"The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed."

From today's Prague Daily Monitor:

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is struggling to retrieve things lost in floods that hit the place two weeks ago. Various institutions have come up with an offer of help, including the Czech government.

The Des Moines Register wrote on Tuesday the Czech government would announce a gift of USD 1 million, citing Cory Crowley, president of the State Society of Iowa. Crowley also said the Czech government wanted to lend money to businesses in the historical Czech section of Cedar Rapids.

Speaking to the Czech News Agency (ČTK) later on, Daniel Nový, spokesman for the Czech embassy, said the Foreign Ministry had proposed that the government earmark money for the affected area, but he pointed out that the sum had not yet been agreed on.

"The sum mentioned in the Iowa daily is exaggerated," Nový told ČTK

From Tuesday's Des Moines Register:

The Czech government is expected to announce a gift of $1 million to help rebuild a Czech museum and Czech businesses damaged by flooding in Cedar Rapids, backers of an Iowa fundraising event said here Monday night.

Cory Crowley, president of the State Society of Iowa, said that the nonprofit group was contacted by the Czech Embassy here and was told that the government would pledge money to help repair the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

What was it that super-sized Des Moines Register sports columnist Nancy Clark (now Nancy Stockdale) said in 2005 when she was bashing them newfangled bloggers?

Know that if the information is coming from the mainstream media -the accredited reporters, broadcasters and photojournalists -they are following strict professional guidelines that the looser outlets don't require. The information has been verified, has been scrutinized by editors, has been fact-checked and proofed.

Jay Leno

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

The comedy of funnyman Jay Leno took on an air of poignancy Wednesday night at a special show in Las Vegas to benefit the flood rebuilding effort in Cedar Rapids...

It wasn’t until the end of the show that Leno mentioned Iowa, when he thanked the audience for coming out so late. All proceeds from the 10 p.m. shows on Wednesday and Friday nights will go to the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. The Wednesday show was nearly sold out, and at $90 a ticket that means about $100,000 for the rebuilding effort from that night alone.

Leno called Iowans “our own friends and neighbors.”

“I don’t see anyone in Iowa asking for money,” he said. “These people are not looking for favors. I don’t see anybody whining. I see people working hard, with shovels and brooms trying to clean the places. So hopefully the money from tonight and Friday – just thanks for coming out so late. It’s great to do this kind of show. Thank you for what you did folks.”

Wow!

Gay Prudes

From the Iowa State Daily by Nia Balvanz:

June is Gay Pride Month. Millions of people across the globe get together to celebrate their sexual orientations...

...A crucial part of the merrymaking is a pride parade, a fabulous spectacle featuring leaders of the community, floats, drum corps, demonstrations for equal rights and - almost certainly - nudity.

I have never participated in one of these parades, although I am definitely not shy about or ashamed of my sexual orientation. I just don't understand why I'm supposed to be so proud of an aspect of my sexuality that I would go out and stroll about, most likely painted and semi-clothed, with a large group of my fellow revelers.

First of all, why use the word "pride" to describe the festivities?...

...how do parades of scantily and unusually clad people send a message of acknowledgment of accomplishments and skills in things other than being able to decorate oneself in a socially deviant way? Why must pride parades equal exposed penises and breasts? Yes, there are more to these parades than nude people. But is that what gets the attention? No. Because public nudity is not the norm in our society, these displays serve more to titillate the bystander and enrage the conservatives more than anything else.

Pride Month was originally a recognition for those who fought - yes, fought - for equal treatment of the sexually "divergent." Over time it has evolved into a safe place and time for people to express themselves in ways not acceptable in mainstream society.

How can members of the LGBT community keep the free expression and move toward gaining tolerance and equal rights, as a minority group, without cementing their place in the shocking and shameful corner?

By putting the Speedos, dog collars, and leather chaps back in the closet????

You know, it's really only the mannish Les-beings who have an issue with flamboyance.

Now for this morning's entertainment, the Teletubbies:

Gonorrhea, Cha Cha Cha!

Philadelphia Bulletin, story headlined on June 25th:
"Arizona, Iowa To Turn Down Abstinence Education Funding"

Cedar Rapids Gazette, story headlined on June 25th:
"STDs reach all-time high in Iowa"

Queer In The Quad Cities

I can't even begin to quote this Quad City Times story ("Local gay pride day proclamations hit snags") in enough places to demonstrate all the dysfunction, name-calling, backpedaling, and excuse-making that's going on.

Don't these politicians have more important things to worry about there?

The Ducks

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette, this is sick:

CEDAR RAPIDS - Vandals stoned and beat to death about 50 ducks, including some that were just days old, at the Bever Park Children's Zoo overnight.

A zoo employee discovered the dead birds around 7 a.m. this morning. Some were floating in a pond, and others were piled up near a broken rake.

Dave Smith, the city parks superintendent, said whoever was responsible broke the lock on the front gate to the pen and broke into two of the three night houses where the birds are kept overnight.

They believe at least one person herded the ducks together while someone else did the killing.

"They stoned some to death inside the cage with rocks that were part of the landscape," Smith said. "Some of them ran into the water, which is what they would usually do for safety. Once they got into the pond, they stoned them in the pond."

As if Cedar Rapids doesn't have enough problems.

With animal killings like this, it's usually teenage or young adult males doing the crime. This won't be the first time they've been in trouble with the law. And it likely won't be the first time they've killed animals in this manner. Usually, these types of individuals are budding psychopaths and future murderers.

If somebody is arrested, will the public get a look inside their juvenile criminal record? I can just guess how many times the perps of this horrendous crime have been put on probation or released to their "parents" over the years.

I believe all criminal records should be open to the public regardless of age.

Wayne Ford Should Become A Concert Promoter

I was wondering how many comments were going to appear on the Des Moines Register story about State Representative Wayne Ford's stupid rant about why there weren't many black people performing at the Iowa State Fair.

As of this morning, there were 164 comments.

No big deal, though. This is typical race hustler talk, and that's all Ford is. The DMR eats it up because they all believe that whitey in Iowa are a bunch of racists.

Nevermind the facts, such as:

Wayne Ford is the clown who thinks high school student-athletes carrying four D-minuses and two F's is a reasonable standard.

Wayne Ford also believes that illegals should be able to get a driver's license.

Wayne Ford even believed that nightclub owners were discriminating against black people because certain types of clothing had been banned.

Even the late columnist Rob Borsellino said that Ford was "pretty far to the left."

Who do you think Wayne Ford would want to bring in to play? You think it would be somebody like Centerville native, opera great Simon Estes, or jazz great, Grinnell graduate and recent Grammy winner Herbie Hancock?

Nah.

