A handful of people testified Wednesday in Mason City at the second hearing of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy on legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. One man who only identified himself as "Jesse" who says he's been using a number of different drugs through the last eight years to deal with a hip injury. Jesse says he'd like the opportunity to be able to try medical marijuana.

Jesse says he doesn't trust the F.D.A. and says marijuana is a natural plant that God put on the planet. He says he treats his problems now with natural herbs and oils just so he can walk. Jesse says he thinks medical marijuana could help a number of people who are suffering with pain.

Jesse for people who have cancer, one of the biggest problems is that they stop eating, and he says marijuana helps control their nausea so they can eat. He says it also helps with glaucoma and other illnesses. Another person who testified was 20-year-old "Jay" who says he suffered a major spinal injury and was turned on to marijuana by a friend who said it would help him with his difficulties of back pain and eating.

Jay says after he smoked marijuana he quickly "got the munchies" and ate a full hamburger and plate of fries and could not feel the pain. He says before that he could barely get out of bed, but on a night when he smoked marijuana before going to bed, he got up and had a "wonderful morning." Jay hopes legislators will take a serious look at legalizing medical marijuana.

Jay says for the medical reasons alone it can be regulated right to take care of people and he says there are plenty of stories of how it helps people. There are two more public hearings scheduled and then the Pharmacy Board will compile a report and issue a recommendation to the Iowa Legislature before the 2010 session. A bill to legalize the medical use of marijuana failed to advance at the statehouse last year.

A poll released Wednesday shows Iowans are worried about the safety of food and want legislators to approve a plan to make it safer. Carolyn Brickey of the Pew Charitable Trust talked about the poll at a food safety forum at Drake University in Des Moines.

Brickey says the poll indicates both a high level of concern and an urgency that Iowans feel about the need to give the government more tools to protect our food supply.

She says the poll was evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Brickey says 50% of the people in the poll said they have become more concerned about the food supply in the wake of some major food borne illnesses. She says about 90% of the people polled said there needs to be greater protection of the food and they believed the federal government was the vehicle for protecting our food. "There was little if any disagreement about that," Brickey says.

Brickey says there were several specific issues people responded to in the poll. Brickey says:"First of all they believe that we should put imported food on the same footing that we have domestic food, and they should meet the same standards. They think that we should require that inspections of our food should be stepped up by the F.D.A. to every six to 12 months. That we should develop a workable system to do a better job of tracing our food supply and the we should require companies to test food and report the tests to the F.D.A."

Brickey says Iowans feel the same way about food safety as the rest of the U.S. She says the results show an eroding public trust in food safety and that's consistent with a national poll she says they'll release next week. Brickey says other polls have shown the same thing. She says the U.S. House has passed legislation and not it is the Senate's turn.

The poll showed that 67% of the people would support an annual fee of $500 per food processing facility to help fund the F.D.A.'s actions to improve food safety. The survey of 511 registered voters was conducted between August 10 and 12th. You can see the full survey results here .

Health experts from around the state met in Des Moines today to discuss preparations for a possible outbreak of the H-1-N-1 flu virus this fall. Iowa Department of Public Health Director Tom Newton says the disease was not as devastating as initially feared last spring, but states need to be ready if the virus turns more deadly over the coming months.

"We feel very confident at this point that we're as prepared as we can be, recognizing there are a lot of unknowns as we move into the fall," Newton said at the conclusion of the meeting. The University of Iowa is one of eight sites in the country conducting federally financed research on the vaccine to protect against H-1-N-1 flu.

Newton says the first doses of the vaccine probably won't be made available to the public until October and Iowa's share will come in relatively small batches. "I think they said we might get an initial amount of 200,000 (doses)," Newton said. "So, it's going to be in small increments and it will continue on throughout the fall."

