Free Republic

In an October 28, 2009 House Judiciary Committee hearing, Congressman Steve King questions NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on comments he made regarding Rush Limbaugh. VIDEO Rush's Response to Commissioner Goodell's Answer: Of course, Goodell's a total weasel. He had no answer about the Dolphins' owners so wouldn't even address the question, and he got on his high horse about how McNabb is a fine player and a fine person and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin, when I (a) never said he was not a fine person; (b) never said he was a bad QB...

CARROLL, Iowa -- Police said they had no trouble identifying two men accused of trying to break into a Carroll apartment. Police were responding to a call about an attempted burglary when they pulled over a car matching the alleged suspects' vehicle. Inside the car, officers found two men with their faces blackened with permanent marker. Police said the caller described two men with painted faces attempting to break into an apartment Friday night before driving off. Twenty-three-year-old Matthew McNelly and 20-year-old Joey Miller were arrested at gunpoint after officers were told they might be armed. Neither man had a...

A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front.

A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front.

A federal grand jury in Davenport is investigating a nationally publicized, animal-rights-related break-in at a University of Iowa lab in 2004, according to a 20-year-old woman from Minneapolis who says she is a possible target of the inquiry. Carrie Feldman refused to testify when she was subpoenaed to testify at the federal courthouse on Oct. 15, she said. She will refuse again at a second ordered appearance on Nov. 17, she said. Ultimately, she could be held in contempt of court and taken into custody. At least four masked people released hundreds of animals and caused hundreds of thousands of...

Attorney Roxanne Conlin (D) is saying that she is “more likely than not” going to challenge Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in 2010. Conlin, the losing Democratic nominee for governor in 1982 and a former president of the trial lawyers’ national association, on Thursday told the Des Moines Register, “I don’t know how this is going to come together, but I have reached the point where I would like to do it.” Democratic leaders are promising a vigorous challenger for Grassley, who has won all four of his Senate re-election bids with at least 66 percent of the vote against weak...

Nice catch by The Minnesota Independent’s Andy Birkey. During an interview with the Sioux City [Iowa] Journal published Tuesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said she was not weighing a run for president — despite recent suggestions that she may hold ambitions for higher office — but she did offer an endorsement of her own: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). From The Minnesota Independent: “Steve King is mentioned as a potential nominee,” Bachmann said. “I have a very high opinion of Steve King and his ability, so I would encourage him to consider any position for higher office.” Like Bachmann, King is...

The Sioux City Journal’s Bret Hayworth sat down with Minnesota’s controversial Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann Tuesday, and when talk turned to the 2012 presidential campaign she offered up a name that hasn’t surfaced as a potential contender: Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron. From Hayworth’s blog: Additionally, I asked Bachmann if she is being prodded to seek the 2012 presidency, given her growing national profile. She said she has no doubts the GOP will produce a good crop of presidential candidates, and threw out King as a name of interest. “Steve King is mentioned as a potential nominee. I have a very...

Ignacio Ponseti, MD, whose pioneering, non-surgical, low-cost clubfoot treatment has benefited hundreds of thousands of children worldwide, died Oct. 18 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics at age 95 following a sudden illness. Ponseti's gentle methods and soft-spoken compassion were a hallmark of a six-decade commitment to helping children, and belied a sometimes tumultuous, even dangerous, early career in medicine. Ponseti was born in 1914 on the Spanish island of Minorca. As a teenager, he worked summers in his watchmaker father's repair shop. Hours spent learning to make and replace tiny, delicate watch parts were lessons in patience and...

SPENCER, Iowa -- A Northwest Iowa plant that makes engine seals for the automotive industry is closing, costing 65 workers their jobs. Michigan-based Freudenberg-NOK announced Wednesday it would close its Spencer plant and distribution center over the next six months and transfer the work to two facilities in Ohio. A Freudenberg-NOK spokeswoman attributed the decision to the economic downturn, which reduced sales to the manufacturing industry. The firm was forced to reassess its operations, and consolidate its maufacturing facilities, which have been operating at reduced capacity, said Sarah O'Hare, the company's vice president of human resources and communications.