Wayne Ford would want the type of nigga like Mike Jones, who showed up late in Ames and got paid $617 a minute to rap to a backing track at VEISHEA last year, to play the Fair:

Ramona Took A Deal

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

From the Des Moines Register:

Former job-training executive Ramona Cunningham has struck a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on charges that she conspired with others to misuse $1.5 million in taxpayer money.

The 53-year-old former director of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium was scheduled for trial July 8 on 30 charges of fraud and conspiracy. Her attorney, Bill Kutmus, on Monday confirmed the plea deal but said ethics rules do not allow him to divulge details...

...Prosecutors allege that nearly $2 million in public money was misspent over a three-year period, with much of it going to huge salaries and bonuses for CIETC's top executives.

William Kutmus, abiding by ethics rules.

Now, that's rich!

Really, now.

It's too bad Ramona didn't really try to kill herself. That would have saved the taxpayers a lot more money down the road. But since we all know that Ramona Cunningham is a phony and a fraud, I'm about 99.9999% sure that the GED-recipient and Bill Kutmus were just playing it up for shits and giggles.

....But Kutmus is going to abide by ethics rules and not tell the press anything.

That..... that may be the sickest thing I've heard in a long, long time.

I'm wondering how far the prosecutors bent over for Kutmus.

I bet she has to pay a fine, which she'll never pay. Because she's broke, remember?

And I bet she gets something like a 5 year sentence, of which she'll probably serve maybe a year or 16 months.

That would not surprise me. Ramona Cunningham is a Democrat, she made a lot of money, got Kutmus to defend her, and she never ratted anybody out.

Contrast this to Dixie Shanahan (now Dixie Duty), who shot her husband to death after he repeatedly beat her over a long period of time, threatened to kill her numerous times, and threatened to kill their unborn baby. Dixie's only crime, according to the rich bitches on the Iowa Parole Board, was not taking a deal, and she ended up with a 50 year sentence. Allegedly pro-woman and now-former-Governor Tom Vilsack sort-of commuted her sentence to a minimum of 10 years.


Dixie Shanahan (now Dixie Duty), after her first husband beat her up

Archie Crooks Still Handling Money

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

From the Des Moines Register:

Archie Brooks may be facing up to 27 months in prison for misappropriating money in the scandal at the Central Iowa Employment and training Consortium, but he is still handling money for a local nonprofit organization.

Brooks' primary employment is with the Ruan Center Corp., where he works as a company vice president.

But he is also the operations manager for the Des Moines Skywalk Association, a tax-exempt nonprofit group that is largely responsible for providing security in the downtown skywalk system.

The organization takes in about $450,000 annually, all of it generated by membership dues paid by downtown businesses...

...The skywalk association's attorney in 2007 was Jonathan Wilson of Des Moines, who at the time was also representing the reconfigured CIETC board of directors.

They all have their hands in everything, don't they?

LEE Crash

Lee Enterprises (LEE) closed at $4.60 on Monday, another new low.

Just a week ago it was $5.05!

Down 10% in a week!!!

Look at that long-term chart graphic!

McClathchy, who owns my local (Kanasas City Star), says ad revenue is down 15% this year!

And then there's this:

The industry will not bottom out for another three or four years, analysts predict. The question, Mr. Appert of Goldman Sachs said, “is how far things will fall before then.”

Meanwhile here's Lee Enterprises CEO Mary Junck in February 2007:

Lee Enterprises is poised for strength ahead as its newspapers maintain solid circulation while at the same time expanding their online components to extend their reach, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer told shareholders this morning.

“We at Lee are not buying the negative,” Mary Junck said of the “pot shots” that some pundits have taken at the newspaper industry. “It is not what we are seeing from our industry.”

...Across Lee, she said the newspapers are located in healthy, diverse markets and are the media leaders in their markets. Among the reasons for her optimism, she said, is Lee’s ability to maintain a solid circulation base, its big and growing market reach and its emphasis on revenue growth.

February 2007 was when the stock was $35.15.


Update 7:40am: Buster at InMuscatine believes a shakeup is coming.

James Hansen Is Bonkers

Former University of Iowa alum (B.A. in physics and mathematics '63, M.S. in astronomy '65, and Ph.D. in Physics in '67) and climate scare-ologist James Hansen has finally gone totally insane.

This is from The Guardian:

James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.

Hansen will use the symbolically charged 20th anniversary of his groundbreaking speech to the US Congress - in which he was among the first to sound the alarm over the reality of global warming - to argue that radical steps need to be taken immediately if the "perfect storm" of irreversible climate change is not to become inevitable.

Speaking before Congress again, he will accuse the chief executive officers of companies such as ExxonMobil and Peabody Energy of being fully aware of the disinformation about climate change they are spreading.

In an interview with the Guardian he said: "When you are in that kind of position, as the CEO of one the primary players who have been putting out misinformation even via organisations that affect what gets into school textbooks, then I think that's a crime."

What's next?

Putting the heads of coal companies in prison? Natural gas companies? Propane companies?

Putting Ruth Harkin in prison?

Somebody put James Hansen in a straightjacket. The guy is completely nuts.

George Carlin Died

George Carlin died yesterday.

He was a huge influence on this insightfully vulgar blog:

"The Community College Heretic":



"Social Engineering Instead Of Education In DSM":



And my favorite, the "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV":

What Are Headed Towards "Divorce, Default, and Defeat?"

"Larry King's marriage, Ed McMahon's mortgage, and Barack Obama's campaign..."

If you haven't read Nicholas Johnson's outstanding, detailed, and very lengthy blog post "Change We Can No Longer Believe In" published this morning, do it now.

Why, it was just two months ago when I was ragging on Johnson for being uncritical towards Obama. Johnson replied to that one, and he had his reasons why Obama wasn't included, mostly because Obama (at the time) didn't take any money from PACs.

Now that Obama has rejected public financing of his presidential campaign, that's got to sting for Johnson. It renders his entire "Golden Rules & Revolutions" eight-part series incomplete, although I suppose "Change We Can No Longer Believe In" can now be considered part IX, the epilogue.

I hate to say "I Told You So" because I didn't.

But in a way I did.

Really now. Are any politicians different?

After all, when you see Ed Fallon is begging for cash......

I'm just sayin'....... BE SKEPTICAL, regardless of party affiliation, otherwise, as Johnson says:

But he has marketed himself as something more than that, something better than a conventional politician or manipulative "Pied Piper." So his every change in position, his every abandoned campaign promise, further alienates the supporters who are both disappointed and understandably surprised -- and when his behavior is repeated, ultimately discouraged, disaffected, distant and depressed.

Can you imagine Barack Obama flip flopping on the War in Iraq? Wouldn't that be the ultimate betrayal for some?

Well, it already happened back in 2004:


And then there's this:


And then there's his advisers:


Do you really think Obama is going to get the troops wholly out of Iraq?