Governor Chet Culver attended today's meeting and said the general public can help mitigate the severity of any H-1-N-1 outbreak. "They can practice healthy habits, they can wash their hands, they can carry a handkerchief in their back pocket like this," Culver said as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. "This could make all the difference, but that requires - in some cases - changing behaviors. That's why we're here."

Culver says state officials must walk a fine line between preparing the public for H-1-N-1, while avoiding undue alarm. Newton says health professionals should "prepare for the worst, but hope for the best." 

A woman from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) climbed into a large aquarium filled with red water outside a McDonald's in Des Moines today to protest the treatment of chickens.

PETA spokesperson, Kristina Addington of Louisville, Kentucky, says their concern is the processing of chickens for McNuggets.

She says the throats of the chickens are cut while they are fully conscious, they suffer broken wings, legs and abuse by workers. "So we are calling on consumers to boycott McDonalds until they end the worst of these abuses," Addington says.

Addington spoke while Ariela Rubin of New York sat in the aquarium of red water, while wearing a bikini and red body paint. She says their request is that McDonald's use a method called controlled atmosphere stunning, or "C-A-S" for processing the chickens. She says it is more humane method.

Addington says the method is something a lot of McDonald's in Europe are using and other companies around the world are starting to use. "As the restaurant chain that sells more chicken than any other her in the U.S., we believe McDonald's has the responsibility as well as the ability to require the switch," Addington says.

Local officials at the McDonald's referred questions to the corporate office, which sent a statement to Radio Iowa.

The statement said: "We appreciate the chance to correct the inaccuracies of PETA's campaign, and to outline the facts about McDonald's animal welfare practices. McDonald's expects humane treatment of animals by our suppliers in every part of the world where we do business.

McDonald's requires our food suppliers to do the right thing - for animals, for humans, and for the environment. Our goal has always been to lead the industry by bringing about improvements in animal welfare including rigorous, ongoing audits of our suppliers' facilities. McDonald's works with leading independent animal welfare experts and makes decisions based upon science to promote continuous improvement in animal welfare as part of our broader sustainable supply chain initiatives.

McDonald's continues to support our chicken suppliers' use of both controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) and electrical stunning. There is no conclusive scientific consensus that one practice is better than the other, however, we recognize that in either method, good management practices are critical. It is also important to note that in the U.S., there are no large-scale chicken producers that currently use the C-A-S method, therefore demands to purchase chickens from this method to meet McDonald's supply needs are not viable."

The Iowa Court of Appeals has overturned the conviction of a man charged in connection with the brutal murder of northwest Iowa teenager.

Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez is the former owner of a restaurant in Estherville who admits he was the leader of a drug-dealing gang. He was convicted of second degree murder and second degree kidnapping in connection with the death of Gregory "Sky" Erickson.

Erickson, who also lived in Estherville, was 15 when he was killed in June of 1997. Prosecutors say he was beaten and shot in the head, execution style, because he owned money to the drug dealer. The teen's body was found in an abandoned farmhouse in Minnesota, just north of the Iowa border.

Federal charges were filed against Castillo in 1997, but dismissed in 1998 because he fled to Mexico and Mexican authorities would not send him back to the U.S. for a trial that could result in the death penalty. In 2004, state charges were filed and in 2005 Castillo was sent back to the U.S. to stand trial.

The Iowa Court of Appeals has noted Castillo showed "skill at evading arrest," but it ruled prosecutors had not shown "good cause" for failing to give Castillo a speedy trial in state court. The court accused prosecutors of "inaction" and "miscalculations" -- and pointed to a rule which requires the state to bring a defendant to trial within 90 days after he or she has been indicted.

Ten people -- all members of a gang that prosecutors say was led by Castillo -- have been charged with varying roles in the teenager's brutal death. Two judges on the appeals court filed a formal dissent today, blaming Castillo's "flight" to Mexico for the delay in his trial.

