website for details on the waterways near you.

Steamy forecast calls for southern Iowa to bake through Saturday

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National Weather Service graphic

Sizzling summer days are ahead, today and into the weekend. Iowa’s southern three tiers of counties are under an Excessive Heat Warning from noon until 8 PM daily through Saturday.

Meteorologist Mindy Beerends, at the National Weather Service, says today’s highs in that region of the state will reach the mid- to upper-90s, but it’ll get worse.

“Temperatures on Thursday and Friday may be pushing close to 98 to 100 degrees in southwestern portions of Iowa,” Beerends says. “That can mean, combined with the dewpoint, heat index values right around 110 or 111. Definitely that southwest corner, down towards Clarinda, Shenendoah, Red Oak, those areas look like they’ll be the hottest in the state.”

Much of northwest Iowa and parts of central and eastern Iowa are under a Heat Advisory, also through Saturday. Forecasters say we’ll have to endure the steamy weather for at least three days, maybe four.

“We see a little bit of relief into Saturday,” Beerends says. “Temperatures into the mid-90s versus the upper-90s across the southern portion of the state. Heat index values of 100 to 105, that’s still something to watch. We’ll have a cold front move through Saturday night and we’ll see temperatures back into the 80s for Sunday.”

While the heat index doesn’t hit 110 very often in Iowa, Beerends says it’s relatively typical to have a hot spell like this.

“We usually see heat headlines once or a few times per summer, especially here in mid-July, even into early August tends to be the times when we’re most likely to see those heat warnings and heat advisories across the state,” she says.

Iowa’s tall corn may be partly to blame. Beerend says the mature corn plants are starting to pump a lot of moisture into the air and when combined with more moisture streaming up from the Gulf of Mexico, heat indices are climbing into the red zone.

 

 

UI Study: “Concerning” PCB levels found inside older Iowa schools

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Caulking around fluorescent lights could be adding to classroom PCB levels.

University of Iowa researchers say they’re finding cancer-causing chemicals in some older Iowa schools.

Children may be exposed to airborne PCBs in schools that were built between 1950 and the mid-1970s. PCBs were banned in 1979.

Keri Hornbuckle, a UI professor of civil and environmental engineering, says they expected to find more airborne PCBs outside of schools.

Hornbuckle says, “We were surprised to find that many schools have indoor concentrations of PCBs that is much higher than outside, suggesting that there are direct sources of these chemicals inside of schools.”

Hornbuckle says likely sources include old caulking around windows and fluorescent light fixtures. Replacing those materials can reduce the concentration of PCBs in a school.

She says it’s long been known PCBs are in some foods and that’s how scientists expect children take in most of those chemicals.

“Our study showed that inhalation of PCBs in their schoolrooms could also be another large source of PCBs,” she says. “Our estimation is that it could be similar to that that they get from their food.”

The report says PCB levels found so far in Iowa schools are below what’s considered dangerous by the Environmental Protection Agency, but Hornbuckle says they’re high enough to be concerning.

By Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio

 

 

 

Famed Bix jazz festival finds new home for familiar tunes

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Davenport native Bix Beiderbecke

After more than four decades of history on the Davenport riverfront, the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival will be held at a new location next month.

The newly-opened Rhythm City Casino Resort, in the northeast end of town, will host the 46th annual event which draws jazz lovers from around the planet.

Joe Hesse, vice president of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society, says it’ll be a good change.

“They have a beautiful events center. Everything is on one property. People can pull up, park, check in to the hotel and never leave if they don’t want to,” Hesse says. “We’ve gotten a very positive response. Our fans like the idea of being able to stay right where the festival is.”

Last year’s concert series was held at a Bettendorf casino and there was pushback, according to Hesse, as some “purists” felt it should be held in Davenport, Bix’s hometown.

For many years, Davenport’s LeClaire Park bandshell has been center stage for the popular festival, situated beside the Mississippi River with the illuminated Centennial Bridge in the background. Several concerts are still scheduled at LeClaire Park this year.

“There are. We continue to do Friday and Saturday nights. We’ll have three bands each night this year and they’ll be playing longer sets. That is free to the general public,” Hesse says. “We keep the tradition but we don’t have as much of the overhead. We partner with the city of Davenport. The city has actually extended its concert series to include the Bix.”

While the waterfront park can be a beautiful setting, Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate.

“One of the reasons we downsized the park, if you will, is we had three years in a row where the weather just wreaked havoc,” Hesse says. “The one year it flooded and the other two years there were severe storms that basically wiped out the park. It was detrimental to the health of the Bix.”

The festival typically draws six- to seven-thousand people each year and Hesse says advance ticket sales are up this summer — and it’s always an international audience.

“We’ve got Bulgarians, there’s a couple from Sweden coming over, there’s a couple from Australia, there’s several people coming as a group from the UK,” Hesse says. “We consistently get visitors from nine or ten countries and then domestically, we get people from between 35 and 40 states still coming to the Quad Cities for this event.”

The lineup includes 11 bands and orchestras that are “the top of the top in the jazz world,” Hesse says, hailing both from Davenport and from as far away as New York City. The festival runs August 3rd through 5th. For details, visit www.bixsociety.org.

Beiderbecke was born in Davenport in 1903 and became a globally-renowned jazz musician in the 1920s. When he died in 1931 at age 28, he was considered one of the world’s most influential jazz soloists.