Seriously, think about it.

You anti-war types are being played.

If Obama is going to flip flop on all these issues and throw long-time friends and advisers under the bus, why wouldn't he do it with what he's promised you regarding the War In Iraq?

What's Obama's big claim to fame? Oh, he was against the war from the beginning...... unlike John Kerry, who was for the war before he was against it.

Gee, if the Democrats could have just smoothed that little wrinkle out by having anti-war Howard Dean as the candidate in 2004.

Today, Howard Dean has his stand-in puppet. It's Barack Obama.

And if you vote against Barack Obama, you're a racist.

Well, Democrats have two months. And a backup plan. I guess it won't seem like Hillary "stole it at the convention" if Obama continues to tank.

Million Dollar Ripoff

From the Des Moines Register:

A grocery industry group says a program that allows welfare recipients to shop at Iowa farmers markets with food stamps has cost taxpayers nearly $1 million over three years for less than $60,000 worth of fresh food.

State officials acknowledge the numbers, but they say the cost also reflects indirect efforts to promote the entire food stamp program used by more than 255,000 people statewide.

The issue about the farmers market costs arose from a disagreement over the state's effort to end a separate 7-cent subsidy grocers receive each time an electronic food stamp card is used.

Iowa Department of Human Services officials have said the grocer subsidy, worth about $1 million per year, could be better spent.

Right.

The Iowa Department of Human Services clearly wants to take that million dollars is pays to grocery stores for processing food stamps on their behalf and instead burn even more money "marketing" farmer's markets to people on food stamps.

What a waste.

State government in Iowa needs to be weeded.

No, it needs to be destroyed.

Get the Roundup and start spraying.

Start with DHS.

Why I Hate Barack Obama

From Reuters via Yahoo:

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

Yes, there's audio of him saying it.

You Democrats who seem to think that Obama is some sort of uniter, and some sort of agent of change..... I think you're all delusional if you still believe it.

This Barack Obama guy is worse than that elitist douchebag, John Kerry.

And while Obama has shown himself to be an elitist douchebag already to folks in rural and midwestern areas, now he has chosen the worst road to go down: race baiting Republicans, Independents, and Democrats who don't vote for him.

Barack Obama is threatening a race war. Pure and simple.

That's why I hate Barack Obama.

It's the company you keep, after all.

Obama has been friends with crooks, terrorists, and racists, over the years.

Obama will continue down his road of extreme hubris. He has so far this year.

Remember, it's still more than two months away from the party convention. There's lots of time for Obama's support to fall apart within the Democratic Party. It doesn't matter how many fake polls the media create.

And what's the media going to do? Gloss this over? Is that asshole David Yepsen going to ignore it? Who cares! You white Iowans area all a bunch of racists, anyway.

Just watch. White Democrats are going to flee in droves to McCain or Nader. They already were at the end of the primary season when Hillary kept winning states with landslide after landslide. Will they get called out by Obama, his angry racist wife, and the Howard Dean acolytes who are spinning this BS?

Is this the shape of things to come from the Obama campaign?

God help us all.

While I said at one point that I was voting for Nader, I have now changed my mind and I'm about 99.95% certain that I'll hold my nose incredibly tight and vote for Juan McCain after all. McCain is horrible, but he's far less horrible than this race baiter Barack Obama.

The 500 Year Flood Plain Myth + Stupid Spending

David in the comments on yesterday's post "Rebuilding It As Green Space" said:

Just to clarify what a "500 year flood" is, as well as a "100 year flood", the odds are that any given year there is a 1% chance of a flood that affects locations in the "100 year flood plain" occurring, and any given year there is between a .2% and 1% chance of a flood that affects locations in the "500 year flood plain" occurring. That means that on average, they will happen every 100 years or so (or every 500 years or so), but they can happen more or less frequently. Just because we had a 500 year flood this year, doesn't mean we can't have one again next year. The odds are very slim, though.

The fact is that Iowans who live along certain river basins have seen floods reaching the alleged "500 year" levels twice in 15 years. So, you know, they don't live in a 500 year flood plain as far as reality goes. They live in a 15 year flood plain.

The odds aren't 0.2% for them.

This isn't directed at David, who seemed to be merely correcting the odds from sound bites to actual fractions, but I just wish the media, the DNR, and scientists would stop talking about the odds and the clearly bogus "500 year" flood plains. The data isn't reliable. And past calculations are only based on data that's a few decades old.

I suppose my point is "Don't Be Stupid" about where you put critical infrastructure and buildings.

Which leads me to this story in the Cedar Rapids Gazette where Tom Harkin, Dave Loebsack, and White House deficit director Jim Nussle want $146 million earmarked lickity-split for the long-delayed Federal Courthouse replacement in Cedar Rapids. The current Federal Courthouse is located right next to the Cedar River, as will be the proposed new building, just a few blocks downstream:

So Harkin and 2nd District Rep. Dave Loebsack lobbied Bush and his budget director, former U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa, to immediately replace the 77-year-old flood-damaged courthouse on the banks of the Cedar River at First and Second streets SE.

That would be a better use of taxpayer money than repairing the current courthouse and then constructing a new one later to meet the needs of the federal court for the Northern District of Iowa.

"We told the president — it was pointed to him on the flight, the helicopter flight — if you put millions into this courthouse, it's a waste of money," Harkin said. "So we need to move up this courthouse."

This is incredibly irresponsible.

It's stupid.

Where are the newspaper political columnists to hector Harkin, Loebsack, Nussle, and all these other crass dimwits who want to build a $146 million Federal Courthouse right next to a river which just severely flooded?

Last I saw, there was a dead mall in Cedar Rapids for sale at the bargain price of $18.5 million. Buy that and convert it. It's got acres of parking. Room to grow. Close to Highway 30 and a few minutes away from I-380 and the airport. Lots of shopping and restaurants around it.

Oh yeah, AND NO RIVER NEXT DOOR THAT WILL FLOOD EVERY 15 YEARS!!!!!!!

No, no, no. There's no way that government would be that smart.

Why can't we be smart in the future about this?

We can only tame the rivers so much.

I'm not saying turn downtown Cedar Rapids or the space near the Iowa Memorial Union into wetlands.

Just don't allow government to put all your eggs in the same wet basket.

Rebuilding It As Green Space

A reader to Nicholas Johnson's blog emailed him:

It wasn't until this flood that I realized how many of [Iowa City's] critical resources are in flood areas:

* The entire office complex for the Johnson County Administration Building
* The pure water processing plant
* The waste water processing plant
* The central University of Iowa Computing Center
* The Power Plant
* The Hydraulics Lab
* The entire source for steam (heating and cooling system) for the entire campus

If the above resources are knocked out, the entire city would need to be evacuated.