The prevalence of methamphetamine in Iowa isn't as abundant as it was five years ago, but there's still a large enough presence of the drug that an $8 million anti-meth project focusing on 16 states will include Iowa. The advertising campaign is being sponsored by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Dale Woolery, with the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy, says Iowa did experience a big reduction in meth labs earlier this decade, but the state is still at the center of the meth epidemic. "We're in the second year of what appears to be a small resurgence (of meth in Iowa)," Woolery said.

"Last year, the number of meth labs increased for the first time in a fews years and this year we're tracking at a rate where we'll probably see another increase." Woolery says the key to beating the meth epidemic not only involves catching the traffickers, but also keeping people from trying the drug.

"I think with methamphetamine you see a super addictive quality that doesn't reach out and grab people necessarily, but once someone's started using, they are susceptible to addiction," Woolery said. "It can happen rather quickly and it can be a strong hold." According to the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, meth lab seizures in Iowa peaked in 2004, when law officers were dismantling an average of 125 labs per month.

Now, authorities are discovering fewer than 20 labs per month. In 2005, the Iowa Legislature passed a law limiting sales of non-prescription pseudoephedrine - a key ingredient in meth. 

The Character Counts organization has announced its annual awards which will be presented in October. Character Counts focuses on the six pillars of character --- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, citizenship, and fairness. Character Counts in Iowa spokesperson, Amy Smit says this year marks the first year of a new award.

The new award is called the "Aaron Eilerts Service Award" and honors people in Iowa who give back to their community. Eilerts was a Boy Scout from Eagle Grove and will be honored posthumously this year and then each year someone will be honored with the award for giving back to their community. Eilerts was one of four Boy Scouts killed when a tornado struck the Little Sioux Scout Camp in June, 2008.

Smit says this year's "Organization of Character" award will go to Trinity Regional Medical Center in Fort Dodge. She says they have done a great job of internalizing the six pillars of character and all of the staff have taken the time to learn about the pillars and making it part of the way they do business. Smit says a long-time figure on the Iowa sports scene will receive the "Robert Ray Pillar of Character" award that's named for the state's former governor.

Smit says they typically give out one or two of these awards each year and they go to people who have "put their life's passion into promoting good character and being a good citizen. This year's winner is Jim Hallihan the director of the Iowa Games.

Hallihan was an assistant men's basketball coach at Iowa State University before taking over leadership of the Iowa Games.

Other awards for this year are: Community of Character: Cedar Valley; Educator of Character: Marilyn Clauss (Clive); School of Character: Beaver Creek Elementary (Johnston); Pursuing Victory With Honor: Iowa Hall of Pride; Citizens of Character: Meghan Hammen (Iowa City), Elizabeth Swanson (Cedar Falls) & Eddie Diemer (Cedar Falls); Character Champion: Beth Stephas (Eagle Grove); Partner of the Year: KDSM Fox 17 (Des Moines). Award winners will be recognized at the 2009 Awards Banquet on Saturday, October 17, 2009 in West Des Moines.

The death of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy will cause some movement among committee chairmen in the senate. Kennedy headed up the Health and Education committee, which is a focus of the health care reform debate.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat and current chair of the agriculture committee could also be in the mix for a change, but he says its all just speculation right now.

Harkin says it's too early to speculate about that as Senator (Chris) Dodd is the next ranking member of the committee ahead of Harkin. Harkin says Dodd is chairman of the banking committee and could move to chairman of the health committee.

Harkin says he won't make any decisions until Dodd decides what he is going to do. Harkin made his comments in Sioux City at an Ag committee subcommittee hearing.

A former state legislator is heading up a "Draft Branstad" effort to encourage former Republican Governor Terry Branstad to run again in 2010.

Terry Branstad served 16 years as governor and left office in January of 1999. Former southeast Iowa Representative Sandy Greiner of Keota is leading what she calls "our effort" to get Branstad to leave his job as president of Des Moines University and hit the campaign trail again.

"I want to know how much support there is for him out there and this seemed to be a way to do it," she says.

