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Iowa Lottery’s Board of Directors discusses sports betting after court ruling

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Iowa Lottery Board

The five-member board that oversees the Iowa Lottery has directed lottery staff to “explore…the feasibility” of having Iowa retailers use lottery terminals for sports betting.

Sports betting has been legal in the State of Nevada for decades, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May overturned a federal law which had prohibited legalized sports betting in other states. On June 5, Delaware began offering full-scale sports betting in casinos along with a more limited sports lottery in retail locations.

“In the last month, we’ve heard from several of the lottery’s largest retail organizations who have said that if sports betting is legalized in Iowa, they want the option of offering it as a product in their locations,” Neubauer said today during the lottery board’s meeting.

Mary Neubauer

Scientific Games, the company that helps run Delaware’s sports lottery, also has the service contract for Iowa Lottery terminals that handle play slips and print lottery tickets.

“Given the expertise involved, we fully anticipate that our current system provider could allow the Iowa Lottery to offer sports betting,” Neubauer said. “Ultimately, the decision as to whether sports betting will be legalized in Iowa and exactly what sports betting were to look like if that were to occur here is a decision for our state’s lawmakers.”

The casino industry has been lobbying Iowa legislators for several years to pass a bill that would allow sports betting run by the state’s casinos, if the court ruled states could proceed. Mary Rathje of Marion, a member of the Iowa Lottery’s board, said Iowa Lottery retailers “need to be represented,” too, and that’s why lottery staff need to continue doing the research about how a sports lottery could work here.

Rob Porter

“The casinos, I’m sure, have already got their scope and how they want to proceed with this and we need to be able to be on the same page, if and when it’s decided,” Rathje said during today’s board meeting.

Rob Porter, the Iowa Lottery’s legal counsel, said the businesses that sell Iowa lottery products are looking for ways to boost in-store traffic as consumers shift more of their purchases online.

“One of the things that has the most interest for our retailers is if individuals had a convenient option to place legal bets, it certainly would drive traffic to their store, especially in rural locations,” Porter said, “and the potential for economic development and additional traffic in the store is something that helps them and, by extension, helps us.”

Iowa Lottery officials will not lobby legislators to approve a sports lottery option, but have been directed by the board to research, monitor and prepare for a state law that might involve the lottery in sports betting.

A sports lottery would not be a big revenue producer for the state. Lottery officials predict is would yield between $1 million and $6 million annually. Last fiscal year, the Iowa Lottery generated nearly $81 million in revenue for the state.

‘March for Our Lives’ tour stops in Sioux City

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Jaclyn Corin talks during stop in Sioux City.

The national gun control advocacy group “March for Our Lives” bus tour stopped in Sioux City today.

A student from Marjorie Stoneman High School in Parkland, Florida Jaclyn Corin was the keynote speaker.

Seventeen people were killed during a February shooting at the high school and Corin talked about her advocacy to stop gun violence in the wake of the killings of her fellow students and teachers.

“I personally organized a protest to our state capital of Tallahassee less than a week after the shooting. And we amazingly did not stop advocating from the start — and here we are four months out and we are still not stopping,” Corin says. Corin says her group wants what she calls “morally just leaders” elected to political office.

The bus tour is stopping in three Iowa Congressional districts represented by strong gun rights supporters. Corin criticized the National Rifle Association and it’s support of those lawmakers such as 4th District Congressmen Steve King:

“Lobby groups like the National Rifle Association have such a stranglehold over our politicians and they bar these politicians from passing common sense gun laws to protect their own constituents — which is completely unAmerican,” Corin says.

Corin and a student from Chicago talked to a predominantly Democratic audience of 100 people that included King’s opponent for Congress, J.D. Scholten and numerous local party leaders and supporters. Corin’s group then met with local high school students to discuss how to get young people out to vote. They also made posters for a planned afternoon protest outside of Congressman Steve King’s Sioux City office.

She says they will hold a vigil at King’s office to honor all the lives that have been lost to gun violence. “because Steve King is not a morally just leader.”

King is in Washington, D.C. and not at his Sioux City office. The Congressman declined to respond to Corin’s remarks or the protest at his office.

(Photo and story by Woody Gottburg, KSCJ, Sioux City)

 

Rural Janesville woman struck and killed while walking

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A woman has died after being hit by a pickup on a rural road in northeast Iowa Tuesday night.