. . .

Some sports require large amounts of open space (and open green space) such as tennis, golf, soccer, baseball, football practice, and other such things. Why not have these in the low lying areas. Instead, the football practice field was high and dry while the critical infrastructure of Iowa City and the University of Iowa was under water.

Even worse is Cedar Rapids.

Just from memory, all of the following are next to the Cedar River or in the flood plain area:

• Fire department headquarters
  
• Police headquarters
• Linn County Courthouse
• Federal Courthouse
• Linn County Jail
• Library
• Public transportation (bus) center
• Science Station
• Art Museum
• African-American Museum
• Czech-Slovak Museum
• Mercy Hospital
• All four of the municipal water wells (three were compromised during the flood)
• Alliant's Sixth Street generating station
• Alliant's (electricity company) headquarters

There's probably more.

When Edgewood Rd has to close because the bridge was covered in water, many people were cut off from an entire side of town. The only way around is to drive to Palo (which was under water) or to worm your way downtown to I-380, which was crawling.

As you know, I no longer live in Iowa (I'm in Overland Park, Kansas, suburban Kansas City) and I talked with some people who were around when the 1993 floods affected Kansas City. They said the downtown airport was closed because of the Missouri River. It's just a regional airport for small planes or private jets. Most traffic goes to KCI, up north. Also troublesome was the Kaw River (aka Kansas River), which drains into the Missouri. Areas of Southwest Boulevard were underwater to the second floor, which is kind of hard to fathom. Lots of great Mexican food down there, I must say.

Update: Er, I wasn't finished earlier with my point there. I hit "Publish Post" instead of "Save As Draft".

Anyway, the 1993 flood supposedly closed the Broadway Bridge (next to the downtown airport) and part of I-70. That left one main vehicle bridge to downtown Kansas City from the North (the Paseo Bridge) and I guess traffic was insane. If you lived in southern burbs (like me) then it was no big deal. But it wasn't like the entire town's vital government functions were going to be shut down.

One of the comments on this post is about the I-380 bridge above the dam in Cedar Rapids. It's shocking to hear that the bridge was almost closed. That would have been a very serious problem for Cedar Rapids. Another comment said the detour to get from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City was hundreds of miles! Imagine if the I-380 bridge in downtown Cedar Rapids was damaged and had to be closed, in addition to all the other bridges being closed! Just going across Cedar Rapids (north to south) by vehicle would have taken an entire day. It's almost hard to comprehend. Do note that all hospitals in Cedar Rapids are located north of the Cedar River, and I-380 was closed where Coralville Lake meets it (on the way to Iowa City), so a significant portion of the population could have had no road access to any hospital in Cedar Rapids or Iowa City. That's a very very bad situation to almost be in, along with the hyper-concentration of governmental and infrastructure services in a floodplain area.

Cities really need to be concerned about building bridges that safely span waterways well in excess of 500 year floodplains. My god, the last thing you want during a catastrophic event is to be completely shut off.

Down here, Kansas City wants to replace the Paseo Bridge with one that is 150 feet taller. There were complaints by the downtown airport because the height was a concern, but that has been rectified. Luckily, the Paseo was never in any danger of being flooded at any time. I guess my point is that if you're going to have a bridge that's a major artery for a community, build the thing tall and make sure you've got lots of green space under and around it.

Ed Fallon: "I Walk A Lonely Road..."

This blog correctly predicted that Ed Fallon was going to lose in his attempt to wrestle the Democratic nomination away from Leonard Boswell.

Funny how you don't hear any Democrats waxing on about how being against the war is a political advantage. After all, Fallon is against all wars and Boswell voted for the war in Iraq.

Now, it seems, Fallon is begging other Democrats to bail him out of $35,000 worth of campaign debt.

I don't know why the Republican Party of Iowa doesn't approach Fallon and promise to pay off his debt in exchange for running as a hardcore, anti-war, left-wing independent candidate against Democrat Tom Harkin in November. That might look a little weird, seeing how the RPI has to throw money at yet another lousy Senate candidate (some loser name Christopher Reed).

But the RPI wouldn't pony up $30,000 to buy those 9 electric buses in Cedar Rapids at auction that Tom Harkin procured in the 1990's at a taxpayer expense of over $10 million. Those nine buses traveled a total of 200,000 miles (that's $50 a mile, folks). If they won't buy a legit campaign issue to run over Harkin with, why would they bother trying to get creative to siphon away the anti-war wingnuts?

Now for this evening's entertainment, an accordion played atop Green Day's "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams"!

Thursday Roundup

Buster at InMuscatine keeps up with the Lee Enterprises Death Watch. That stock is opening this morning at $4.81, yet another new low.

I was wondering where Nicholas Johnson went.

Side Notes shows a picture of Highway 1 south of Mount Vernon. Or what little is left of it.

From the "You Don't Say?" department. Headline in the Quad City Times today: "Mosquito population expected to increase"

From the "And Now For Something Completely Different" department. Headline in the Quad City Times today: "Harkin praises FEMA’s flood response"

From "The Buck Stops Elsewhere" department. Headline in the Quad City Times today: "Culver: Federal government needs to pay for flood-fighting efforts"

From the "Bad Headline" department. Headline in the Daily Iowan: "Flooding leaves parents and 1-month-old on an air mattress"

Daily Iowan: "Renovated Carver arena may allow alcohol" - Why not allow gambling? Revenue is needed, you know.

President Bush is flying to a hostile war zone today (see the comments), although nothing could be more patronizing than Chuck Grassley's advice.

And if you missed yesterday's post called "IowaDrugCard.com Is Much More Expensive Than WalMart" then you are in for a treat, but only if you click over to there.

IowaDrugCard.com Is Much More Expensive Than WalMart

From the Mason City Glob-Gazette:

A new statewide discount drug card program called the Iowa Drug Card is now available to all Iowa residents.

The program, which is free to all Iowans, will provide savings of up to 75 percent on prescription drugs with average savings of around 30 percent. There are no restrictions to membership, no income restrictions, no age limit and no applications to fill out.

Iowa Drug Card is accepted at more than 50,000 national and regional pharmacies around the country. Participating pharmacies include Kmart Pharmacy, Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy Rite Aid, and Hy-Vee, as well as thousands of independent pharmacies.

Iowans can download a free card by visiting www.iowadrugcard.com

Anyone not able to access the Web site, or otherwise obtain a member card, can visit any Kmart Pharmacy in Iowa. Kmart Pharmacy will process your prescription through the Iowa Drug Card program even if you do not have a member card.

Sounds like a great idea, right? Government and business are keeping down the price of prescription drugs by going to practically every other big pharmacy except Evil Wal-Mart.

Let's look at some examples.