There's now a "Draft Branstad" Twitter account , a Facebook page and a website. The website features a minute-long video showing only four pictures of the modern-day Branstad, but there are 14 snapshots taken of Branstad during his time as governor.

"He's just what I think we need," Greiner says. "He's been through the fire several times and come out on the other side successful."

Greiner was elected to the legislature in 1992, representing a district that included Eddyville which she says Branstad helped recover from the Floods of 1993.

"He just did an incredibly remarkable job dealing with that crisis and Iowa is in a crisis right now," Greiner says. "It's a different kind of a crisis, not discounting the problems we have with not getting our flood related issues resolved, but we're dealing with a financial crisis. (Branstad) has been through that, too."

Greiner insists she has not met with Branstad, but she also suggests Branstad knows about the "draft" effort was being launched today.

"I have not sat down and talked with the governor about this at all. He knew," Greiner says. "I had no discussions with him, just decided it was time to find out what kind of support (Branstad) has. I think it's huge."

Greiner also says she has "had no discussions" with former Branstad aide Doug Gross, the 2002 Republican nominee for governor who has been encouraging Branstad to run in 2010. Greiner says she's not talked with former Branstad law partner Richard Schwarm either. Schwarm, the former chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, is part of a group called the "Iowa First Foundation" which has financed polls that show Branstad favored in a match-up with Democratic Governor Chet Culver.  

Every month, Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss surveys supply managers in a nine-state region, including Iowa. An index is developed from the survey and Goss says the August index was 48.4. It's the first decline in the Mid-America Business Conditions Index since January.

"We had been moving out of the recession, at least according to supply managers, and now there's this economic hiccup," Goss said. "Now we’ll have to wait and see what the next survey has in store for us. But right now, it was not a good report, certainly indicating at best that this recovery is very soft."

The overall index for August sank from July's 51.7 and June's 49.3. Anything above 50 is considered growth positive. Goss says supply managers continue to trim inventories and reduce costs. "They are trying to keep costs to a minimum. Inventory carrying costs to a minimum, employee cost to a minimum, benefit costs to a minimum…in other words, when you can't grow your revenue, you tend to move toward costs and that's what we're seeing," Goss said.

Iowa's Businesses Conditions Index is slightly better than the entire nine-state region, but slipped to 48.9 in August from 49.8 in July. Goss credits a downturn in farm income. "The farm economy is to some degree bringing down the rest of the overall economy, particularly in rural areas. Urban areas, particularly larger urban areas, are not seeing the impacts yet, so those are doing pretty well," Goss said.  

The Iowa Department of Human Services says child support collections were up two percent over last year despite the downturn in the Iowa economy. Carol Eaton, the head of the child support program for the Department of Human Services, says the slight increase is good considering the economic factors.

"I know that we've had a difficult year in terms of the economy but glad to see that we've been successful in collecting the dollars," Eaton says. The problems in the economy are evident in the way child support is being collected --- as payments from unemployment checks were up 125% last year.

"Last year we collected about eight million dollars versus this year, just about 18 million dollars, so a significant growth in dollars coming through unemployment benefits," Eaton says.

D.H.S. spokesperson Roger Munns says the increase in collections from unemployment benefits did not come from Iowans who were discovered as they signed up for unemployment. Munns says he believes the people were already known by the department, but their source of income changed, so their unemployment benefits were then used as the source of their child support.

Munns says the economic downturn has caused more and more parents to ask that their child support orders be modified. He says the support payments can be changed if a person goes on unemployment and is making less money, but there is a built in time lag in the change.

He says the legislature created waiting periods to be sure that the person who requested the modification of their support amount really needed to have that change.

Munns says that would prevent situations where a person lost their job and got the support payment modified, and then they quickly got another job. The state collected $351-million in child support in 2008. 

Unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State's website indicate a Democrat has eked out a win in a southeast Iowa House race. Democrat Curt Hanson beat Republican Stephen Burgmeier by just 107 votesin today's special election .

