The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 5

The Des Moines Register State Edition Thursday, January 20, 2011 Page5A I Proposed amendments Here are a few of the amendments offered by Democrats. Each had either not yet been debated late Wednesday or had been defeated. Limit tax breaks to households with an income of less than $250,000. Maintain Iowa's statewide preschool program. Limit a governor's ability to transfer money in the second year of a two-year budget.

Prohibit Terrace Hill financing from being used to hire additional culinary and domestic staff at the governor's quarters. Eliminate the part of the bill that would cut $10 million from Area Education Agencies' budgets. Maintain Iowa's smoking cessation programs. Maintain money allocated to expand passenger train service. CUTS FROM PAGE 3A have vowed to focus on programs to provide assistance to children of low-income families but have said taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook for paying for preschool for children from more affluent families.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Ebenezer Scrooges of the world are not taking away education from the Tiny Tims," said Jeremy Taylor, R-Sioux City. Eliminating the program would save an estimated $145 million over the next three fiscal years. The potential cost to increase assistance for low-income families has not been factored into that figure. Debate on the overall bill continued late Wednesday. The wide-ranging bill also would cut family planning services, cancel state university sabbaticals for VA years and eliminate Iowa's spending on smoking cessation programs, among other provisions.

additional $41 million to homeless and mental health programs in the current fiscal year. Legislators also unanimously added a provision that would tie the annual increase in tuition and other fees students pay at state universities to a higher education price index, which generally would keep yearly increases from 3 percent to 6 percent. The bill also would establish a tax relief account where $327.4 million of surplus revenue in the current year's budget would be directed. Republicans have not outlined how that money would be spent. Gov.

Terry Branstad campaigned on reducing corporate income tax and commercial property tax rates. House File 45 is expected to pass the House and move to the Senate, where its fate is less certain. Democrats hold a slim majority in the Senate, and Majority Leader Michael Gronstal has said that his party would fight for the preschool program. The Iowa House on Tuesday held a public hearing at which almost 100 people signed up to speak, mostly against the bill. Their testimony factored into many comments on the House floor Wednesday night.

"One of the speakers last night said we are snatching disaster from the jaws of success. Clearly that is what we're doing," said Rep. Mark Smith, D-Mar-shalltown, in urging the house to rethink the part of the bill that eliminates smoking cessation programs. Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Ur-bandale, noted that some of the cessation programs spend money in ways he believes are unwise, such as for T-shirts.

"Our taxpayers and those kids deserve better than to not use their funds wisely," he said. An amendment to maintain funding for smoking cessation programs failed in a 40 to 60 party vote. The bill, in addition to cuts, would allocate an Everson jurors deliberate 7 hours They examine taped testimony from a friend of the alleged sex-abuse victim. By LEE HERMISTON Iowa City Press-Citizen Iowa City, la. Deliberations in the Cedric Everson sexual abuse trial resume today after jurors failed to reach a verdict following more than seven hours of consideration Wednesday.

The jury of four women and eight men remained secluded all of Wednesday, in the first full day of deliberation. The only publlic activity came before noon when jurors requested to review videotaped testimony from Christine Kuczek, a friend of the alleged victim. District Judge Paul Miller brought in Assistant Johnson County Attorney Anne Lahey and defense attorney Leon Spies to address the question as Everson and his family, who have been present throughout the trial, listened. Everson, 21, a former University of Iowa football player, is accused of sexually assaulting a former university student athlete in a vacant dorm room on Oct. 14, 2007.

The prosecution and police allege that after the woman had a sexual encounter with Everson's former teammate and roommate, Abe-berell Satterfield, Everson sneaked into the room, told Satterfield to get out of bed and had sex with the woman while she was asleep or passed out. Everson then allegedly told Satterfield who said he fell asleep on the room's floor I Number of applicants is now 60 Sixty Iowa lawyers are now in the candidate pool for a seat on the Iowa Supreme Court, after three contenders pulled their names and two others decided to apply. The commission will hold public interviews for all applicants, starting at 9 a.m. Monday. The time for each applicant is limited to 20 minutes.

All interviews are scheduled to be done by noon on Jan. 27. The lawyers who withdrew their names are state Rep. Richard Anderson, R-Clarinda; Ted Breckenfelder, a Davenport attorney; and James Moriarty, a Cedar Rapids lawyer. The two new applicants are: Lorraine May, 58, an attorney with Hopkins and Huebner in Des Moines.

