Omvig Bill, Iowa Retail and Nothing's Easy at 2am

Good Morning...

No it wasn't. I woke up this morning feeling a lot better, I wasn't stuffed up and I wasn't hacking up a lung most of the night. Great!

But when I got into the shower I quickly found myself up to my ankles in water. Great...

Already all wet, but not yet clean; I got out of the shower, dried off and tried to get the drain to...you know, drain. I grabbed the plunger and spent the next forty minutes trying to get the water to go away, all while trying NOT to wake my wife up. This, if you've ever done it, is never a pleasant experience. Once the filth you wash off yourself goes down the drain, I never want to see it again. Breakfast anyone?

I couldn't get the drain working and had to punt. It was not a good start to the day.

Then I heard Brooke's day yesterday and felt like an idiot for even caring about a stopped up drain.

Close Call

I call this Adventures in the ER...

I share this story only because I am still feeling horrible about a close call I had yesterday involving my son and am wondering if other mothers out there have had a similar experience.

Here's the short of it. I was walking down the stairs with Evan in my arms and slipped. When I fell, Evan slipped out of my arms, landed on the stairs hitting his head in the process. It happened so quickly I didn't have time to keep hold of him. Of course he screamed from the impact and I immediately picked him up, put him in the car seat and drove to the ER at Methodist which is only about a 5 minute trip from my house. I can honestly say this was the scariest event of my life. On the way to the hospital I was imagining the worst. Could he have serious head injuries? Would he be paralyzed for life? My mind was racing and I was scared. By the time I got to the hospital Evan was smiling and seemed well so I relaxed a little. The nurse who evaluated him in the ER thought he seemed fine and later the doctor agreed that he wasn't harmed. He didn't need a CAT scan and wasn't showing signs of any serious injuries. I left feeling both exhausted and thankful that this didn't turn out to be a serious situation. Does anyone else have a story like this? I would love to hear from you.

BB

To the News:

Omvig Bill

Good to see the Senate working late last night passing protections for vets. I can't imagine the things some of these men and women have seen. They must have to bury so many of their feelings about it to do their job and get through their tour of duty. When they come home, the least we can do is keep a watchful eye on soldiers so they don't fall through the cracks. I'm a world war 2 history buff and I can't tell you the number of times I've read about the guilt some soldiers feel at having come back unharmed while their buddies didn't come home at all. It's a common theme I imagine will continue long after this war is over.

King Visit

If you haven't heard Roosevelt High School canceled a visit from Dr Martin Luther King Jr's niece this week. The topic of her speech, as reported in the paper, tied the anti-abortion movement to civil rights.

No matter your politics on this issue, I just can't agree with people who are critical of Roosevelt's Principal for the decision. You can't ever think of these decisions in the context of this case. It's the next case you have to think about. Think of the issue you'd least like your kids hearing about in school. Controversial, clearly opinion based and also clearly...not everyone's view. Next time it could be your child forced to listen to a view that doesn't jive with your beliefs.

I know I know, evolution is already taught in most schools. I believe you can teach evolution without dismissing creation. There are a lot of people who believe a higher power gives life the ability to evolve.

If this speech were on Civil rights that's one thing. It's the law...it's history and it's a topic student appropriately learn about in High School. Philosophical arguments like when life begins, and a woman's current right to seek an abortion are topics of belief and faith. I guess I'm saying I'd like Sunday School to stay on Sunday. I'd like to see public schools, when they can, to stay away from questions of faith.

US Citizenship Test

This story got Pat and I talking about how much US History we know....

The US Citizenship test is changing. Apparently Immigration officials have released a new narrowed pool of 100 civic and history questions that will be used on the exam. The new test will start being used next year. A candidate for citizenship must get 6 out of 10 questions right as well as pass an English proficiency section.

Just for fun... Here are just a couple of questions from the test. Do you know the answer (without the help of Google)?

1. How many representatives are there in Congress?

2. In what year was the Constitution written?

Not so easy, huh?

BB

Metro Retail

It's not a direct connection but I thought Jon Cahill's research into the money being spent in Dallas county at Jordan Creek Mall was really interesting. Jon looked at sales tax collection between the opening of the mall and now and found about the same gain in sales tax revenue in Dallas County as there was loss in sales tax revenue in Des Moines over the three years the JC Mall has been open. Interesting, and as Jon pointed out...the trend is driving retailers not at JC to find a niche. However you feel about the newest Mall in the metro...it certainly has made the landscape evolve.

President's Cup

A lot of you were probably surprised we didn't have highlights of the President's Cup in our show this morning. I didn't ask for them until later in the preparation process and so we missed out. Zach Johnson helped his team to a 5 point lead on day one. It was a dominating performance, even if Zach and some of the rest of the American team didn't always look that good. Some of you ask what we do at the end of the day? I was in front of the TV. I will be again Saturday morning. Coverage of the PC starts at 7am. That also means Today in Iowa Sat runs from 6-7am.

Cubbies

Uncle Jonathan's corncob pipe! Can we please just wrap this thing up?

I'll also be yelling at the TV all weekend if the Cubs keep playing like this.

hope you all have a good day!

PWD

Enjoy your weekend!

BB

Olson Resigns, lots of recalls, and Making the Ladies Mad

Good Morning...
A big Morning Buzz shout-out to one of our newer and more loyal readers. Jeriann's fiancee Rob has been reading...so hello to Rob...I point this out only because Rob and I have something in common this morning. We both forgot to finish our honey-do list. Jeriann says she was kinda hard on Rob when she heard she heard he didn't do a couple of things he was supposed to....

I also admit to making my wife's blood pressure go up last night. She just got back from a five day trip to Vancouver BC for work. Before she left she gave me some simple things to do...I did a lot of them...a few got missed.

What's worse, the poor woman traveled for like 12 hours to get back and I left the car in the middle of the garage when I got home. I forgot to move it so she had to get out, move my car and then park hers. To her credit, she didn't say a thing when she got home. Eight years of marriage have prepared her for stuff like this, but sometimes we boys don't do as well as we should completing our tasks. As my wife says..."it's a good thing you're cute".

We had a lot of craziness behind the scenes as well. We'll get to that in a minute.

To the news

Olson resigns

Brad Olson resigned from the West Des Moines City Council the same day his colleagues were to meet about removing him for living in the ward he represented. Now the council says it will take the winner of the November 6th election and appoint him to the council for the remainder of Olson's term. Olson's lawyer says he's out of state receiving some sort of medical or mental health evaluation.