 

Sen. Grassley backs Senate taking up House health care bill

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Sen. Chuck Grassley

Two more Republican U.S. senators announced last night they won’t support the party’s effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the plan isn’t doomed.

Senate leaders intend to bring up the version of a new health care bill that passed in the U.S. House months ago. Grassley, a Republican, was asked if he’d support taking up the House bill.

“The answer is yes, but I don’t know that that’ll be the final vote,” Grassley says. “Right now, all I can repeat for you and the only thing I would want the public to know about is I would vote to proceed to that.”

While President Trump has called for an immediate repeal of the ACA, Senate leaders want to vote within days on a bill that would delay the repeal of “Obamacare” for two years while a better alternative is crafted.

Grassley says he supports bringing the House bill up for debate, but won’t commit to supporting the current bill.

“It’s subject to amendment on the floor of the United States Senate and it might be more than just repeal,” Grassley says. “If you’re asking me how I would vote on a bill to get it though the United States Senate, I would wait until we got through that amending process.”

The measure that passed in the House contains drastic differences from the Senate’s version of the bill, which didn’t have the support to move forward.

“My suspicion is, after you get through the amending process, the House bill won’t look like the House bill anymore,” Grassley says, “it’ll look closer to what was hoping to be brought up in the United States Senate.”

Grassley notes 72,000 Iowans won’t be able to get health insurance next year due to the “failed promises” of Obamacare. He says there is “urgency” to move ahead.

Iowans travels country with Broadway musical managing logistics (AUDIO)

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Candace Hemphill

Eight semi-trucks loaded with sets, costumes and equipment and two charter buses carrying six-dozen people are just part of the responsibilities of a central Iowa woman.

When the touring Broadway production of “An American in Paris” makes its one stop in Iowa this week, assistant company manager Candace Hemphill will be there, clipboard in hand, making sense of the swirling madness.

“My main job is to take care of the day-to-day logistics for the company,” Hemphill says. “We have a traveling company of 71 so I take care of their housing, their entertainment, I help them feel comfortable in a new city, help them find a doctor if they’re not well — all of the stuff you’re able to do when you’re home but when you’re in a new city, it’s kind of hard.”

Hemphill is a Des Moines native, so she’s arranging trips to destinations like the farmers market, Zombie Burger and Terrace Hill. She can also tell you who has good pizza, find a reliable eye doctor or get a transmission fixed in cities from Los Angeles to Houston to Miami.

“We reach out to the building ahead to time, to the theater or to the hotel, ask them who they know and what’s good,” Hemphill says. “I’ve been on the road about 10 years so I’ve been to most of these cities a time or two and keep pretty meticulous notes on what’s helpful and what’s not.”

So how does someone get this kind of job? Hemphill earned a degree in theater technology and design from Drake University and a masters from Wayne State in the same category, then started sending out resumes.

“I got really lucky and got a job 10 years ago on the road with a company of ‘Rent’ and I’ve been lucky enough that each job leads to the next,” Hemphill says. “This is a business about reputation and about being in the right place at the right time.”

The production of “An American in Paris” opens tonight and will be at the Des Moines Civic Center through Sunday.

Hear Matt Kelley’s full interview with Candace Hemphill below:

 

 

Court hearing looks into firing of mayor of Muscatine

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Muscatine’s mayor has her day in court today.

Why did the Muscatine City Council vote Mayor Diana Broderson out of office? And was her removal constitutional?

A district court judge is scheduled to hear testimony about those questions.

Broderson, who was elected in November 2015, was ousted May 11 on a 7-to-nothing vote for what the council said was willful misconduct and neglect of duties.

The vote followed months of debate and hearings and took less than five minutes.

Broderson says she’s the victim of a witch hunt and appealed the decision to fire her to district court.

A judge ruled June 16th that Broderson be returned to office while her appeal is heard.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Iowa atheist leader gets death threat prior to Oskaloosa invocation

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Despite last week’s death threat, the founder and director of Eastern Iowa Atheists says he’ll continue his mission.

Justin Scott, from the Bremer County town of Denver, says he seeks out city councils that open their meetings with prayer and asks to be allowed to give a secular invocation instead.

Scott says all went relatively smoothly at last Wednesday’s city council meeting in Oskaloosa.

“They were very welcoming and really appreciated my request,” Scott says. “I got no push-back from the city. They definitely made sure their meetings were absolutely inclusive to everybody which is exactly our goal in our efforts. We want to make sure if cities are doing this, that they are including all voices and all world views.”

Scott says his invocations are centered on the power of humanity and not of any type of deity.

A U.S. Supreme Court case in 2014 made it clear that prayer is allowed before city council meetings, but he wants to make sure everyone is being invited to the table. Scott says he’s been giving invocations all across the region.

Scott says, “We’re less focused on doing any kind of prayer or séance or ritual and more focused on just reminding elected officials why they are there and who they’re representing.”

Prior to last week’s Oskaloosa city council meeting, Scott was told by a local reporter that someone had threatened to kill Scott if he gave his atheist invocation. Scott applauds the city and the police department for making him feel very safe.

“Thankfully, there was a very calm, mature response to my invocation,” Scott says. “Even those that were not pleased with me being there were respectful. They came up during public comments, made their opinions known but for the most part, it was ‘Iowa nice,’ if you will.”

In April, Scott says he became the first atheist to deliver an invocation before a regular session of the Iowa House of Representatives.