George Davison Iowa Law

TRIBUTE TO THE LATE JACK SHELLEY SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 29

TRIBUTE TO LEGENDARY BROADCASTER SET FOR APRIL

(DES MOINES, IA)– The life and work of one of Iowa’s most influential broadcasters will be the subject of a special event this spring.

“A Tribute to Jack Shelley” will be held on Friday, April 29, 2011 at the State Historical Building, 600 East Locust Street in Des Moines, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Free and open to the public, the event will feature historic broadcasts of Shelley on WHO radio and television, as well as excerpts from interviews he gave about his career. Various individuals will also speak about his impact on Iowa broadcasting.

A fixture on WHO for three decades, Jack Shelley (1912-2010) contributed to the founding of the Iowa Broadcast News Association, an organization that in 1972 honored him by establishing the Jack Shelley Award for lifetime achievement in broadcast journalism. He was co-founder and former president of the international Radio-Television News Directors Association (now the Radio Television Digital News Association), and former president of the Associated Press Radio and Television Association. He was president of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council in 1981 and a member of an advisory committee appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court on the use of cameras and tape recorders in trials. In 1980, he received the Broadcaster of the Year award from the Iowa Broadcasters Association.

Shelley began on WHO Radio in 1935, and founded the WHO-TV news department when the station went on the air in 1954. He taught broadcast journalism at Iowa State University for 17 years before retiring in 1982.

Sponsors of the event are the State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa Broadcast News Association, Archives of Iowa Broadcasting, and WHO Radio in Des Moines.

"Jack Shelley was respected nationally for his clear and concise reporting, his dedication to the craft of journalism, and a deep caring for his audience," said Jeff Stein, Archives of Iowa Broadcasting administrator and member of the board of directors of the State Historical Society of Iowa. "He truly shaped what broadcast news would become in Iowa and the nation."

Premiering at the event will be “Jack Shelley: History’s Recorder In His Own Words,” a DVD including multiple broadcasts and interviews from Shelley’s career. Proceeds from sale of the DVD benefit the Archives of Iowa Broadcasting.  

Reasons in Support of More Passenger Train Service for Iowa

Iowa needs to invest in infrastructure.  This is one of the best ways to create not only 
short-term but also long-term jobs.  One project that can have positive impact upon 
Iowa's economy is the proposed passenger train service between Iowa City and Chicago.

Here are some of the reasons which I believe support an investment by the state of Iowa in the 
plan to create more passenger train service:

1.  This is a business development tool.  The Iowa City Chicago train is something that 
business thinks will be very helpful.  It will inaugurate additional public 
transportation in the most populated corridor of the state.  Business people do not put 
their support behind things that are pie in the sky.  The supporters of additional 
passenger train service for Iowa are not a bunch of folks who just want to play trains or 
who yearn for the olden days.  Passenger train service to 
Chicago provides an excellent alternative to driving, especially from eastern Iowa (Iowa 
City and the Quad Cities). With gasoline prices expected to be between $3.00 and $5.00 
over the next several years, getting additional passenger train service for the state 
makes good economic sense, especially for business travelers.

The Iowa City-Chicago train can tie in with plans to develop passenger train service in 
the Iowa City Cedar Rapids corridor.  

The state of Iowa can become a model for integrated transportation services.

2.  This is a jobs tool.  It will create good paying construction jobs to rehabilitate 
the tracks of IAIS between Iowa City and the Wyanet connection in Illinois.  It will 
result in additional jobs to keep the tracks in good shape. Iowa Interstate Railroad is 
based in Iowa.  As a state, we can "keep our eye" on it to assure that it does 
maintain a quality right of way.

3.  Investment in rehabilitating the Iowa Interstate tracks will make the railroad more 
efficient.  Improved track and elimination of bottle necks will allow Iowa Interstate to 
move the products of Iowa to east coast markets more efficiently.  This will be 
especially true of ethanol.  There are a number of ethanol/bio-fuels plants along the 
Iowa Interstate right of way.  At present, rail is the most efficient way to move the 
products of these plants to the east coast.

4.  Over twenty-five years ago, the state of Iowa (in the midst of another recession and 
the bankruptcies of two major railroad carriers) made a significant investment in keeping 
rail service in the central (Rock Island) corridor.  I respectfully submit that there has 
been good return on this investment in terms of jobs and improved transportation.  An 
addition of passenger train service along the Iowa Interstate corridor is a logical step 
to assure that Iowa has a viable rail transportation system.

5.  The service will make the University of Iowa, and other Iowa colleges and 
universities more attractive to students from Illinois and other points to the east.  It 
will allow students to travel to their homes in the Chicago area with fewer hassles.  It 
will allow parents to travel to see their children.  Passenger trains on the new route 
are expected to stop in the western Chicago suburbs.  Again, this makes the Iowa City to 
Chicago service a very attractive alternative.

6.  All forms of transportation in the state and nation are subsidized in one way or 
another. The planned passenger train service is a prudent investment in the state' 
transportation future.  More people (more goods) can be move more miles with less fuel by 
train.  Improvements to the track and removal of bottle necks will significantly increase 
that efficiency.

7.  Prior to the highway revolution, Iowa had an excellent passenger train network.  
Iowans used passenger trains.  Indeed, there was great opposition to building highways 
because of the quality of the state's passenger train network.  Over the past 80 years, 
Iowans have move to the state's excellent network of paved and improved highways as their 
travel option.  With the anticipated increases in the cost of gasoline, the ability to 
travel in a private vehicle may become cost prohibitive.  As the amount of gasoline 
purchased decreases, the funds available for road construction and maintenance can be 
expected to decline.  There will need to be alternatives.