I looked up Amoxicillin in capsule with a 250 mg dose, 30 day supply.

IowaDrugCard.com (UNA Rx Card) was $7.26.

Wal-Mart? It's $4.00 at Wal-Mart for a 30 day supply.

Ooooh, that's painful.


Let's try 800 mg Ibuprofen, 30 day supply.

IowaDrugCard.com is $8.14. Wal-Mart is $4.00.

Wow, that's making my blood pressure go up!


How about a 25 mg tablet of Hydralazine, 30 day supply?

IowaDrugCard is $14.82. Wal-Mart is $4.00.

This is making me crazy.


How about Citalopram, 40mg tablet, 30 day supply?

IowaDrugCard is $12.95. Wal-Mart is $4.00.

This is giving me a stomach ache.


How about Ranitidine, 300 mg tablet, 30 day supply?

IowaDrugCard is $19.57. Wal-Mart is $4.00.

Well, you get my point now.

The truth is that Evil Wal-Mart continues to lower the cost of health care, and in a much more dramatic way for consumers than any government program can or ever will.

Nose To The Wet Grindstone

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Top state government and business officials are requesting some employer forbearance as flood-plagued Iowans attempt to deal with emergency situations.

Gov. Culver, the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, and Iowa Workforce Development Wednesday made a joint appeal for Iowa businesses to provide employees with the flexibility needed to deal with problems generated from Iowa’s recent natural disasters.

This must be a problem in some places, otherwise it wouldn't have been raised.

Kudos to Culver for pushing this issue.

Has anybody read stories or message boards where employer stupidity has been on display?

Kathy Hickman At The Des Moines Register Is A Total Moron

From Deadspin.com:

On Saturday, thanks to the awful flooding of Iowa, the Iowa Cubs played in front of zero fans in a 5-4 win over Nashville. The flooding has killed five, displaced thousands from their homes and caused millions of dollars in damage. Therefore, Black Heart Gold Pants, an Iowa football blog, posted a video the Des Moines Register had shot with flood footage, and encouraged readers to donate to the Red Cross. Then matters got weird.

It turns out that even though the Des Moines Register had posted the video on their site, with embed code, they threatened to sue the blog for embedding the video.

As it turned out, the assholes at the Des Moines Register chalked it up to some bullshit about "This was simply a case of our policy not being updated to reflect our technology (we just got the embed option a couple months ago)."

Or so says "ASSistant Managing Editor/Digital" Chris Snider (csnider@dmreg.com).

Where did they hire all these retards from?

More about this story at the once-threatened Black Heart Gold Pants blog, including the threatening email by the evil Kathy Hickman.

This blog has been harassed by that evil Kathy Hickman in the past.

Why? Because this blog dared to quote more than a couple of sentences. Actually, it's because I made fun of that unfunny, fat-assed columnist, K-k-k Ken Fuson.

Poor, poor Gannettoid Kathy Hickman (khickman@dmreg.com), it must suck to work for a company whose stock has gone down 50% in the past year and which had to ditch those lucrative pensions. Why anybody subscribes to that rag or even advertises in it, I'll never understand. That's OK, because fewer and fewer look at that paper every day. I love watching a dying industry die. If you want to read the news, just look at the web site and don't click on any of the ads. Screw them.

Actually, it must suck to be a total digital douchebag who doesn't know what the hell EMBED means or what it does! All this bitch Kathy Hickman knows how to do is threaten and scare and shovel out the harassing emails by the ton.

You've got to be D-U-M-B to work for the Des Moines Register, central Iowa's monopoly corporate newspaper.

Naturally, the Ass Piss cartel (of which the Des Moines Register is part of) can go around and steal from everybody else with impunity. What a bunch of Assholes.

"You'd Think The University Of Iowa Would Have Learned Something From The Pierre Pierce Case"

"Hmmmm, how do you get rid of evidence and taint a crime scene?"

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Unsealed search warrant documents show four Iowa football players -- Cedric Everson, Abeberell Satterfield, Clemmie Jevon Pugh and Michael Daniels Jr. -- were either inside or came by the Hillcrest Residence Hall room where a student allegedly was being sexually assaulted last fall while the victim was inside.

The six search warrants and related documents involving the alleged attack in room N207, which teammate Lance Tillison said he vacated earlier in the semester, also shed light on what allegedly occurred sometime between midnight and 6 a.m. Oct. 14, 2007, and indicate the alleged assault might have been widely discussed in the Hawkeyes' locker room.

Satterfield and Everson, who left UI last December, have been charged with second-degree sexual assault; Satterfield also faces a third-degree sexual abuse charge. Arrest warrants for the two men were obtained last month. Pugh, Daniels and teammate Derrell Johnson-Koulianos have not been charged.

Pugh also has left UI. Daniels and Johnson-Koulianos are both still enrolled at UI.

The warrant documents also state that within days of the reported assault Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz told Tillison to return to N207 to live and Johnson-Koulianos joined him.

"Johnson-Koulianos stated Coach Ferentz told Tillison to move back into the dorm room," the warrant documents state. "Johnson-Koulianos agreed to move into the room with Tillison."

However, the court records state that once in the room, Johnson-Koulianos threw out a new condom and a used condom found behind a bed and a mattress cover with an "orangish-reddish color" substance on it.

Read the comments on this story.

No wonder the University of Iowa wanted everything sealed forever for this case.

If the above turns out to be true, Kirk Ferentz should be packing his bags and going to prison.

I think we know from past cover ups at the University of Iowa (the 2002 Pierre Pierce case, Jean Jew seeking justice) that nobody in charge there can be trusted.

Especially considering how many UI football players turned into criminal-athletes in the past year.

15 Dogs, A Rabbit, and a Parrot

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

"We're here to get our dog," says Lewis Allison, 44, standing beside Candy Struchen, 38, five days after a forced evacuation from their 11th-floor apartment at Geneva Tower in downtown Cedar Rapids left behind Nikita, an 18-week-old Jack Russell terrier.

The dog had but a day's supply of food and a bowl of water. Lewis is worried, Candy near tears.

"We'll see what we can do," says Beth Haley of Cedar Rapids, one of dozens of volunteers at the Animal Health Technology Center at Kirkwood Community College.

"They had to go to a shelter, and shelters don't allow pets," Beth says as I follow her to a row of pet transporters. More than 500 pets, separated from owners because of the flood, had been taken to the center.

The search for Nikita is on.

Meanwhile, pets and owners found a godsend starting Thursday at New Creation United Methodist Church, 3715 33rd Ave. SW. Chairs in the sanctuary were stacked at one end, replaced by mattresses and pet carriers.

About 75 pets and owners, including one family with 15 dogs, a rabbit and parrot, have spent time at the church, secretary Peg Watts says.

