Analysts say shoppers may stick to smaller gifts in a holiday season expected to be the weakest in decades.

Iowa's first lady has issued a statement of apology after being seen smoking in a vehicle that's leased by the state. 

First Lady Mari Culver was spotted at a stoplight earlier this week in Des Moines, sitting in an S.U.V. reserved for the Culvers and smoking. Mrs. Culver said in a statement released Thursday that "like many Iowans" she has "struggled" to quit smoking. She went on to say she "successfully" quit last year, but "unfortunately" took up the habit again "a few months ago."

Culver, who is an attorney, admits in the brief written statement that she did smoke in a state vehicle, saying it's an action she regrets. She promised that it wouldn't happen again.

The new state law which took effect on July 1st bars smoking in most public places, including vehicles that are used by more than one person for work purposes. Her husband, the governor, signed that bill into law on April 15th. "All Iowans will benefit from cleaner air," Culver said during the bill-signing ceremony. "...I understand there are compelling arguments against this bill, but the bottom line is this bill will save lives, plain and simple, and I am happy to sign it today."

The governor has not issued a statement regarding his wife's smoking in a state-owned vehicle. In February of 2007, Governor Culver "outed" his wife, revealing during a speech at a hospital that she's a smoker who's struggled to quit. On February 19, 2007, a statehouse reporter asked Culver whether he thought his wife would be able to kick the habit.  "We'll see," was all Governor Culver said in reply.

Mrs. Culver's smoking was a topic of discussion as lawmakers debated Iowa's Smoke-Free Air Act this past spring. Representative Chuck Soderberg, a Republican from Le Mars, was among those who argued private residences like the governor's mansion that are owned by the state should be smoke-free areas. "The state really does need to lead by example. We have a lot of investment in historical buildings that I think we need to make sure that we protect and preserve also," Soderberg said during a committee meeting. "And I kind of go back...to the Condition of the State (message in which) our governor made the comment that if you're going to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk."

Iowa First Lady Mari Culver has admitted to breaking the state's smoking ban after being spotted smoking in a state-owned vehicle.

The governor's spokesman issued this statement from Mari Culver: "Like many Iowans, I have struggled to quit smoking. I successfully quit last year, but unfortunately started again a few months ago. I did smoke in a state vehicle, which I regret, and I promise that it will not happen again."

The spokesman did not say if Culver will be issued a ticket. The state smoking ban went into place on July 1st of this year.

 

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee -- the winner of the Iowa Republican Party's Caucuses this past January -- stopped in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines Thursday to sign copies of his new book. The book's title is "Do the Right Thing" and during an interview with Radio Iowa, Huckabee downplayed the idea he's in Iowa to lay the groundwork for another run for the White House.

"First of all, I'm not anticipating planning or even trying to think about any future campaign," Huckabee told Radio Iowa. "I'm wanting to make sure I get the message of this book out and work on my show with FOX and then starting in January I'll be doing two, five-minute-a day commentaries for the ABC Radio Network, so I have plenty to keep me busy."

The title of the first chapter in Huckabee's book is: "I Love Iowa!" Later, on page 99, Huckabee mentions the "grueling" nature of the campaign in Iowa. "Iowa is, obviously, throughout the book and it starts there," Huckabee said during his interview with Radio Iowa. "There are so many references to Iowa events and Iowa people because so much of our campaign, I mean, we spent more time here than we spent here in our own homes during the almost two years up to the caucus."

Huckabee's book is not just a recounting of the 2008 campaign, though. It articulates his political philosophy. "We've got to, as a party, realize that we win when we stand for some things: when we are clearly pro-life/pro-family, for lower taxes, we empower parents...and when we stick by those things and actually govern that way we win elections," Huckabee told Radio Iowa, "but it's when we don't govern that way that our message loses any authenticity and we lose."

The book ends with Huckabee's direct responses to some of his critics -- responses that cover three pages with incredibly tiny type. That's followed with Huckabee's outline of a "veteran's bill of rights."

Read more about Huckabee and his book on "The Blog."

