The good
This isn’t heaven, but Iowa does rank No. 8 on a list of top economic performing states according to report compiled by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber Foundation. Landing in the top 10 wasn’t easy, but due to Iowa’s focus on entrepreneurship, innovation and exports, the recognition is well deserved. According to the chamber’s newly released Enterprising States survey, Iowa was ranked highly overall based on “a solid performance across most of our metric,” and because “Iowa’s strength is perhaps its stability. The state’s agribusiness, food processing and technology grew at a 1 percent rate since 2002, significantly better than the same group of industries nationally.” Although the national press is flattering, we Iowans already know out state is great — that’s why we choose to live here.
We like to hear about good journalism, so when a local student writer receives a journalism award, we applaud. Kallen Kramer, a senior at Johnston High School, was recently named Iowa Journalist of the Year by the Kansas-based Journalism Education Association Inc. Kramer, 18, has been on staff of the high school’s newspaper — The Black and White — since her sophomore year. She plans to attend the University of Iowa and major in journalism and minor in mass communication.
The bad
Let’s hope U.S. kids don’t pick up on Vodka eyeballing. Apparently teenagers from other parts of the world have, and there are dangerous repercussions. Hundreds of online videos, which originated in the U.K., show numerous adolescents pouring vodka directly into their eyes, straight from the bottle. Vodka, which can vary from 40 to 50 percent alcohol, can burn and scar the cornea, causing blindness. Officials believe the teenagers aren’t doing it to get drunk, but more as an attention grabber or prank. It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.
Forget about the world ending in 2012, we have trouble now. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted the 2010 hurricane season as one of the strongest seasons on record. NOAA’s forecast predicts as many as 23 named storms (winds higher than 39 mph) during the Atlantic hurricane season, which for the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico begins June 1 and lasts through Nov. 30. The agency worries that as many as 14 named storms could turn into hurricanes. Let’s hope residents, and government, heed the warnings and are prepared.
The ugly
Just when you think the TV show “Hoarders” has shown it all, an elderly couple in Chicago raised the stakes. Last week, while fire crews were investigating a mysterious smell, they discovered an elderly couple buried alive under mounds of garbage in their apartment. A spokesperson for Jackson Park Hospital said that Jess Gaston, 76, and his wife Thelma, 79, were admitted and remain listed in critical condition, possibly suffering from malnutrition. Police had originally been called to the apartment building by neighbors who had not seen the couple and wondered about their welfare. Police then alerted the fire department because of the stench.
Social networking sites may be all the hype today, but when they involve no-good, rotten perverts, something has to change. U.S. federal prosecutors have been working with law enforcement in several countries since 2008 to investigate members trading explicit images of children. Officials report the password-protected Web site had as many as 1,000 members, and that it was operated by ringleader Delwyn Savigar, who is already serving a 14-year prison term in England for sexually assaulting three underage girls. Investigators have arrested more than 50 people, and believe the group has other members in Asia, Africa and South America. Sickos. CV