She obtained her law degree from Drake University in 1975. Gayle Vogel, 61, of Spirit Lake, who was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals in 1996. He received his law degree from Drake in 1983. The commission will release a schedule of interviews later this week. To view all of the applications, go to DesMoinesRegister.comjudges.

in 1962. Seven commission members are lawyers elected by lawyers who are admitted to the state bar. Seven are appointees chosen by the governor with legislative approval. The chairman is the most senior Supreme Court justice other than the chief. State law requires a gender and geography balance, but the Iowa Constitution says members must be chosen without reference to their political affiliation.

Twelve of the 15 current members on the commission have been registered Democrats, one is a Republican, and one member's affiliation is not known. The new chairman, Justice David Wiggins, is not registered with a party but was once a Democrat. Wednesday. Iowa Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, said taxpayers in Iowa and nationally are surprised by the disparity between public employee pay and benefits and those for the private sector. "While private-sector employers have had to tighten their belts in this tough economy and reduce employees, hours, wages and benefits, many public-sector employees in comparable positions have enjoyed lucrative benefit packages and consistent pay increases," McKinley said.

HANSEN FROM PAGE 3A fill important positions in government. Or at least half-dozens. But Palmersheim, 63, is one reason it occasionally stinks. Another is how some campaign contributors end up being appointees. But let's stay focused on Palmersheim, whose political affiliation is "no party." He surely has his share of detractors and enemies.

After nine years on the job, who wouldn't? At the moment, they're not as loud as the supporters who say he was a top-notch boss and are sorry he's gone. Keith Blum, the superintendent of the new Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Van Meter, is one. "Pat knew just about everything there was to know," Blum says. "A vet would call him up with a question, and he'd have an answer just like that. If there was a death overseas, he could tell the soldier's family exactly what they needed to do.

He was like an encyclopedia." The Iowa Veterans Cemetery rests on 100 acres of rolling countryside near Van Meter, and it wouldn't be there without Palmersheim. "To a veteran it means everything," Blum says. "You do all this stuff for your country, it's a place to finish off, a place of rest." Also disappointed is Judy McNamara, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. It isn't just the cemetery, she says. It's the way Palmersheim has been present at every burial since the cemetery opened in 2008; the way he attended every military funeral in the state; the weekends he spent meeting with the women and men leaving for or coming from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's the 650 grave sites McNamara and Palmersheim decorated together, braving the below-zero wind chill, as part of the Wreaths Across America program. "My husband is a World War II veteran," McNamara says, "and he says the veterans love Patrick. I really believe politics shouldn't enter into the VA system at all." She also tells me Palmersheim was first to arrive at work and the last to leave. "I'm not sure there's anyone in the state who knows more about veterans and benefits than Pat. He never should have been replaced," she says.

Real estate magnate Bill Knapp agrees. He donated the land for the cemetery. For the most part, Knapp says he has no trouble with the Branstad appointments. He understands how the system works. Never confuse the political with the personal.

But letting Palmersheim go, that bothers him. "I was disappointed he wasn't reappointed," Knapp says. "If it hadn't been for him, we wouldn't have the cemetery. He did a lot of the manual work himself. I can't say enough about him and the terrific job.

I hope he'll still be involved in some way with the veterans." So does Palmersheim, who served two tours in Vietnam. Between the cemetery and the VA, he was working the equivalent of two jobs, seven days a week. "I enjoyed helping vets, meeting with them," says Palmersheim. "If I could help one person in a send-off or welcome-home, it was worthwhile. That's how you help.

One person at a time." By Palmersheim's count, he averaged one vacation day a year and has no complaints. "I'll tell you one thing," he says, "the wife won't mind." finalists for an open seat to the governor, who appoints one without legislative tain to be proffered by the next governor," Shearer's report said. AFSCME officials declined to comment Wednesday. But Jean Hessburg, a spokeswoman for the Iowa State Education Association, which represents teachers, said her organization is "very concerned about the negative implications to the working men and women" in the consultant's report. "We hope the Legislature will reject these ideas and instead pass legislation that will help hardworking people, not harm them," Hessburg said.