Two people in Storm Lake are charged with child endangerment after neighbors called police to report smoke coming out from under their apartment door. Police say they got no answer when they knocked on the door, so they entered and found two adults standing in the living room in what's described as heavy smoke.

The smoke was from burned food on the stove. There was no fire. The two adults, 25-year-old Tasharra Jester from Storm Lake and 27-year-old Tyrice McCray from Chicago, were taken from the apartment. That's when rescuers learned there were still six children, from two to seven years old, still inside the smoke filled home.

Police got the youngsters out and firefighters were able to ventilate the apartment. Authorities called the Iowa Department of Human Services who took the children into protective custody. Jester and McCray face six counts of child endangerment.  

The leaders of state agencies are looking for ways they can trim millions of dollars from their operations. Governor Chet Culver blames the tight economy and disaster expenses for his request to cut 40-million from the state budget.

New Department of Human Services Director Gene Gessow says the target for his organization is 5.7-million dollars. "That is going to be very difficult," Gessow said. "We have a target of next Tuesday evening to be finished. I'm meeting with department staff (Friday) to discuss it. I've already met with them once, we've talked about how we're going to approach finding that money, but we have not yet come to any solutions."

Charlie Krogmeier, director of the state Department of Management, says it's doubtful any state employees will lose their jobs. Gessow refused to say if there might be staffing changes within the D.H.S. "

The only thing that I know for sure is that the Governor has given us the opportunity to find the best way that works, rather than giving us a rule that it has to be done one way or the other," Gessow said. "So, I need to take advantage of that flexibility and see what opportunities it creates for us."

Culver has asked the Department of Corrections to cut 11-million dollars from its budget. The target is 7.5-million for the Board of Regents and $600,000 for Workforce Development.

 

Some 1,300 school superintendents and school board members from across Iowa are in Des Moines for the annual conference of the Iowa Association of School Boards. Association spokeswoman Margaret Buckton says the attendees voted yesterday on their legislative priorities, things they want brought to state lawmakers when the session opens in January.

Buckton says key issues include: allowable growth or the per-pupil cost that the state pays school districts, professional development training for teachers and the core curriculum which is designed "to raise expectations for students clear across the K-12 education spectrum."

Governor Chet Culver will speak at the convention this afternoon, addressing the condition of Iowa's schools and the future direction. Buckton says there will be special awards presented on Friday.

The Corning Community School District is winning an award for student achievement while Waverly-Shell Rock will be recognized for its support of the fine arts. Buckton says those attending the convention will be involved in any of some three-dozen workshops throughout the day. She says the break-out sessions cover topics like school finances, raising graduation rates, school improvements and joint programs with community colleges.

The convention is underway at the Polk County Convention Center through Friday afternoon.

 

A company that makes pet food is closing its Muscatine plant immediately, eliminating 47 jobs.

Democratic leaders in Congress have put off a vote on bailing out the auto industry until next month.

Department of Education director Judy Jeffrey's annual report on the condition of education predicts Iowa's 10-year decline in student enrollment will turn around.

The report predicts a 7.7% increase over the next five years. Jeffrey says an influx of minorities into the state is one of the reasons for the turnaround.

She says Iowa may do even better in the coming years as other states lose jobs and it appears Iowa may have jobs to offer if those people can be recruited to the state. Jeffrey says Iowa's birthrate "is not as disastrous as it is in some of the other Midwestern states."

Jeffrey says the graying of Iowa could be slowing and leading to more kids. Jeffrey says we may have reached our peak as one of the oldest states in the nation, and may be on the way to getting younger people into the state who're having children.

Testing shows that 11th graders did not improve their math and reading skills as much as fourth and eighth graders, and minorities in those groups also did not make big strides. Jeffrey says that's her biggest concern. She says the achievement gaps (between minorities and whites) and the lack of growth in our high schools are things that pose a challenge.