State tax revenues have declined for a seventh consecutive month. 

In the past two months, net state tax receipts have declined by a little more than four percent compared to July and August of 2008.  According to the Legislative Services Agency analysis, it amounts to a $41.5 million decrease, fueled in large part by a nearly nine percent decline in sales and use tax payments to the state in the month of August.

Personal income tax payments to the state were up slightly, by less than $2 million. Corporate taxes were up a bit as well, by a little less than a million dollars.

A three-member panel of financial experts is scheduled to meet October 7 to reevaluate their official estimate of state tax revenue for the current budgeting year. Their decision could be the catalyst for cuts in the state budget.

The latest survey of Iowa's largest employers shows they're growing more confident about the economy. Elliot Smith, executive director of the Iowa Business Council, says the survey asks 20 business leaders about their plans for the next six months.

"Generally, the survey results look good," Smith said. "For the second consecutive quarter, we're see all indicators move ahead." An index compiled from the surveys hit 48.7 in the third quarter. Any score below 50 on the 100-point scale is considered negative, but Smith says the outlook on sales is particularly encouraging.

"We saw sales actually move into positive sentiment territory," Smith said. "Sales landed at 54...that tells us that corporate executives see sales trending ever so slightly, but still in positive territory." The third-quarter report also showed the index for capital spending at 49, up from 33 in the second-quarter. Employment posted an index of 43, up from 38.

"Since the first quarter, we have seen numbers move ahead, back towards positive territory," Smith said. "I guess we would see that as an encouraging sign of growth and activity in our state's business climate." The members of the Iowa Business Council , combined, employ around 210,000 Iowans.

An animal rights group released video today it says was shot during an undercover investigation of the Hy-Line chicken hatchery in Spencer. Mercy For Animals of Chicago Executive Director Nathan Runkle says the investigator used a hidden camera after gaining employment at the factory for two weeks in May and June. Runkle says the video "documented a list of horrific animal cruelty."

Runkle says that cruelty included "workers violently throwing birds, birds being snapped by their fragile necks and being mutilated without painkillers, industrial equipment injuring and killing birds, chicks going through scolding wash cycles while they are still alive, and all of the male chicks being ground up while they are still alive."

Runkle says they are calling on the 50 largest grocery chains in America to put labels on the eggs they sell. He says the labels would read "warning male chicks are ground up alive by the egg industry." Runkle says,"This is the egg industry's best kept dirty secret, that every year over 200 million male chicks who are useless to the egg industry because the are males and they don't produce eggs and they are a breed that they don't grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat, so these birds are considered a byproduct."

Runkle says state laws don't protect farm animals, and neither do the federal statutes. He says federal laws exempt all poultry and most farm animals from being protected, not only at hatcheries, but also at factory farms, during transport and during slaughter. Runkle says,"This is another issue that we're hoping to bring awareness to, is the fact that farm animals do not receiver the same sort of protection under the law from horrific cruelty that dogs and cats do, but of course these animals suffer and feel pain in just the same way."

Hy-Line released a statement saying the video "appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of our animal welfare policies. We have initiated an immediate investigation of the entire situation although it would have been more beneficial had we been aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred." It goes on to say that any employees involved will be disciplined per company policy, up to and including termination.

Hy-Line spokesperson Tom Jorgenson told Spencer radio station KICD that the company has decided not to do any TV or radio interviews at this time and will release further information once their investigation is complete. You can see the video on the Mercy for Animals website .

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Rants is questioning the business acumen of rival Bob Vander Plaats, while an associate of Vander Plaats defends his work. Rants points to tax returns for "Opportunities Unlimited" -- a nonprofit based in Sioux City that was headed by Vander Plaats.