EarthPark

The Earthpark project needs to get about 40 million more in funding over the next 60 days or federal funding set aside for the project will go away. The project got a commitment for 10 million more in funding yesterday from an Atlanta GA based company. Impressive, but they've got a long way to go.

Recall

More toys recalled...here's the link to the list of recalled toys. That's the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website. The list is right on the homepage under recent recalls. It's a long list. Led paint and recalled playpens both from China

Hospital Renovations Good for You?

Jon Cahill found this story for us this morning. It makes sense but all of us were interested to hear that Mercy is seeing initial signs that stays, particularly in the neo-natal unit, are shorter. They're crediting the environment. Mercy has just renovated it's campus and doctors say there's preliminary research to indicate the fresh coat of paint and environment designed to reduce stress are helping people get better, faster. What do you think? Does environment matter?

This story was especially interesting to me since I delivered my first child there just a few months ago. I think having a warm environment that doesn't feel so sterile makes you feel relaxed if nothing else. It certainly helped calm my nerves. Mercy has an incredible new birthing wing that has huge suites complete with hot tubs, plasma televisions and beds for your partner. My friends tell me Methodist has a great birthing area as well that is calming and modern.

BB

Taxes Due

In Polk County and some others online you can go and pay the first installment of your property taxes online. Go to Iowataxandtags.com.

Red Umbrella

Need an umbrella?...Christmas is coming. Here's a link to the page on of our website where you can find it.

Chicken Soup

So I'm still trying to shake my cold and cough. I went to my training session at the gym yesterday anyway...I don't want to be fat and sick... Anyway, the gal I train with, Dee, tells me I need to go get some chicken soup from Mazetlan Restaurant. She even went so far as to call them and order it for me to pick up on the way home! She was right...it was like a tortilla soup but with chicken in it. Great call Dee! She also let me off the hook after I missed my appointment Tuesday. I was expecting a grueling workout (Think Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser)..but she took pity on my weakened condition.

Craziness

Someone put something in the water this morning because we were laughing a lot when the camera was off. The best one came after Brad compared himself to a hairless cat! We were asking for a picture of him over at radio this morning...Here it is. After he said he hadn't shaved, we noticed he looked pretty clean cut still. Apparently Brad and I share the same facial hair growth rate...it would take me four weeks to grow any noticeable facial hair. Thank goodness that's not in the works.

NBC Fall Lineup

I am BEYOND excited about watching some of my favorite shows tonight as the new fall season begins on NBC. In my opinion, The Office is the best show on television right now and I cannot wait to see what embarrassing and inappropriate things Michael Scott and the gang will be doing this year at Dunder-Mifflin. 30 Rock, My Name is Earl and ER are also new tonight. Should be a good night of television and I might be trying to keep my eyes open as a result tomorrow morning. Have any of you been watching NBC programing this week? What do you think of the new shows?

Also apologies for not being "into it" yesterday. I think the blog response reflected that. The effort behind the blog reflected how I felt. I was still fighting a stuffy head and cough. I remembered my old stand-by Zicam yesterday. It's like magic. Whatever they put into that stuff really helps.

In that poor effort I forgot to mention my Mother-in-Law Liz had a Birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Liz! If you met her on the street and guessed, you'd get her age wrong. She still looks about 25 years younger than she is. Clean livin!

Have a good one!

PWD

Olson Hearing, UAW agreement, and Out of my League

Good Morning!

Pat is headed home this morning to try to get a little rest before he comes back to do the noon show. If you watched the show at all this morning you probably noticed that he is a little under the weather. He's got a cold and I don't think golfing in the rain yesterday helped him get better. Heaven forbid Pat pass on an invitation to play golf. I guess I wouldn't either if I had the opportunity to play with Lynn Horak, the Chief Executive of Wells Fargo Bank Iowa. Patrick thought he was "out of his league." I will let him tell you more about that.
Hey, Back at it now at about 10:30am. I just needed to throw more drugs at this thing before I drown in my own head. I really thought I was over it as of yesterday. I felt good. Not so much now.
As for the golf invite, no, I really wasn't going to pass up a chance to golf with Lynn. He is a Today in Iowa Viewer and a really good guy who's been asking for months if I can find some time to get out and play some golf.
As far as being out of my league....I'm not a bad golfer...but this guy is a "stick"! In fact I was the high score of the foursome. Again, I didn't play that badly. These guys were just really good. Note to self: Improve golf game before next Horak invitation. He's as good a host as he is a golfer. I think I even found a story I can do. I won't say what because I don't want to broadcast it all over, but I think I might ask Lynn to work on a story this November with us. I told him, after that, he can be a special business correspondent to Today in Iowa.

By the way, my garage door is fixed. That means Pat no longer has to play chauffeur. To those of you who wondered why I didn't just pull it up manually... I tried but it didn't work.

Ok.. on to the news.

Olson Hearing

A special hearing is expected to be the first step toward removing West Des Moines City Councilman Brad Olson from office. This has to do with him living in the District he represents. It has nothing to do with the criminal charges pending against him. He gets to those Friday morning.

UAW Agreement
After another long night of talks the United Auto Workers and GM came to some sort of tentative agreement about a new contract. It still has to be approved by the rank and file but they'd be crazy not to. All of the information coming about about how much the union workers make is damaging to their cause. I am a dormant member of a union(I think) and I have seen the kind of benefit it can have for workers... particularly ones without leverage.
This is getting a little out of hand though. There are some standard lines that Union rank and file are using for their argument they should be paid more. They're old and really irrelevant. The one they can really stand on is that the company said it would take care of these retirees and their families. That's gong to end up being a promise broken. Union Members must realize by now...the contracts that provided thousands of people with health care they didn't pay a dime for is part of the larger reason the health care and insurance system is where it is.
I think Unions were once an essential part of the American workforce. They used to fight for workers rights, make sure that people didn't get hurt and that people who generally work the hardest physical labor got a fair deal. As far as I can tell, the last four years, the priority of some of the larger unions is getting a president elected. How much of the money that could have been used as strike pay has gone to Union leaders salaries? How much to Democrats running for office? To republicans for that matter? A dime is too much. That money belongs to workers and if the Unions get control of the healthcare and pensions for their retirees. I think they're going to wish they had most of it back. That's just my opinion.

I will add more later. I have to get out the door.
BB and PWD

Norwalk Shooting, Amber Alert and Medium Rare Plus

Good Morning,

We had two extra viewers this morning...All the way from Roscoe MT, please welcome Bob and Susan Murphy. That's Uncle Bob to you all...