It happened around 9 p.m. about six miles southwest of Janesville. The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s office reports 52-year-old Kristine Martinson, who lives in the area, was walking with her adult daughter along the gravel road when they were hit by the pickup at the crest of a hill. Martinson died at a hospital.

Her daughter, Annaleise Martinson, suffered minor injuries. She was struck by a side mirror on the pickup.

Twenty-two-year-old Tanner Bodecker of Cedar Falls was driving the pickup. The incident remains under investigation.

 

Mark Becker’s appeal of conviction in murder of Ed Thomas denied

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The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of the man convicted of killing Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas.

Mark Becker shot and killed Thomas in the high school weight room in front of several witnesses on June 24th of 2009. Becker’s lawyer used an insanity defense, but he was found guilty of murder. Becker appealed his conviction saying his lawyer was ineffective for failing to seek a change of venue and failing to present evidence of pre-trial publicity.

The Court of Appeals ruled the lawyer’s decision to forgo a change of venue was sound trial strategy given the available information. The ruling says pre-trial publicity was widespread but many accounts favored the defense’s claim of insanity. The ruling also says the positive interactions between the families and the Thomas family’s plea for understanding could have also positively influenced jurors toward the defense.

Becker is now 33-years-old and is being held at the Corrections Department Oakdale facility.

Here’s the courts decision: Mark-Becker-Appeal-PDF

Rain, rain, not going away today

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NWS rainfall forecast map.

Forecasters say up to five inches of rain may fall today across parts of northwest Iowa, drenching some areas that are already water-logged.

Meteorologist Allan Curtis, at the National Weather Service office in metro Des Moines, says with more rain predicted into the weekend, it’s raising concerns about flooding across a wide section of Iowa’s western half.

“We’ve had quite a bit of rainfall so far, kind of priming the soils and getting river levels up relatively high,” Curtis says. “With another couple of rounds of rain expected over the next two days, it’s setting us up for the potential for some moderate-to-significant river flooding or flash flooding.” While northwest Iowa has already seen heavy rain the past few days, Curtis says that same region is in the target zone for more, especially the area from Storm Lake to Fort Dodge.

“It wouldn’t be too surprising if we get relatively widespread two-to-three inches and then locally, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if we saw four, even pushing five inches in some locations,” Curtis says. “As you can imagine, with relatively wet soils, flash flooding is certainly a concern over urban areas, let alone open fields.” For the moment, there is little concern for any flooding in eastern Iowa, rivers like the Cedar and Iowa or even the Mississippi.

Curtis says, “At this point, it looks more like the western half of the state, so the Des Moines and Raccoon, even as you get further west, a lot of the rivers feeding into the Missouri River basin, those are the ones that are going to be closely watched especially tonight and on through the end of the week.”

Much of Iowa’s western half is already under a Flash Flood Watch. Curtis reminds Iowa motorists to “Turn around, don’t drown” as they approach water-covered roadways and to be especially cautious at night.

 

 

It’s looking like a good year for swimmer’s itch in Iowa lakes

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A parasitic flatworm causes swimmers itch. (CDC photo)

Here’s another sign that summer is arriving in Iowa — reports of swimmer’s itch have been increasing.

DNR fisheries biologist Mike Hawkins says swimmer’s itch is a common issue on Iowa lakes. “Some years are better than others. This year looks like it could be a good year for swimmer’s itch — or bad — given your perspective,” Hawkins says.

He says the itchiness is caused by the microscopic parasitic flatworm. “The flatworm has a pretty interesting life cycle. It goes from a bird through bird droppings into the water and from there a snail ingest the eggs. The eggs develop in the snail and the larvae emerge from there and try to go back to the bird. So, kind of an interesting organism, kind of a complex life cycle,” Hawkins explains.

The larvae end up trying to get under the skin of swimmers if birds are not available. Hawkins says the human body fights off the larvae, but it ends up being an itchy situation. Water that’s dirty or full of pollutants is usually what you want to avoid when swimming — but in this case — Hawkins says the cleaner lakes are the ones where you’ll find swimmer’s itch.

“Typically our best lakes in Iowa and across the midwest have healthy snail populations. So, clear water, lots of aquatic plants, those are the lakes that we’ll typically see more swimmer’s itch in,” according to Hawkins. “So, in a way, swimmer’s itch is an indication of good water quality in some of our lakes.” He says swimmer’s itch usually is the biggest problem between Father’s Day and the Fourth of July. There are some things swimmers can do to avoid the problem.

