Winners

You would think in this day and age there wouldn’t be a need for such a law, but you know how some bosses still think voting isn’t that important. So we salute the Iowa Senate for approving a bill that gives Iowa workers the legal right to unpaid time off to caucus. Senate File 2355 includes a small number of exemptions for public safety or undue economic disruption, but lawmakers said the bill sends a clear signal that Iowa is serious about being first to caucus and protecting Iowans’ rights to do so as they would get up to four hours off beginning an hour prior to the start of their caucus. Denying someone the right to attend a caucus would be a simple misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $625, the bill states. It would also hurt morale around the office.

Craig Dubow, chief executive, president and chairman of Gannett Company Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper chain which publishes USA Today and 84 other daily newspapers including The Des Moines Register, received pay and compensation valued at $7.9 million in 2007, 36 percent higher than the previous year according to the Associated Press. The increase came as Gannett stock, like that of other media companies, tumbled over the last year. In the last 12 months, the AP reported, Gannett stock has lost about half its value, from about $60 a year ago to about $29. But rejoice subscribers who worry that their money is lining Dubow’s pockets: the decreasing value of Gannett shares means that a large chunk of Dubow’s 2007 compensation is without value until it exceeds $61.26 a share, the AP said.

In other media conglomerate news, the U.S. Justice Department has approved Sirius Radio’s $5 billion buyout of rival XM Radio, ruling that the deal between the nation’s two satellite radio providers was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers. The Federal Communications Commission still has to approve the merger. Pundits speculate that the price to subscribe to the service will go up once the merger is complete. Both companies currently charge $12.95 per month for basic packages.

Losers

Facing charges for allegedly stealing about $560,000 from the bank he worked at, Steven Sueppel of Iowa City is believed to have killed his wife and their four adopted children last Sunday before killing himself in a fiery crash on Interstate 80 when he drove his automobile into a concrete abutment. An autopsy shows that Sueppel’s wife and children died from injuries to their upper torsos and heads consistent with the use of a baseball bat.

If gasoline hits $4 per gallon as many economists predict, an estimated 65 percent of American car owners say they will dramatically change their driving behavior, according to a survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. According to the survey, 91 percent of drivers are driving less and 75 percent are maintaining their vehicle better because of rising gas prices. About one-third of those surveyed are also carpooling, purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles and making greater use of public transportation.

Members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement are outraged at the Environmental Protection Commission’s failure to support a ban offered by the Department of Natural Resources on manure applied to ground being planted into soybeans. Apparently the EPC voted to support the limitation of manure application on ground going into soybeans, but did not pass the proposed ban on the practice after five years. “The EPC, when offered the smallest chance to clean up Iowa’s water, could not make that happen,” said Iowa CCI member and farmer Barb Kalbach of Dexter. “This only further stalls a way to help clean Iowa’s polluted waters for another five years.”

Finally, Billboard magazine reports that the major music companies have resisted lowering their price of CDs, but are now being forced to do so thanks to Wal-Mart. Seems Wal-Mart, the largest retailer of music with an estimated 22 percent share of the market, has proposed a five-tiered pricing scheme that would allow the chain store to sell albums at even lower prices and require labels to bear more of the cost. The proposal would allow for a promotional program that could compromise the top 15 to 20 hottest titles each at $10. The rest of the pricing structure would have hits an current titles selling for $12, top catalog at $9, midline catalog at $7 and budget at $5. The move would also shift the store’s pricing from its $9.88 and $13.88 models to rounder sales prices. Some label executives wonder whether they should give up 20 percent of their business to Wal-Mart, though they worry boycotting Wal-Mart could hurt their distribution. One executive said if all the major labels pass on Wal-Mart’s proposal the discount chain might pull music entirely from its stores. “This sounds like the Hail Mary pass, and if it doesn’t work, they could be out of the music business; or maybe they reduce music down to a couple of racks.” CV

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