Bob and Susan are on their way to Chicago and stopped by last night. It was really nice to see both. They were very patient as I dragged them around Des Moines and bragged on our city. We went out to dinner at Fire Creek in WDSM...I'll get to that in a minute.

First, a very busy day in the News.

Norwalk Shooting.

It's always a challenge when we're down one person to handle information that comes in during the show. Jon Cahill and Roger Riley got down to Norwalk quickly for us to cover a shooting that happened about 5 this morning. The behind the scenes of this is that Roger already had the live truck at another location ready for Jon to show up. It takes a lot to get all of that picked up and moved quickly. they do the best they can for us and we appreciate it.

More on the Norwalk Shooting

When we heard about the shooting on the police scanner this morning right before the show started we all wondered if it was a suicide. Come to find out it was not. This is what we know so far -- Steve Onnen was shot in the shoulder and police say his wife did it. Sadly, his three children were inside the house when it happened and one of them called 911. This morning the Norwalk Police Chief said he didn't think Onnen's injuries were life threatening.

BB

Amber Alert

This is how it's supposed to work. An amber alert was issued in Red Oak for a baby boy taken by his biological father , within an hour they had the baby back safe.

Ahmadinijhad in NY

The president of Iran is speaking at the UN today. So is President Bush. The thing you'll want to Google is Ahmedinejhad's speech at Columbia University. First, the President of the University smacked him down pretty good when he introduced the guy....then he talked about all of the controversial topics, 9/11...The Holocaust, terrorism...and the most comical moment came when he commented that there were no gay people in Iran. This was the point of the exercise. If you let this guy speak...he's going to do more than anyone else in ruining any credibility he's got. The thing about crazy...you know it when you hear it.

Huckabee Online Marathon

The former Gov of Arkansas is answering questions online for 24 hours straight.

You can link in through our Caucus website http://www.iowavotes2008.com/ . This is the way technology is effecting the political debate. It can bring the entire country in contact with a candidate if he/she wants to.

How much would you pay?

We did a story about someone paying 47-thousand dollars for a non speaking role on Will Ferrell's Next movie. What would you pay for a non-speaking guest role on Today in Iowa?

Medium Rare Plus

We went out to Fire Creek for dinner last night and for the third time in a row I had someone tell me they'd never heard anyone order a steak the way I did. I don't think it's unique, but I was surprised no one had heard of it. Jeriann echoed that this morning so I decided to ask you all. Have you ever hear of medium rare plus? I don't like to order a steak medium rare because so few places really do it well. if you add the plus you tell the chef you want it on the medium side of medium rare. Jeriann asked...Isn't that just Medium? No...I think it's a more specific order for the kitchen. Medium Rare Plus.

Wikipedia has this temperature guide:

• Raw - Uncooked. Used in dishes like steak tartare. Steak is rarely eaten at this stage. However, it is gaining popularity with raw foodists.
• Blue rare or very rare - Cooked very quickly; the outside is seared, but the inside is usually cool and not warm and definitely not cooked. The steak will be red on the inside.
• Rare - The outside is gray-brown, and the middle of the steak is red and slightly warm.
• Rare plus - The outside is gray-brown, and the middle of the steak is mostly red and warm, with some pink. Often ordered by those that prefer medium rare and don't mind rare but worry about overcooking towards medium.
• Medium rare - The steak will have a fully red, warm center. Unless specified otherwise, upscale steakhouses will generally cook to at least this level.
• Medium - The middle of the steak is hot and red with pink surrounding the center. The outside is gray-brown.
• Medium well - The meat is light pink with gray-brown surrounding the center.
• Well done - The meat is gray-brown throughout and slightly blackened or charred. Well done steaks are sometimes preferred for children and the elderly, as they are more susceptible to food-borne illness.

Now that that's out of the way...I'm going to go take Bob and Susan to Breakfast at the Drake Diner. What's your favorite Breakfast spot. I think this is a big moneymaker for someone. Some of the breakfast spots we have are too smokey and there are a lot of chains, but not a lot of Mom and Pop type places. Maybe when I retire...I could keep the same hours.

Have a good day,

PWD

Amadenijhad Visit, Start to a busy week and Pat

Good Morning...or if I said it this morning...Good Bmornig. I'm having a little trouble talking. Someone seems to have deposited a large quantity of snot in my head. It must make me a joy to sit next to for two hours. I'll let Brooke explain but I saw her a little earlier than normal this morning.

Hello everyone! Happy Monday. Pat had to pick me up this morning and not because I lost my license. (No, I did not imbibe at Octoberfest and then try to drive home) Last night, my husband shut the garage door and a few seconds later we heard a loud noise that sounded like someone crashed into the garage. Come to find out, something snapped on the piece that makes the garage door move up and down and now our garage door will not move at all. This means our cars are stuck inside. What a wonderful way to start the week! Anyway, Pat kindly agreed to drive all the way over to my house and pick me up. I have to admit, I kind of like having chauffeur service at that hour of the day! Hopefully the garage door gets fixed today or this could be a long week for Pat.

To the news, then we'll get to some of the weekend stuff and some of the week to come.

Ahmadinejad in NY
The President of Iran, is in New York City for a meeting of the UN General Assembly. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will speak at Columbia University today before appearing before the entire General Assembly tomorrow. There are a lot of people saying that this guy shouldn't be allowed to speak in the US, and I would have to agree with a statement I saw Sen Chuick Hagle make about this. I say let him speak, let him be questioned...that's the idea behind free speech. If you really think he's crazy, he's going to sound that way in an open forum. If you don't let him speak, we're turning our backs on the very principals we hope Iran will one day embrace. Free speech isn't just for the speech we like. It has to be for everyone or we don't really mean it.
I agree with the choice to ask him not to visit Ground Zero. That crosses a line I don't think I'm ready to support, but then again...how can you stop someone from traveling around the city of New York? We don't do that. So I wonder if he has to have all of his movements cleared with the State Department because we don't have diplomatic relations.


Iowa Stars Hockey Team Begins Practice
The Stars are gearing up for their third seaons in Des Moines which starts in a couple of weeks. We had the coach, Dave Allison, on this morning to talk about the new lineup and the future of hockey in Des Moines. What a nice guy. And I never get tired of hearing a Canadian accent. There has been a lot of talk recently about whether Des Moines can continue to support the Stars because attendance hasn't been as high as the owners want it to be. Allison said it takes time to grow a sport that many of us don't know a lot about. But he thinks this season is going to be a good one. What do you think about hockey in the Midwest. Do you think the team can survive? I have never been to a game but I plan to make it a priority this year. Let me know what you think.

