The Iowa House passed House File 2456 on Monday, which limits the use of cell phones while driving. The House voted 55 to 41 in favor of the measure, with Rep. Curt Hanson, D-District Fairfield voting yes. It now goes back to the Iowa Senate.

HF2456 is a stricter version of a measure approved by both the House and Senate that only banned sending and writing text messages and emails but still allowed talking on cell phones while driving.

The measure goes back to the Senate as lawmakers struggle to end this year’s session by the end of the month.

Under the version approved by the House, drivers with restricted youth licenses (typically ages 14 to 17) would be forbidden from using a cell phone while driving for any purpose, and would also be prohibited from using hand-held electronic devices like mp3 players.

“The Iowa people have spoken loudly about that, reading a text message is a very dangerous thing to be doing while you’re driving,” said Fairfield’s Curt Hanson.

The bill is still not without its problems and disagreements when it comes to addressing industries that affect Iowans. Rep. Hanson noted issues with the the trucking industry, which is going to a paperless manifest system, and public-transit buses, both of which will have data terminals mounted on dashboards. He asked, “Is that reading a text message or reading instructions from the boss? Is this a hand-held device or attached to the dash?”

Additionally, he said in rural Iowa, volunteer firefighters have to check paging devices to get the address they are responding too. “Is this also reading a text message? That is why we originally did not have “reading a text message” in the house bill,” he explained.

According to Rep. Hanson, the bill will now go through a reconciliation process with the Senate. He believes the Senate was not aware of concerns with the trucking and public-transit industries, or rural fire departments.

Opponents on all sides have their opinions about the House bill. Some do not think the House bill is stiff enough, where others feel that government does not have a place in something that is believed to be common sense.

“I have discovered that everything that happens here is much more drawn out that I ever dreamed it would be,” Rep. Hanson said, “but this is good because it means that it’s being well thought out, which is what I think our constituents, would want us to do. We need to address the ramifications and consequences of these things that pass through legislation for all of Iowa.”

Both Rep. Hanson and Fairfield Chief of Police, Julie Harvery agree that there will be serious consequences if a bill is not passed. “If the bill does not pass we’re going to have more dead kids and property damage,” Chief Harvery said. “Eventually, I also believe that it’s going to affect federal highway funding if we do not pass a bill.”

Chief Harvey does not see enforcing the bill as a problem but wants it to be implemented similar to how the seat-belt law was employed. “You can see people texting and talking on the phone,” she said. “If they are going to pass it, it needs to be applied like the seat-belt law where there is a grace period for verbal warnings before we begin ticketing drivers.”

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The End of an Ice Age

Not to point out the obvious, but the big thaw has arrived.  Now get ready for the mud!

If you haven’t seen it yet, head over to the alley directly south of the court house and check out the massive ice dams in the process of calving off the top and sides of the two buildings on either side of the alley. Make sure you say behind the barricades!

Your Best of Fairfield Winners Receive Their Awards

Individuals who won our readers poll received their mugs last week. Each mug has enough capacity to keep these winners caffeinated (or hydrated) for a full day of continued greatness. Their name and award titles are printed on the mug for all to see at those water cooler gatherings. Pictured below is your biggest winner (with over 2,000 votes), Mayor Ed Malloy, receiving his mug from Mark Cohen at Revelations (your Best Restaurant Winner).

We’re still in the process of getting out our window stickers to the venues that won the readers poll. Congratulations to your Best of Fairfield Winners!

Francis Thicke Opens Campaign Office

Dan Walker offered to let Francis Thicke, candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture use his front office space as his campaign headquarters. It’s an excellent site: in the Walker Group office on the square and with a lot of front window space. Francis explains that he’s, “trying to not clutter the front window too much right now because they are going to be starting some plants in that window space.”

Along with the new office space Francis has a new campaign manager. Rob Hubler, a 40-year veteran of managing political campaigns, started with the campaign about two weeks ago. Rob Hubler was the 2008 candidate for U.S. Congress in Iowa’s fifth district. This week the campaign team is growing with the addition of Keith Dinsmore, a veteran campaign media specialist. Keith has connections with press across Iowa and will be organizing Francis Thicke’s state-wide media work.

