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...Republicans acknowledge that McCain is behind, but say the race is closer than the polling indicates. "I honestly believe right now in Iowa that Obama is ahead but it is less than five (percent)," said former Iowa Republican Chairman Michael Mahaffey. [Today's] visit is McCain's second in less than two weeks. He has scheduled a small-business round-table in Des Moines, following up on a Sept. 18 stop in Cedar Rapids with running mate Sarah Palin. His campaign also has continued television advertising in the state at roughly the same level as Obama. "I don't believe Sen. Obama has the lead...

After Action Report

Joe Biden recently opened his mouth, showed us those pearly whites, and said the following, apparently with a straight face. Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said Thursday that paying more in taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans. . . . Noting that wealthier Americans would indeed pay more, Biden said: "It's time to be patriotic ... time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut." Real patriotic, that. Wasting no time, the hockey mom, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, skated over center ice, and drove...

McCain-Palin to make first Iowa appearanceAssociated Press - September 13, 2008 1:54 PM ET CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - The Republican presidential ticket will make its first joint appearance in Iowa when Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin arrive in Cedar Rapids on Thursday morning. **SNIP** McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman Wendy Riemann said the two will hold a rally at 10 a.m. on Thursday at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. **SNIP** The McCain-Palin campaign plans to establish a Web site on Saturday with additional ticket distribution sites. Distribution of the tickets will begin at noon on Monday. Doors...

FORT DODGE, Iowa - An Iowa community college president resigned less than a week after a photo was published appearing to show him pouring beer into a young woman's mouth...

Postville has lost more than a quarter of its pre-raid population of 2,300. Besides the detained workers, scores more fled or went into hiding. People were pushed out of jobs and homes. Children were separated from parents. Businesses verged toward collapse.

Dear Rob: Thank you for contacting me. I am always glad to hear from you. At a time when Americans are working harder to make ends meet, I share your concern about the high cost of gasoline. Iowans are paying record prices and it's creating a ripple effect throughout our economy and the problem only seems to be getting worse. These prices make living our daily lives a real challenge. I am fully committed to changing the course of America's energy policy - to transition America away from our crippling dependence on foreign sources of oil. These debilitating prices are...

DES MOINES -- Republican Congressman Steve King carries a copy of the Constitution with him everywhere he goes. He said it reminds him of the oath he took when first elected in 2002 to Congress. King stressed at Saturday's GOP state convention that Constitution could come under fire if Sen. Barack Obama is elected in November. "If we don't exercise our rights, we will lose them," said King, noting he has defended the Constitution even when it wasn't popular, cheap or easy. "Even when we have a Constitution (we think) is a guarantee that doesn't mean it is a guarantee...

June 20, 2008 ELCA Bishop Calls for Prayer, Action Concerning Domestic Disasters 08-095-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), asked the 4.8 million-member church to join him in "prayer and action" for people facing adversity this spring after tornadoes and floods struck the central United States and the humanitarian crisis following an immigration raid in Postville, Iowa. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested about 390 workers May 12 at a meat processing plant in Postville, making the raid the largest at a single location in U.S. history....

"Where are all of the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and helping the folks affected by the floods? Where is all the media asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved the problem? Asking where the FEMA trucks (and trailers) are? Why isn't the Federal Government relocating Iowa people to free hotels in Chicago? When will Spike Lee say that the Federal Government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines? Where are Sean Penn and the Dixie Chicks? Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes and big screen...

Chabad Flood Relief 1,000 pounds of meat donated by Agriprocessors distributed by Chabad through the Red Cross more photos hereIts been called the greatest flood in Iowa history, a "500 year flood". Cities have been submerged, lives lost, homes washed away in torrents of rain, thunder and tornadoes. It seems like daily a new story of a levy on the verge of collapse or giving way to the rush of out of control rivers, stills the hearts of Americans. People await the answers to their prayerful calls for help. In response, Americans have donated money and volunteered for relief operations....