“You probably should stay away from the areas where the waves have been pounding in for a day or two or more. That tends to accumulate debris, but also that larvae that is in the water,” Hawkins says. “So avoiding those areas is probably the best thing you can do. Swimming in deeper water, open water, is better than wading at the shore.” He says be sure to take some precautions when are done swimming.

“Toweling off and rinsing off when you get out of the water is important to try and get the water off of your skin. The swimmer’s itch tends to concentrate in those little water droplets in the skin and that’s where they’ll try to make entry,” Hawkins says. He says it’s a problem that can happen all across the state, but they are seeing many reports now in the Iowa’s Great Lakes and surrounding northwest and north central Iowa lakes.

 

Polk County drowning victim identified

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Police have identified the toddler who died after being pulled from the water at a state park beach near Des Moines.

Two-year-old Celeste Sandoval-Ramos of Perry died at a hospital Tuesday. The girl was with family at Big Creek State Park beach on Saturday evening when she disappeared underwater. A nine-year-old boy from Tama also died Tuesday.

Landyn Short went missing at the Rock Creek State Park beach area in Jasper County on Sunday around 1:30 p.m. He was found underwater about 50 minutes later.

 

Parkland students to protest at Congressman King’s office

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The national gun control advocacy group “March for Our Lives” is making three stops in Iowa this week in Congressional districts represented by strong gun rights supporters.

Today’s stop will be outside the offices of Congressman Steve King, a staunch supporter of the second amendment and a critic of March for Our Lives. Organizer Kyrah Simon is from Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed during a high school shooting in February. Simon has a message for King.

“It’s really that the young people are not afraid, we’re not willing to back down to hatred,” Simon says. “Our voices are just as important, just as strong as his. We’re willing to make a change if he’s unwilling to do that.” Simon says a vigil will be held outside King’s office in Sioux City at noon today, as he’s a fervent supporter of gun rights and has sparred with the students on social media.

Simon says, “I think what’s amazing with the movement is that a few days after the shooting when everything was still raw, they had the courage, they had the bravery to go out and speak to the media, get their voices out, make an organization to implement change in our country.” They’re calling this the “Road to Change” bus tour. On Thursday, the group plans to hold an afternoon rally in Cedar Rapids and another event at Linn-Mar High School in Marion on Thursday night.

(Thanks to Rob Dillard, Iowa Public Radio)

 

Groups seeks to block abortion ban exceptions for rape, incest

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A group that opposes abortions for pregnant women who’ve been raped is asking Iowa courts to block the limited exceptions allowed under Iowa’s new ban on most abortions.

Iowa’s new “fetal heartbeat” law is on hold until a different legal challenge is settled that argues the abortion ban is too limited. A group called Save The 1 says the new law is too broad and does not protect children conceived in rape.

The group is asking the court to preserve the central focus of the new law and ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat may be detected, but then strike down exceptions for cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormality. Save The 1 argues those exceptions send the message that children conceived by rape or incest “are worth less” than others.

Soybean producers continue to watch trade situation anxiously

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Midwestern farmers are seeing soybean prices fall as the U.S. and China remain at odds over trade and tariff issues.

Kirk Leeds, chief executive officer for the Iowa Soybean Association, says soybeans are one of Iowa’s top crops and this continued spiral in prices is disheartening. “China is very, very important for Iowa farmers,” Leeds says. “From soybean farmers in particular, they buy about 60% of all the soybeans traded in the world. Anything that causes a potential disruption in our ability to sell high-quality soybeans to a customer like China is very, very concerning.”

The initial concern came when the Trump Administration threatened to put high tariffs on steel and aluminum coming from China and China responded with threats of raising tariffs on a list of American goods, including soybeans.

“None of these tariffs are yet in place but just simply the threat of tariffs and counter-tariffs has been enough to drive soybean prices down,” Leeds says. “As you all know, at a time when farmers are already struggling to make ends meet, to have this kind of potential disruption in trade is very, very concerning.” Leeds says he and other members of the Iowa Soybean Association are in contact with the Iowa delegation in the U.S. House and Senate.

“The administration has promised that they will take a look at some way to compensate farmers for the loss of income,” Leeds says. “I’m kind of skeptical that we’re going to find anything that they’ll actually follow through on and anything that’s WTO-compliant. So, it’s really troubled times and uncertain times.”

Leeds says they’ve gotten tremendous support from both Iowa U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst as well as from the U.S. Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, a former Iowa governor. Leeds says he’s taken around 25 trips to China over past 35 years, working to develop the trade relationship.

(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)