8.  Reality is that we need a balanced transportation system.  Passenger trains in the 
state of Iowa can and should pay an important part in that effort.  Given the projected 
energy cost increases we can no longer afford to rely upon the automobile and the 
airplane.  Iowa needs fast, frequent and dependable passenger 
train service.  Now is the time to make what is a very reasonable investment.

9.  Iowans will ride passenger trains.  The best example of this is the Hawkeye Express 
between Coralville and Iowa City.  The Hawkeye Express operates during the football 
season between Coralville and Iowa City.  The Express delivers football fans to the 
Stadium, and then, returns them to parking lots away from the Stadium.  The service is 
fast, it is frequent, and it is dependable.  It helps to reduce congestion and pollution 
from automobiles and other vehicles in and around the Stadium on football game days.

10.  Iowans do use the existing passenger train service along with BNSF Railway route in 
southern Iowa.  This past summer I took the California Zephyr to Chicago.  The 
convenience of the train was that I did not have to worry about where to park my car when 
I arrived.  I could do work on board the train.  I could get up and walk around.  At each 
stop, there were a number of persons who got on and off the train.  It was well 
patronized.

11.  More passenger train service for the state of Iowa will allow each mode of 
transportation to do what it does best.  (1)  Air is best on long-hauls.  It moves folks 
from major terminals to major terminals at a fast speed.  The problems with air develop 
in the short haul markets (350 to 500 miles).  Then, because of the hub-and-spoke system 
of air travel in this country, it becomes a hassle to travel by air, and airplanes are no 
longer fuel efficient; (2)  Bus is a good short haul way to get people among and between 
intermediate terminals.  Again, at one time Iowa had an excellent system of bus service 
that served a number of the smaller towns.  The system has been replaced by one of long 
hauls focused on the interstate highway system.  A bus is flexible, but it does not 
afford the amenities of a passenger train; (3) Private vehicle is convenient, but the 
cost of operating is going to continue to increase as the price of gasoline rises to 
between $4.00 and $5.00.  When you get to a destination, you have to determine what to do 
with the vehicle.  In the downtown areas of major cities the price to park a vehicle for 
a day is significant.

There are significant budget issues facing the state, but as a people we cannot afford to 
be short sighted with our transportation system.  As was the case in the late 1920s and 
1930s when Iowa embarked upon its "get out of the mud" campaign, the people 
faced an important challenge.  The challenge for the transportation system of Iowa today 
is similar.  Are we going to put all of our transportation dollars into a highway system, 
with ancillary service by air, or are we going to develop a balanced transportation 
system that features several modes which can provide fast, efficient and dependable 
service?  Iowa needs to invest in a balanced transportation system that includes fast, 
frequent passenger trains.

An Untimely Death

(Des Moines)  One of the founders and the long-time executive director of Agape Pregnancy Center in Des Moines died in a two vehicle collision on Martin Luther King Junior Parkway in Des Moines on Tuesday.  74 year old Jan Ebert was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision.  Authorities continue their investigation into the crash, but it appears that Ebert was attempting to pull from the parking lot of the Agape Pregnancy Center onto MLK. 

Ebert was a driving force behind the Agape Pregnancy Center which provides free counseling and pregnancy tests.  Over the years Ebert was instrumental in helping a number of young women to place their babies for adoption.  

Agape Pregnancy Center originally was located in the Sherman Hill Neighborhood.  It moved to Martin Luther King Junior Parkway to larger facilities over ten years ago.  Agape Pregnancy Center recently concluded its twenty-fifth year of operation.

December 7 is an interesting day in history

The Contracts Prof Blog offers a day in history report for December 7.  Much more of importance to the law has happened on December 7 than the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor.

First entry: from 43 B.C., dateline Rome:  Republican Rome’s greatest lawyer, Marcus Tullius Cicero is murdered.  Agents of Cicero's political rival Marc Antony commit the murder.  Cicero's hands and head are cut off.  Then, they are nailed to the rostrum of the Forum. The actions of Antony's agents seem to be very harsh retribution for a political rival.

On December 7, 1787, Delaware ratifies the United States Constitution, the first state to do so.  The process continued through 1788, and it was nip and tuck as to whether or nor the document upon which we rely for our national government would be adopted.

Heading to the part of the world where I grew up, north Missouri, on December 7, 1869, brothers Jesse and Frank James hold up the Daviess County Savings Bank in Gallatin, Mo. The cashier is killed.  Jesse and Frank escape.  Reportedly, they got very little cash.  Several years later, Jesse was shot and killed at his home in St. Joseph by Robert Ford.  Frank was eventually tried for the crime in Daviess County and was acquitted.

On December 7, 1985, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart died at Hanover, New Hampshire.  Justice Stewart is, perhaps, best remembered for his observation about pornography:   "I know it when I see it."

Brett Trout has posted more information about the school district laptop spying case. It appears that the district has agreed to settle the case for significant money.
Here is a link to Brett's report:

http://blawgit.com/2010/10/12/school-district-agrees-to-pay-600k-for-using-school-laptops-to-spy-on-students/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BlawgIT%2FEdUt+%28BlawgIT%29