DES MOINES, Iowa - Office furniture and fireplace insert manufacturer HNI Corp. said Friday it plans to close a Kentucky factory to reduce costs. The company said it notified workers and union officials of its decision to close the Owensboro, Ky., office furniture factory beginning in the fourth quarter. The work will be absorbed by other factories. The closure should be completed by the end of the second quarter 2010.

George Pataki will be in Iowa next month to raise money for local Republicans. The former New York governor will be the headline speaker at a fundraising event on November 10th, according to Brian Kennedy, finance director for the Scott County Republican Party. The visit could boost speculation that Pataki is planning to run for the Republican party nomination in the 2012 election. Other potential GOP candidates, such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, will be at an event in Des Moines three days prior. Pataki spent time in Iowa during the 2008 presidential election; however, he did not seek the...

President Barack Obama's effort to overhaul the nation's health care system is expected to clear its last committee hurdle Tuesday -- but almost certainly without the strong bipartisan endorsement he and some moderate Republicans have sought. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on a plan to would require nearly all Americans to get coverage, while barring insurers from denying people policies because of pre-existing conditions and imposing excise taxes on insurers' most expensive plans. The committee is the last of five congressional panels considering the measure. Once Finance is done, Senate leaders and the White House will merge...

I have a confession to make. Simply, I have been unworried, untroubled and unconcerned. I was unwilling to take the time to study the subject of life and unenthusiastic about preserving it. Abortion didn’t affect me, so, why should I invest any thought into the debate? Although I did not believe in abortion, I was disposed to allowing the mother to make her own decision … she would have to live with it. In short, it was none of my business. A few years back, during the process of a sexual assault investigation, I was sent to get evidence at...

More cuts to come in FY2011, the governor says Gov. Chet Culver has ordered an across-the-board cut of the state’s budget of 10 percent, or about $600 million. The cuts will likely result in “hundreds of state employees” losing their jobs, Culver said. The cuts could also result in the wholesale elimination of some state programs, although no specific programs were named. No department or program will be spared. All tax increases are “off the table.” In making the across-the-board cuts, Culver dismissed the idea of calling a special session of the legislature in order to make targeted cuts, a...

Iowa at Disney encouraging gays to move to Hawkeye State October 2nd, 2009 by Eric Carpenter Figuring that plenty of gay couples in California are frustrated by the inability to get legally married here, representatives from Iowa have set up a booth at Gay Days at the Disneyland Resort encouraging them to consider moving to the Hawkeye State. Iowa is one of four states nationwide that allow gay marriages. That state’s Supreme Court made the decision earlier this year. Two representatives for three regional visitors bureaus flew out for the three-day Gay Days, when 30,000 partipants roll into town to...

www.iowacarry.org. Iowa Carry, an organization devoted to preservation of Second Amendment rights, will hold a rally noon Saturday in Library Square in Estherville. A free lunch will be provided. According to Larry Walders, Iowa Carry Emmet County coordinator, Saturday's rally is to acquaint local citizens with the concealed carry law in Iowa. "There's 99 counties and there's 99 different policies," Walders said. Walders said a bill will be introduced in next year's Iowa Legislature to change the law from stating that county sheriff's "may issue" to "shall issue" concealed weapons permits to applicants. Walders said the legislation will provide that...

A lesbian political activist who donated thousands to Democrats and homosexual causes is suspected of embezzling nearly $6 million from one of the world's largest insurance firms. Despite her $40,000 a year salary as an insurance compensation specialist, Phyllis Stevens purchased two homes valued at more than $550,000 and gave thousands of dollars in donations to Democratic Party political candidates and homosexual groups. The 58-year-old chairs the Midwest Chapter of Marriage Equality USA, a homosexual "marriage" advocacy group. She is accused of embezzling the money from health insurer Aviva over a period of five years. A civil complaint filed in...

see links in post below

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.) tells NRO that he looks forward to reading former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s upcoming memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life, once it is published on November 17. “Sarah has jumped onto the scene and has been hammered by the mainstream media,” says Santorum. “This is an opportunity for her to show a more thoughtful side. She has a gift for prose. Hopefully that comes across.” Santorum says he knows how it feels to be a conservative author dealing with unfriendly critics. In 2005, he published It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good....