City Council
The Wellmark Headquarters development agreement is on the table for a vote tonight at the Des Moines City Council. So is the news that Aviva USA is leaving to go to West Des Moines. Another interesting point from Jon Cahill this morning was a resolution asking the legislature to pass a law allowing municipalities to outlaw smoking in public places. efforts to do this failed because they violate Iowa's Constitution. The marketplace has taken care of much of this in the form of restaurants and bars with smoke free areas or with those businesses going smoke free all the time. I'm still on the fence on this one. I don't like smoke any more than anyone else. With the proper warnings...I wonder if it shouldn't be up to the business to allow or not allow smoking.

I was sad to hear about the death of 22 year-old Maggie Maulm. Our story this weekend made it clear this was a remarkable woman who had a really bright future. As a Mizzou alum, I was particularly impressed with her induction into the Mystical seven. Mystical Seven is one of the six elite secret societies of the University of Missouri-Columbia. The society was revealed to the public for the first time in 19o7, although little is known to outsiders about its origins. The origins may be related to the Seven Society at the University of Virginia. Mystical Seven taps seven outstanding seniors for membership based on their good deeds and selfless leadership and service to the campus and community.


Weekend
What a great weekend. I met up with my Uncle Jim who invited me to join him along with two of his friends for a couple rounds of golf in the Quad Cities. Both wondered if anything they said would end up on the Blog Monday morning. No way fellas...what happens in Silvis, stays in Silvis. We played the TPC Deere Run twice and had an excellent dinner Friday night in between rounds. I always enjoy seeing my Mom's Brother Jim. I think I've written here before that he's always been a good sounding board and grounding influence. He's a heck of a golfer to boot and I'm sure I love the game, in part, because it was a way to spend time with he and my Dad when I was growing up. I played a lot better than I did on my earlier trip this summer. It helps when they mow the rough. 88 the first day...91 the second. The Big Dog(the driver) was workin off the tee.

This weekend I tried to soak up the nice weather because I have a feeling it is going to disappear soon as cooler weather heads our way. Have you noticed that the trees are starting to turn color? I love fall for that very reason. On Sunday my son was dedicated at church and my family was here for the event. Evan screamed the entire time and cried especially hard during the Pastor's prayer. Right on cue I guess. I could see my parents laughing in the crowd. Hopefully the rest of the congregation found it funny, too.

The Week to Come
The Parade of Family continues this week when My Uncle Bob and Aunt Susan come to town. Should be fun. If Uncle Jim influenced golf growing up...then I am a Cub fan in part because my Uncle Bob's love of the Cub rubbed off on me.
I think he's truly one of those people who will go to his grave a happier man if the Cubbies win a World Series in his lifetime... maybe this is the year Bob.

Have a good day, I'm going to take more drugs (cold medicine).
PWD

Shooting, What a weekend, and Explaination

Good Morning!

Today in Iowa viewers amaze me. Apparently there are enough of you up and watching at 5am to warrant an email from Mediacom about something I said yesterday.

I talked about the Cub game being blacked out in this marker...that I called Mediacom and that they said it was Major League Baseball's choice to blackout the game. I expressed my strong disappointment at not being able to see the game...just the opinion of a lifelong Cub fan. Apparently Mediacom wanted to clarify some of my insane ramblings. For the record...here's the explanation:

Patrick –
It seems like most of the people I know listen to WHO TV News in the AM – and today I’ve had quite a few people say they heard some discussion on the Thursday AM program that made it sound like Mediacom was to blame for the lack of CUBS baseball viewing last night.
Nothing could be more erroneous, Patrick… and coincidentally, I was having dinner at a sports bar in Ames last night where a couple of guys came to the sports bar to specifically watch the Cubs games while eating buck burgers (Wednesday night special). The folks at the bar tried for a long, long time and couldn't tune in the game – and they are on DIRECTV, one of the direct broadcast satellite systems.
Here's the deal -- MLB chooses the market they declare as being their media market. With no MLB teams in Iowa - more than a handful of MLB teams in all the surrounding states declare Iowa as part of their main market. Then - they reserve the rights to blackout the games, presumably with the old-time excuse that they want people in their market to come to the game.
But holy cow - that game was a sell-out (never mind how impractical it is to get from Des Moines to Wrigley Field). The Cubs are hot; people want to see these games; I understand they get mad; but … . people also rely on news leaders to give them the correct information rather than to perpetuate a completely inaccurate misunderstanding.
I hope you will have an opportunity to help your viewers understand the reality here.
Their recourse, as I see it -- is to complain to the MLB...vent their frustration at the cause / the decision-makers (not the message carrier).
BOTTOM LINE: Mediacom, just like the satellite providers, is placed in the role of distributor. If the RIGHTS OWNER -- MLB -- does not allow the content to be distributed, then the distributors... DBS or cable ... have no way of pulling those signals in and distributing them out to our customers.

As I was writing this, a viewer email came in to let us know:

CUBS Blackout Story: The information you provided to your listening viewers is incomplete. We have DISH NETWORK, and we were able to watch the game on ESPN (High Definition Channel 9424). You also need to see if the people who have Direct TV were also able to see the Cubs game via ESPN. Perhaps there is more to the story than what you are reporting.

Thanks to Phyllis Peters for the explanation and to our viewer Eldon Sperry for the extra info. I don't think this is a conspiracy...I think Mediacom is doing the best it can given the legal circumstances. I think the thing that bugs me most is the fact that the HD signal was blocked. As you saw with the dish customer...it's possible to get it. I paid extra for it. I don't mind the normal signal being blocked, but work out a way to get that HD signal from MLB.

I also think I speak for the Cub fans when I say, I don't care how you work it out... we want to see the Cubs more in this market! It's unfair, unreasonable, and insane to hold Mediacom responsible for MLB blacking the game out. But did I mention I'm a Cub fan?

Ok enough about that to the News:

It's Brooke here.

Ok Pat, tell me how you REALLY feel. By the way, thank you bloggers for your suggestions on exercising with a young baby. I like the idea of walking with the Snuggli. My son loves being in it so I think I will try to get a walk in today before it gets too hot. I just need to figure out how to block the sun from his eyes. I am not sure I have any hats that fit him yet. And, I should start taking walks with the stroller. I suppose if I hit enough hills I will get some good cardio excercise. I need to just do it and quite finding excuses. I know I will feel better if I get off my butt!