“In the next few weeks I will be traveling to a number of Democratic Party county conventions to speak to audiences about my campaign platform. I also have upcoming appearances at Grinnell College and Iowa State University. I do have one out-of-state event planned for next month, to speak at a national organic farming policy conference in Washington, D.C.”

“We have a local event planned for Fairfield on Saturday, March 27: Blues musician Bill Lupkin will be performing at Morning Star Studio as a fundraiser for our campaign.”

This week Iowa Republican lawmakers against same-sex marriage failed, in both the Iowa House and Senate, to force a vote on the issue in an attempt to amend the Iowa Constitution with a ban on same-sex marriage.

In order to become a constitutional amendment in Iowa, a bill must pass two General Assemblies and then be put on the ballot for a public vote, and efforts to pull the resolutions out of the committees and place them on the debate calendar were aimed to beat a legislative deadline to get the bills on the floor this week.

On Tuesday of this week a procedural move to pull a bill out of committee in the House required a 51-vote majority, but that effort failed in a 45-54 vote, mostly along party lines. No vote was taken on a similar Senate Resolution.

Back on April 3, 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously upheld the District Court’s ruling holding that there was no important governmental interest in denying citizens marriage licenses based on their sexual orientation, and that denying such rights was unconstituational. This overturned Iowa’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. Since last year’s ruling, Iowa Republicans have made several attempts to bring a measure similar to DOMA to the floor, but this weeks efforts marked the first formal attempt to overturn the Court’s ruling in this years legislative session.

The failure of this week’s procedural maneuvering means that Iowa voters will likely not see the issue on a ballot until 2014 at the earliest.

According to a poll conducted for the Des Moines Register, a majority of Iowans think the issue of gay marriage doesn’t deserver lawmakers’ attention. 62 percent of Iowans think the issue of same-sex marriage doesn’t deserve lawmakers’ time, rating it below texting while driving, puppy mill legislation, gun control, payday loans and gambling.

My opinion: 62 percent of Iowans are on the right path. I would argue that in two decades we will look back on the issue of same-sex marriage in the same we we look back on women’s suffrage or the civil rights movement.

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[Tech Tips is a new column I am introducing on Fairfield Voice. Please let me know if there are any specific tech topics you'd like to see covered.]

The problem: dozens of websites manage calendars listing Fairfield Iowa related events. There is a lot of duplication of efforts between these calendars, and an event organizer that needs to get an event published/updated needs to work with all this duplication of efforts in order to promote the event to the widest audience.

The solution: Google Calendar, a free service (requires a free gmail account) allows multiple websites to share a single calendar of events.

Let me give an example. Glen Keenan, owner of Chickadee, a local consignment store for women and kids, publishes a calendar of family activities using Google Calendar. He manages the calendar from his Google account by adding the time, location and description of family friendly activities in the Fairfield area. Nothing new here – he’s doing what dozens of other businesses and organizations in town are doing – creating and publishing events to a calendar.

However the difference here is that the calendar Glen created:

• Can be easily shared on any website.
• Users can add this calendar to their own calendars (Google, Outlook, iCal).
• Glenn can give permissions to other users to help manage (publish/edit) events on his calendar.
• Users can add reminders, so that they are emailed or text messaged as the event nears.
• Events can be assigned to a location in Google Maps – directions anyone?
• Attach files/documents to events.

Glen published his calendar to his store’s website, by simply copying a bit of html code, and pasting it into a page on Chickadee’s website. Visitors to his site can go to that calendar, browse family oriented events, add reminders for specific events they like, and/or click a button to add the entire calendar to their own online Calender. So for those using Gmail, they would have their Google Calendar updated in real time with all the events listed in Glen’s Family Activities Calendar.

Additionally, other website admins, like myself, can copy the same bit of html, and paste it into our websites, like I did here on FairfieldVoice. Each time Glen updates the Family Event Calendar in his Google account (publishing new, or editing existing events), the calendars on FairfieldVoice, Chickadee, and my personal Google Calendar (I am subscribing to the Family Activities Calendar) are all simultaneously updated with those new events. Publish once – update everywhere!