ACORN is using a tangled web of tax-exempt organizations to funnel tax money to itself according to a detailed review released last night by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.Some or all of them may be nothing more than shell companies used to pass money from the government directly through to ACORN and its affiliates. “This analysis regarding the vast number of charitable organizations that ACORN set up to funnel money to itself raises questions about whether ACORN used the entities to advance the charitable mission of helping poor people get housing, or whether...

Lowell Vos believes in playing fair. The rural Kingsley man also believes in standing up for his rights, even when the odds are against him. Vos waged a David versus Goliath battle last year when he refused to pay a fine levied on him by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). His problems began in January of 2007. That's when he received notice that manure from his cattle yard was supposedly running off into Elliot Creek, a charge he knew was unfounded. "I told my wife 'This isn't right. I did everything right,'" he explained. He was one of four Iowa cattle...

Longtime Republican Senator Charles Grassley has a nearly two-to-one lead over his likeliest Democratic challenger Bob Krause in the first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of Iowa voters. Grassley leads Krause 56% to 30%. Seven percent (7%) favor some other candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. Grassley who is expected to seek a sixth term in the Senate next year captured 70% of the vote in November 2004. As the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, he is a member of the so-called “Gang of Six” who thus far have been unsuccessful in coming up with a...

he nation’s economy has taken its toll on incumbent governors across the country, and Iowa Governor Chet Culver is no exception. Add to that the difficult political environment for Democrats at the moment, and Culver’s potential vulnerability becomes clear. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of the Iowa governor’s race shows Culver trailing badly in a match-up with one of his predecessors and running even with a lesser-known challenger. Terry Branstad, now president of Des Moines University, leads Culver 54% to 34%. Branstad, a Republican, was the youngest governor in Iowa history and served longer than anybody else,...

Many immigrants are drawn to the Midwest for the same reasons that anyone moves to the heartland: job opportunities, the strong educational system and the high quality of life. However, new immigrant workers are too often vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation or unsafe working conditions, according to Amy Weismann, University of Iowa Center for Human Rights deputy director. The U.S. Department of Justice has awarded a grant of $50,000 to the UI Center for Human Rights, the UI Labor Center and Nebraska Appleseed for Law in the Public Interest to extend significant outreach activities to immigrant workforces in Iowa and Nebraska....

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has blocked the ambassadorial nomination of Alan Solomont, currently chairman of the board of the government agency that oversees AmeriCorps, in retaliation for what Grassley says is the administration's stonewalling of Congress over documents relating to the firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. Specifically, Grassley has sought, and been denied, information relating to the White House's role in the decision to fire Walpin. Solomont, a major Democratic donor, is chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes AmeriCorps. His term ends in October, and President Obama has nominated him to be U.S....

State Highway 9 is a two lane strip of asphalt that cuts across the northernmost tier of counties in Iowa, from Larchwood to Lansing. If you drive its 320 miles, as I have done many times, you will not be dissuaded from the stereotype of Iowa as a flat boring expanse of cornfields. The few points of interest include Lake Okoboji and the headquarters of Winnebago in Forest City. It takes you near Mason City, the model for "River City" in Meredith Willson's The Music Man, and the site of the plane crash that claimed Buddy Holly after a February...

Regulators close subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana at a cost of $850 million to the FDIC. BY BEN ROONEY NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Regulators closed subsidiaries of Irwin Financial Corporation in Kentucky and Indiana Friday, bringing the total number of bank failures this year to 94, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

> The giant crop is good news for farmers and livestock producers, who should benefit from lower feed costs, but it probably won't make a big difference to the cost of groceries. Although corn is a key ingredient in countless products, from Coke to corn flakes, most of a product's cost is tied to labor and transportation... >

PDF so I can't cut/paste. Grassley letter to Chairman of FCC about problems with Mark Lloyd. Now's the time to take out another czar. http://grassley.senate.gov/upload/Letter-to-FCC-Chairman.pdf

In a last effort to give the Senate a bipartisan health care bill, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee circulated a comprehensive proposal on Sunday to overhaul the health care system and proposed a new fee on insurance companies to help pay for coverage of the uninsured. ... The proposal by Mr. Baucus does not include a public option, or a government-run insurance plan, to compete with private insurers, as many Democrats want. ... It remains to be seen how Mr. Baucus’s plan might mesh with any proposals Mr. Obama lays out as he tries to pump up support...