"We're really focusing a lot on how we can change our high schools, but we know that we need more rigorous and relevant learning opportunities for out students, that they are still not as engaged as they need to be in high school curriculum, and we've really got to push that agenda pretty hard," Jeffrey says. Jeffrey says the gains in 4th grade come after federal dollars were targeted at them, and doing something similar is needed for high school.

Jeffrey says they were able to take the resources and focus on professional development for primary teachers and the effects are showing as the 4th graders are doing well and the 8th graders are doing better, but there's not a lot of growth in the high schools.

While the influx of immigrants has brought new students into the system, those students provide the challenge of teaching more students who don't know English. Jeffrey says school districts are doing what they can to meet the need, but says they need more foreign language and more bilingual teachers.

Jeffrey says bilingual teachers are one of the best ways to educate students as they can talk and to them and teach them. Jeffrey also pointed out to the Board of Education that Iowa spends just over eight-thousand dollars per pupil to educate students, while the national average is over $9,500, and neighboring states like Minnesota and Wisconsin spend over $10,000 per pupil.

Jeffrey says Iowans already get a great bargain for what they spend on education -- but could get even more benefit with more education dollars. Jeffrey says many of the districts facing achievement gaps say they are working as hard as they can, but with more resources and professional development would accelerate that work.

You can see the entire report here: " 2008 Condition of Education ".

 

Senator Tom Harkin is one of three Democrats asked to head up efforts in the U.S. Senate on a health care reform bill. "This working group that I will chair will focus on wellness and prevention and public health...This has been a longstanding focus of mine. Indeed, I have already introduced comprehensive wellness legislation," Harkin says. "I'm looking forward to having oversight of this part of the bill which I believe is absolutely critical to transforming the way we approach health care in the United States."

According to Harkin, there's no absolute timeline, but the goal is to get a health care reform "done" by this summer. "It's not enough to talk about how to extend coverage or how to pay for the bills," Harkin says, "we also need to focus on how we can mobilize our society to prevent diseases and conditions and to produce real wellness -- preventing diseases such as obesity and diabetes and heart diseases and some forms of cancer."

Harkin will start holding hearings in December to discuss disease prevention and wellness initiatives that might become part of the overall health care reform package. "We face enormous challenges," Harkin says, "but I'm excited about returning to the senate to help work and to help, hopefully, lead the charge on these key reforms and to help President Obama move his change agenda through the congress." Harkin was elected to a fifth term earlier this month. 

Giant construction cranes in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska are being painted purple, the color of pancreatic cancer awareness, along with the slogan, "Rise Up For Cancer Research." Ken Tolton is co-owner of Duke Aerial, a construction equipment rental business, based in Atlantic, Iowa.

"A portion of the rental of the boom will go to a trust that will be directly used for pancreatic cancer research. We're just trying to building some awareness and hopefully someday to help try to find a cure." Tolton's wife is being treated at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Linda Tolton was diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer in July and was given six months to a year to live. She is 45. Ken Tolton says he hopes his idea of painting the 25 big booms purple brings more visibility for the disease.

"Pancreatic cancer you don't hear that much of. A lot smaller percentage of people get this type of cancer, but it also is one of most aggressive cancers that's out there. People are very aware of breast cancer and prostrate cancer and some of the others ones that they have a better handle on, but this particular one, the awareness isn’t as much out there."

Jay Noddle is president and CEO of Noddle Companies, a real estate developer. It's the first to feature one of the purple booms at the Aksarben Village job site in Omaha. Noddle says, "My father, Harlan, lost a battle to pancreatic cancer in 2005 and so when we heard about what Ken and his colleagues were planning, we wanted to do whatever we could to be involved and to help."

The National Cancer Institute recently awarded a 5.3 million-dollar, five-year grant in pancreatic cancer to the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. Noddle says his father was treated at the center. Noddle says, "We don't always know as much about the remarkable things that are taking place at the medical center and the cancer center until we need them, but people should know and need to know."

At no cost to its customers, Duke Aerial will donate a percentage of the fees to rent the purple construction equipment to the Linda Tolton Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation. There are no tools for early detection of pancreatic cancer, which is a major reason why it's a leading cause of cancer death. Signs and symptoms typically don’t appear until pancreatic cancer is quite advanced, which is what happened in Tolton's case. 