Imagine if the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center published their events in a Google Calendar. The Fairfield Voice, The Fairfield Ledger, The Iowa Source, and of course the FACC’s website, could all display a current version of the same event listing for the FACC. The creator of the FACC events calendar could promote others, like people who run organizations that run events at the FACC, to manage their events on the FACC calendar, and therefore spreading the workload of managing calendar updates. That calendar could then be easily added to any website interested in providing real time event listings for the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center.

In edition to a full event description, each event could include links to ticketing, files and documents, contact number and emails, show times, and directions (for those driving from out of town) powered by Google Maps.

What I would love to see is a ring of Fairfield calendars powered by Google and shared across websites and subscribed to by residents. Anyone can start a Google Calendar, just pick a theme – Chamber of Commerce, City Council, Music, FACC, Public Schools, Yoga, Sports, Workshops – and invite other people to help manage and promote, publish your events and ask to have the Calendar “hosted” on Fairfield Voice and other sites.

Got questions to help get you started? I’m happy to help, just post your question below.

Two months ago I wrote my opinion on banning cell phone usage while driving and the fact that Iowa lags behind in the adoption of legislation addressing the safety issues of using cell phones while driving. That fact may change in 2010 as new legislation is being proposed by Iowa’s elected officials, including our own Representative Curt Hanson (House District 90, Democrat).

Curt Hanson is co-signer of House File 2020, a proposed bill that would ban all drivers from text messaging or using cell phones unless a hands-free accessory was employed. Violation would result in a fine of $30.

HF2020 states:

This bill prohibits a person from operating or using a cellular telephone while operating a motor vehicle on a street or highway unless the cellular telephone is used in a hands-free mode.

The bill also prohibits a person from using a wireless handset to write, read, or send a text message while operating a motor vehicle.

The bill defines “hands=free mode” as the use of a cellular telephone by way of an internal feature or function, or an attachment or addition, by which the user engages in a conversation or communication without the use of either hand.

A violation of the bill is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a scheduled fine of $30.

I spoke with Curt Hanson about the status of the proposed legislation. HF2020 is currently with the Transportation Committee, is unlikely to pass through. There is resistance from the business community about the impact of such legislation on trucking and other occupations that require drivers to be in communication with customers or dispatch.

In order to achieve a bill that can pass, Curt Hanson is in the process of forming a bi-partisan committee with the goal of crafting a bill that has enough support to become law. While most legislators agree that texting while driving is bad, there is not strong agreement on the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving. But Curt Hanson points out that talking on a cell phone still involves taking your eyes off the road to look up a contact or dial a number.

Would you support the passage of HF2020 into law? Considering growing concern and attention over safety issues involved with cell phone use while driving, have you altered the way you view or use cell phones while driving in the past year?

AT&Ts cell tower in Fairfield Iowa is currently down for maintenance. Representatives from AT&T tech support indicate that the tower is not expected to be fully operational until January 30th.

I called AT&T after myself and several friends had experienced intermittent to no service since yesterday afternoon.

[UPDATE - 2pm Wednesday, January 27]

I called AT&T technical support to see if they would enable roaming so that I could use the iWireless network. They said they could not enable roaming and that I would be without service on my iPhone for several days (they estimate the tower will be fixed by January 30th). They did give me a $70 credit to my account (one month’s worth of billing). The credit is a nice gesture but does not mitigate being without service for an entire week.

If you live in Fairfield, and have an iPhone or other AT&T phone, call 1-800-331-0500 to get credit for the service interruption.

If you are an iPhone/AT&T customer in Fairfield Iowa, please post your experience getting a refund or share any more news on the outage.

[UPDATE - 2:25pm Thursday, January 28]

Good news for AT&T subscribers! We received an email from Amy Grundman with AT&T Corporate Communications:

I just wanted to let you that service has been restored to AT&T wireless customers in the Fairfield area after an AT&T wireless tower experienced technical errors earlier this week. Our technicians immediately responded and worked around the clock to isolate the problem and restore service. We apologize for any inconvenience to you and our customers.