Shawn Johnson

Ok... I know she wasn't in the news today, but can I just say one more time how stinkin' cute and talented this West Des Moines native is. Shawn Johnson is an amazing gymnast who won gold at the Pan Am Games this summer and could very well be the country's next Mary Lou Retton. I am so proud that she is from Iowa and I cannot wait to see how she does at the 2008 Games.

Speaking of... Last night, Pat, Jeriann and I went to a gathering at the Science Center that the station held for advertising clients. The station put together a video program that highlighted the upcoming 2008 Olympics in China. That got me thinking about how cool it would be for our sports department to travel there to cover Shawn. I think I need to start my own campaign to be a station correspondent from China. How cool would that be? And, Shawn isn't the only one might be competing in the games. Eddyville native Hally Dunn won gold at the Pan Am games in skeet shooting. She could be headed to the games if she wins a qualifying competition in March. By the way, Hally is from my neck of the woods. I graduated from Eddyville High School, too.

Late night Shooting

Two guys went into the China Chef on SW9th last night around 9:30pm, ordered food, then robbed the place. Scary because they used a gun and actually shot an employee. This brings up an interesting debate we sometimes have in the newsroom. The police say the two suspects are two black males in their 20's or 30's. Thanks. As you can imagine that doesn't narrow down anything, so we decided not to give any description this morning.

Delaware State Shooting

We got late word during the show that a shooting had happened at Delaware St University out east. The Today Show picked up the details for us but here's what we started with:

(Reuters)Two students were shot and wounded early on Friday on the Delaware State University campus and police were hunting for a sole gunman, the school said on its Web site.
The students at the Dover, Delaware, school were taken to a hospital, university spokesman Carlos Holmes said. A female student had "potentially life-threatening" injuries, and the male student was in "stable condition," he said. Holmes said a male suspect was still at large and students have been instructed to stay in their dormitories. The university canceled classes for the day and directed non-essential personnel not to report to work. "We have directed the student population to stay in their dormitories for their own safety. If we see students out and about we are going to tell them to move inside," Holmes said. He said the shooting occurred at 12:54 a.m. EDT and did not have any information about who the assailant was.

Full Weekend

If you missed the show, you missed a lot. Jeriann was down at Octoberfest, it starts tonight.

There's a road rally...yes road rally this weekend involving classic car buffs and a lot of fun go to www.dm2030society.org/ for more information.

Beaverdale Fall Festival starts tonight and runs through the weekend. Remember the Parade happens tomorrow morning starting at 10am. The events go through the weekend and remember, they're going to try and close down Beaver Ave on that main stretch through the neighborhood for most of Sat and Sunday. Http://fallfestival.org/intro.asp for more info.

Heritage Carousel has it's last weekend open in Union Park if you want to get the kids out, and Roger Riley will have more on The Weekend Morning show about a statewide barn tour this weekend. You can click on that link for more right now but watch Roger's story tomorrow morning as well.

We didn't even get to the Drake/UNI game this weekend on the show this morning, but I was reminded that if Drake wins the game, they will hold the mythical state championship for both basketball and football.

Have we filled your calender enough for the weekend? I hope so. Have fun, be safe and one more thing...play nice on here folks. I don't care if you criticize something I say, how we report a story...even a tie I wear or the fact that I have to wear make-up...great...all fair game. If you're going to do it...put your name behind it. Don't be a coward.

And thanks to all the bloggers who are self policing. I should also say, don't be too quick to jump on folks who are critical...they can have an opinion. Let's not go Lord of the Flies on them.

PWD

Caucus Calender Debate, Mercy Groundbreaking, and Blackout

Good Morning!


I can't say it was a good morning for me. My Cubs are locked in an epic pennant battle...ok they're limping into the playoffs, but that's beside the point! They were supposed to be on national TV last night on a channel I get in HD. Great! Sally was out to dinner with friends, I had some leftover ribs I was going to heat up and watch that game. It was a perfect night in my book... until I figured out that the game was blacked out. It made me mad enough that I actually called my Cable provider. Major League Baseball blacked out the game...they said. Now I'm sure that's true in a sense, but I doubt Major league baseball is in the habit of blocking fans from watching it's games. I would be willing to offer a guess that this has something to do with the contract Mediacom has with MLB. This game WAS broadcast somewhere...I don't care if it's Bud Selig or Marty Mediacom blocking the signal...I want my Cubs! And while we're on the subject, I know this is a town with split loyalties...but I still say this is a Cubs town. There's no way these games should be blocked.


It's simple to me. Find a way to make it happen. There's a way....just do it. With all the negative news about what providers Aren't carrying these days, wouldn't it be a good idea to just give customers what they want...I've heard that somewhere.



Now that my ranting is out of the way..

In the news:

Caucus Fight

Congress is the latest to try and change the nominating process. The proposal in front of the senate is a rotating system of primaries and caucuses proposed by secretaries of state from across the country a few years ago. I still disagree with that...see earlier blog posts for an explanation. But I do have a question. Do you really care if we lose that first in the nation status? I'm interested if this is just important to media and political types..

I wonder as well if this is a big deal to people who are not in the news or consider themselves "political junkies." Have any of you on the blog ever caucused? If we did lose the first in the nation status we will miss out on seeing all the colorful characters who run for president spend lots of time right here in Des Moines.

bb

West Des Moines

If you want to sign up for that self defense class they've got going call 222-3333 by October 1st.



Groundbreaking

The Mercy Cancer Clinic in West Des Moines promises to help a lot of people who travel a long way to get treatment. It sounds pretty cool. Holistic treatment, latest equipment etc... We're lucky to have some great cancer docs in Central Iowa.

It is unfortunate that we have to have a place like this because it means people are getting cancer, but it sounds like it will be exactly the kind of place where you want to go if you have to. From what I understand, it will also be perfect for some people who currently have to travel to places like the Mayo clinic. They may now be able to instead stay in Iowa for treatment.



Jena

The Mach on Jena Louisiana today is supposed to be huge. It started as a case of six black HS students accused of beating up a white student at the HS. The situation was aggravated because students who hung noeses from a tree in the school's courtyard weren't punished like the black students were. Another point interesting to this audience will be the fact that this story gained traction nationally as a result of blogs. Several bloggers that deal with issues in the black community got wind of the story and started talking it up. The result is that dozens of buses are headed to Louisiana today for a protest in Jena.

Last night on the Nightly News, Brian Williams said this could be the biggest protest since the Civil Rights movement. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this story.