15 dogs?

Flood Your Wallets

Governor Chet Culver contemplates another meal while Senator Chuck Grassley checks his corn futures and Senator Tom Harkin checks his ConocoPhillips stock. (photo by Mauro Heck)

Headlines in the Des Moines Register concerning paying for the recent flooding:

• Gronstal wants debt to be option
  
  
• Culver considers tapping 'rainy-day' fund
  
  
• Harkin, Grassley plea in Washington for aid
  

LEE Death Watch

Lee Enterprises (LEE) is down to $5.05 a share today.

$35.15 on February 15, 2007
$30.60 on April 18, 2007
$25.12 on May 31, 2007
$20.09 on July 17, 2007
$15.29 on December 26, 2007
$10.41 on April 8, 2008
$7.71 on May 13, 2008
$6.51 on June 5, 2008

Lee Enterprises CEO Mary Junck in February 2007:

Lee Enterprises is poised for strength ahead as its newspapers maintain solid circulation while at the same time expanding their online components to extend their reach, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer told shareholders this morning.

“We at Lee are not buying the negative,” Mary Junck said of the “pot shots” that some pundits have taken at the newspaper industry. “It is not what we are seeing from our industry.”

...Across Lee, she said the newspapers are located in healthy, diverse markets and are the media leaders in their markets. Among the reasons for her optimism, she said, is Lee’s ability to maintain a solid circulation base, its big and growing market reach and its emphasis on revenue growth.

That stock is now down nearly 80% in the past 16 months.

Flood Of Emotion

From the Des Moines Register:

As floodwaters continued to recede [in Cedar Rapids], hundreds of frustrated residents waited for hours Sunday afternoon to get a brief look at their flood-damaged homes.

Tempers flared.

"Why did they tell us to come out here at noon?" Sarah Franks shouted at a police officer Sunday afternoon. Then she broke into tears. "My house is just sitting there, and I want to see it."

City officials had said they would allow residents to briefly check on their homes, but only after the homes had been inspected for safety. Checkpoints were installed so authorities could check identifications.

Lines stretched for blocks at security checkpoints for 10 areas.

About 300 people waited at a checkpoint near the Czech Village neighborhood on the city's southwest side.

"It's going to be a slow-moving process," police Lt. Tobey Harrison told members of a crowd. They peppered him with questions.

At 2 p.m., word spread that it might require another three hours before the visits would begin. Some people had been waiting since noon.

"They had really good control of things until today," said William Wims, who left one checkpoint with his wife, Victoria. "They kind of dropped the ball."

I don't understand all these people who want to go into their flood-ravaged homes and who then get all angry about it when there are delays.

Nothing is salvageable. Nothing is left.

You're not going to be able to unlock the door, go the fridge, have a beer, turn on the TV, and sit on the sofa anymore.

You really don't want to be in there.

Call the insurance company (if you have any insurance), and find another place to live. Go fill out all the FEMA paperwork. Maybe your house can be restored several months later.

It's sad that there is such an importance on "seeing" a flood-ravaged home. The media is always tagging along, waiting to exploit emotion.

And if the local authorities err on the side of safety or caution, they always get shit on by the public. That's how you eventually end up with racist assholes like Barack Obama's preacher, Jeremiah Wright, running around saying that the US government created HIV and AIDS as a way of committing genocide against black people.

It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! Dick Cheney and Halliburton are dynamiting the levees! The Bildebergers want the land, tax-free, so ADM can install another ethanol plant which will use only illegal Mexican labor. It's the Joozes, I'm sure of it!!!!!!

Why Do We Encourage Development In Flood Zones?

Downtown Cedar Rapids (photo: Liz Martin/The Gazette)

This is from June 2nd (13 days ago), in the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Meanwhile, the Cedar Rapids City Council and Linn County Board of Supervisors have designated 2009 as the Year of the River, and a new state program earmarking $52 million for river and lake developments will begin accepting applications soon after July 1.

Downtown and city leaders hope a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly riverfront will be a catalyst for retail and housing growth in downtown Cedar Rapids. It will be important for county supervisors to commit to the effort, state and local officials say.

"We should be walking a tightrope," Machacek said. "There's going to be a lot of interest and a lot of pushing for the riverfront development project, and I think that's great if we can get that done, but I know that our rural constituents are going to be very concerned if we're putting money in that and they're driving on substandard roads."

Economic development — particularly in downtown Cedar Rapids — has not been a key campaign topic for many of the supervisor candidates. One exception is District 3 Democrat Ben Rogers, who suggests that long-term development is the best way to raise revenue and solve a tight budget.

Rogers argues, as does Downtown District President Doug Neumann, that increasing the tax base in downtown Cedar Rapids is good for both urban and rural residents.

Young professionals and families will leave the county if more is not done to get them to stay, he argues. "This has a major economic impact on our community," he said.

Current supervisors Barron, Houser and Linda Langston have said little more than they're exploring how they can help with riverfront development.

Some of the other rural candidates — Rozinek and Wear — express interest in downtown development and, like Machacek, concede it could be a good thing.

What sort of person is going to buy a house or condo in that area after this latest flood?

Nobody is.

But we'll want the taxpayers to build a $136 million Federal courthouse in 2010 - right next to the river.

I swear, what is it with the people running Cedar Rapids and Linn County?

Let's give taxpayer-backed loans and TIF corporate welfare to buy and fix up a hotel - next to the river.

Let's create Al Gore's National Example of how to mismanage and waste millions for welfare housing - next to the river.

Let's spend over $10 million to buy nine electric buses which traveled under 200,000 miles total (that's $50 a mile, folks) and were sold as scrap at auction for $30,000 total.

Let's build an IMAX theater - next to the river - which will then become iDead when nobody goes to it.

Let's mismanage a dead mall by imposing a development moratorium on the property.

It's just bad idea after bad idea after bad idea with these clowns.

What do you think we'll hear after the waters go down?

"Oh, we must rebuild..."

"We must have the Federal government spend billions..."

There will be no leadership. There will be nobody cautioning people and businesses to rebuild elsewhere, on higher ground. There will only be cheerleading at the Federal trough.

You'll see that idiot Lee Clancey in the news all the time again, I'm sure.

Then there's this from the Iowa City Press-Citizen, also from June 2nd:

Construction has begun on a Hills subdivision that could change the face of the small town just south of Iowa City.

The development is the first subdivision in the city, population 611, in almost 20 years. The project called Oakcrest Hill Estates will span 40 acres on the west side of town when it is finished, which could take 10 years depending on when homes are built. It is bordered by Oakcrest Hill Road and Main Street and is visible from Highway 218.