Can a lifestyle double as college credit, even a certificate? The University of Iowa is offering a certificate in sustainability this fall, and one person has signed up so far. But recent UI graduate Eric Holthaus has dedicated his job, apartment, and habits to being environmentally friendly. “The idea is being aware and learning a formalized way to show a lifestyle,” said Holthaus. He is an intern in the UI Office of Sustainability, created last December as an effort to bring green to a solidly black-and-gold campus. On July 10, Holthaus manned a table at the information fair at freshman...

Regulators close banks in Arizona, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. BY AMY HAIMERI NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Five small regional banks were closed by regulators on Friday evening, pushing 2009's tally so far to 88 institutions. Of the five failures, two were in Illinois, and there was one each in Arizona, Iowa and Missouri.

DES MOINES – Governor Chet Culver issued the following statement tonight, congratulating Democrat Curt Hanson on his victory in the House District 90 special election: “Lieutenant Governor Judge and I want to congratulate Curt Hanson on his win tonight, and we look forward to working with him in the legislature in 2010. We also want to recognize Stephen Burgmeier and his local supporters for running a strong campaign.

Democrat Curt Hanson has defeated Republican Stephen Burgmeier by 107 votes in Iowa House District 90, according to unofficial results released by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office Tuesday night. Hanson will replace former state Rep. John Whitaker (D-Hillsboro), who was appointed to a position with the USDA. The balance of power in Iowa’s lower legislative chamber remains unchanged, with Democrats holding on to a somewhat volatile 56-44 majority. Tuesday’s turnout was low compared to recent presidential elections but high for a special election, with 8,046 voters casting ballots in the district, which spans Jefferson County and parts of Wapello...

Iowa Health Dept. has drafted forms to force detention of people simply exposed to the flu - do not have to prove H1N1 has infected them even though the test is simple and cheap. No provision for mothers and fathers to visit children - or visit of pastors and priests, etc. - strict detention. No option for family doctor to visit - this is a crime if allowed to continue. Everyone needs to call the State house and Senators and House Members ASAP and demand that the rules be changed to require proof (and double proof to eliminate false positives)...

IC Teens Arrested in Pizza Delivery Man Robbery By Daren Sukhram IOWA CITY - Two teenagers are charged in the July 25th robbery of a pizza delivery man. Iowa City police say at 1:05am on July 25, they received a report of a robbery that had just occurred on Regal Lane. The victim, a 39-year-old Domino's Pizza delivery man, was making a delivery when he has rushed from behind by ten to fifteen people, assaulted, and his pizzas taken. The victim described the suspects as black males ranging in age from 10 to 25 years old. An investigation uncovered the...

CEDAR RAPIDS (AP) -- A large aquarium has likely saved a Cedar Rapids home that caught fire. The aquarium shattered at Ricky Kuda's home Friday morning after a transformer beneath the aquarium caught fire. The water from the aquarium extinguished the fire. Cedar Rapids Fire Department spokesman Greg Buelow says the damage would have been much more extensive if the aquarium hadn't shattered. Buelow says the aquarium was about 4 feet wide. No one was injured in the fire, but all of the fish in the tank died.

Some Roman Catholic Bishops Assail Health Plan By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK August 27, 2009 WASHINGTON — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been lobbying for three decades for the federal government to provide universal health insurance, especially for the poor. Now, as President Obama tries to rally Roman Catholics and other religious voters around his proposals to do just that, a growing number of bishops are speaking out against it. As recently as July, the bishops’ conference had largely embraced the president’s goals, although with the caveat that any health care overhaul avoid new federal financing of abortions....

Back during the 2008 Iowa Cacuses, a rumor was circulated the night before that Fred Thompson was going to pull out of the race. During an interview the next day, Thompson said he knew who was behind it, but refused to discuss beyond saying it cost him "a couple of points". I understand during the election, nobody was going to admit who did it, certainly not until after November. OK, November came, went, and now the socialist-in-chief has everybody distracted, so, I ask: who did it?

