Winners

The United States Marine Corps’ annual Toys For Tots campaign successfully fulfilled all of its toy requests in Central Iowa this holiday season thanks to the efforts of everyone who donated a toy and helped organize the drive. More than 61,000 toys were donated at various stores and businesses, as well as at sporting and music events. In addition to the toy donations, more than $90,000 in cash was collected, allowing the Marines to purchase an additional 10,200 toys for a grand total of more than 71,000 toys that were distributed to 35,854 children in 18 counties in Central Iowa. Anyone who has ever witnessed the smile on a child’s face on Christmas morning knows the value of programs like Toys For Tots.

Proposed coal-fired electricity plants in Marshalltown and Waterloo have many people upset, including a renowned climatologist from NASA who came to Iowa last week to testify against building them to the Iowa Utilities Board. Well, opponents got a boost last week when the Black Hawk County Board of Health, citing serious health concerns, voted to urge the state to issue a moratorium on coal power plant permits until it enacts tougher air pollution standards. The decision was based on a health report, conducted by University of Northern Iowa Professor William Stigliani, that found the plant could jeopardize the health of thousands of people living or working in or near the site. Of particular concern were emissions of airborne pollutants, which have been linked to asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks and other pulmonary diseases, including thousands of premature deaths each year.

We know there is always room for improvement, but congratulations to Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS). In a study by Expansion Magazine, Des Moines schools were ranked third among the nation’s mid-size metropolitans (pop. 500,000 to 1 million). The magazine’s “Metro Public Schools Quotient” looks at metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) with the best overall public school systems. Des Moines schools were ranked just behind Madison, Wis., and Raleigh-Cary, N.C. Des Moines MSA is comprised of Polk, Dallas, Warren, Madison and Guthrie counties. Of the 90,000 public school students in this area, more than 34 percent attend DMPS.

Losers

There is a lot of finger pointing going on over who is to blame in the mortgage foreclosure crisis, though in the end everyone involved loses, including homeowners, mortgage companies, realtors and neighbors whose property values decline because they’re next door to someone who couldn’t make their payments. Should mortgage companies dole out loans to buyers with risky credit histories? Aren’t buyers responsible for their own investment decisions, including ill-advised ones that include ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages)? Is it the government’s role to bail out homeowners who are overwhelmed with debt? The city of Baltimore, however, blames Des Moines-based Wells Fargo’s home mortgage financial divisions and has filed a federal lawsuit charging improper and racially biased lending practices have helped lead to the foreclosure crisis. Cleveland also joined the fray, naming Wells Fargo and 20 other lenders. Experts say other cities may follow with similar suits. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo & Co. reported that fourth quarter profits were down 38 percent from last year due to increased loan write-offs. The company also is laying off 130 employees.

Anyone who eats meat should be worried. The Food and Drug Administration says cloned beef, pork, goat and all dairy products are safe for consumers to eat. In 2001 meat and dairy producers refrained from using cloned animals until the FDA conducted more research. Now the FDA says it’s okay to introduce the cloned animal products into the market, and many scientists agree. Distributors and vendors that use cloned products will not be required to label them as such, so consumers won’t have the knowledge of whether they are consuming cloned food. Cloning is already a touchy subject with creepy sci-fi tendencies, but at least the government isn’t serving us “Soylent Green” — yet.

Shame on Gov. Chet Culver for hampering more than 32,000 Iowa community college students. Culver recommended $11.4 million less than required to meet the budget amount requested during a recent legislature session. The governor’s recommended budget was $177.5 million, which was a small increase from last year’s budget of $173.9 million. The requested amount was $188.9 million, and the expense is likely to be passed on to students. Culver, a former teacher, is jeopardizing the future of Iowa’s students by not bridging the financial gap and turning his back on education proponents who helped vote him into office.

It’s great that President Bush is contemplating offering a rebate of $300 or more to the American public, even if he is attempting to cover his own ass in doing so. The idea of putting cold hard cash into the hands of lower and middle class families to spend quickly, boosting the economy, isn’t a bad idea, but will it work? Thanks to the housing and credit problem in this country, the rebate will be nice, but most economists think it’s too little, too late as we head into a recession. CV

Comment on this story | Return to top