The President presented medal of freedoms and then toured the flood ravaged areas in Iowa. This evening he and and the First Lady hosted a social dinner in honor of American jazz Secretary of State Condelezza Rice was at the UN today. . Pray for President Bush -- Day 2836

Maybe I missed it because I have been doing my best to not watch CNN, but I don't think Anderson Cooper has rented a rowboat and paddled around Cedar Rapids or Des Moines with a concerned look on his face. If it wasn't Cooper who paddled around New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina, I apologize; but even if he didn't go out in a boat, he was at the edge of the water with a concerned look on his face. CNN has been on in our house far too much lately, what with the prolonged presidential campaigns and what...

OAKVILLE, Iowa -- Southeastern Iowa and other parts of the Midwest filled sandbags in anticipation of the Mississippi River's wrath Tuesday as the rest of Iowa began the slow move from protection to cleanup. The federal government predicts that 27 levees could potentially overflow along the river if the weather forecast is on the mark and a massive sandbagging effort fails to raise the level of the levees, according to a map obtained Monday by the Associated Press.

Minneapolis police officers and Hennepin County sheriff's deputies have stepped in to help law enforcement in flood-ravaged Cedar Rapids, Iowa. By noon Sunday, Minneapolis Deputy Chief of Patrol Rob Allen along with 1 lieutenant, two sergeants and six officers were helping local police prevent theft and other crimes in areas of the Cedar Rapids where flood waters were beginning to recede and residents were being allowed to return to their homes on a limited basis, said Jesse Garcia, a Minneapolis Police Department spokesman. Minneapolis police personnel were joined by 10 deputies and supervisors from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office. In...

Flooding in the Midwest has swelled rivers and submerged roads and rails, halting or delaying shipments of food, fuel and other goods. Manufacturers also have been forced to suspend production of everything from oatmeal to pork products. At the earliest, barge, road and rail traffic will get back to normal next week. But companies are focused on getting through the weekend, when at least one river is expected to crest at nearly 32 feet, making it possible that the transportation snags could drag on. Union Pacific Corp., the nation's biggest freight railroad, currently has six mainline tracks out of service...

If the terrible Midwest floods have a silver lining, it is the grit and self-reliance that residents have shown in coping with the disaster. Iowans in particular haven't blamed everyone else for their version of Katrina. They've been following orders on when to evacuate, volunteering to lay sandbags to protect still-dry areas, and are already planning how they'll clean up the mess when the floodwaters subside. The worst floods in 15 years have done enormous damage, especially in the industrial city of Cedar Rapids. The Cedar River crested at some 31 feet on Friday, compared to 19 feet during the...

CEDAR RAPIDS - In preparation for the immense recovery and rebuilding efforts our community will face, The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation today opened the Flood 2008 Fund for flood relief and recovery donation. This fund will support nonprofit organizations in Linn County who are providing first-response efforts and ongoing recovery and rebuilding throughout Linn County. The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation encourages donors to support first-responders like the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the United Way of East Central Iowa. The Flood 2008 Fund will support these organizations immediately as well as funding recovery and rebuilding efforts...

Drudge has this up on a story of the Iowa twister.

DES MOINES — Officials on Friday issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown Des Moines and other areas bordering the river. Officials recommended that downtown residents and businesses evacuate parts of downtown on either side of the Des Moines River by 6 p.m. Friday. Included are all areas in Des Moines' 500 year floodplain. The alert was prompted by rising river levels expected to peak at 8 p.m. Friday. Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie said they are asking for the evacuations "to err on the side of citizens and residents." The evacuation should begin immediately, Cownie said, and...

Rising water from the Cedar River forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital Friday after residents of more than 3,000 homes fled for higher ground. A railroad bridge collapsed, and 100 city blocks were under water. Cedar Rapids was the hardest-hit city in Iowa, where Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties as state disaster areas and nine rivers were at or above historic flood levels. Elsewhere in the upper Midwest, rivers and streams tipping their banks forced evacuations, closed roads, and even threatened drinking water. The hospital's 176 patients, including about 30 patients in a nursing...