Westwood High School students and residents of the northwest Iowa town are showing support for five wrestlers and their coach by becoming blood donors. Nearly 100 people registered to give blood Wednesday and Heather Marreel, with the Siouxland Blood Bank, says that doubled what was expected.

"To see a community like this really rally around their own and make something positive out of a tragic situation, it was really nice to see," Marreel said. On November 8th, the wrestlers and their coach were driving to a wrestling clinic when their SUV collided head-on with van on Highway 141 near Hornick.

The driver of the van, 53-year-old Bradley Haburn of Spencer, was killed in the crash. Two wrestlers, 18-year-old Jordan Mitchell and 16-year-old Sage Washburn, have been released the hospital. The coach, 26-year-old Daniel Thompson, and three other wrestlers remain at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City. They are: 16-year-old Trent Baker, 16-year-old Adam Greeno and 15-year-old Blake Jorgensen.

Marrell says many people said they haven't donated blood in several years and now's a good time for others to roll up their sleeves and follow suit. "The holiday time tends to be a little bit crazier of a time, people are very busy and donating blood doesn't always make it to the top of their to do list," Marrell said. "We really want folks to reach out and help others that are in need."

Students and staff at Westwood High have also donated money and food to the crash victim's families. This Sunday, a pancake breakfast to benefit the victims will take place at Westwood High School. For information, call 712-428-3355.

 

This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the legal settlement states reached with the tobacco industry and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says cigarette companies have paid the State of Iowa over half a billion dollars in the past decade.

"It was an incredible battle and fight to get the settlement, file the case and resolve the case," Miller says. "...The most important thing is to look back and see what has happened in the past 10 years and there's been enormous progress."

In the 1960s, over 40 percent of Americans smoked. Last year, just under 20 percent of Iowa adults smoked -- a decline of about four percent in the past decade. "We've come a long way, to quote one of their ads for Virginia Slims. We have a long ways to go because there is so much at stake," Miller says. "We still lose 400,000 Americans each year. You know that's because of the smoking rates of the '60s, '70s and '80s."

Ten years ago the tobacco companies agreed to new limits on their advertising in the legal settlement with the states and over the past decade states like Iowa have increased the cost of tobacco by raising taxes. According to Miller, raising the price of cigarettes -- by raising taxes -- is the most effective way to reduce smoking.  "Comparing the number of cigarettes sold in 1997 -- 480,000,000,000 -- to the number we think will be sold in 2008 -- 344,000,000,000 -- it's a reduction of 28 percent of the number of cigarettes that have been sold in America," Miller says. Fewer cigarettes will be sold this year than in 1950, when the U.S. population was about half what it is today.

Miller acknowledges a regret about the legal settlement with the tobacco companies: state legislatures haven't used much of the payments from tobacco companies on smoking cessation or prevention programs. "I told them to spend it differently year after year and was hoping they'd spend more on tobacco prevention," Miller says. "Iowa spends more than most states, per capita, about $10 million or so of the settlement for tobacco prevention."

Miller smoked in his 20s and 30s. Miller quit in the early 1980s after he told his wife she should quit drinking coffee for health reasons and she told him he should stop smoking. "We had a deal then," Miller says.

Oil prices drop to a three-year low as gas prices fall below $2 a gallon in nearly half of the country.

Representatives from the U.S. Mint encourage people to get acquainted with the gold dollar coin.

Senator Tom Harkin says bankruptcy "isn't the worst thing that could happen" to General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. 

"If they could then come out of bankruptcy immediately, with new management, new ownership, new directions on which to go in terms of really fuel efficient cars and electric automobiles and things like that, well, then maybe I would be more prone to help them out, " Harkin says. "But just to leave the same management there -- the same people that brought you all these problems -- and give them $25 billion of taxpayers' money, I'm not there."