[Note: this article was originally posted in July 2009.  It is now updated with the complete recipe - include at the end of the article - for making the Artisan Free-Form Loaf.]

My bread habits have come a long way in the past forty years. I started with Wonder Bread. In the 80s I moved on to a Whole Wheat bread which was basically the brown version of Wonder Bread from a nutritional standpoint. In the 90s I discovered real Whole Wheat breads (thanks to local co-op grocery stores) and explored the tastes of fresh baked artisan breads. And now, thanks to my wife, my family is learning that sliced bread isn’t the greatest invention after all. Instead, our family is now baking all of our bread ourselves, and what may surprise most people is that it’s relatively easy to bake enough healthy, great tasting bread to feed your family.

Over the past several months we’ve been buying fewer and fewer loaves of sliced bread, and baking more and more bread at home. Two weeks ago we decided to stop buying bread at all, and switch entirely to baking our own bread. So far it’s going well and I don’t miss store bought sliced loaves. Our routine is to prepare a high moisture no knead dough once a week, store that dough in the fridge, and use portions of it to bake bread (or pizzas) as needed throughout the week.

Baking all of your own bread may sound like a lot of work, and while it is more work than putting a loaf of bread in your cart at the grocery store, it isn’t as labor intensive as you might imagine (as I thought until recently).  Of course we were helped greatly by a book that was featured on The Splendid Table titled Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  The book provides detailed instructions and techniques on how to bake an Artisan Free-Form Loaf.  It’s what they call their “master recipe”, which once mastered contains all the skills required to bake the dozens of other recipes in the book.

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My friends know the story: when my wife proposed that we move back to South East Iowa to live near her family, I could not conceive of making the move unless we found a town that had access to good quality, healthy, natural foods. When we identified that the small town of Fairfield Iowa was home to an established natural foods store, Everybody’s Whole Foods Store, we began packing.

During one of my first shopping experiences in Everybody’s I could not find pepperoni (for pizza) or grass fed ground beef. I asked an employee something close to “where’s the beef?” I can recall his reaction of shock, as if I had just walked up to him and spoken in tongues, “beazula mira mira azzzzkanam feed mew deeevil BEEEEEEF!”

Grass-fed roasted tenderloin with crab meat, by MJ Rehm

As with most of the common knowledge in this town, I was slow to understand that Everybody’s isn’t your average Natural Foods store, because after all, this is Fairfield, which isn’t your average town. While Everybody’s does attract non-meditator customers like myself, the store exists because it has primarily served the meditator community since opening it’s doors 1995. And the meditator community is largely vegetarian, and for reasons I have never been able to figure out, those that do eat some meats, are OK with chicken, turkey and fish.

When asked why Everybody’s doesn’t carry natural beef products, Manager Adam Pohlman explains, “The number one answer is the demand for beef and pork is greatly lacking especially for frozen. We have considered carrying a few items but found there to be push back by a number of customers when we conducted surveys. The combination of not having a lot of demand and the fact that those who did not want, really did not want it and were adamant in there comments on the idea.”

But there is hope for other Fairfield residents who enjoy the taste, and the ethics, of naturally raised, grass-fed beef – Yoder’s Natural Farm. Located in nearby Bloomfield, Iowa, Yoder’s Natural Farm offers grass-fed beef, pastured broilers and eggs, and pork. You can get an order form from them (call 641-664-2060) and have your meats/eggs delivered to the Farmer’s Market right here in town.

Raised on the family farm in Southern Iowa, Robert Yoder started Yoder’s Natural Farm in 2006. “It is my goal to maintain a farm that provides a superior natural product for my customers while still caring for the land, animals, and the environment in a positive and natural way.” I’ve ordered steaks, hamburgers and bacon from Yoder’s several times and their meats are delicious and affordable.

Why should meat eaters choose grass-fed beef? Read this article at FoodRevolution.org by John Robbins. In short, it tastes better, is healthier for you, and healthier for the environment.

Would you like to see more access to grass-fed meats at Everybody’s and Hy-Vee? Let us know along with any other thoughts (both omnivores and vegetarians welcome).

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