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Only a decade or so ago, the idea of an Iowa wine industry seemed far-fetched. Today, there are about 300 vineyards and 100 wineries in the state.

In the past 10 years, the number of Iowa wineries has quintupled. Iowa’s wine production has grown from about 50,000 gallons to 350,000 gallons per year. The state’s half-dozen “wine trails” are becoming increasingly popular with tourists.

It seems that thanks, in part, to generous tax breaks, the wine industry is taking root in Iowa.

That has some people questioning whether Iowa’s wineries are paying their fair share of property tax. They say that vague rules unevenly applied are giving some Iowa wineries an unfair competitive advantage.

We can see the sense in tweaking some of the rules and in standardizing how they’re applied across the state.

But legislators should be wary of making too many changes to laws that appear to have worked just as intended, unlike some other incentive schemes we could name.

When Iowa’s wine industry was just beginning in earnest in 2011, legislators passed a law to classify wineries as agricultural properties for tax purposes. That allowed winemakers to pay the more favorable agricultural rate on vineyard land, processing facilities and other buildings involved in the manufacture and sale of wine.

It gave fledgling vintners a break. A recent Gazette investigation found that agricultural tax breaks saved eight of Iowa’s largest wine wholesalers more than $100,000 in combined property taxes in fiscal year 2011.

But just how much they save can vary wildly from county to county, The Gazette also found. Some county assessors require growers to have vines planted on a certain number of acres, for example. Others allow winemakers to declare as agricultural buildings elaborate tasting rooms and reception halls.

There’s something wrong if a vintner’s competitor just across the county line can benefit from such a significantly more favorable assessment, or if a winery that hosts weddings and other large receptions can dodge tax burdens that similar venues must pay.

It’s time for legislators to listen to assessors’ complaints that they need more direction from the law because it is too vague.

It’s just one item on a long list as lawmakers struggle with comprehensive property tax reform, but it’s a worthy one.

Iowa’s wine industry is flourishing so far, but it’s still early in the season for most of the state’s winemakers. They have made major, multiyear investments to launch their enterprises. It would be a loss to Iowa’s economic growth and diversity if lawmakers simply dump the property tax breaks and let these small business owners’ dreams die on the vine.

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By Pramod Dwivedi

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Last month, the third annual County Health Rankings were released by the University of Wisconsin in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The rankings compare counties in each state, based on health outcomes (death and illness), and health factors (behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment). This year, Linn County ranks 21st in health factors among Iowa’s 99 counties, indicating we enjoy relatively superior health.

But there are areas for concerns. For example, overweight/obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, excessive drinking and mental health remain pressing health issues in our county. These can be addressed by reducing risky behaviors such as smoking, excessive drinking, lack of exercise and not eating enough fruits and vegetables.

The Linn County Public Health (LCPH), the county Board of Supervisors and the county Board of Health have long recognized the role these factors play in our health and longevity. We are joining forces with the businesses, health care providers, consumers and community leaders to improve the health of county residents.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death. Trends in smoking have been downward, but rates for Linn County and Iowa remain high. Unhealthy food and physical inactivity are the second-leading cause of preventable death. Linn County and Iowa obesity rates are higher than the national average, and are climbing.

Linn County has been working on strategies to improve the health of its residents. There are many miles of green trails and bikeways. City of Cedar Rapids is working on developing more bike lanes. The LCPH is involved in leading the Cedar Rapids Blue Zone initiative. With a focus on moving naturally, having the right outlook, eating wisely and social connectivity, Blue Zones embody the public health mission of preventing illness and disease by making the healthy choice easier.

April marked LCPH’s second year of partnering with local community colleges to offer free Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)/Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and HIV testing.

The LCPH used federal funding for a multifaceted campaign supporting prevention and a tobacco-free environment.

With the supervisors and Board of Health, we plan to create a partnership with area schools in support of healthier school lunches and more physical activity.

Health is everybody’s responsibility. We will succeed through partnerships. Schools, colleges, churches, communities, employers and families are cordially invited!

Pramod Dwivedi is Health Director, Linn County Public Health. Comments: Pramod.Dwivedi@linncounty.org

You may have seen Marc Morehouse’s blog post on the latest Iowa football recruiting oral commitment, quarterback Nic Shimonek of Corsicana, Texas.

When you’ve never lived in Texas and you like football, as I haven’t and I do, there’s a mythology to Texas high school football that you find fascinating. Well, I do. Look, I watched every episode of the five seasons of “Friday Night Lights.” Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

Long ago while in College Station for an Iowa State-Texas A&M football game, I dropped in on a high school game the night before in either College Station or Bryan, I can’t remember which.

It looked like no different than any other high school game I’d ever seen, but that was OK.

This doesn't look roughneck

Anyway, I hoped Corsicana was some remote small Texas town, like Dillon, the home of the “Friday Night Light” Panthers. Some roughneck place that puts its emotional state-of-mind on the fortunes of its high school football team.

That’s sick in real life, of course. But since I don’t live there, I can deal with it.

Colt McCoy was a star quarterback at Texas with a Texan’s name. He played for the Jim Ned High School Indians in Tuscola, Texas. Tuscola is three miles from Ovalo, seven miles from Buffalo Gap, eight miles from Lawn, and 205 miles from Austin.

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

But Corsicana is 55 miles south of Dallas. It has about 25,000 residents. It has produced NFL players, country music stars, and some rapper named Spice 1.

That doesn’t sound quaint or romantic. I guess it could be roughneck, but I want a town that is at least three hours from any sort of civilization, where you can get a mouthful of dust on any given windy afternoon in the 95-degree heat.

But at least the Mildred High School Eagles had killer instinct. They beat the Wortham Bulldogs last September, 62-0, and punished the Edgewood Bulldogs in early November, 63-6.

In fact, Mildred brutalized everyone in the regular-season, even teams not named the Bulldogs. They won their first nine games by an average score of 55-4.

Cisco has good high school football ... and a big dam

The Eagles were 13-0 when they faced Cisco in a Texas Class 2A Division II championship semifinal, but lost 35-28. The Loboes rushed for 405 yards, so it wasn’t Shimonek’s fault. Slick Nic threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns in that game. Well, his last pass was intercepted in the end zone as Mildred tried to tie the game as time expired, but it was a Hail Mary.

It sounds like it was quite a game.

Cisco went on to lose 36-35 to the Refugio Bobcats in the 2A D2 title game. That must have been a slobberknocker, too.

I’d prefer that Shimonek came from Cisco, 136 miles west of Dallas, or Refugio, which is down in southeast Texas by Corpus Christi, a fairly short trip from Mexico. But kids usually don’t choose where they grow up.

It does encourage me that Shimonek’s only other offer to this point had been from Lamar. That makes the story (I’m all about the story) a lot better if he turns out to be the next Colt McCoy.

And Nic Shimonek is a pretty good name, too. There hasn’t been a Nic or a Shimonek I’m aware of who has been a storybook quarterback, and it’s always a better story (I already told you, I’m all about the story) if you’re an original.

“Yep, my pops just called me,” Chevy Clarke said after his Cedar Rapids Kernels beat Kane County in 10 innings last night, 7-5, at Veterans Memorial Stadium. “He’s happy.”

Kenneth Clarke couldn’t have been happier than his son. No way.

It’s been a real struggle of late for Chevy, the Kernels center fielder and first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in 2010. A 3-for-33 slump over the previous 10 games dropped his batting average well under the Mendoza Line and made you wonder if he’s in over his head right now in low-Class A.

Chevy Clarke

But Clarke, 20, has special raw skills. There’s a reason he was drafted 30th overall out of an Atlanta-area high school.

He made a great running catch of a ball hit over his head to the fence in the first inning, legged out an infield single in the third and drilled a game-tying home run the other way to left-center with one out in the ninth inning. A pumped up Clarke nearly tore batboy Jon Teig’s arm off as he gave him a high-five after touching home plate.

“Now I can breathe. I can just play now,” Clarke said. “I’ve been pushing and pushing and trying to do more and more to get what I want to get. A lot of my teammates, they kept me up, they were behind me. The coaches, everybody was. They were like ‘Just work through this.’”

“I was pumped,” said Kernels right fielder Andy Workman. “The whole team was pumped for him. He’s kind of been struggling a little bit. He got a pitch and showed some pop right there.”

As Workman did an inning later. He pulled an 0-1 fastball from losing pitcher Nick Graffeo (0-1), who blew his first save in nine opportunities, onto the porch in left field for a walk-off home run.

“I actually didn’t know if it was out,” Workman said. “It had good carry, good backspin to it.”

Workman was mobbed by teammates at home plate. Kind of like Clarke was mobbed by teammates in the dugout after his big hit.

“It’s been a litle while since I’ve smiled,” he said.