Officials said they expect the development will bring as many as 400 people into the town, which has been shrinking steadily since 2000. The 81 lots in the development will include all kinds of housing types -- single-family, zero-lot line and multi-family -- and commercial space.

Streb Alberts Realty representative Shelly Streb-Alberts said Hills' proximity to Iowa City made it an attractive location for a new development project.

How would you like to buy a house in a town that was almost entirely evacuated?

No thank you.

Contrast this to development restrictions around airports.

If I remember correctly, Des Moines (or the Feds) bought and then restricted development on many acres of commercial land around the runways on the NE and SE sides of the airport, along Fleur Drive. There used to by a Hyatt Hotel at the corner of Army Post Rd and Fleur Drive, along with numerous restaurants, gas stations, and even some homes south of Army Post which were moved or torn down.

Why?

All for what was known as a "crash zone", in case an airplane had to make an emergency landing short of the runway.

No airplanes have crashed in these zones, thankfully.

Contrast this to sleazeball Michael Gartner obtaining nearly a million dollars in State taxpayer money to help spruce up the ballpark he owns at the convergence of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers.

So government will give millions and billions to build in flood zones. They'll even let developers build new houses and developments in flood-prone areas.

It's just insanity.

Even the Egyptians had this figured out thousands of years ago.

Iowans Are A Great Example Of How People Should Behave In Times Of Crises

Via the Cedar Rapids Gazette, this is about what's happening in Cedar Rapids:

The Cedar River is dropping more quickly than officials thought it would, and attention is turning to the logistics of recovery.

"We're below 29 feet now," City Engineer Dave Elgin said. "The water is dropping at a little over two inches per hour."

The water is now expected to drop below flood stage June 21, Elgin said.

Local police and firefighters are requesting more National Guard assistance as it becomes important to secure the flooded areas.

"The perimeter of the flooded area is going to be maintained as a secured area," Linn County Administrative Services Director Mike Goldberg said.

He said police and National Guard will thoroughly patrol all the flood-damaged areas, and set up checkpoints. People will have to sign in and go in and out through the same checkpoint. A list of checkpoint locations will be released by noon.

Goldberg implored people to stay away unless they have a valid reason to be there.

"We need your cooperation," he said.

No looting has been reported, he said.

And from a comment on the New York Daily News web site:

Has the media noticed how Iowans, regardless of race, work together to help one another and there isn't this mass hysteria, blaming the federal govt, waiting for help, focusing the blame on everyone else but the source - the weather? And the governor is a democrat, just like the one in lousiana at the time of Katrina. Look media- take a look at the people of Iowa - they aren't waiting - they are helping one another. I am so sick and tired of people in this country trying to place blame on everyone else and doing nothing to try and solve the problem.

Compare/contrast how the Iowa people will rebuild and make their state great again, while Louisiana will still cry of injustices, poverty and no help. Sorry, but there is poverty in Iowa too. People don't just sit on their lazy ***** waiting for someone else to do the job. Do you see anyone w/ shotguns, do you see any looting, do you see any whining? Iowans are a great example of how people should behave in time of crises.

They always have been.

Who's Afraid Of A Little Water?

From the Mason City Glob-Gazette:

CLEAR LAKE — A sports bar owner is threatening to turn his establishment into a topless bar if the city tickets him for having a wet T-shirt contest this weekend.

Alan Slater, co-owner of The Marina, 2309 Fourth Ave. S., plans to hold a wet T-shirt contest Saturday night.

“I’ve given the city ample opportunity to back off on this. If they decide to push it, I will put in a topless bar. The city has to decide if this is the issue they want to try it over.”

Slater said he doesn’t think the event violates the city’s adult entertainment ordinance because the women participating in the wet T-shirt contest will be wearing pasties under their T-shirts covering their nipples.

According to Clear Lake city ordinance section 130.07, “If such person allows or permits the exposure of the genitals or female breast nipple of any person who acts as an entertainer, whether or not the owner of the place of business in which the activity is performed employs or pays any compensation to such person to perform such activity” he or she is in violation of the ordinance.

“We believe that this is a violation of our adult entertainment ordinance,” said Clear Lake Police Chief Greg Peterson.

“He (Slater) does not have an adult entertainment permit. I will be there to take a look at it and I will be issuing a ticket.”

How unfair is it that government continues to discriminate against the display or semi-display of nipples solely on the basis of human gender?

You know, I've been to Clear Lake in the winter many years ago. It gets cold up there. This bar owner ought to wait for winter and have a "dry t-shirt contest" outdoors, if you know what I mean. He'd also be able to allow smoking, something which will be outlawed in Iowa bars in a couple of weeks.

More Flood Photo Blogging

The Daily Iowan's daily slideshow of flood coverage in the Iowa City area is worth viewing.

That's probably the best picture I've seen so far.

Cedar Rapids

May's (not) Island in Cedar Rapids

It's just staggering, isn't it?

31 foot high crest, nearly 20 feet over flood stage.

Dealing with people who don't want to leave their flood-ravaged homes.

Iowa, Jones, and Cedar counties are virtually impassable.

Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids had to evacuate. They're at least a mile away from the river, if I remember correctly, but I bet that building goes way underground.

Iowa City will be 10 feet above flood stage, maybe even higher, and it won't crest for another five days.

Backflow prevention in Coralville is just delaying the inevitable. At least it'll give people time.

Anamosa has contaminated water.

The Water department in Cedar Rapids asked for volunteers to save the last well there. 1200 people showed up to help.

Nevertheless, water conservation in Cedar Rapids may last for weeks. 25% or less of normal usage is needed.

And Iowa City's Dairy Queen may be screwed again by mother nature.

Lots of video and pics at the Cedar Rapids Gazette, whose coverage has been outstanding.

Also check out the Jeff Tibbetts photostream at Flickr.

Gannett Ditches Pensions Completely For 401K

From the AP:

Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, on Wednesday told employees that it is freezing the company pension plan, effective Aug. 1, and replacing it with an enhanced 401(k) program.

The changes will affect virtually all of Gannett's more than 25,000 employees in the United States, said Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell. The McLean-based company publishes USA Today and 84 other daily papers in the U.S.

Freezing the pension plan will save about $90 million in 2009, but that will be partially offset by $60 million in costs associated with the enhanced 401(k) plan, Connell said.

In an e-mail to employees, Gannett Chairman and Chief Executive Craig Dubow said the company is "not alone in making the benefit changes. There is a strong, worldwide trend to limit benefits in pension plans and shift to a more 401(k) based system. Also, enhancing the 401(k) plan makes us more attractive to those employees who especially value these portable, self-directed plans."

The existing 401(k) plan provides a 50 percent match in Gannett stock to employee contributions of up to 6 percent of salary. The enhanced plan will provide a 100 percent match in Gannett stock on employee contributions up to 5 percent of salary.