KCCI is getting early word tonight of a tornado touchdown that hit a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa, injuring as many as 40 people. Our sister station in Omaha, KETV, reports that the Boy Scouts confirm four of those injuries are fatalities. Courtney Greene, a spokeswoman for Governor Chet Culver, says the tornado hit the Little Sioux scout camp. Speaking from the state Emergency Operations Center, which is mobilized because of flooding across Iowa, Greene said authorities have been told of multiple injuries and the potential loss of life. Hospitals in the area have been told to be on...

A possible tornado has struck the Litle (spelling from site?) Sioux Scout Camp in Iowa. Very large response is being reported by media. Large number of injuries.

WATERLOO — One-half of the Sixth Street railroad bridge over the Cedar River in downtown Waterloo has washed away in the flood waters. Half the bridge remains. We will provide more details as they become available. Also, the city of Cedar Falls has now expanded its area of evacuation.

ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 19, 2008 Michael Burk Elected Bishop of ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod 08-065-JD* IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Rev. Michael L. Burk, executive, Worship and Liturgical Resources, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, was elected May 17 to a six-year term as bishop of the ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod. He was elected on the fourth ballot for bishop during the synod assembly here May 16-18. On the fourth ballot, Burk received 312 votes to 92 for the Rev. Kurt R. Nordby, assistant to the bishop, ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, and director, Illowa Lutheran Coalition, Rock Island,...

Federal authorities charged that a methamphetamine laboratory was operating at the nation's largest kosher slaughterhouse and that employees carried weapons to work. The charges were among the most explosive details to emerge following the massive raid Monday at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa. In a 60-page application for a search warrant, federal agents revealed details of their six-month probe of Agriprocessors. The investigation involved 12 federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the departments of labor and agriculture. According to the application, a former plant supervisor told investigators that some 80 percent of the workforce...

The raid today at Agriprocessors, Inc. meat packing plant targeted individuals who were using stolen Social Security numbers. Officials say at least 300 have been arrested but that the number could go as high as 700. The raid was the largest of it's kind in Iowa according to Claude Arnold of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Federal Immigration agents on Monday arrested more than 300 people during a raid at a Postville meat processing plant. The raid by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was the largest in Iowa history, Matt M. Dummermuth, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, said at a news conference. Dummermuth said the raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in northeast Iowa came after months of planning, beginning in October 2007. Federal agents were helped by state and local police. Authorities said more than 300 workers were arrested on a variety of charges included fraudulent use of Social Security...

Saturday, May 3, 2008 6:38 AM CDT Postville men arrested, charged with 27 fishing violations WEST UNION (AP) --- Three men have been arrested and charged with 27 fishing violations after using beer cans to catch trout from a northeastern Iowa creek. Authorities say an off-duty Fayette County deputy noticed suspicious fishing activity at Glovers Creek trout stream earlier this week. He called the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. DNR officials accuse the three men of illegally tying fishing lines to empty beer cans, then dragging the cans with the catch to shore. Authorities seized the trout, illegal fishing lines,...

The Iowa Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a man accused of abducting and sexually assaulting a toddler at the Des Moines Public Library. James Effler was found guilty of first-degree kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison for the October 2005 abduction and assault. Testimony showed that Effler lured the girl away from her baby sitter and stripped her naked inside a locked bathroom. Library employees found Effler and the girl and held him until police arrived. The court ruled on Wednesday that police ignored Effler's request for an attorney and that the district court should have...

High-profile Democrats stump in state By Mike Wereschagin and Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW To hear Sen. Dick Durbin tell it, Nebraska -- a state that gave nearly 66 percent of its vote to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in 2004 -- will become a swing state in November if Illinois Sen. Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination.