The teams complete their three-game series Friday night at 6:35. Another 2010 first-round draft pick of the Angels, Cam Bedrosian, is scheduled to pitch for the Kernels.

Here is a copy of the game boxscore:

The CEMAR Trail was suggested 10 years ago by then-Cedar Rapids Streets Commissioner Don Thomas, but it’s never been completed. A month ago, that fact helped prompt the Cedar Rapids-dominated planning organization — which controls about $4 million a year in federal funds — to decide to use 80 percent of that money on trails and bike lanes rather than street projects.

On Thursday, the group unanimously voted to commit $2.5 million of its discretionary funds in fiscal 2016 to complete the 2.8-mile stretch.

The trail will connect Cedar Rapids’ heavily used Cedar River Trail at Cedar Lake to Marion. It will run along an old railroad line through older sections of northeast Cedar Rapids, then under First Avenue East at about 31st Street Drive SE and on to Marion.

The Cedar Rapids portion of the trail is being built in three segments. The middle section, from 20th to 29th streets NE, was built in 2010.

The first section, from the Cedar River Trail at Cedar Lake to 20th Street NE, has been slowed because of problems purchasing a trail easement through the former Terex Cedarapids industrial site at 909 17th St. NE. Progress is being made on that complication, city engineer and public works Director Dave Elgin said Thursday.

The third section is complicated by the need to get under, over or around First Avenue East, though the preferred plan is to go under, added Rob Davis, the city’s engineering operations manager.

Elgin said the city already has the money for some of the first segment; the $2.5 million from the planning group will pay for the rest and will fund the third segment as well. Davis estimated that the first segment will be completed in one or two years, and the third piece will follow.

At the city limits, the paved CEMAR trail will come close to crushed limestone trail segments in Marion, officials there told the planning organization.

Samantha Dahlby, a Cedar Rapids member of the planning group, said the funding commitment fit the organization’s decision-making criteria because it connects to the backbone of the metro trail system, the Cedar River Trail, and because it connects two member cities. Elgin said the group’s 2040 transportation plan named the CEMAR Trail as the top funding priority.

Monica Vernon, a Cedar Rapids City Council member and the chairwoman of the planning group, called the CEMAR Trail “one of the longest-running, talked-about trails we’ve had around here.”

Also at the top of the organization’s priority list for trails is the need to provide $1.3 million to fix the existing Cedar River Trail, which has some sections that are now 15 years old.

Firefighters and police respond to the scene of a semi accident on Interstate 380 northbound near the on ramp from First St NE in downtown Cedar Rapids in March 2007. Officials plan to apply a new road surface on the interstate through downtown Cedar Rapids, hoping to reduce crashes in the area. (Gazette file photo)

A road crew will soon begin paving the way for safer travel along Interstate 380 through downtown Cedar Rapids.

It’s a unique project that the Iowa Department of Transportation said has never been done in the state. It’s called a high friction surface treatment, and according to road workers, other states have found success in applying the treatment to dangerous areas.

The idea gained steam back in 2008, when emergency and state highway teams conducted a road safety audit. The group decided something needed to change on the I-380 “S-curve,” between H Avenue and Diagonal Drive in Cedar Rapids.

There have been a number of serious crashes on the downtown portion of I-380. From 2008 to 2011, police records show nearly 90 crashes in the S-curve area.

Many emergency responders, like paramedic Nathan Massell, say they hope the project reduces the number of crashes. Not many people know the S-curve like Massell does. He travels it at least half a dozen times a day in his ambulance.

“It’s a really dangerous area that we have to deal with all the time,” Massell said. “We travel it quite often, going from hospital to hospital.”

Many times, however, he finds himself driving to the S-curve instead of through it.

“We do see a lot of fatalities out there, along with very nasty car accidents. And it’s a lot of it stems from having bad road surfaces,” Massell said.

The Iowa DOT agrees that it’s time for a change. Over time, tires have worn out some portions of the road’s surface. That means there’s less friction between the car tires and the pavement. Tires aren’t sticking to the roadway as they should, making the curvy stretch very dangerous.

“We came up with the project to work on the south approaches of the S-curve bridge, both the northbound and southbound directions,” said Iowa DOT transportation planner Cathy Cutler.

A team will come from out of state to apply the high friction surface treatment.

“A polymer concrete application and some sharper, harder aggregate on top to increase that friction number and the harder aggregate means the surface won’t wear out as fast,” Cutler said.

Officials hope the treatment will prevent tires from slipping during wet or dry conditions and reduce the number of crashes. That’s something Massell is eagerly anticipating.

“With the speeds and angles of the S-curve, it would be beneficial to have,” Massell said.

The price tag on the project is about $500,000. It’s funded with state and federal money.

Work is expected to start on the S-curve Monday. It will take place overnight for about six nights. The DOT said it would work on one lane at a time, so traffic can still travel on I-380 as construction gets under way.

President Barack Obama shakes hands with guests Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids. The president, who is on a three-campus tour, was pushing to keep interest rates low on a widely used loan program aimed at low-income and middle-class students. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

President Barack Obama will return to Iowa on Thursday to meet with supporters, deliver an economic address in Newton and, perhaps, make an announcement about wind energy production.

Few details have been released other than Obama will make a presidential visit to Newton and a campaign stop in Des Moines. It will be his first campaign swing to Iowa this year.

“We are excited President Obama is coming back to host a grassroots event in Iowa,” said Iowa Obama for America spokeswoman Erin Seidler. “In Iowa, we have seen firsthand the choice in November as the president is fighting for the middle class and growing an economy that is built to last and Mitt Romney whose economic theories are based on outsourcing and tax breaks for the wealthy and biggest corporations that undercut middle class Iowans.”

Republican National Committee spokesman Ryan Mahoney called the visit a campaign visit funded by taxpayers who “continue to struggle with higher costs on gasoline, groceries, health care, and tuition.”

“Rather than jaunt around Iowa using taxpayer money,” added Iowa GOP Chairman A.J. Spiker, “President Obama should explain to Iowans why his budget has failed to garner a single vote in Congress and why he has added an unconscionable $5 trillion to the national debt after promising to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. Taxpayers in Iowa are fed up with having to finance President Obama’s campaign stops while at the same time they are suffering as a result of his failed economic policies.”

Obama’s visit will come little more than a week after presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney visited Des Moines to warn of the Obama administration’s “prairie fire of debt.”

Their visits signal that the candidates see Iowa as one of a handful of states that are pivotal to reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

Thursday’s visit will be the president’s third to Iowa this year. He visited Cedar Rapids in January, the day after delivering his State of the Union Address. Last month, Obama visited the University of Iowa in heavily Democratic Johnson County to promote legislation to keep student loan interest rates low.

It’s expected the president will talk about the economy and press for congressional action on what he calls his “to-do” list, including creating tax credits for businesses that add jobs or increase wages and incentives for homeowners to refinance their mortgages at lower rates.

State Rep. Dan Kelley, D-Newton, hopes the visit to Newton signals an announcement on a wind energy production tax credit. Obama’s first visit to Iowa as president was an Earth Day 2009 2009 tour of Trinity Structural Towers, a company making towers for wind turbines.

Then the president spoke of the symbolism of the former appliance plant being used to create components for the production of renewable energy, which would power the household appliances that had been built there by generations of Newton workers.

While Iowa’s economy has fared better than the nation’s as a whole, Newton and Jasper County have not fared as well as the state.

Iowa’s unemployment in March was 5.2 percent, below the national average of 8.1 percent, but in Jasper County the figure was 8.5 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Adam Sandler, 50 Cent and I caught an Indiana Pacers game in Indianapolis on Feb. 4.

I don’t know what those two, who were in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl the following day, thought about the Orlando Magic’s 85-81 win over the Pacers in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. I thought it was borderline dreadful, and I’m not an NBA-hater.

Pacers fans had a dress code Thursday night (AP photo)

Indiana was pushing a piano uphill all night in the game. It shot just 34.1 percent from the field, and was 4-of-22 from 3-point range. Orlando superstar center Dwight Howard easily got the best of the Pacers’ big man, Roy Hibbert.

The Pacers dropped to a still-glossy 16-7 with the loss, but I figured the team was a house of cards. Today, that house of cards has a 2-1 lead on the Miami Heat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference semifinals.

Indiana didn’t play that game 3 1/2 months ago with guard George Hill, who was out with a chip fracture in an ankle. Seeing how Hill played Thursday night (20 points, 5 assists) in the Pacers’ 94-75 pounding of the Heat in Indy, I guess I didn’t see the complete Indiana team.

Hibbert likes playing against whoever or whatever it was Miami had in the middle Thursday more than he enjoys battling Howard, I’m guessing. Hibbert had 19 points and 18 points in Game 3.

I went to that game in February because it was the night before the Super Bowl, my pregame work was done, and I basically had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. It was a chance to sit for two-and-a-half hours and vegetate. Little did I know I was watching an Indiana team that would be a serious threat to eliminate Miami from the playoffs.