Gannett stock (GCI) is down more than 50% in the past year.

Isn't it a real morale booster to work at the Des Moines Register and see your company's match become worth less, year after year?

A couple years ago, Gannett revealed some information about their vesting plan for company-matched 401K contributions. Back then, Gannett would not let employees sell company stock from the 401K matching in order to diversify their assets unless the employee was at least 55 years of age. That was worse than Enron's 401K matching plan.

Also back in 2006, the Register was still writing cranky editorials about the evils of Bush-promoted 401K plans.

In other newspaper news, Gannett also announced a couple days ago that they were going to take a $3 billion charge to write down assets.

Just last month, Lee Enterprises (LEE) had a similar billion dollar write down.

It's hard to believe that LEE had fallen through the $10 floor in March. Today the stock is barely above $5 a share! That's a nearly 50% drop in just three months!

Democrats: Pulling The Same Dead Rabbit Out Of The Hat

From the QC Times:

The House on Wednesday narrowly defeated a Democratic attempt to give unemployed Americans an extra three months of jobless benefits after the White House threatened to veto the bill.

The bill would have extended the average $300-a-week unemployment benefit check by 13 weeks for all Americans. Job seekers in high unemployment states like Alaska, California, Michigan and Rhode Island would have been able to get an extra 13 weeks on top of that...

...Senate Democrats will try to resurrect the measure by adding it to a must-pass war spending bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., ``continues to believe the best way to pass this extension is by including it in the supplemental appropriations bill,'' spokesman Jim Manley said.

Majority Democrats said the legislation was needed because of the tough economy and rising unemployment rates.

What's the Democrats' cure for unemployment?

Yes, it's extending benefits until after the election season is over in order to play politics with the numbers.

Bonus points if a jerk like Harry Reid can tack the thing onto a war spending bill.

Talk about crass.

Democrats tend to stomp their feet about all the usual stuff this time of year, like suggesting that imposing "windfall profits taxes" on oil companies will lower the price of gas. It's just so illogical, but the Press and at least a portion of the public continue to eat this up.

Bettendorf School Board Not Soft On Their Multiple Drunk Driving Stupidertendent

From the Quad City Times:

Bettendorf School Board members voted Wednesday evening to place Superintendent Marty Lucas, who has been charged with drunken driving, on paid leave and will move forward with terminating his contract, despite pleas from parents and staff.

After meeting behind closed doors for almost three and a half hours, the board returned to open session and voted 6-0 to consider termination of Lucas’s contract. Board member Paul Castro was not present at the meeting, but issued a written statement saying he did agree with the board’s decision...

...The board has spent the last four months reviewing what, if any, action they would take against Lucas for a February incident in which he was arrested for drunken driving. It is the second time in less than a decade he faces such charges.

Under Iowa law, the board could not fire Lucas during the meeting. Instead, they must vote to consider termination of the contract and provide him with written notice of their decision. After receiving notification, Lucas then has five days to make a request to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners to have a hearing before an administrative law judge. Within 10 days of the hearing, the judge will make a decision regarding the termination.

The Bettendorf board can then decide to review the decision and take a final vote on the matter. Lucas can also ask the board to review the matter again, depending on the judge’s ruling, which board members are not required to follow...

...Anderson said the fact it is Lucas’s second OWI arrest and his statement to officers that he only had one beer prior to the accident that lead to his arrest were also factors. The drunken driving charge came after the 2008 Chevy Blazer Lucas was driving and the U-Haul it was pulling ended up in a ditch off of an icy Interstate 380 in Benton County. His blood alcohol-content was 0.118 about an hour after the accident. He told officers that he had only one beer with his lunch.

Here's some back story on the incident and the first OWI conviction from March:

According to the police report, Lucas was southbound on an icy Interstate 380 about 5 p.m. Thursday when the 2008 Chevrolet Blazer he was driving and U-Haul he was hauling ended up in a ditch. The report said Lucas was not injured.

Lucas was taken to a convenience store in Urbana, Iowa, by fire personnel, officials said. A friend of Lucas’ took him back to the accident scene.

While the deputy talked with Lucas, he noticed an odor of alcohol, a police report said. Lucas admitted to drinking one beer with his lunch about 2 p.m. and nothing after the accident.

At 6:16 p.m., an hour after the crash, Lucas failed preliminary drunken driving tests. A breath test administered registered a blood alcohol content of 0.118. The legal limit is 0.08.

Lucas was named superintendent for Bettendorf in 2005.

He was arrested for drunken driving in July 1999 while he was superintendent in Charles City. He received a deferred judgment and a year’s probation. He was not penalized by the school district.

At the time of his hire, he talked about the arrest.

“It was by far the worst experience, professionally and personally, I’ve gone through,” he said. “I know that something like that will never happen again.”

Bettendorf should have known better than to hire this guy in the first place.

Flood Coverage In Iowa

I must compliment the Cedar Rapids Gazette for their coverage of the flooding in Eastern Iowa. Their web site is excellent, what with them using the Google Maps API to link stories to particular locations, the radar storm tracking, and all the town-specific photographs.

Really well done.

Several years ago, the boneheads in charge of the Cedar Rapids Gazette took what had been one of The Best online newspapers in the late 1990s and walled it off. If you wanted any access to content then you had to subscribe. They've since reversed that decision in the past couple of years and opened things up a bit. It's really for the better.

Contrast this to the horrible and clunky Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen web sites, which use some kind awful template that other Gannett-owned newspapers around the country have to suffer with. About the only thing good on the DM Register site are the short videos by John Gaps.

Worst of all has to be the Waterloo Courier, owned by Lee Enterprises. The downtowns of Cedar Falls and Waterloo are closed, along with all of the bridges across town, and the thing they're most concerned about is delivery of the physical newspaper.

No wonder Lee Enterprises (LEE) is doing so poorly. Their stock was $35.51 on February 16th of 2007. Today it is trading at a new 52-week low of $5.42. That's down another 25% in the past three and a half weeks.

What's Your Plan?

Roy Blunt of Missouri put together this chart (click to enlarge) showing the difference between the Democrat and Republican plans to help lower gas prices.

Who knows how much of Blunt's chart is fiction on the Republican side? The "cut earmarks to fund gas tax holiday" seems a little bogus.

Republicans would be better off including something like "streamlining boutique blends" and helping to lower the 59-odd different blends of gasoline that various states, counties, and municipalities order up.

But it's all better than what the Democrats offer up: endless carping about "windfall profits" while your wife is the director of an oil company and your personal fortune hits $20 million while you draw a senator's salary. Oh, and earmarking over $10 million for 9 electric buses which traveled a total of 200,000 miles (that's $50 a mile, folks) before being mothballed and sold as scrap for $30,000.