Traffic

Brad may not be blogging here but we were talking about the backup out of the west suburbs in the morning between 7:30 and 8. What's the deal. Anyone have any insight. And before the traffic critics start going off about how it's not that big of a back-up...we never said it was. I am interested in why the traffic is slowing down so much between the west mixer and 63rd. I think it's the merging thing again...and I've noticed a ton of people doing 45 miles an hour in the right lane lately. Speed Up!





Sore

The trainer I work with at the gym will be happy to know I am a broken man this morning. I had a session with her TUESDAY! But it always works this way...I'm never sore the day after I train but I can always feel it coming. Thanks Dee!



Other than that...I'm done. Have a good day.

Well, I cannot say that I am sore from working out since my exercise routine consists of changing diapers, cleaning bottles and carrying Evan around the house. But that is fine for now. One of these days I will start up again. Anyone have any ideas on how to exercise and watch your child at the same time?

Have a great day everyone. Tomorow is Friday!

BB

Attacks, Rate Cut, and Back Together Again

Good Morning!

It's funny the way the mind works at two in the morning.

I got up, went through the usual routine and went to put some deodorant on...I needed to open a new one and was surprised to see a message waiting for me when I did. "Take a Risk" the stick of Degree advocated as I went to start my day. I almost had to laugh...is this really where I need a pep talk? Is someone, somewhere looking at their stick of deodorant and saying, "yeah, I think I will take a risk today...thanks Degree!". Nope...

Then I was thinking this could be a new game...like fortune cookies. People say you can attach the phrase, "in bed" to your fortune...it's pretty funny. Not sure it would work with degree's little hygienic-self help message but that's the way the brain was turning at 2:30 this morning.
(It's Brooke now): Well, day three and I feel like I am starting to get the hang of things again and my body is no longer in complete shock from getting up at 2:30 in the morning. I only pushed the snooze button once which is a true sign that getting up it is getting a little easier. Today was the first time the four of us (Myself, Pat, Jeriann and Brad) were together on the set and it felt really natural. We all agreed that the new team is going to have a lot of fun both on air and during the commercial breaks. Speaking of commercial breaks, that seems to be the time when we really have good dialogue about stories of the day and anything else going that happens to be top of mind.

To the News:

Attacks in West Des Moines

The latest news of a girl being attacked in broad daylight has me thinking a little more about safety. I've shared here before that I don't have a daughter so I'm not sure this is top of my mind. I am starting to think about Sally when she's out by herself. Thankfully, because of my early schedule, she's not out late often. The city of West Des Moines is thinking about it too. They're offering a self-defense class on October 3rd. The class sizer is limited so you have to call to sign up. October 1st is the deadline. Call Officer Tanya Zaglauer at 515-222-3333 to register.

Rates Slashed

There's a debate going on in most of the papers this morning about the Fed's move to lower interest rates a half a point yesterday. Good news for your 401k...the Dow went up like a rocket Tuesday. Critics are worried though. I'm not en economist so I'm not sure how it all works but if I understand it right, inflation (devaluing of the dollar) is the worry.

Some of the stories I read this morning called the decision a bold move, they even went so far as to call it the beginning of a new era in the economy. Bottom line for you, if you carry debt of most any kind your interest rate may lower as a result of this move.

(Brooke again): Will you start spending more money? This story is getting a lot of attention because it is an attempt to "correct" housing market problems we're seeing in some parts of the country. Economist interviewed as part of yesterday's rate cut stories seem to think that this is a good move because of its "psychological" impact on the country. In other words, it will ease worries that consumers and businesses may have about the economy. However, in the New York Times this morning there was an article about how this rate cut could actually allow people rack up more credit card debt and take out more loans to buy stuff they cannot afford. I guess this is a double edged sword. Either way, Alan Greenspan, the man who really understands the economy, says there is a chance we will have a recession.

Campus Security

The Regents essentially put off a vote on arming campus Police yesterday in favor of putting together a more comprehensive security policy for all of the Regents Universities here.

Speaking of campus security...have you seen the video of the guy getting tasered at U of Florida? NBC Nightly News made this into a free speech issue last night and I disagree. Talk about genuine censorship all you want...I agree there are enough instances of it in the US today. But in this case, this kid got up and essentially started taking over the event with Sen. John Kerry at University of Florida. He has no right to do that. He's got a right to ask his question,....Kerry has the right to tell him to go scratch. Once that exchange is over...the kid can go off if he likes, but once the Campus police ask him to leave...he can scream his head out all the way out the door, but he has no right to disturb the event that all those other people expected to watch. You can't yell fire in a crowded theatre. It's not an exact fit in this case, but free speech has to be balanced against the rights of the other people who came to hear Sen Kerry speak.

Hold a protest outside, gather a group who's unhappy with Sen Kerry. Make your argument in a more effective and interesting way than the other guy. If we let anyone get up and say anything anytime they felt like it...that's not freedom of speech, that's chaos.

I will argue for someone's right to speak in 99.9% of the cases, and as I've pointed out, this guy had a lot of other ways of expressing his displeasure with Kerry, and exercising his freedom of speech or right to protest...

I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Test Market

Jon Cahill did a really interesting story about a new business in town that's doing market research for all kinds of new products. Anything from TV ads to new foods...kitchen products to the latest electronics might be test marketed through this business.
They chose Des Moines because we're that middle of the road, Midwestern, fair kind of community. I know a lot of us think of Des Moines and Iowa being behind the curve when it comes to the cutting edge. I think it's kind of cool that the next big TV commercial or marketing campaign might be chosen because a bunch of Iowans sat down in a room and picked it.

The test market story Jon Cahill did got us thinking that maybe we will be called in to "try out" a product or service. I wonder if you get chosen in the same way as potential jurors.

Brad Ehrlich said market research done in Chicago can be quite profitable for the people who try out the products. He thought they made up to $150 dollars for their time.

Jeriann and I said we wouldn't mind doing it if it meant trying out new food. Pat thought he would like to do something involving new technology. What would you like to try out?

I'm going to get a nap before I come back for the Noon Show.

Hope you all have a good day and enjoy the weather.
Have a great day everyone. Talk to you tomorrow!

PWD and BB

One more thing. Our Chopper 13 Overhead view was of a corn maze Near Ankeny

Here's the link: www.growingfamilyfun.com/

Rate Cuts, Quality over quantitiy, and Suing God

Good Morning!

If you missed it this morning Jeriann's Dad is back in the US safe and sound. She'll be back for the evening shows tonight then back with us tomorrow morning.