I still think the Heat win the series and go on to win the East, but I’m pulling for the Pacers. Midwest, small-market, no-name team, all that good stuff that make network executives queasy.

The prospect of an Indiana-San Antonio or Indiana-Oklahoma City NBA Finals isn’t what ABC/ESPN has in mind. But if that’s how it shakes out, Miami and the Los Angeles Lakers simply need to buy better players.

Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said a vehicle was used to run over the mailboxes in the Huntington Ridge subdivision on the northern edge of the city. Mailboxes on Sheffield Drive NE, Ashford Place NE, Dorchester Place NE, Winterberry Place NE and Quail Trail NE were damaged, she said.

One victim reported hearing noises about 2 a.m. Thursday. Police were called to the scene around 4:30 a.m. and found tire tracks.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Linn County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-CS-CRIME or police headquarters at (319) 286-5491.

Rove, widely considered the architect of George W. Bush’s presidential victories in 2000 and 2004 and nemesis of all things Democratic, offered a spirited endorsement of a Clinton presidency — as long as the alternative is a Barack Obama presidency.

Not only is the former first lady and current secretary of state more experienced than the current occupant of the White House, but Rove said Clinton holds a “less naive view of the world,” would be more engaged in developing policy, would be more bipartisan and would surround herself with a broader range of advisers.

“I’d be sleeping better than I am now,” Rove told a Cornell College audience last night.

Rove and Dee Dee Myers, press secretary to President Bill Clinton during the first years of his presidency, presented Republican and Democratic points of view during a Delta Phi Rho lecture, “Election 2012: Two Perspectives.”

Myers deferred when asked if Hillary Clinton would be a better president than Obama except to say both of them are better than 2008 GOP nominee John McCain.

Despite their political differences, the former Washington neighbors agreed that they — and everyone engaged in the political process — should be able to “disagree agreeably,” as Myers put it.

Although she believes this is “one of the most dis-spiriting points” in the nation’s political history, “we can make it better.”

We can disagree, Rove added, without “disagreeing with the fact that we all care for our country.”

However, it’s the differences in how people pursue their goals that “drives a lot of good people out of politics,” Myers said. “A lot of people look at it and say it’s just not worth it,” and she doesn’t see an end to the negativity.

Rove agreed that the negative aspects of politics and campaigning discourage people from running, “but it’s always been thus,” he said. People who care about their country have to “stand up and fight … (and) take the blows.”

The lecture was the fifth funded by Cornell’s Delta Phi Rho Centennial Endowment. Previous speakers were Bob Woodward, Fareed Zakaria, George Stephanopoulos and David Gergen. A group of Delta Phi Rho alumni said they created the lecture series to contribute to the intellectual capital of the college and the community.

Beckham, a Beagle mix, plays with his potential new owners at the Iowa City animal shelter March 30. (Nikole Hanna/The Gazette/KCRG)

A nonprofit organization is ready to start a fundraising campaign for a new Iowa City animal shelter.

Friends of the Animal Shelter Foundation sent a letter to City Manager Tom Markus this month, saying that it plans to begin a $1 million capital campaign this summer.

The city is in the design phase for what is estimated to be a 12,225-square-foot, $3 million facility. The city’s old animal shelter was flooded in 2008 and the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center has been working out of a temporary home since then.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has committed $1.4 million toward the shelter, which is to be built on Napoleon Lane on the south side.

A major financial commitment from the Friends of the Animal Shelter Foundation has long been part of the plans for a new facility.

In the letter, the organization said it expects to give the city $200,000 a year for five years, starting in June 2013.

Chris Gensicke of Allen's Orchard points out the silver tips on the buds of an apple tree at Allen's Orchard in Marion March 14, 2012, thanks to unseasonably warm weather. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

Surprisingly cool temperatures in April damaged crops across Iowa including up to 80 percent of the apple crop in the east of the state, horticulture and agronomy experts said.

Apple trees blossomed about a month early because of unseasonably warm temperatures in March. But temperatures dipped to the low 20s for several nights in early to mid-April, killing those blossoms, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported Thursday.

Maury Wills, head of the Agricultural Diversification and Market Development Bureau for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, said that while it won’t be impossible to buy Iowa-grown apples this fall, they won’t be plentiful either.

Iowa orchards produced 102,000 bushels of apples last year, a number they likely won’t match in 2012.

“The (devastation) is pretty much unprecedented,” Wills said.

Though apple crops appear to have been hit the hardest, other plants suffered damage as well.

Gail Nonnecke, a horticulture professor at Iowa State University, estimated that Iowa strawberry production will be reduced by 20 percent.

Not all strawberries were blooming when frost hit, and overhead irrigation used by many larger producers helped insulate plants. Secondary blossoms have since bloomed.

“Plants are very resilient, but the most damage will be to apples,” Nonnecke said.

Thousands of acres of corn may also need to be replanted in the northern part of the state, where farmers are starting to see problems with emerging stalks. But Iowa State research reports that corn planted from now until May 25 can achieve 87 percent of yield potential.

Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, left, and Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne, right, join Big Ten Commiissioner Jim Delany on stage, Monday, Aug. 2, 2010, in Chicago, at the 2010 Big Ten Media Day Kickoff. Nebraska became the newest member of the Big Ten since Penn State joined the conference 20 years ago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

CHICAGO — Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said his league is “constantly aware” of recent realignment developments sweeping college athletics.

“We continue to look at it, but we’re very comfortable with where we are,” Delany said at the Big Ten spring meetings. “There’s another reality that since we expanded to 12 and decided to not do 14 and not to do 16 and not to do 20, others continue to move and change. I think the tectonic plates underneath conference alignment are still hot.”

The Big Ten had 11 members for nearly 20 years until league officials announced in 2009 they were actively considering expansion. The league’s courting of a 12th member and eventual addition of Nebraska in June 2010 started a ripple effect leading to present or future changes in all 11 football subdivision conferences. The Pac-12, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences each accepted two new members. The Big 12 lost four members and added two others. The Big East has lost four members and accepted eight other football schools. Changes among the mid-major conferences are even more seismic.

The speculation continues today. Florida State’s board of trustees chairman Andy Haggard told Warchant.com on Saturday the school was open to discussions with the Big 12, a point reiterated by football coach Jimbo Fisher the same day to the Orlando Sentinel. Boise State officials had agreed to move their football program to the Big East in 2013 but reportedly are having second thoughts because of that league’s instability.

“What that tells me is the tectonic plates, there’s still fluidity,” Delany said. “Our position hasn’t changed. We’re very pleased with the 12 institutions we have.

“We’re not in an active mode, but for those years that we had Penn State (as an 11th member), we were monitoring it. We are monitoring it now. Anybody who doesn’t monitor the television environment every day in my job, anybody who doesn’t monitor the expansion issues every day in my job, anybody who doesn’t monitor every day the compliance issues that we have, isn’t doing their job. But to monitor is different than to be active.”

The expansion topic generated casual conversation among Big Ten administrators.

“Very, very little (discussion),” Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said. “Just sort of acknowledging that it’s being talked about around the country still, but in terms of us getting hard into ‘Well, should we, shouldn’t we?’ It’s sort of, ‘Let’s just keep an eye on the landscape.’”

“At these meetings we really haven’t had much talk about expansion,” Wisconsin Athletics Director Barry Alvarez said.

Source

The health insurance provider has leased 13,000 square feet of space in the new building under construction at Third Avenue and Sixth Street SE by Steve Emerson. It plans to move from the GreatAmerica building into the new quarters during the fourth quarter, Wellmark spokeswoman Courtney Greene said.

It becomes the second tenant announced for the 45,000-square-foot, three-level building, which is located just outside the area affected by the record June 2008 Cedar River flood crest. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP will lease the third floor to house about 40 employees.

About 50 Wellmark employees work in customer service, health care provider relations and sales in the Cedar Rapids office.

The new office building is outside the downtown area that flooded during the record June 2008 flood crest, but that is not one of the main reasons for the move, according to Wellmark Vice President of Property Management Matt Brown.

Brown said business continuity planning is always a consideration, but Wellmark decided to move primarily due to space design and parking needs. The new location will allow Wellmark’s operations to all be housed on the same floor of a building, and will have better parking availability, Brown said.

“We’re excited to stay downtown where the hospitals are and the medical mall is going to be,” Brown said.

Brown praised the city’s rebound from the June 2008 Cedar River flood. Wellmark was not on a ground floor space directly impacted by flood damage, although like other upper floor tenants was affected by disruption to utilities and building services.

Headquartered in Des Moines, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is Iowa’s largest health insurance provider.

Although state law allows boat operators to drink within the legal .08 blood alcohol limit, “We recommend a designated boat operator who abstains from alcohol,” said Susan Stocker, the DNR’s boating law administrator/education coordinator.