Branstad, a Republican, had no immediate comment Wednesday. But he has previously said the state can't afford the latest contract increases, which are expected to cost taxpayers about $200 million over two years. Some 84 percent to get back into bed. The question raised by the jury involved the previously recorded testimony of Kuczek, a of I student athlete who was with the alleged victim on Oct. 13, 2007.

Kuczek testified about drinking in the woman's dorm room, then going to a house party. Kuczek saw her friend later and described her as appearing intoxicated. When they next saw each other, it was the following morning and the woman was at her door, with blood on her hands, claiming she had been sexually assaulted. Jurors adjourned Wednesday about 4:30 p.m. IP RULING FROM PAGE 3A fundamental right beyond all existing precedent and to recognize an entirely new 14th Amendment 'right' to greater influence in the selection of judges." The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the Indiana-based James Madison Center for Free Speech, a right-leaning legal group, on behalf of four Iowans.

Three seats on the bench are open after voters in November ousted Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David Baker and Michael Streit. All were part of a unanimous ruling that allowed same-sex couples to marry in Iowa. The judicial nominating commission submits three LABOR FROM PAGE 3A vember when outgoing Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, signed a two-year contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees that gave a 6 percent pay increase over two years to the union's 13,000 members. Culver agreed to the union's proposed deal without making a counteroffer.

"This was a brilliant move by the union. They obtained a raise much higher than the pattern in the private sector, locked in health insurance benefits that exceed those in the private sector, and maintained the current restrictions on management rights for two years. In addition, they avoided facing the push-back cer HOMELESS FROM PAGE 3A In November, the Des Moines City Council approved a $305,000 pilot program to house 42 individuals and help about 12 others reunite with families. Money for the program comes from a variety of sources, including the federal government, the Des Moines Area Religious Council, United Way, Catholic churches, the Des Moines Community Foundation and Polk County. Unsafe conditions at riverside homeless encampments have been scrutinized since a tent caught fire in one of the camps two years ago.

Last winter, two homeless people died on the streets. Approximately 200 people live in metropolitan-area homeless camps, according to recent estimates from city officials and outreach workers. The residents account for a small percentage of the area's overall homeless population, but they are routinely among the most difficult to help. Sherwood started to camp confirmation. The system was adopted through a constitutional amendment of state employees in Iowa or 22,336 workers pay no premiums for their state health insurance plans.

Shearer's report also cited a 2009 study by the Public Interest Institute in Mount Pleasant showing Iowa public employees were paid an average of $51,700, while comparable private-sector employees made $35,300. State Rep. Lance Hor-bach, R-Tama, chairman of the Iowa House Labor Committee, said he views the consultant's report as a starting point in balancing the relationship between state government and its public employee unions. He said he hopes that Senate Democrats, who control their chamber, can find common ground with House Republicans on some issues. Neither Senate nor House Democrats responded to requests for comment as Primary Health Care, Hope Builders and Joppa Outreach, among others.

"Everybody has been so good to me like family," he said. His apartment is outfitted with donated furniture, a bedroom set, a kitchen table and chairs. It feels like home, he said. Sherwood will be able to live rent-free for a year, and he plans to make the most of his time. He wants to land a good job and find a tutor to help him earn his general equivalency diploma.

He had a job interview Wednesday morning. Most of all, Sherwood wants to do what others have done for him. "It's time for me to give back," he said. 1 of Sunday's special offering More about Sunday's special offering for the Des Moines Area Religious Council Outside In campaign: Approximately 25 metro-area congregations are expected to participate in the offering, through which organizers hope to raise $30,000. It's believed to be the largest offering of its kind that the council has organized.

More information is available at www.dmreligious.org. Donations can be made by sending a check labeled "Outside In" or "homeless" to the council at 3816 36th Des Moines, IA 50310. a 4 day, 3 nig hTu fp fo iwoioT Las Vegas, Nevada! along the river last March. The Virginia native made his way to Des Moines in December 2004. Sherwood lost his apartment when he couldn't make financial ends meet at landscaping and painting jobs.

He lived with friends in Grinnell and Newton for a while and then spent time at homeless shelters until he decided to try camping. Life along the river wasn't easy, but it was manageable during the spring, summer and fall, Sherwood said. He couldn't imagine trying to make it through winter in the woods. Talk to Sherwood and he'll say how thankful he is for the help he continues to receive from various outreach groups such 1.