"Bob always claims that Iowa needs 'a turnaround C.E.O.' but taking an operating surplus and turning it into a deficit is something Governor Culver has already perfected," Rants says. "We don't need another C.E.O. who specializes in downturns. We need somebody who can actually balance budgets, not take on debt and improve Iowa's fiscal condition."

According to Rants, Opportunities Unlimited had an operating surplus when Vander Plaats arrived, but by 2003 it had a deficit. A spokesman for Vander Plaats dismisses the charges from Rants, saying they are "wholly inaccurate." Eric Woolson, a spokesman for the Vander Plaats campaign, says in 2001 Vander Plaats moved out of the C.E.O. role to became chairman, then in mid-2002 Vander Plaats assumed a "strategic vision role" for a sister organization called "Quality Living."

Rants counters that while Vander Plaats left the C.E.O. position in 2001, he was still a key manager. "He turned an operational surplus into a deficit. He doubled the debt that they took on. Their public support for their charity dried up during his tenure," Rants says. "It's a record of taking a good organization and putting it in the tank."

The chairman of Opportunities Unlimited has issued a statement defending Vander Plaats, saying it is "unfortunate that such negative statements would be issued based on inaccuracies."

Rants points to the tax records which show charitable contributions to the nonprofit were over half a million the year Vander Plaats arrived and had dropped to less than $30,000 in the year Vander Plaats left his job there as a consultant.

"He left the organization, I think, in worse shape than he started with," Rants says.

Rants is raising this issue today because Rants says Vander Plaats said this at a recent campaign forum: "At the last meeting we were at together he talked about how he had quadrupled the assets of the organization and it just seemed odd. It didn't seem realistic that net assets would go up by 430 percent as he claimed and so I figured it was time to check it out."

The chairman of Opportunities Unlimited says Vander Plaats was recruited in 1996 to lead the agency when it was in "grim" financial straits and after four-and-a-half years, Vander Plaats had "substantially improved" the nonprofit's financial condition and expanded its services.

"It is sad that Bob's success as a C.E.O. at Opportunities Unlimited would be questioned by someone who did none of that hard work," said Dr. Kim Hoogeveen.

A.A.R.P.'s state director says a new survey by the organization shows most of its 400,000 members aren't ready to give up on health care reform. Bruce Koeppl says they wanted to do the survey in the wake of the numerous congressional town hall meetings and the "well-documented concerns" and "myths" that came out of those meetings.

"As you'll see these results are a firm rebuttal of the notion that older Iowans don't want health care reform this year. In fact they show that our members believe just the opposite," Koeppl says. He says the findings also reject the notion that older Iowans are against changes in Medicare, as he says Iowa members of A.A.R.P. "overwhelming support" strengthening Medicare as a part of health care reform.

A.A.R.P. surveyed members 50 years and older the last weekend of August and 63-percent said the system needs major changes, while another 28-percent said at least minor changes are needed. Thousands of members have dropped out of A.A.R.P. over the health care issue, but Keoppl downplays those defections, saying he wasn't sure of the number of state losses.

Keoppl says he doesn't know the specific losses to Iowa, but he says nationwide they lost 60,000 members out of 40-million. He says this summer they also gained new membership and renewals that added up to over two million. Koeppl says A.A.R.P. plans to continue pushing ahead to get health reform passed.

He says they will keep talking to their members to keep them engaged, and will also be going back to Washington, D.C. to talk to congress. The group also plans telephone town hall meetings on health care on Wednesday and Thursday. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is one of the six Republicans and Democrats working on the health care bill. Keoppl was asked if A.A.R.P. will lobby Grassley to try to get the issue moving forward.

"This senator has put a lot of work into health care reform, he has done his homework, he's got a great staff, and I think that we're going to continue to put the pressure on from out point of view that folks want something to happen...He's clearly a national leader so it will not only be here in Iowa, but across the country. Koeppl says this poll will be part of the effort to try and convince Grassley to move health care ahead.

"You know as well as I know that you don't force Senator Grassley to do anything he doesn't want to do," Keoppl says, "but we will continue to talk, we will continue to reason and provide evidence and information that we think supports our position."