Effective last July 1, the state lowered the legal limit for boaters from 0.10 to 0.08, making it consistent with the law applying to operators of land-based vehicles.

Open containers, which are illegal in cars and trucks, are still permissible in boats, but Stocker said DNR officials would prefer, for safety’s sake, that boaters leave all alcoholic beverages ashore.

Wind, wave action, sun and glare can magnify the intoxicating effects of alcohol, she said.

Stocker said 54 boaters were cited last year for boating while intoxicated – a condition that slows reaction time and impairs judgment.

The DNR also recorded 38 boating accidents last year, well below the state’s annual average of 54.

Iowa boating fatalities totaled four last year, five in 2010, three in 2009, none in 2008, 10 in 2007 and five in 2006.

Of the 23 boating fatalities recorded from 2006 through 2010, 13 (or 56.5 percent) involved alcohol, according to DNR statistics.

Stocker said the Mississippi River, Coralville Lake and lakes within state parks will be among Eastern Iowa’s most popular areas for motor boats on Memorial Day weekend.

Besides limiting alcohol consumption, boaters should wear a properly fitting lifejacket, according to Stocker.

State law requires boat operators to carry a properly fitted wearable lifejacket for every person on board. Passengers age 12 and younger are required to wear their lifejackets whenever the boat is under way.

More than 50 percent of drowning victims were not wearing lifejackets, Stocker said.

Ryan Jacobs, UNI coach

CEDAR FALLS — University of Northern Iowa softball coach Ryan Jacobs had no experience with the game entering his first season in 2004.

Working as an assistant with the now-defunct UNI baseball program, Jacobs was talked into taking the head coaching job at Cedar Falls High School by then-baseball coach Rick Heller. Jacobs’ switch from softball to baseball, although a voyage into the unknown, proved to be a move that exposed his keen and resourceful approach to leading an athletics program.

After agreeing to coach softball, Jacobs made a wise first step and sought the advice of Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy. A native of Fayette, Murphy coached baseball at Independence High School and coached Jacobs in the Iowa High School All-Star Series when Jacobs was a prep standout at Cedar Rapids Regis.

“His advice to me was do everything you do with baseball,” Jacobs said. “You’ll learn the different rules of the game, but as far as the fundamentals go, teach the same things that you teach for baseball. That made it a bit more comforting.”

Murphy is in his 14th season with an Alabama squad that is ranked No. 2 nationally entering this weekend’s NCAA regionals.

Jacobs’ connection with Murphy also paid dividends when he hoping to land the head coaching position with UNI softball.

“I remember I saw (former UNI athletics director) Rick Hartzell in the airport in Cedar Rapids, and he said, ‘Hey I need a coach for softball. What do you think about the Jacobs guy?’” Murphy said. “And I said, ‘Oh, I think he’ll be great.’”

While interviewing for the job, Jacobs presented Hartzell with one-, three- and five-year plans for the program, an idea given to him by Murphy. Hartzell liked what he heard and Jacobs began the rebuilding of a program.

Jacobs inherited the Panther softball team in 2007, a season that ended with a seventh straight losing campaign in the Missouri Valley Conference. It took Jacobs just two seasons to give UNI its first winning season in the MVC, and the Panthers have not had a losing conference record since.

Jacobs’ five-year plan culminated this season with his team’s winning the MVC regular season title outright, a first for UNI softball.

Buffalo roam in a pasture just outside Victor in Iowa County in October 2004. (Gazette file photo)

Authorities are still trying to round up some wayward buffalo that escaped from a ranch in northwest Iowa.

About 200 buffalo broke out of their pen at the Frick and Joe Buffalo Ranch in Sibley on Sunday. The animals have since been spotted in five counties — Lyon, Osceola, Sioux and O’Brien counties in Iowa and Nobles County in Minnesota

Lt. Seth Hofman of the Osceola County sheriff’s office says the buffalo are “really, really fast.”

Officials have corralled most of the herd, but more than 30 are still on the loose. One was seen early Wednesday near Sheldon, some 20 miles south of Sibley.

No injuries have been reported, but motorists are asked to be careful while driving in the area.

Corsicana (Texas) Mildred quarterback Nic Shimonek (No. 9) committed to the Hawkeyes on Thursday. (Corsicana Daily Sun)

Score one for Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis and his Texas connections.

When the former University of Texas OC was hired at Iowa in February, he immediately heard from around 20 Texas prep coaches interested in his new ties.

That appears to have helped the Hawkeyes land Corsicana (Texas) Mildred quarterback Nic Shimonek, who committed to the Hawkeyes on Thursday. Shimonek is Iowa’s eighth recruit for the 2013 class. According to Rivals.com, Shimonek (6-4, 205) didn’t have any FBS offers but did have interest from Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and SMU. Rivals also lists Davis as Iowa’s primary recruiter for Shimonek.

The Corsicana Daily Sun reported that Shimonek did have an offer from Lamar, an FCS school, and that he’s planning to visit Iowa City this summer.

As a junior, Shimonek completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 2,939 yards, 37 TDs and just three intereceptions, one of which came in “Hail Mary” mode at the end of a game. Mildred finished with a 13-1 record last season.

Davis called Shimonek’s coach today and said Iowa was ready to offer. Shimonek, who has family ties in Iowa, didn’t mess around and pulled the trigger without a visit.

“Iowa has been showing a lot of interest as far as mail and all of that good stuff and then today, when I was on my way to school, I got the news that they had called my head coach and told him they were going to offer,” Shimonek told HawkeyeReport.com. “Obviously I was super excited, so I called coach Davis as soon as I could and verbally accepted.”

Shimonek, who started for Mildred (a Class 2A school) as a sophomore and also started several games as a freshman, is considered as a “pro-style” quarterback, which fits his 6-4, 205-pound frame. Since Iowa started showing serious interest, Shimonek started research on the Hawkeyes and likes Davis’ offense.

“Coach Davis is a real good guy and a good coach, and obviously he’s got a good track record,” Shimonek told HR.com. “Personally, I really like the pro-style offense that they run and the fact they are balanced offensively. Plus they’ve always got those 300-pound linemen. I’m definitely not going to complain about that.”

Shimonek has family in the Des Moines area and his mom, Tresa, also is from Iowa.

Shimonek is Iowa’s eighth recruit for the 2013 class, but will he be the lone QB?

Iowa has seniors in James Vandenberg and John Wienke (who’s probably more of a punter now). In 2013, Jake Ruddock will be a sophomore along with Cody Sokol, who’ll be a junior in ’13 if he redshirts this season (that’s the plan) and C.J. Beathard will be a redshirt freshman. Shimonek would be the fourth QB, unless Iowa takes another in this class.

“I’m just super excited,” Shimonek said. “I wish I could start now actually. I’ve got another year of high school left, but I can’t wait to get up there. I don’t think it’s really dawned on me yet just how big this really is, but as soon as it does, it’s going to be a great feeling.”

_______________________________________

David Kenney, DE, 6-2, 250 Pike High School (Indianapolis, Ind.) ****

Derrick Willies, WR, 6-3, 190 Rock Island (Ill.) High School ***

Delano Hill, FS, 6-1, 190 Cass Tech High School (Detroit, Mich.) ***

Colin Goebel, OL 6-4, 275 Naperville (Ill.) North High School ***

Nathan Bazata, DT, 6-2, 270 Howells (Neb.) High School ***

Brant Gressel, DT, 6-2, 283 Centerville (Ohio) High School ***

John Kenny, LB, 6-2, 210 Caramel (Ind.) High School ***

Nic Shimonek, QB, 6-4, 205 Mildred (Corsicana, Texas) High School (no Rivals.com rating as of yet)

* = Rivals.com’s star rating

No YouTubes of Shimonek, but you can catch a HUDL highlight reel by following this link.

Here’s an NCSA video:

Thursdays will be devoted primarily to the viewpoints of our readers — letters and guest columns that reflect the topics drawing the most reaction among opinion contributors.

Saturdays will feature some of the most compelling guest columns from area experts and informed citizens.

Our Sunday edition has expanded to four pages. It will open with a Gazette enterprise editorial that delves more deeply into major issues affecting our community, region or state.

Page 2 in the Sunday lineup will continue to provide a variety of letters and guest columns. Page 3 will feature editorials and guest columns from around the state. And page 4 will offer viewpoints on pressing national and world issues.

Gazette staff columnists Todd Dorman and Jennifer Hemmingsen will continue to deliver their unique brand of viewpoint on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, as well as their other regular publication days.

We invite you to review the content changes and let us know what you think!

Jeff Tecklenburg, Opinion page editor

(319) 398-8262 or jeff.

tecklenburg@thegazette.com.

