The Des Moines Register. Nov. 13, 2015
How Iowa reflects America’s biggest concerns.
The national media will descend on Des Moines for Saturday’s Democratic debate. Iowans have a tendency to be a tad insecure when it comes to the national attention. Someone will undoubtedly mention how Iowa is not representative of the nation, and therefore shouldn’t enjoy its first-in-the-nation status.
Sure, Iowa’s population is more rural and white and older than many states. And yes, someone will correctly point out that only a sliver of the electorate will show up Feb. 1 to help narrow the presidential field or catapult someone to the nomination.
In many ways, however, we represent all too well the big issues that will be debated on stage at Drake University, as well as throughout the campaign:
Criminal justice reform and racial disparities: The statistics are overwhelming. Three percent of Iowa residents are African-American. Yet about one-fourth of inmates in our state prisons are black. Minorities comprise about 15 percent of our youth population and 45 percent of juveniles in detention facilities. Iowa ranks worst in the nation in racial disparities for marijuana arrests, according to a 2013 study from the American Civil Liberties Union. A black person in Iowa is eight times more likely than a white person to be arrested for possession of marijuana, even though both races use the drug about the same rate. These concerns are finally getting attention in Iowa and nationally, and candidates on the left and the right are calling for reforms.
Our pocketbooks: Iowa’s economy reflects the nation’s in many important ways, despite the popular notion that the state’s financial health depends primarily on the price of corn. The state’s largest industries, manufacturing and finance, have been rocked by transformations in the global economy. Iowa is in the middle of the pack in per-capita personal income - just below the national average. It gets worse on the lower end of the scale. Five percent of Iowans are at or under the prevailing federal minimum wage, one of the highest percentages in the nation. The slow growth has made it hard for many Iowans to keep up. Wages for a typical Iowan have increased a measly 2.6 percent over the last 35 years, when inflation is taken into account.
Clear and distinct differences show up between the Republican and Democratic parties on this issue. The billionaire who is leading in most national polls has repeated his claim that American “wages are too high.” Somehow we think most voters, Republican and Democrat, will disagree.
College debt: Iowa ranks No. 8 in the nation in education indebtedness, with an average of $29,732 among the graduates of four-year public and private schools. The three Democrats at Saturday’s debate have made the issue a major priority, and each has differing approaches and costs. Republicans have given this less attention. But combined with slow wage growth, college debt is a ticking time bomb that will create a drag on the economy. We need solutions now.
Trade: Iowa exported more than $15 billion in tractors, meat and other goods last year; our economy depends on trade. All three of the Democrats oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership, but the deal would have clear benefits for Iowa. For example, the TPP will exponentially increase U.S. pork exports and create more than 10,000 new jobs in the United States, Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes said. Japan, Vietnam, Australia and other countries are expected to buy more Iowa pork as tariffs and other barriers fall.
Health care: Obamacare, and specifically Medicaid expansion, has made a major impact in Iowa.The percentage of Iowans without health insurance has been cut nearly in half, to 5 percent, since 2013, according a survey by Gallup. A study by the New York Times found that in 2013 only two of Iowa’s 99 Iowa counties had populations where 90 percent or more of the population was insured. Now, it’s 98 counties. The Affordable Care Act can be improved, but don’t go backwards by throwing it out.
This isn’t a complete list. Iowa is grappling with other issues - reforming education, transitioning to cleaner energy, cleaning up our water, improving our transportation system - that face the rest of the nation. Given all of these challenges, Iowa seems like a logical place to vet presidential candidates and debate the nation’s most pressing issues. Iowa’s concerns are America’s concerns.
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The Quad City Times. Nov. 12, 2015
Vietnam vets deserve their Honor Flights.
The statistics are well-known about World War II veterans: The average age is 92, and they’re dying at a rate of 492 a day. Of the 16 million WWII vets, just 855,000 are still alive, according to the Veterans Administration.
They’re a bit less known for Korean War vets: The average age is about 83, and they were dying at a rate of 367 a day in 2010.
But our Vietnam veterans are aging, too: The average is 65 years old. More than 5 million of the nation’s more than 7 million Vietnam-era veterans are between 60 and 70 years old, according to data from the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics and reported by Stars and Stripes.
Those stark numbers are behind a decision announced this week that area Vietnam veterans now are eligible to apply to go on tours of Washington, D.C., hosted by Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities.
Honor Flight first began serving World War II veterans in 2008, later expanding to Korean War vets as the number of WWII vets began dwindling. Now, with 34 flights completed and 3,100 World War II and Korean War-era vets completing Honor Flight tours, Vietnam veterans are getting their turn.
Of course, Vietnam veterans have been represented on previous Honor Flights. Those who had terminal illnesses were moved up on the list, and many have served as tour guardians for those who served before them. Guardians, however, paid for the honor of escorting veterans on Honor Flights.
Now, Vietnam vets are eligible to tour the monuments and memorials in our nation’s capital for free, with others serving as their guardians.
Several Vietnam veterans were at the news conference this week announcing the change and were touched by the honor.
“We came home at a very tumultuous and tough time for veterans,” said Bill Albracht, president of Vietnam Veterans of America, Quad-Cities Chapter 299, Rock Island. “We never got the respect for the sacrifices we made. This is a recognition for my brothers, it really is.”
Greg Paulline, president of Vietnam Veterans Gateway Chapter 776, Bettendorf, said six members of his 180-member chapter died in the past year. “We, too, are aging,” he said.
World War II and Korean War veterans still will get priority for future flights, but Vietnam veterans now will be able to fill any remaining seats on flights, which will include four scheduled for 2016.
Steve Garrington, interim hub director for Honor Flight of the Quad-Cities, said he is expecting a “flood of interest. Vietnam veterans have not had the Welcome Home.”