A Pizza Hut deliverer fired shots at an armed robber who threatened his life, wounding him and leading to the criminal’s capture by police. What kind of reward did James Spiers get for his self-defense? Unemployment: A Des Moines pizza driver who was suspended from his job after he shot an armed robber said today he has been overwhelmed by support from people who cheered what happened. “But no one had contacted me directly about a job offer,” said James William Spiers III, 38, who was sent home by Pizza Hut managers after he fired multiple shots at a man...

Sheryl Sueppel and her four children suffered blunt-force trauma, and husband and father Steven Sueppel is probably their killer, officials said Tuesday at a press conference. Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine said authorities' investigation "suggests Steven Sueppel was the perpetrator of the homicide." He was identified as the person who called to report the family's deaths around 6:30 a.m. March 24. Officials also said two baseball bats may have been involved. Still, authorities do not have a cause of death for any of the Sueppels, pending autopsies being performed Tuesday. Steven Sueppel tried to kill himself at least twice...

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Police said Monday that they found a woman and four children dead in an Iowa City home. Police confirm they received a 911 call telling them to go to 629 Barrington Road around 6:30 a.m. When they arrived officers found the door unlocked and five people dead inside. The Cedar Rapids Gazette is reporting that the home is owned by Steven F. Sueppel, a former executive at Hills Bank & Trust. Police said Sueppel was not in the home when they arrived and they are looking for him. Police have not yet confirmed if Sueppel is...

Pachino Hill sentenced to probation, church By Ann McGlynn | Thursday, March 20, 2008   With a lengthy and violent criminal record to his name, Pachino Hill is going to church. Hill, 29, of Davenport was sentenced Wednesday by Scott County Associate Judge Christine Dalton to a counseling program offered by Third Missionary Baptist Church. She also ordered him to attend church there eight consecutive Sundays, to pay a fine and be on probation for one year. If he doesn’t comply, he faces up to two years in prison for eluding and driving while barred. The charges are the...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama expanded his fragile lead in delegates over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday, picking up at least seven delegates as Iowa activists took the next step in picking delegates to the national convention. Half the 14 delegates allocated to John Edwards on the basis of caucus night projections switched Saturday and Obama got most, if not all, of them. Iowa Democratic Party officials said that with more than 86 percent of the delegates picked, Obama claimed 52 percent of the delegates elected at county conventions on Saturday, compared to 32 percent for Clinton....

“I’ll just say this, when you think about the optics of a Barack Obama potentially getting elected president of the United States, and I mean. What does this look like to the rest of the world? What does it look like to the world of Islam?” “I will tell you that if he is elected president, the radical Islamists, the al-Qa’ida and the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11th. Because they will declare victory in this War on Terror.”

Hunger pains — Wapello County leads the state in food assistance By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer OTTUMWA — Numbers rarely tell the whole story. But when it comes to the well-being of children, decision makers need something to go on. The Child and Family Policy Center, a not-for-profit agency based in Des Moines, recently issued its “Iowa Kids Count” report — information collected from every county in Iowa to show the trends affecting children, from infant deaths to high school graduation rates . “Currently, one in seven children in Iowa lives in poverty and one in three is eligible...

A Muslim imam's opening-day prayer at the Iowa Legislature has sparked controversy over statements he made. They're statements that at least one northwest Iowa lawmaker says are like a "terrorist call" to harm Americans. It's a ritual Iowa state representatives follow every morning the convene in Des Moines. A daily prayer. But, it's this prayer that's caused some concern at the capitol. "I can't sit here while jihadist statements are made from the rostrum of the people's House of Iowa," said Rep. Gary Worthan, (R) Storm Lake. Worthan said he was angered by one specific line in the prayer offered...

Headline and link only due to copyright complaint.