David Dude, the district’s executive director of operational services, said he received identical letters Wednesday afternoon from four families asking that their children be bused. District administrators will determine whether to uphold or deny the appeals, he said, and that decision can be appealed to the school board.

Parents and some residents have expressed safety concerns about the walk to school next fall for Miller-Orchard students.

They currently attend Roosevelt Elementary, which is within a quarter-mile of many of their homes, but the school is closing at the end of this school year.

About 30 students from the neighborhood have been told they’ll need to walk to their new school, Horn Elementary. The average walk would be 1.2 miles.

The concerns are that the route runs along busy Benton Street, up and down big hills and past the driveways of several large apartment complexes.

The district typically does not bus elementary school students who live within two miles of their school, but exceptions are made for hazardous conditions.

The district’s current position on the Miller-Orchard students is based on the determination of its bus contractor, Durham School Services, that the route is not hazardous.

The district has worked with Iowa City and University Heights to get four crossing guards for Horn next year, and the district is exploring having the kids walk in adult-supervised groups, a concept known as a “walking school bus.”

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo speaks during a debate on the Wartburg College campus Oct. 10, 2010, in Waverly. (AP)

A pair of Republicans who hope to challenge Rep. Bruce Braley are calling his support for a balanced budget amendment an election-year conversion.

Braley, who is seeking a fourth term in the U.S. House, announced May 16 he is signing on to a Republican-authored plan to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget. He called it the “only viable way” to rein in federal spending and the growth of the national debt.

However, Republicans Ben Lange and Rod Blum, who are competing for their party’s nomination to challenge Braley, aren’t buying his new-found support for a balanced budget.

“It is no coincidence the week after our campaign launched a district-wide radio ad calling out Bruce Braley and the current generation of political leaders for the greatest social injustice of my lifetime, Braley would grab his umbrella to protect himself from the rain of outrage his constituents have been voicing and run for cover,” Lange said.

“Don’t read his lips. Read his voting record,” Blum added. “Don’t pay attention to what he’s doing now, three months before the election. What’s his voting record been over the last three terms? Very liberal.”

A spokesman for Braley expressed surprise at the negative reaction from Lange and Blum “since a balanced budget amendment is something we all agree on.”

“You’d think these two could put politics aside for once and follow Bruce’s lead to endorse this common sense balanced budget plan,” said Jeff Giertz of the congressman’s staff. “It was written by a Republican, after all.”

However, Braley’s support for the plan authored by Rep. Justin Amash, a freshman Republican from Michigan is a departure for him. The Waterloo Democrat has previously resisted similar efforts.

Amash’s plan would peg federal spending to the average of the previous three years of revenue and phase in over 10 years. It has gained a measure of bipartisan support. Fifty-five lawmakers have signed on, including Iowa 2nd District Rep. Dave Loebsack, an Iowa City Democrat.

The plan would make allowances for inflation and population growth. It also could be waived in emergencies by a two-thirds vote of Congress.

It’s hard to take seriously Braley’s new found fiscal conservativism, Lange said.

“The fact is he was the only member of the Iowa delegation to vote against the balanced budget amendment, to support bailing out Wall Street on the back of Main Street, and to support increasing the national debt limit seven times without any cuts in federal spending,” Lange said. “He hasn’t proposed a single bill or lifted a finger to resolve the defining issue of our age.”

Blum pointed out that over the last four years Braley has voted with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi 98.3 percent of the time.

“I don’t think Nancy Pelosi’s values in San Francisco and Iowa values are the same,” Blum said.

The field day begins with a complimentary evening meal prepared by Daryl Biechler. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Iowa Learning Farms will host an urban field day at the Swiss Valley Nature Center near Dubuque, on Wednesday, May 23, from 6:30-8 p.m. The event will focus on urban soil and water conservation as well as updates on work in the Upper Catfish Creek and the North Fork Maquoketa River watersheds.

Continue reading

The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion welcomes the challenge of a track he hasn’t raced and the opportunity to run in front of a fan base that may not have experienced him in person. The fiery Busch could use a boost to his image.

Busch will be the first Sprint Cup champion to compete at the Newton track when he races in Sunday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Pioneer Hi-Bred 250, beginning at 1 p.m. Busch will practice Saturday morning, then head to Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway that evening for the Sprint Cup’s Sprint All-Star Race before returning for the Nationwide event.

Busch will compete for Kyle Busch Motorsports, which in its first year in the Nationwide Series, making his sixth Nationwide start this year. The brothers picked the events they wanted to race.

“I was like ‘Heck, I want to do both Iowa races,’ ” Busch said in a teleconference with Iowa media last week. “Plus, I haven’t been to Iowa Speedway for a race before so I’d love to challenge myself at a new track.”

Even more than providing a new challenge, running at a new venue will expose Busch to a new sect of followers. It provides a chance to make a good impression while interacting with Midwestern fans. It might help the perception of quick-tempered driver that had a rough split with Penske Racing at the end of last season and was fined $50,000 and put on probation until July 25 Tuesday after incidents during and after the Sprint Cup Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway last weekend.

“You can look at it that way,” Busch said. “That’s really why I wanted to race both Iowa races this year. I haven’t raced in that region all that much. For the fans to come up and be part of the autograph session or the meet-and-greets, that’s where you really get to learn a driver, the personality and how they’re impacting the sport.

“When you’re out there racing that’s the other side of it, too. They want to root for a guy who is moving his car up toward the front and putting on a good show.”

Busch, who joined Phoenix Racing, who formerly teamed with Cedar Rapids driver Landon Cassill, has had his share of good showings in the 2012 Sprint Cup season, but those have included frustrating endings. He contended for a top-5 to top-10 finishes the last two weeks, but late issues and accidents have forced him to settle for a 21st at Darlington and 20th at Talladega.

“It’s been a good battle for us,” said Busch, who is 25th in the Sprint Cup standings with a top-10 finish. “We’ve had some very good runs this year, up front and led a few laps. We’re right in the mix, but we have little things that come at the end of these races. We’re doing our best to learn from the mistakes and the little things that will pop up. As we continue moving forward, lots of good track time that we’ve had has helped us build a better notebook. I feel like we’ll be better prepared for the upcoming months.”

He has placed Phoenix Racing in serious contention to add a second Sprint Cup victory to a small, underfunded team. The team loves his desire to win, but can do without problems like at Darlington.

“For us, it’s a double-edged sword,” Phoenix Racing General Manager Steve Barkdoll told ESPN. “Kurt’s passion for the sport is something we’ve never realized here.”

Busch has adjusted to small teams and running with his brother’s team for some Nationwide events. He has embraced a return to basics.

“It’s been a blast, coming back to more of the roots of racing, which is the smaller teams with a smaller budget,” Busch said. “Also, like my little brother’s team do it as a family. It’s been a great project to build this program up.”

Kyle Busch has had success at Iowa Speedway in the past and has shared some secrets of the 0.875-mile oval, including how to maneuver the infamous bump between Turns 1 and 2.

“Easier said than done,” the older Busch said, “but any time you get advice from little brother, who is the most winningest driver in Nationwide you better take that and put it in your pocket.”

Busch is looking to secure a trophy, check and points by doing the best he can, despite relying on someone else to qualify the car while he is in Charlotte.

“We’re a new team, building the foundation,” Busch said. “I’ve never been to the track before. We’re going to have somebody qualify the car because I have to head back for the All-Star race. We’ll be starting in the back and hopefully working our way to the front and putting on a good show.”

—

Decorah Bald Eagles

Gladys Black Nest Cam on the shores of Lake Red Rock

Iowa Barnyard Cam – pigs, chickens, cats

Cedar Memorial Swan Cam, Cedar Rapids

LINK (embed not available)

Alcoa Eagles, Davenport

LINK (embed not available)

The May 12 Opinion page had three articles dealing with incarceration, but the articles do not address the root cause of the problem. Men and women go to prison because they make poor decisions. Spending more money and establishing more social programs will not prevent crime or curb recidivism.

Unless individuals commit to a moral standard that leads to wise decisions, they will continue to end up in prison!

Furthermore, the men and women who change their hearts and behavior during prison time become productive citizens. Many prisoners value their time in prison because it causes them to rethink priorities and morals and commit to a new behavior system.

Look at the success of the “InnerChange Freedom Initiative” (http://www.ifiprison.org/). People are changed and recidivism goes from a national average of more than 60 percent to less than 10 percent. The change does not result from new government policies, social programs or political leadership; it results from changed individuals — individuals who make sound decisions.

If we really want to make a difference and reduce the number of people who go to prison, we need to come along troubled youth, offenders and released prisoners as positive mentors and support groups willing to help them prepare to be positive members of society and avoid making bad decisions.

Gary Fischer

Iowa City

Enough news about gay rights and abortion. We need to put our thoughts to the economy and taxes. Everyone is quick to blame everything on the president. We need to get on Congress and their work ethic!