To the news:

Rate Cuts

This is one that a lot of people have a hard time wrapping their brain around, or staying awake through, but the way the Fed sets interest rates effects most of us. The Fed is expected to lower key interest rates a quarter to a half a point. The idea is to east financial pressure on people who've borrowed money, have an adjustable rate mortgage, or high credit card debt. Hope it works.

Iowa Caucus Exhibit

We had a live guest from the State Historical Museum this morning talking about a project we're helping with over at the Historical Museum. It will be covering everything caucus and it opens in a couple of weeks. The description and some of the renderings I've seen look really cool. Take a look at this video from the SHS site. If you've got family for friends coming to town who don't understand, or would like to know more about the Caucuses...this will be the place to learn. It's also going to act as a place for forums and debates leading up to the Caucuses.

Downtown Development

One of the Urban Planning consultants The City of Des Moines hired to help with the downtown is here again for meetings at the Downtown Library. One will be at 11:30 one at 4:30. This meeting is about tying together the development that's gone on downtown. They're trying to come up with a way to get people around the downtown area easily. This goes back to a point I've made here before. Hopefully, a transportation system of some sort would get people out of the mindset that they're going downtown for one thing, then back home. If this really works it could allow someone to easily move from East Village, to Court Ave, to The Western Gateway quickly and conveniently.

Suing God

A Lawmaker in Nebraska filed a lawsuit against God. He was, reportedly, trying to make the point that anyone can sue anyone:

STATE SENATOR ERNIE CHAMBERS ACCUSES GOD OF CAUSING UNTOLD DEATH AND HORROR AND THREATENING TO CAUSE MORE.
THE OMAHA SENATOR, WHO SKIPS MORNING PRAYERS DURING THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND OFTEN CRITICIZES CHRISTIANS, BLAMES GOD FOR NATURAL DISASTERS AND IS SEEKING A PERMANENT INJUNCTION AGAINST HIM.
ANGERED BY ANOTHER LAWSUIT HE CONSIDERS FRIVOLOUS, CHAMBERS SAYS HE'S TRYING TO MAKE THE POINT THAT ANYBODY CAN FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST ANYBODY.

I hear St. Peter called the lawsuit frivolous.

Fore the Kids

I was invited to play golf in the ChildServe golf outing and fundraiser yesterday and Echo Valley Country Club yesterday. First of all thanks to the people at Chidserve for putting on a great event. We shot a great score of 9 under par on a very windy day. I'm happy to report I was able to contribute and had a great time.

It's time to go get some sleep. I want to be awake for the Noon show today. We're going to have a visit from Hall of Fame Quarterback Joe Montana. Now I was never a 49ers fan, but I am a HUGE Notre Dame fan so when the lady called and asked if we'd be interested in having Joe on the show...it didn't take long to give her an answer. I guess Montana found out he had high blood pressure later in his career and is going around the country to talk to people about managing that condition. He's got a website he's helping promote called The BP Success Zone. I imagine having someone like Joe Montana makes people listen. You can see the interview today at noon.

Update: 3:30...Home now and having a snack before a trip to the gym. I think this job is fun for a lot of reasons. I think some days it's really fun. Meeting and getting a picture with Joe Montana was a great experience that I'll remember for a long time.

PWD

Bush Replaces Gonzales, Brooke's Back and Jeriann's Dad Isn't

Good Morning!

What a morning. We're welcoming back Brooke Bouma to the show this morning. I can honestly say it's like she never left. We've talked about her return for a while now. I'm sure she'd agree...it's good to stop talking about it and start working!

The other "return" I teased you about Friday is Jeriann's Dad.

Get it...we had to send Jeriann away (she had to leave) so another member of our family could come back...I couldn't just give it away.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, Jeriann's Dad has been in Iraq for the last year. He's an Army reservist. Those of you who have military in the family are probably familiar with, the military doesn't always work as scheduled..So JR's Dad was supposed to come home Sunday night.

Instead she got about five calls telling her family the flights home had been delayed. The last we'd heard, he was supposed to be back at five this evening...we know he's in the US, but stuck in Maine.

I had to giggle a little at all of your guesses...TRISHA's coming back?????? Come on guys, she just left.

Well, I made it through my first day back and I can honestly say it feels like coming home although I did feel a little nervous getting back on the set. It's been two years since I left WHO and I think it will take a couple of days to start feeling completely comfortable again. Plus, I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night which doesn't help matters. I went to bed at around 8:30 last night but didn't actually fall asleep until about 10:30. I guess I will need some time to re-adjust. I can't wait for confirmation that Jeriann's dad finally made it to Kansas. I know this homecoming has been a long time in the making.

BB

To the News:

Replacement:

The president is ready to announce his replacement for the AG. Michael B. Mukasey, a retired federal judge from New York, to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. Here's a picture of Mukasey swearing in Rudy Giuliani back in 1994. The weird part of this story is that he's apparently not conservative enough for some Republicans. Reports out this morning indicate there will be a move from the right to block his confirmation.

Reserves Going to Iraq

A group of Marines has a going away Ceremony this morning. It's probably going to be too late to go by the time you read this. They were scheduled to have the ceremony in Johnston at 8:45 at Camp Dodge.

O.J. Oh Jeez!

Thanks to our Blog Correspondent Mara White for the heads up about the Today Show Audio of what happened in that Vegas Hotel Room. Ok that sounded weird...anyway My friend Mara called to tell me about the Today show OJ story. Make sense now? If Not, Here's the link to the story.

Hawkeye Arrested

This isn't what Iowa needed after this weekend. Iowa redshirt freshman safety Lance Tillison was arrested over the weekend.

Enough about that but while we're talking about the Hawks, I will state for the record that I can't believe ISU won this weekend. I know Cyclone fans are going to get on me for this one but wow. We were playing golf and the clubhouse kept sending updates to the GPS in the cart and we couldn't believe it! The Clones looked much improved from what I saw. It proves any College team can beat any other college team any given weekend. Except if you're Notre Dame. I'm happy ND lost this weekend though. If they'd beat Michigan we would have had to talk my Friend Emily's entire family off a ledge.

Weekend

I had a great time Friday at the Homebuilders Association golf outing at the Legacy. It was Soooo windy Friday that we had to bundle up most of the day. Still, it's a lot of fun meeting people who watch and getting to know them a little. On top of that I bought some raffle tickets and get this, I won a new Taylor Made R7 Driver. Since I already have one...Happy early Birthday Sally. She jokes that I'm holding her back on the golf course for fear she may beat me. Now I think I really am scared.

