Winners

Even in his death, Bill Riley is a winner. He was a pioneer of Iowa television and a mainstay of the Iowa State Fair. Riley, 86, died late Friday night of complications from leukemia in Scottsdale, Ariz. His talent search brought more than 100,000 performers from all over the state to compete for prizes. One of the main stages at the fairgrounds now officially bears his name, but for all of us who have seen and heard him for decades, his name will forever be synonymous with one of Iowa’s greatest events.

Circumcised heterosexual men have less than half the risk of contracting the AIDS virus, according to reports from two African studies in Kenya and Uganda. At the World Health Organization, Dr. Kevin DeCock (we’re not making this up), the head (seriously, we’re not) of the group’s HIV/AIDS Department, says male circumcision may prevent millions of infections in the coming years. DeCock still warns that circumcision is not completely protective, and that, “This must not reduce our emphasis on other preventive interventions — behavioral interventions, regular and consistent use of condoms.” And although this sounds like a helpful solution for AIDS ravaged Africa, health professionals must first overcome the many religious and cultural oppositions to circumcision. And that won’t be easy.

Brian Meyer and Vince Scavo advanced to a Jan. 9 special election to fill the Des Moines City Council seat formerly held by Archie Brooks. Unofficial results from the Polk County auditor’s office showed Meyer receiving 721 votes and Scavo 489. Less than 8 percent of the registered voters cast their ballots, making us wonder how strong Brooks following still is.

Although Mexican fast food restaurants are certainly taking a beating nationwide, local Taco John’s restaurants have not been involved in recent E. coli bacteria outbreak, which is at least some form of good news for them. Stores in Cedar Falls, as well as Albert Lea, Minn., and Austin, Minn., were not so lucky. Unfortunately, the problem was not easily identified, as the bacteria entered the restaurants on a truck, apparently in lettuce. Taco Bell is also making major efforts, including full-page advertisements in daily newspapers, to convince customers that its food is safe to eat.

Iowa Hawkeye basketball fans were reminded last weekend how good they had it when Dr. Tom Davis was head basketball coach of the Iowa program. Not only did Davis’ Drake Bulldogs easily beat Iowa for the first time since 1978, Davis showed his usual classy restraint in resisting the temptation to rub it in the face of his successor Steve Alford and the Iowa program. Drake now faces the University of Northern Iowa in Missouri Valley Conference play twice this winter to determine the mythical state basketball championship after both schools knocked off Iowa and Iowa State.

Losers

There are many losers in the raid of the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant last week — the illegal immigrants who have been charged with identification theft; the Swift & Co. plant that employed them; the customers who rely on the result of the work, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement group whose actions have been questionable, to say the least. But, most unsettling to us, is the situation of children being left without parents. We are all for following the letter of the law, as we know that any of us would be furious if our identification was stolen. But our elected officials must make stronger efforts to change the law to allow for a simpler process for legal immigration.

Don’t even think of having chickens as pets in West Des Moines. City council members there said the cluckers will not be allowed as pets in the city limits, despite the request of resident Dennis Studer, who now has until the end of the month to get the birds off his property.

The Salvation Army’s Miracle of the Bell campaign hopes to bring in $500,000 this holiday season to help fund its $1.2 million need for the Des Moines area. But the kettles have been less than full this year. According to campaign literature, monies raised supply rent and utility assistance to the needy, youth camps and school programs, senior citizens programs, disaster relief, prescription assistance and food pantry assistance to families and individuals. One of the major factors: fewer volunteers to ring bells. Want to help? Call the Salvation Army at 282-3599.

Ten players from the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks were ejected from a game at Madison Square Garden last Saturday night for fighting. This was the first major brawl since the infamous Pistons/Pacers melee in 2004, which left a permanent mark on professional basketball’s image. NBA commissioner David Stern has made it clear that these types of actions will not be tolerated, and they shouldn’t be. We hope the criminals are ejected from the league — at least for the season.

We don’t condone cigarette smoking. To be honest, we detest it. But, unfortunately, it is a legal activity that generates so much tax revenue that no end seems to be in sight. Too many government programs are addicted to the cigarette tax revenue, and too many elected officials, including Gov.-elect Culver, are calling for a $1 increase in the cigarette tax, which will continue to push the poor and addicted deeper into poverty. CV

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