We hope all Vietnam-era veterans will take advantage of the flights, and we hope Quad-Citians will turn out at the airport when their flights return, giving them the welcome home they deserved years ago.
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The Sioux City Journal. Nov. 12, 2015
Local air service picture improves, but work remains.
Without question, air service is key to local quality of life and economic growth.
To this end, we await with interest a decision by the federal Department of Transportation on which of two airlines will provide service at Sioux Gateway Airport for the next two years.
On the surface, the local air service picture looks much the same today as it did in late 2013 when American Airlines and United Airlines competed to provide air service between Sioux Gateway Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for two years under the federal Essential Air Service program.
The same two airlines again are in competition to provide service for the next two years to and from O’Hare. In its bid, each airline proposes at least 13 flights per week to Chicago. Their requested subsidies, however, are different. American’s proposed subsidy is $1.26 million; United’s, $324,159.
The fact two airlines submitted bids for Sioux Gateway Airport service again this year speaks to interest in this market and support for local air service.
Four years ago, the future of air service in Sioux City was uncertain because Delta Air Lines had threatened to pull out of Sioux Gateway Airport unless it began collecting federal subsidies because its local routes lost money and because a House transportation subcommittee had proposed to reduce EAS funding.
Today, uncertainty is diminished and the outlook is brighter.
Among local air service priorities for the future should be more convenient access to western destinations.
The arrival of Frontier Airlines in late 2007 helped generate tremendous improvement in traffic at the local airport, including seven consecutive months in which the airport’s passenger numbers were up over the same month the year before. In 2008, when Frontier pulled service after seven months, passenger loads routinely exceeded 75 percent. When Frontier returned to Sioux City for four months last year, support again was strong.
In other words, this market wants and uses air service to the west.
Our hope is the city will work with whoever wins the bid for local air service to add service to the west or will seek to attract a second airline to Sioux Gateway Airport for western service.
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The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. Nov. 12, 2015.
Domestic violence headlines need to resonate.
Last week Nicole Holder became the face - legs, arms and torso - of the national epidemic of domestic violence.
Deadspin, an online news site, posted 46 photos that show the horrific beating administered by her on-again, off-again boyfriend Greg Hardy, then an All-Pro defensive end for the Charlotte Panthers, on March 12, 2014, after a night out drinking with friends.
Holder’s description had previously generated widespread outrage. But the vivid photos leave nothing to the imagination, indicative of similar traumatic experiences endured by many women.
In its 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly a third of all women had been slapped, pushed or shoved by their partners. One quarter said they had experienced “severe physical violence” - being beaten, slammed into a wall, choked or burned. (For men, it was 14 percent.)
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 39 percent of all homicides involve female victims of domestic violence victims - three killed daily.
Holder, a waitress at an upscale restaurant and a former honors student at East Carolina University, was on the verge of being among the latter statistics.
“Greg Hardy attacked me in his apartment,” she told police. “Hardy picked me up and threw me into the tile tub area in his bathroom. I have bruises from head to toe, including my head, neck, back, shoulders, arms, legs, elbow and feet. Hardy pulled me from the tub by my hair, screaming at me that he was going to kill me, break my arms and other threats that I completely believe. He dragged me across the bathroom and out into the bedroom. Hardy choked me with both hands around my throat while I was lying on the floor. Hardy picked me up over his head and threw me onto a couch covered in assault rifles and/or shotguns. I landed on those weapons. Hardy bragged that all of those assault rifles were loaded. . I begged them (Hardy and his friend Sammy Curtis) to let me go and I wouldn’t tell anyone what he did. They took me out into the hall, pushed me down and went back inside his apartment.”
Fearing for Holder’s life, Kristina Laurence, who had been in another room, called the police. Hardy did so, too, claiming Holder assaulted him.
Holder initially ran from police, then said her bruises were self-inflicted, that she “fell down the stairs.” In fact, many women are reluctant to report domestic violence. According to the CDC, only 34 percent seek treatment for injuries.
According to Deadspin, Laurence was adamant about what had happened. Holder later told police that Hardy “beat the hell” out of her, that he had warned her “if she ever did anything to damage his career that he would kill her.”
A Charlotte judge found Hardy guilty of assault on a female and communicating threats. The conviction, though, was dismissed upon appeal when Holder failed to appear at the trial after reaching a financial settlement with Hardy. His record was expunged Nov. 6, the same week as the photos were posted.
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell put Hardy on the league’s “exempt” list in 2014, causing him to miss all but one game, although he still made $13.1 million. Hardy signed a one-year, $11.3 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys for 2015 while facing a 10-game suspension. After the National Football League Players Association claimed the length of the suspension violated the labor agreement, an arbitrator reduced it to four games.
In a perverse way, the NFL has brought the issue of domestic violence to the fore. Then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was shown on a 2014 video knocking out his fiancée, now wife, in a casino elevator. Rice, unlike Hardy, was contrite and now speaks out against domestic violence, although his career may be over.
Jovan Belcher, a former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, killed his girlfriend in 2012, then committed suicide. An examination of his brain determined he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the result of repeated concussions.
Whatever Hardy’s career fate, those photos need to resonate, rather than fuel a momentary outrage that recedes into the next news cycle.
Domestic crisis hotlines receive 20,000 calls daily. According to the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 67,646 women and children received assistance at a shelter nationally during a given 24-hour period in 2014, but 10,871 requests were denied due to a lack of funding.
In this area, women victimized by their spouses or boyfriends need the encouragement to end the cycle of abuse by contacting local authorities. Guidance can be found on the Internet.
Meanwhile, nonprofit agencies such as Waypoint Services for Women, Children and Families and Helping Services for Northeast Iowa need the support required to help survivors make the transition to a healthier life.
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