Workers on the second shift at Cummins Filtration were gathered together Monday, told the news, and sent home with a letter directing them to be back in the morning. Tuesday morning, with a team of security guards surrounding company officials, workers at the company's two Lake Mills plants got the word and were then sent home for the day to be with their families. Starting in November, about 400 jobs will be moved to Cummins manufacturing plants in San Luis Polosi, Mexico. The job shift will take four months, completed by March, 2010. The cost-cutting move will help the company...

<p>DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Cummins Filtration has announced plans to move 400 jobs at its Lake Mills plant to a factory in Mexico.</p> <p>The division of diesel engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. announced Tuesday its oil and fuel filter assembly operations in Lake Mills will be moved to San Luis Potosi, Mexico, beginning in November.</p>

As a result of the consolidation, the Cummins workforce in Lake Mills will be reduced by approximately 400 workers between November 2009 and March 2010. Other operations, which employ approximately 110 people, will remain at the Lake Mills plant.

story at link (due to copyright limitations) http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090823/news01/908230361

PARKERSBURG, Iowa — The body of the football coach lies under a rectangular patch of dirt, slowly being covered by creeping clover and crab grass. [snip]The body of the former football player is in a county jail. But there is no doubt among people here that his is a soul lost. An insanity defense for 24-year-old Mark Becker is expected when his murder trial starts next month.For more than 30 years, the Thomas and Becker families were bonded by school, church and the communal raising of boys in this small town about 100 miles northeast of Des Moines. Then their...

Her main adversary in the hiring process was a professor who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun at the time Justice Blackmun wrote the now infamous Roe v. Wade decision, a professor who has since written in favor of abortion and has written laudatory tributes in Blackmun’s honor. As a consequence of being black-balled – despite impeccable credentials, including graduating “with distinction” from the Iowa College of Law and experience teaching writing at George Mason School of Law - she was passed over in favor of a candidate who not only had no prior law school teaching experience, but...

Health debate fails to ignite Obama’s Web President turns to his 13-million member grass-roots network for support Aug 15, 2009 MUSCATINE, Iowa - At her home on Tom Sawyer Road here the other night, Bonnie Adkins agreed to begin spreading the word that President Obama’s embattled health care plan needed help. Ms. Adkins, who for the past two years devoted hundreds of hours helping Mr. Obama get to the White House, hosted a potluck supper that was advertised to Democrats in this eastern Iowa town along the Mississippi River. People were invited to bring a favorite salad or dessert —...

It's a lot easier to campaign against the incompetent, big-spending, war-mongering Republicans than to convince the American people that they would be better off if the post office provided their health care. At least, that appears to be the lesson of the current health care battle. Reports the New York Times: At her home on Tom Sawyer Road here the other night, Bonnie Adkins agreed to begin spreading the word that President Obama's embattled health care plan needed help. Ms. Adkins, who for the past two years devoted hundreds of hours helping Mr. Obama get to the White House, hosted...

MUSCATINE, Iowa — At her home on Tom Sawyer Road here the other night, Bonnie Adkins agreed to begin spreading the word that President Obama’s embattled health care plan needed help. In Des Moines, Pat Walters made telephone calls to Democrats to rally support for the Obama health care plan. Ms. Adkins, who for the past two years devoted hundreds of hours helping Mr. Obama get to the White House, hosted a potluck supper that was advertised to Democrats in this eastern Iowa town along the Mississippi River. People were invited to bring a favorite salad or dessert — and...

Former Sen. Rick Santorum is making a trip to Iowa that screams “I’m running for President.” In the state with the crucial first presidential primary competition, Santorum will attend a smattering of events on October 1, with a stop at America’s Future Fund PAC and Iowa’s Right to life group. He’ll do a hit on a Des Moines radio show and cap it off with a speech about the future of the GOP in front of a live audience. John Brabender, a longtime advisor to the Senator, was moderate in his characterization of the Senator’s visit. “This is not necessarily...