Do you know Congress has Monday and Friday as travel days and work Tuesday-Thursday? They do not get much done and they are off for the whole month of August for recess. We need to take a good look at who is really running the country. It is not the president. It is Congress. And we Americans are more a welfare country than ever before.

Carol Moser

Garnavillo

I found it quite disturbing when I read the May 11 article “Romney counters report he bullied classmates.” Although he apologized to classmates he may have offended by “high jinks and pranks” during high school and insisted he didn’t know that some were gay, that doesn’t negate the possible psychological damage they suffered.

It is irrelevant whether or not the students were gay. I can only imagine how Romney’s classmate, John Lauber, felt as he was held down, with tears in his eyes, and his hair cut off by Romney. I assume John was not only humiliated, but also afraid of physical injury or worse. It would be interesting to know what other “high jinks and pranks” Romney was personally involved in.

Most of us do things in our youth that we later regret. However, Romney’s actions rise to the level of abuse and demonstrate a total lack of respect for another human being. Does one outgrow such an uncaring attitude?

Would we feel comfortable having a president with Romney’s lack of good character?

Sherry Slitor

Decorah

We support Dick Schwab for state representative in House District 73.

As responsible citizens in a democracy, we are asked to choose the “best” political candidate, the one who best represents the values and aspirations of our community. This is often a difficult task, because most media coverage of candidates is superficial, slogan-driven, and inevitably, partisan.

At the local level, we have a bit easier task, because we often know candidates either personally, or by their service in the community. This allow us to move beyond political labels and judge candidates by more enduring virtues such as generosity, prudence and willingness to compromise.

We have been privileged to know Dick as a neighbor and friend for more than 20 years. During this time, he has devoted his time and resources to public service, including leading roles in local environmental organizations, the Solon school board and Dollar for Scholars, United Way and many others. He has a distinguished and successful background in business and understands economic issues and how they affect small business owners as well as people looking for work.

Most important, Dick is not a partisan politician — he is generous, thoughtful and respectful and has the energy, skills and experience needed to make a difference in Des Moines. We urge you to vote for Dick in the Democratic primary on June 5.

Robert and Connie Mutel

Solon

Authorities said a car and a sport-utility vehicle collided around 3:30 p.m. along Alburnett Road above Indian Creek. Witnesses told police the car driver crossed the centerline on the bridge for no apparent reason. The driver of the SUV, 33-year-old Toni Jobe of Toddville, swerved but could not avoid the crash.

The driver of the car, 81-year-old Ione Wright, was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she died, police said.

Sgt. Lance Miller said the woman may have had a medical issue that caused her to lose control. Autopsy results may provide an answer but likely won’t be finalized for at least a couple weeks, he said.

“We have a number of witnesses who have provided us information that makes us wonder,” Miller said.

Jobe was taken to Mercy Medical Center. Her injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

The investigation continues.

12/30/87 A happy Hayden Fry hugs a Wyoming coach with a Hawks victory in the Holiday Bowl 20 to 19. (Gazette file)

Day 1 of the Big Ten spring meetings: Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith said he didn’t think a national semifinal played in Columbus, Ohio, in 5-degree weather in December was good for college football. He said college isn’t pro.

OK, fair opinion.

Day 2 of the Big Ten spring meetings: Conference commissioner Jim Delany said he’ll talk with the Pinstripe Bowl, which is played in NYC, Yankee Stadium in late December.

“New York City is the financial sports capital of the world,” Delany said Wednesday. “It’s a global city like Chicago. We’ll have conversations with them.”

Not OK for national semifinal, but OK for piddly mid-tier bowl game. Got it.

The Big Ten is just coming out of year 2 of its four-year bowl cycle. (Iowa fans can count this easily, just keep track of the Insight Bowls.) The Pinstripe was the only one specifically mentioned this week, but the Big Ten and Pac-12 are becoming really, really tight, like blood brothers or something.

So, probably expect a Florida or Texas bowl to bite the dust (I’d kick the Gator and TicketCity Bowls out right now, without even blinking) and say hello to a California bowl with a PAc-12 team.

Which brings us to sunny . . . San Diego!

Yes, the Holiday Bowl, basically built by Hayden Fry (three Hayden teams played in the Holiday), would be a perfect marriage between the Big Ten and the Pac-12. It also would give Big Ten fans some variety. Since 2003, Iowa has played in six Florida bowls. Granted, two of those were Orange Bowls, and you will make exceptions for Miami. Tampa? I guess so, but it’s not Miami.

Of course, the Hawkeyes have played in the two Insight Bowls. There are others. Wisconsin has played in Orlando or Tampa in six consecutive years (2004-09). Michigan State has played in Orlando or Tampa in four of the past five seasons.

So, goodbye TicketCity (in Dallas, blah) and Gator (no one really likes you, Gator) and hello Holiday (San Diego is the nation’s craft beer capital) and illogical but still pretty cool Pinstripe Bowl.

That said, who knows what it’ll look like with a possible national final four on the horizon in 2014 (maybe, perhaps).

– Marc Morehouse

LINKIN’ BLINKIN’, AND NOD

Let’s start with tweets, not links. Miles and miles of tweets about all the news and speculation from the Big Ten Conference meetings and elsewhere regarding the possible format for a four-team college football playoff, and other stuff in general. Like:

‏@dirkchatelain 3 reasons I favor conf champs model 1) Adds value to title games 2) Decreases penalty of losing non-con 3) Reduces role of polls/committee

‏@McMurphyCBS (ACC Commissioner John) Swofford did say ACC favors conference champ model, but champs should reach certain standard (ranked among top 5 or 6)

‏@slmandel  Prediction at this point: Top 3 champs, 1 wild-card.

@MrCFB  Big Ten wants conf. champs only and wants to strength of schedule to be more important. Only one way to do both: Selection Committee.

@BTNTomDienhart Just because you win a conference doesn’t mean you are a good team. Am I missing something?

‏@DeWittCBS The best example of the regular season still matters in college football even with a playoff is Division II. And they let 24 teams in.

‏@Ianfitzespn I hate that the higher seed in the new 4 team playoff in college football will not host semi-final game. Fans can’t afford to travel twice.

@tommydeas College football seems on course to use “playoff” as code for locking out best teams from championship

@schadjoe What about BCS Final Four that simply limits any conference to maximum of two participants?

@MilesFomby @schadjoe Anything besides the top 4 overall teams is stupid.

@MatthewDTTWLN ESPN College Football Live wants to know the best format for a 4 team playoff? Easy! Expand it to 8 teams!

@TDAlabama Coach Saban announced in his most recent Crimson Caravan stop that Bama will open 2014 season against W. Virginia in ATL.

OK, on with the links:

– The Big 12 is on board with this “protect the regular season” theme that is getting rattled around these days. The Oklahoman reports that’s what Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione says.

“Every Saturday matters,” Castiglione said. “The idea that when we host football games on our campuses, it’s important. We don’t have that in college basketball right now. Whether that is a fair or an unfair comparison …

“The games need to matter in the minds of the stakeholders in college football. That’s what draws television ratings and ticket-holders. That’s what draws attention to the sport in general.”

A little explanation would be helpful. How would the regular-season be diminished if two more teams made it into the national-title postseason picture and even more teams thus became legitimate contenders? If it were a 68-team tournament like men’s college basketball, yes, the regular-season would lose its juice. Four is a long way from 68. Eight would be, too.

– Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer says the current system isn’t broken, and a playoff wouldn’t be a good thing according to this Columbus Dispatch story.

“You play in one of the bowl games, No.4 vs. 1, 2 vs. 3, then you go play in the championship game — I can only imagine the workload that’s going to be on that coaching staff and their players,” Meyer said.

Taking into account the travel back from the semifinals and then the travel to the champ game site, and saying it happens in a one-week window as some have proposed, “I can’t even fathom trying to get ready for a championship game in two days, and that’s what you’ve got,” Meyer said.

But Urban, we’re told the reason the Big Ten didn’t want the national semifinals played on campus sites is because the players do so enjoy the “bowl experience.”

Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis said the following this week: “And from the kids’ perspective, the bowl experience is the one thing they want to keep in the equation. With campus sites, it becomes like a regular-season game.”

Yeah, sure, a national-championship semifinal will seem like a regular-season game. And that “bowl experience” at a national semifinal would involve nothing but visits to theme parks and eating contests at steakhouses.

Give us a break!

– Texas Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds and Big Ten folks will not be holding hands and singing “Kumbayah” when this four-team playoff deal gets hammered out according Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman.

“This entity needs to be separate,” Dodds said of the final grouping of four. “It needs to be their own bowls, their own TV, their own sponsors. Those four selected would not play in the bowls.”

Oh, dear. Nebraska AD Tom Osborne said the following this week:

” … the bowls have been good to us. If you took them out of the playoff, it would pretty much destroy the bowl system.”