Keoppl says A.A.R.P. has not endorsed any plan yet because they don't know what the final plans will look like. For more information on the A.A.R.P. survey and health care stance, go on-line to: www.healthactionnow.org .

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) is reporting that most of the state's 82,000 businesses subject to the Smokefree Air Act are complying with the law. Bonnie Mapes is director of the department's division of tobacco use prevention and control. "We have only about 1% of the employers in the state who have actually (received) notices of a complaint," Mapes said.

"So, the vast majority of the businesses are in compliance with the law." IDPH has released the first Iowa Smokefree Air Act Annual Report. It includes data from July 1, 2008 - when the ban on smoking in most public places took effect - through June 30, 2009. Public health officials received more than 3,300 complaints over the year, but only 2,100 were validated. Mapes says around 300 complaints were filed anonymously.

"Most of the time we're able to talk to the person who submitted the complaint and sometimes we'll get complaints about things that are not actually violations of the law. They'll say, 'people are smoking five feet outside the door,' and of course that's not a violation," Mapes said. "We get more complaints than complaints that are validated." During the first month of the law, Iowans submitted nearly 600 complaints. Over the next month, there were just 315 complaints.

Mapes says reports of possible violations of the law have continued to dip from month to month. She says that's the same pattern that other states with similar laws have experienced. The full 19-page report is available on-line here .

A helicopter landed at an accident scene near Mediapolis in southeast Iowa late last night, and it's still there, being repaired today. A fire truck leaving the scene to go on another call hit the helicopter. 

"There's a spotlight up on top of the truck that's on a pedestal and that's what clipped the rotor of the aircraft," says Iowa State Patrolman Tom Law.

There had been a two-vehicle accident and a "MedForce" helicopter was dispatched to the scene. The helicopter landed on Highway 61, but the fire fighters at the scene were dispatched to a second accident near the gympsom plant south of Mediapolis.

"The driver of the fire truck and the assistant chief got in the truck, started to leave the area to go to the second accident," Law says. "That's when they struck the main rotor on the helicopter."

The fire truck suffered minor damage and was still drivable, but the helicopter was disabled. A second helicopter was dispatched to the scene to fly an accident victim to University Hospitals in Iowa City. When Law left the scene after midnight, the first helicopter was still there.

"It's sitting dead center of Highway 61, just south of 260th Street," Law says. That's north of the town of Mediapolis. The first wreck involved two vehicles that collided at the unlit intersection.

Republican Senator Chuck Grassley says there may be only one path Democrats can take to get Republicans to support for health care reform.

"There's a feeling that the only way to get a bipartisan agreement is to defeat a Democratic proposal on the first hand and then the Democrats will come to Republican leadership and then, at that point, they'll know the only way they're going to get health care reform is bipartisan," Grassley says.

The top Democrat in bipartisan, closed-door negotiations with Grassley, two other Republicans and two other Democrats said Monday the "sad part is a lot of politics has now crept in" and the Republican Party is pressuring Grassley and the other Republicans to leave the negotiations. Grassley says that statement is "not quite fair" because Republicans have offered a number of health care reform ideas.

"But, again, a Democratic plan shouldn't pass. Just a Republican plan shouldn't pass," Grassley says. "We ought to have something, when you're restructuring one-sixth of the economy, that's very broadly bipartisan."

Grassley believes Democratic congressional leaders are "rethinking strategy" on health care reform after what's been said at congressional town hall meetings in August.

"The public feels that the roof is caving in on this country," Grassley says. "There's a lot of fear expressed at my town meetings and it's fear about government running out of control and a trillion dollar health care bill is just the tip of the iceberg."

According to Grassley, public angst is greatly fueled by dissatisfaction with the government bailout of the banking and auto industries. Grassley made his comments this morning during a telephone conference call with Iowa radio reporters.