The top executives at the "big three" automakers were in Washington this week, pleading for a $25 billion federal bailout. Harkin, who's a Democrat, says bankruptcy would let the automakers renegotiate contracts for both unionized workers on the production line and company executives.

"If you could get through a bankruptcy procedure, get rid of all that management. Get new people in there. Now there's no doubt that the automobile companies need to retool, but then you've got to be asking: why weren't they doing that over the last 30 or 40 years? I mean, you think about it, 40 years ago there or Toyota or Honda dealers or Nissan or Hyundai dealers anywhere in the United States. In 40 years, look what they've done," Harkin says. "Where was this management. Where were the brainiacs, all this management? They just kept letting it go."

Harkin says the big three automakers "thumbed their noses" at taxpayers by flying private jets to Washington, D.C. this week rather than cutting company costs and flying commercial. "Someone pointed out to me that they're asking for $25 billion in government funds -- taxpayer money -- yet when you add up the stock value, the whole value of Chrysler and Ford and General Motors it's $5- or $6- or $7-billion, something like that," Harkin says. "I mean, you can buy the whole kit and caboodle for about a fifth of what they're asking for."

According to Harkin, it's "unlikely" the auto industry will get its wish for a federal bailout before Christmas. "It's been taken off the table," Harkin says. "...They're really at a dead end right now."

Harkin made his comments this morning during a telephone conference call with Iowa radio reporters.

 

The head of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says the state's ethanol industry is having "tough times" and federal officials should take steps to expand demand for ethanol. Monte Shaw says federal officials should increase the amount of ethanol that can be used in regular cars, above the current 10 percent ethanol blend.

"We know the auto industry has data from when they approved E-10 that showed it can be higher than E-10. We'd like to see it E-15 or even E-20," Shaw says. "But even if there's some interim step that we can do immediately President Bush should do that before he leaves office or maybe on the first day President-Elect Obama would like to do that. That'd be nice."

According to Shaw, automakers are asking for "quite a bit" from the federal government and it's time for autos to be run on higher blends of ethanol. "Some of the numbers don't always seem that important, but if you can increase the amount of ethanol you can sell within say trucking the ethanol from your plant as opposed to putting it on a train even by 20 or 30 percent, that has a huge impact on your bottom line," Shaw says.

The past year has been an "amazing" ride for ethanol producers, according to Shaw. "With the whiplash in the commodity markets that we've had to endure -- you know we had a real speculative bubble this summer after the floods and that put a tremendous amount of pressure on ethanol and biodiesel producers, on farmers, basically on all segments of our industry and...it's a very tough time in the industry right now," Shaw says. "It's a very tough time."

VeraSun, which has operated five ethanol plants in Iowa, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month and reported losses of $464 million in the third quarter. Shaw, though, suggests the state's ethanol industry will survive the crunch.

"The good news for Iowa is, you know, we're probably as well-situated as anybody for our plants to ride this out," Shaw says. "We have a lot of corn. We're in a low-cost area. A lot of our plants were around long enough that they've paid down some of their debt...I can't sit here and tell you , but I can tell you that we're probably in pretty good shape." Iowa has 31 ethanol plants operating today.

 

Iowa's Governor delivered some early Thanksgiving cheer Wednesday. Governor Chet Culver and his daughter Claire and son John delivered the ingredients for the Thanksgiving meal to the Beacon of Life women's shelter in Des Moines.

Culver says there are "literally tens of thousands of women and children" across the state that rely on the services like those provided at the shelter and people need to know they can use as much support as possible. The Beacon of Hope was one of five shelters to receive the food delivery from the governor in a holiday tradition he started last year.

Culver says it's a nice way to "do something important" and provide some extra food, while highlighting the women and children that are at risk. The executive director of the shelter, Ruth Hardin, says they serve 24 women. She says the women come with "difficult backgrounds" and are expected to overcome those backgrounds through the program which is "highly structured and no nonsense."

Hardin says the women can stay a maximum of four months. Hardin says any extras they can get are welcome -- especially now with the poor economy and so many agencies vying for help. Culver says he will also press the legislature to provide more funding to shelters.