Winners

We've taken our fair share of potshots at the Republican Party, but we have to hand it to the guys on the right for being the first to propose a bill in the Iowa House that would prevent local governments from exercising or threatening to use their powers of eminent domain against private property owners they have a general distaste for. The proposal, no doubt, stems from the highly publicized feud between East Village landowner Brad Hamilton and the City of Des Moines regarding the condition of Hamilton's buildings, which house a T-shirt printing shop and Zzz Records. The city said Hamilton didn't do enough to upgrade his buildings to meet their codes - and the ideals of his snobby neighbors - but Hamilton argued otherwise, telling the pricks to shove it. The city has since backed off following public outcry, but there's no telling how many other independent businesses have been quietly muscled out of their homes in the name of so-called improvement. And if you ask us, it's time the pillaging stops once and for all.

Better (34 years) late than never. Finally, after a whole lot of debate and scare-mongering about water-quality regulations that are clearly out of line with federal law passed in the early '70s, the Environmental Protection Commission voted last week to pass new rules that will provide the fundamental basis for actually making a dent in Iowa's polluted waters. Though Department of Natural Resources officials have spent years blustering about the complexity of coming into compliance with the Clean Water Act, it boiled down to this: the Environmental Protection Agency says all streams must be protected for aquatic life and recreation, and the DNR was thumbing their noses at that standard by designating a huge number of state waters as "general use" and basically allowing them to be polluted with impunity. Luckily, though, the EPC stepped in and said, "enough is enough," voting 7-1 to align Iowa designations with federal mandates. Yes, that means some financial hardships for small-town water treatment plants and increased headaches for farmers, but, as DNR experts and environmentalists point out, this problem will only get more difficult to swallow as the years pass. However, don't drink the water just yet; there's still a chance state legislators could ignore the experts and undermine the new standards in favor of shortsighted allegiance to special interests and narrow fiscal priorities.

Losers

Savvy citizens already know that politics is all about keeping up appearances. But last week a fire alarm at the Iowa Capitol revealed that the state legislature may be taking that sentiment to the extreme when wheelchair-bound Rep. Mark Kuhn was left to languish in the potential deadly flames because the equipment to get him down the stairs is just too darn ugly to risk tarnishing the image of the regal building. According to the Department of Administrative Services, the state delivered five "Evac-Chairs" - which manually lower disabled individuals down a flight of stairs - to the Capitol more than two years ago. But where was this potentially life-saving equipment when the fire alarm sounded last week? Collecting dust in the attic. Turns out, facilities' officials had reportedly decided the blue-and-yellow devices were not "architecturally congruent" with the building and they didn't like "how they looked." Of course, building boss Mark Willemssen denied such interior decorating allegations and argued that the reluctance to install the chairs was based on a fear that they wouldn't function properly on the unique, twisting stairs. Either way, we'd wager the average wheelchair user, if stranded at the top of the steps with the flames licking at their heels or the fertilizer bomb about to explode, would probably prefer to take his or her chances with the ugly Evac-Chair than be left with nothing more than a death wish once the frenzied crowd has already beat its way to the exits. Luckily, with hearings scheduled this week, the stranding of Mark Kuhn may serve a higher purpose, as officials take a closer look at provisions for the disabled in other state buildings. CV

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