It’s incredible, but true. Nebraska and Texas are in disagreement about something.

A four-team playoff might be interesting. The upcoming battle to decide on the playoff format will be awesome.

– Compiled by Mike Hlas

Continue reading

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta (left) talks with Wisconsin Athletics Director Barry Alvarez before the Iowa-Wisconsin game at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010, in Iowa City. (Jim Slosiarek/SourceMedia Group News)

CHICAGO — Wisconsin Athletics Director Barry Alvarez said he was surprised with how quickly Jarrod Uthoff’s transfer case escalated into a national story last month.

“The thing got out of hand so fast and it was in the media so fast and in the social media so fast the process never really had a chance to get under way,” Alvarez said Wednesday at the Big Ten spring meetings. “It was unfortunate because there was some misinformation out there. Everybody was able to draw opinions and make statements without having all the facts.

“We have a process in place. He’s not the first one to ever transfer from our school. I feel very comfortable with our process and how we dealt with it.”

Uthoff, a freshman basketball player and a Cedar Rapids Jefferson graduate, requested his scholarship release from Wisconsin on April 12. The school, through Coach Bo Ryan, initially restricted him from talking with Iowa, Iowa State, Indiana and Marquette. On April 16, the school halted Uthoff from contacting all Atlantic Coast Conference schools and restricted Florida two days later.

Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez waves goodbye and thanks the crowd at the end of his last home game against Iowa at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., Saturday Nov. 12, 2005.

By then Wisconsin’s restrictions had become a national story and Ryan was pummeled on radio, television, print and Internet outlets. Through an appeal process, Alvarez and associate athletics director Justin Doherty lifted all non-Big Ten restrictions.

“I just felt it was very unfortunate and actually Jarrod told me when he and I met that he was embarrassed by all the publicity,” Alvarez said. “It got way out of hand, the process. It was in the media, the social media, before you could even react to it.

“We’re not telling him he can’t go anyplace. We’re not giving him the release to go. That’s our choice.”

Alvarez said he was aware of the first round of restrictions but not the subsequent restrictions.

“I’m not really sure how the ACC thing got involved in it,” he said. “That was Bo’s decision. I don’t know.”

Alvarez said he’s not against athletes transferring from Wisconsin for another conference rival. He cited football safety Kim Royston, a St. Paul, Minn., native who wanted to leave Wisconsin and play for the Gophers. Wisconsin gave Royston a full scholarship release after his sophomore year in 2007. Royston then played two seasons for the Gophers.

“You have to take a look at each situation, you take a look at why and then make decisions,” Alvarez said. “Everyone’s a little bit different.”

Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School junior forward Jarrod Uthoff stands after being introduced to Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery after an open gym scrimmage practice at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids on Monday, April 19, 2010. Others who came to watch Uthoff play included Iowa State assistant coach Jeff Rutter, Creighton assistant coach Darian DeVries, Butler assistant coach Matthew Graves and Notre Dame assistant coach Martin Ingelsby. (Julie Koehn/The Gazette)

Uthoff, who red-shirted last season, has visited Creighton, Iowa State and Marquette (this week) since receiving his release. He told The Gazette last week he still is considering Iowa and informally visited Iowa’s campus the weekend of May 5-6. Uthoff said he’d like to make a decision before summer classes begin, which is June 4 at Iowa and Creighton. Iowa State’s summer classes start June 11.

Iowa’s athletics staff is prohibited from contacting Uthoff until he attends classes. Because Iowa is a school restricted by Wisconsin, Uthoff would have to pay his own way for one year before earning a scholarship. For any non-Big Ten school, Uthoff immediately is eligible for student aid but is banned from playing next year, per NCAA rules.

Wisconsin’s recruitment of basketball player Ben Brust prompted changes to the Big Ten rule book two years ago. Big Ten schools previously did not allow athletes to receive financial aid at a second league school once the athlete signed a letter of intent.

Brust, who signed with former Iowa basketball coach Todd Lickliter, asked for a full release, which was granted under the old rules. Twice Brust and his family appealed the league’s rules regarding intra-conference transfers and was successful. Brust then earned a scholarship to compete immediately at Wisconsin and will be a junior this fall.

“I thought it probably would enable more movement within the conference, but I didn’t see it being … I thought you’d see isolated cases,” Alvarez said of the rule changes.

Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said last week he expected discussion about the intra-conference transfer rules but both he and Minnesota Athletics Director Joel Maturi said this week the subject was not approached in meetings.

"Monty Python's Spamalot," Jan. 31, 2013, at the Paramount in Cedar Rapids

Broadway went dark in Cedar Rapids when the raging river surged through the Paramount Theatre in June 2008.

Beginning Dec. 4, Broadway’s enduring touring power will surge through the renovated Paramount in a six-month series of seven hit shows.

Cirque Dreams Holidaze, The Midtown Men, “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” Blue Man Group, “Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles” and “Rock of Ages” have been bringing audiences to their feet in Chicago and Washington, D.C., spinning from Manhattan all across the United States.

Season ticket renewals are in the mail now for past series subscription holders. They’ll go on sale to new series buyers June 11. Individual show tickets will go on sale down the road.

“We recognize the inconvenience caused by the flooding, when we had to cancel the 2008-09 season. We have really been waiting for the new day to come when the renovated Paramount would be reopened,” says Steve Traxler, president of Jam Theatricals, by phone from a recent trip to New York.

“It’s hard to express how excited we are about working with Orchestra Iowa and VenuWorks in bringing entertainment back to Cedar Rapids. It’s just an amazing feeling to be a part of that,” he says. “The rebirth of this historic theater will have a great impact on the community.”

He says Jam Theatricals, based in Chicago, has been presenting Broadway touring shows in Cedar Rapids for about 10 or 15 years and serves about 30 markets around the country, in cities similar to

Cedar Rapids.

When it comes to shaping a series, it’s all about the buzz — from the industry, the agents, and most importantly, the audiences.

“We try to poll our customers,” he says. “It’s more about working in conjunction with what customers talk about seeing and what the box office says people seem to want.”

“These are all shows people want to see and have had to leave the market to see,” says Tammy Koolbeck of Cedar Rapids, vice president of VenuWorks, which manages and markets 50 entertainment outlets across the country. The company, based in Ames, has managed the U.S. Cellular Center and Paramount Theatre since 1999 and the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena since October 2001.

Under a deal struck by the city in January, Orchestra Iowa will team up with VenuWorks to plan, market and sell tickets for all Paramount shows, in a partnership known as Paramount Presents.

“Communications Director Christy Frost serves as the on-the-ground marketing counsel for outside promoters,” says Executive Director Robert Massey of Cedar Rapids. “Supporting the series on marketing and ticketing is a monumental task.”

He calls the arrangement “a win-win” for the City of Cedar Rapids, which owns the historic 1928 Paramount Theatre, as well as for the building managers and promoters like Jam.

“The real winner is the community,” Massey says.

“You can stay home now and see great New York Broadway shows as you were doing before,” Koolbeck says. “With Hancher going down at the same time as the Paramount, you really have had to drive to Chicago, Des Moines or the Twin Cities” to see such productions. “Now it’s downtown, in what’s going to be a gorgeous theater. It’s going to be spectacular when it reopens.”

Traxler, who has been to the Paramount many times over the years, got his most recent close-up a couple of weeks ago.

“It’s just gorgeous,” he says. “To see the team that’s been working diligently to rebuild and restore and enhance the amenities — it’s going to be an incredible place to experience Broadway and other entertainment. (The upgrades) are all great things that will help cement Cedar Rapids as being a touring stop for Broadway shows going forward. … If shows leave happy about playing a beautifully restored, technically modern venue, it helps spread the word among agents and producers in New York. It helps us continue to get top-flight entertainment in Cedar Rapids.”