Saturday Sally was off to class early so My friend Fred Flippin and I drove down to Riverside Iowa to play the new Blue Top Ridge Golf Course. This place is situated in the middle of nowhere, but the minute you see the golf course you know you're in for a treat.

Fred and I decided to play the $1000 tees. They're the longest measuring 7500 yards total. That's a lot.

The front 9 was really nice. It was hard, but after playing the back 9 it looked easy. The front sort of meanders around the grounds of the casino and near what I can only assume is the Iowa River. There are some beautiful views of the river and a lot of nice golf holes. The back gets into a hilly piece of ground right next to the casino and it's amazing! Here are a couple of pics from the back 9. They don't do the grounds justice. The views are beautiful and the course is as good a challenge as there is in Iowa. With respect to Harvester and TPC Deere Run, two of my other favorite golf courses...This one is equal to, or even better than both. With some time to mature, it's easily the hardest test of golf in the state.

For the record I shot a 98...I was pretty Happy.

Fred and I made friends with our Beer Cart girl Mandy. She was great! Fred and I kept getting the Barry Manilow song of the same name stuck in our head. He emailed me this pic this morning:

The highlight of Sunday was a walk around Gray's Lake. Except for one thing. On our second lap, there was this trail of dog poop. I mean there were like four piles all ten feet from one another. I love watching the dogs walk around the lake...It's fun to say hi, but don't they already provide bags for the poop? Scoop it! Come on Dog owners...back me up!

Anyway it was a good weekend and a great start to the week with Brooke!

PWD

I had a great weekend. My husband and I got rid of some of the junk taking up space in our house. Some friends from church had a garage sale and invited us to join in. Surprisingly, we sold almost everything despite the fact that it was almost freezing Saturday morning. I guess it didn't stop those devoted garage sale enthusiasts. We went out for dinner on Saturday night and took our son with us. He did great and it was nice to get out of the house. I think today was a great start to what is going to be something fun.

BB

Olson to Treatment, RV wake-up and Waiting in the Wings

Good Morning!

Hope you had as much fun as we did this morning on the show. I'll get to Jon Cahill's wake-up on RVTV later but first, we had a visitor this morning for the show. I can only call her that for a couple more days. Brooke came in to get reacquainted with the procedures here in the morning. It's not a lot different but there are a few things to get used to. I forget that she wasn't here when we moved to the new set. That in and of itself is something to get used to.
So we had some fun when the camera was off. Everything looks like it's ready for Brooke's return to the show Monday morning. The best part...we've got another surprise that I'll keep you hanging about. I'll give you a clue: There's someone else coming back to Today in Iowa Monday morning and someone else has to leave because of it. Don't do too much guessing...I don't want to ruin the surprise for people who aren't.
I'll throw one more thing in here but I think I convinced Brooke to Blog! She's working on it now so look back for an update in a few minutes.


The News has some good and some bad in it.

Olson
As I told you yesterday Councilman Brad Olson isn't saying anything to us but his attorney is talking to the Register. In a copyrighted story, Olson's attorney told the Register that the Councilman would seek treatment for an undisclosed medical condition at an out of state treatment facility. No idea what that means to his future, but it can't be good when the Mayor is calling for Olson to resign.

RVTV Wake-up
Hello! It's Brooke here. I'll get to RVTV in a moment but I first have to say that this whole blogging thing is new to me. In fact, I have never blogged. I guess that makes me a BV (blog virgin). I left WHO just two years ago and in that short amount of time the station has really embraced this new line of communication with viewers. I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this. OK.. on to RVTV. Do we have the best sports team or what? In case you didn't catch the show this morning, Jon Cahill decided to provide a wake-up call to Keith and the gang with the help of a few friends. Jon talked the ISU Marching Band into meeting at the RV at 6:00 this morning to play the ISU fight song and a few other tunes. Keith had no idea this was going to happen so as you can imagine it made for some good TV. Well, that is all for now. I will no doubt have lots to share on Monday after my first day back on the air. I have to admit that I am a little nervous about getting back into the swing of things but I am thrilled to return. See you Monday morning! Have a great weekend.

BJB



I'm Outa Here. I missed my haircut appointment yesterday because I slept through it...I do that sometimes. So I need to go get that done before heading out for a Golf Outing. I'll tell you about that and , what I think will be a really fun weekend on Monday.

PWD

Bush Address, Wanted:Councilman, and No Clubs

Good Morning,

I was so excited to have an afternoon without visitors or responsibilities that I'd planned on going out and hitting a few golf balls at the driving range in Urbandale on Wednesday afternoon. So I hopped in the car about 4pm, thinking I had an hour and a half before Sally got home...drove up to Longview Golf Center, opened the trunk, and realized I didn't have my golf clubs (the picture to the right helps illustrate).

Downer.

Sally and I played Sunday and I forgot to get my clubs out of her trunk...don't you hate stuff like that?

To the News:

Bush Address

A full week of making the case that the troop surge is working in Congress and in the press...The President gives us a view of his plans for the next few months. Don't expect much different than you heard from Gen Patraeus. The President is doing what he said he would and listening to the General. The address is at 8pm.

Olson

At the writing of the Blog we've been told West Des Moines Police picked up Councilman Brad Olson.

Ankeny Police issued an arrest warrant for Olson yesterday and after getting a tip he was at the Walnut Creek Inn, West Des Moines Police made the arrest today. The arrest in connection with the theft of a Ford truck three years ago.

If the councilman was in a position that was hard to explain before, he's into it much deeper here.
If you're keeping track at home, he now has theft charges for allegedly stealing prescription drugs at a Hy-Vee, He has been representing a district , in which, he hasn't lived for weeks (at least), there's evidence he charged personal items and tried to have them billed to the city, and Now this.

When he finally showed up for a Council Meeting Olson said the TV stations weren't being fair with him so he didn't want to do an interview with us.

I'll give media critics their due. Sometimes we overstep and convict before a person has a chance at an explanation. This story had a chance of simply being some personal problems that the Councilman had to work out. Problems might have been explained away.

Now it appears an avalanche of evidence exists pointing to something larger than personal problems. No matter the circumstances of Olson's life, if he indeed stole a truck, charged items to taxpayers that were for his personal use, and stole prescriptions, there are consequences of those choices.

We'll update this story at Noon.

Other than that we expect our first Brooke sighting tomorrow morning. She's going to come in tomorrow and get reacquainted with the show. It'll just be behind the scenes but I might convince her to blog. We'll see.

Have a good day,

PWD