Imam offers prayer at Iowa Statehouse asking Allah for "victory over those who disbelieve" And some of those in attendance were not sufficiently browbeaten by political correctness to fail to notice that that meant victory over them. "Muslim opening prayer at Iowa Statehouse raises concerns," by Erin Ballou for the Storm Lake Pilot Tribune (thanks to Bryan Preston): The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed. When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins. The...

In March, 2007, Donna Holman was convicted of a charge of "harassment" as she engaged in "sidewalk counseling" to discourage women from entering a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Iowa City, Iowa. Judge Karen Egerton found Mrs.Holman guilty on the hearsay testimony of Planned Parenthood employees. The woman Mrs. Holman allegedly harassed did not even show up for the hearing. Despite being unable to confront her accuser and offer exculpatory evidence, the Iowa Supreme Court declined to review the case. "While murderers and rapists run free, a harmless 72-year-old Christian grandmother, Donna Holman, must languish in jail for having the...

RNC head denies party's responsibility to electorate for primary election process Chairman Mike Duncan responds to Keyes campaign's allegations of 'Iowa deception' January 9, 2008 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monday, Stephen Stone, CEO of Alan Keyes for President, met with Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan to discuss "evidence of deception by the Iowa Republican Party with regard to the recent caucuses." Stone delivered a letter that described the campaign's allegations against Iowa GOP officials. According to Stone, the state party's behavior in the caucuses "disenfranchises voters" and appears to have "violated the election laws." Among the facts outlined by Stone:...

CONCORD, N.H. - Hillary Clinton may have lost to Barack Obama in the race for Iowa, but she exacted her revenge in the race out of Iowa. In the wee hours of Friday morning, Clinton's police-escorted motorcade, zipping along the dark roads between downtown Des Moines and the airport, arrived mere seconds before Obama's police-escorted motorcade at the Signature Aviation terminal. The cars in Clinton's motorcade then fanned out on the tarmac as she boarded her plane, making it impossible for Obama's motorcade to get to his airplane.

The Iowa caucus results are in, and about the only solid conclusion that can be drawn from them is what Minnesotans like me have known and joked about for years: Iowans are morons. I know that sounds rough, but what else can you say about a state that selects one candidate backed and bankrolled by Oprah Winfrey and another simply because he purportedly waves Jesus in everyone's face, all the better to hide his awful record? And when the alternative is to realize that this is precisely how far our political discourse has fallen – that substance and maturity and...

Immediately after the Iowa Straw Poll last August, the noted and respected journalist George Will referred to the FairTax believers who supported Mike Huckabee as “those FairTax people”. He made it sound as if the people who helped Mike Huckabee finish an unexpected second place among Republican presidential contenders had just gotten off the “short bus”. You know, those special needs people who don’t get to ride with the political elites.

January 04, 2008 Iowa: Romney's Women Trouble and More [Margie Omero is President of Momentum Analysis, a Democratic polling firm based in Washington, DC.] Gender played a huge role in the Iowa caucuses yesterday...on the Republican side. Mike Huckabee's sizable lead over Mitt Romney came largely from women. According to exit polls from both the Democratic and Republican caucuses, 40% of women voted for Huckabee and 24% for Romney. Among men, Huckabee and Romney are nearly tied (29% and 26%, respectively). ... In the Democratic caucus, the pattern is far less dramatic. Yes, Clinton does fare better with women than...

On the earlier poll thread, a reader asked “What’s your opinion about the statistical summary of past results of Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries?” pointing out data from Neatorama.com. The Neatorama blogger had tables like these below, but made separate tables for Iowa and New Hampshire and included information about who won the general election. I thought it would tell a better story by combining the primaries and by eliminating the general election data because the main question is who will be nominated. The tables list who won each of the primaries and who was eventually nominated. So, does...

Why do we give so much value to what a state with one percent of the population thinks? The absurdity of this is illustrated by cartoons that can be found at Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index. The site does not allow free hotlinking, however here are some links to a few of the good cartoons: Daryl CagleBrian FairringtonNate BeelerPat Bagley There are more good cartoons here.