The Shows

Here’s a glance at the Broadway at the Paramount offerings:

•  Cirque Dreams Holidaze, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4: An international cast of more than 30 multitalented artists perform astonishing feats: gingerbread men flipping midair, toy soldiers marching on thin wires, snowmen balancing, icemen sculpting, penguins spinning, puppets dancing and reindeer soaring high above a landscape of holiday wonderment, accompanied by original music and seasonal favorites.
•  The Midtown Men, 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, 2013: Stars from the original cast of “Jersey Boys” sing a ’60s hit parade from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Temptations, The Jackson 5 and, of course, The Four Seasons, whose story they told on Broadway.
•  “Monty Python’s Spamalot,”
• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013: Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical, this musical comedy is lovingly ripped off from the film classic, “Monty Python and The Holy Grail.” King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on their quest for the Holy Grail, amid flying cows, killer rabbits and taunting Frenchmen.
•  “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013: Based on Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated film, this Broadway musical features larger-than-life characters clad in lavish costumes, twirling through enchanting production numbers, from the title song to “Be Our Guest.”
•  Blue Man Group, 2 p.m. Saturday, March 23, 2013: Escape the ordinary and surround yourself in a high-octane explosion of comedy, music and technology.
•  “Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles,” 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, 2013: Experience Beatlemania from Ed Sullivan to Abbey Road. This multidimensional happening features historical footage and TV commercials from the 1960s, as well as fan favorites as “Let It Be,” “Hey Jude,” “Come Together” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
•  “Rock of Ages,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23, 2013: In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small-town girl meets a big-city rocker. They fall in love to the greatest songs of the ’80s from Journey, Night Ranger, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more. It’s all about dreaming big, playing loud and partying on. (Contains adult content)
•  Information: BwayAtTheParamount.com

Arts Extra

•  What: Broadway at the Paramount season
•  When: Dec. 4 to May 23, 2013
•  Where: Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids
•  Tickets: Renewals available now to past season subscribers; new season subscriptions on sale June 11; single-show tickets at a later date
•  Sales: Paramount Theatre Ticket Office, 119 Third Ave. SE, (319) 366-8206 or BwayAtTheParamount.com
•  Six-Show Series: $280 and up, Cirque Dreams Holidaze, The Midtown Men, “Spamalot,” “Beauty and the Beast,” Blue Man Group, “Rock of Ages”
•  Five-Show Series: $235 and up, The Midtown Men, “Spamalot,” “Beauty and the Beast,” Blue Man Group, “Rock of Ages”
•  Four-Show Series: $190 and up, The Midtown Men, “Spamalot,” “Beauty and the Beast,” Blue Man Group
•  Optional: Add “Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles” to any package, $40 and up
•  Information: BwayAtTheParamount.com

Donna Summer performs during the finale of "American Idol" May 21, 2008, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Summer, the Queen of Disco who ruled the dance floors with anthems like “"Last Dance,"” "“Love to Love You Baby"” and "“Bad Girl,"” has died. Her family announced her death in a statement Thursday, May 17, 2012. She was 63. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

NEW YORK — Disco queen Donna Summer, whose pulsing anthems such as “Last Dance,” “Love to Love You Baby” and “Bad Girls” became the soundtrack for a glittery age of sex, drugs, dance and flashy clothes, has died. She was 63.

Her family released a statement, saying Summer died Thursday morning and that they “are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.”

“Words truly can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time,” the statement read.

Summer had been living in Englewood, Fla., with her husband Bruce Sudano.

Summer came to prominence just as disco was burgeoning, and came to define the era with a string of No. 1 hits and her beauty queen looks.

But unlike some other stars of disco who faded as the music became less popular, she was able to grow beyond it and later segued to a pop-rock sound. She had one of her biggest hits in the 1980s with “She Works Hard For The Money,” which became another anthem, this time for women’s rights.

Soon after, Summer became a born-again Christian and faced controversy when she was accused of making anti-gay comments in relation to the AIDS epidemic. Summer denied making the comments, but was the target of a boycott.

Still, even as disco went out of fashion she remained a fixture in dance clubs, endlessly sampled and remixed into contemporary dance hits.

Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, Summer was raised in Boston on gospel music.

In this Jan. 12, 1979 file photo, singer Donna Summer poses with three awards she won at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

“Love to Love You Baby” was her U.S. chart debut and the first of 19 No. 1 dance hits between 1975 and 2008 — second only to Madonna.

During the disco era she burned up the charts: She was the only artist to have three consecutive double-LPs hit No. 1, “Live and More,” “Bad Girls” and “On the Radio.” She was also the first female artist with four No. 1 singles in a 13-month period, according to the Rock Hall of Fame, where she was a nominee this year.

Her genre-defying sound helped her earn Grammy Awards in the dance, rock, R&B and inspirational categories.

She released a number of albums that have reach gold or platinum status, including the multiplatinum “Bad Girls” and “On the Radio, Volume I & II.”

She had a number of top 10 Billboard hits, including “Hot Stuff,” “She Works Hard for the Money” and “MacArthur Park.”

She released her last album, “Crayons,” in 2008. It was her first full studio album in 17 years. She also performed on “American Idol” that year with its top female contestants.

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Planned Parenthood's office in Dubuque. (image taken from KCRG-TV9 video)

Members of Dubuque County Right To Life are unveiling a new effort to push Planned Parenthood out of the community.

The organization has been protesting Planned Parenthood since the clinic opened in Dubuque in 2008.

On Wednesday, Rita Diller, director of the national organization STOP Planned Parenthood, explained to members of Dubuque County Right to Life how she’s says she was able to get 19 Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas to close.

“The key is persistent activism,” Diller said. “The key is building a solid wall of resistance against Planned Parenthood within the community. Meeting them at every corner, because they are in places you wouldn’t even imagine. ”

Ellen Markham and Maureen Ward have been fighting Planned Parenthood’s Dubuque presence since the clinic opened. The pair schedules the volunteers who stand outside Planned Parenthood each hour the clinic is open for business.

“Our number one issue,of course, is the fact that (some Planned Parenthood clinics) provide abortions and that’s why we are there,” Ward said.

While some Planned Parenthood Clinics offer abortion services, the center in Dubuque does not.

Planned Parenthood workers are in the process of moving their office from Central Avenue to a new location on Hillcrest Road.

Now Dubuque County Right to Life worries about what’s next. That’s why they say they’re working to re-energize volunteers and inform the public.

“I don’t think people realize once their daughter goes into Planned Parenthood and they don’t even know she’s gone in there, she might be 13, 15, 16, the parents are out of the equation,” Ward said. “Planned Parenthood isn’t going to say ‘let’s get Mom on the phone and maybe we can talk about it.’”

A spokesperson from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland says they don’t comment when right to life organizations bring speakers into any community.

Kelli Fisher

The Manchester teen accused of killing his grandparents over the weekend had a hunting knife, marijuana and bottles of prescription pills with him when he took his ex-girlfriend and her friends to a party in Iowa City Saturday, according to one of the girls who saw him over the weekend.

Kelli Fisher, 19, of Cedar Rapids, described Isaiah Sweet, 17, as a “weird boy” who seemed to be showing off for her and three other women he drove to a party about 10 p.m. Saturday. This was the first time Fisher had met Sweet, her friend’s ex-boyfriend, and she said she never suspected he would be arrested two days later for murder.

Sweet’s legal guardians — his grandparents, Richard Sweet, 55, and Janet Sweet, 62 — were found dead Sunday in their Manchester home. An autopsy report released Wednesday confirmed the couple died from gunshot wounds. Sweet was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder.

According to a criminal complaint, one witness told police Sweet said he drugged his grandparents and thought they were dead because he couldn’t feel a pulse on Saturday. Two other witnesses told police Sweet admitted to killing the couple.

“He was very nervous – visibly shaking,” Fisher said. “I think he thought one of the girls with us was pretty. He was showing off  because we were all older than him. He was driving fast and we were telling him to slow down.”

Fisher said her friend, Jade Offerman, dated Sweet about four months ago. She knew he was in the area Saturday night and asked him to give them a ride to the party in Iowa City. The truck he was driving was his grandfather’s, she said.

When contacted by a reporter, Offerman declined to comment.

Fisher, who was interviewed by police on Sunday, said at one point during the evening, Sweet showed the women his “new knife.” Fisher said she didn’t know what to make of it.

“It had jagged edges,” Fisher said. “Like a hunting knife, but the blade wasn’t long. He kept in the sun visor. We were like….OK.”

After the party, they went to a convenience store, but only Sweet and another girl got out, Fisher said. When Sweet tried to open the door, the alarm sounded because the store was closed. Police then arrived at the store and questioned the group.

According to Fisher, that’s when police discovered Sweet didn’t have consent to drive the truck and didn’t have a license to drive, but Sweet told officers that Offerman was driving and he was “just checking the mirrors.”

“They knew he was lying,” she said. “We told police there were bottles of pills — hydrocodone and oxycodone — in the truck.”

Another friend came to pick up the girls, but Isaiah was taken to the Iowa City Police Department.

Fisher said something seemed “off” about Sweet, but she didn’t think that much about it until later. He asked if he could stay on one of their couches for the night, and then asked one of the friends if he could stay with her for a week.

“She didn’t really answer him,” Fisher said. “Then I remember him talking about starting the day with $9 and then he pulled out this cash. I saw a $50, but I don’t know what else he had. We asked him how he got the money, but he just kind of shook his head and walked away.”

Fisher said Sweet only mentioned his grandparents once on Saturday, saying he didn’t graduate from high school because his grandmother was always in the hospital. She had leukemia.

“He seemed angry about it,” Fisher said.

Fisher said she wasn’t too concerned about Sweet until she heard police were looking for him on Sunday. She said she went to stay with her parents.

“I was kind of scared when I found out (more information) Monday,” she said.

Sweet remains in the Buchanan County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond.