The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 14

Page 2B Wednesday, March 1, 2006 Lincoln attendance crackdown sees few results A little background Four Des Moines high schools in December reported severe absenteeism. To fight the problem, Lincoln High School which had 48 percent of students miss a class seven or more times last semester began the second semester in mid-January with a crackdown on absenteeism. Friday was the end of the first six-week grading period. iVHtv I A Your suggestions I Suggestions for REWIND are welcomed. If you are wondering about a topic that hasn't been in the news for a while, e-mail Audrey Burgs at aburgsdmreg.com or call (51 5) 284-8065.

and teachers. Each group talked about reasons why students skip class and the effects that skipping has on schoolwork and family. "I think they should lock the building when they get here," said parent Carla Dawson, whose son, a freshman at East High School, started skipping class before Christmas. She said he received five F's and two D's on his last report card. Findings of the focus groups will be summarized and reported to the Des Moines school board's policy committee, probably in April.

The committee will then make a recommendation on whether a change is needed in the district's attendance policy. Reporter Lynn Campbell can be reached at (515) 284-S360 or lcampbeldmreg.com By LYNN CAMPBELL REGISTER STAFF WRITER Numbers were not yet available Tuesday to show whether fewer students have skipped class this semester, said Lincoln Principal Al Graziano. Several Lincoln teachers said the crackdown hasn't made much of a difference. They said some students had already racked up 15 absences this semester. "I really haven't seen a great improvement in attendance," said Steve Hanson, who teaches American history.

"Some of my main offenders are right back into their same habits," agreed Shane Hammond, who teaches psychology. Changes at Lincoln include no longer tolerating students hanging out in the hallway while others are in class and requiring students with seven or more unexcused absences to stay 30 minutes after school with the teacher whose class was missed. Graziano said administrators were attempting "to create a new awareness about the importance of attendance." He said he's noticed some inroads. "As I pass students in the hallway, without me saying anything, they'll say to me, 'I'm going to class, Mr. he 1 after school," Hanson said.

Vice Principal Jeffery Hummel said the contracts worked with some students but not others. "It's a mixed bag," he said. "Some take it seriously enough that it does make a difference. Others, they can't change the habit just like that. It's pretty tough." Meanwhile, school district officials are devoting attention to the problem, which has been a top concern for teachers.

"I think there's some type of momentum," Hammond said. "I'm pleased that we're having a discussion about it." The district held closed-door meetings last Thursday with small groups of Des Moines high school parents, students, administrators Blouin running mate has been Republican switched registration to vote in Republican primaries. Blouin, the state's former economic development director, plans to announce Thursday in Waterloo that McGuire would be his choice as the Democratic Party's lieutenant governor nominee should he win the June 6 primary. Blouin's opposition includes the well-financed Secretary of State Chet Culver, state Rep. Ed Fallon and a few other candidates with little money or campaign organization.

The disclosure of McGuire's voting record comes as the candidates are vying for the METRO FROM REGISTER STAFF INDIAN0LA County attorney fires assistant seeking office Warren County Attorney Gary Kendell has fired assistant county attorney Doug Eichholz, who has announced his bid for Kendell's position in the next election. Kendell announced the termination Tuesday, saying it was based on a conflict of interests and "other issues." Eichholz, who said about a month ago that he'd run against Kendell, hired a local criminal defense lawyer as his campaign manager. That attorney is representing clients in 10 pending cases in which Eichholz is the acting prosecutor. DES MOINES Transit authority names interim chief The Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority Tuesday named assistant general manager Sheri Kyras as interim general manager. Steve Spade, general manager of the authority since 1984, announced in February that he is taking similar job in Chapel Hill, N.C., a college town of about 50,000 people.

Spade, 56, is paid $118,000 in Des Moines. He will earn about $106,000 in Chapel Hill. His last day is March 22. The board on Tuesday, however, voted to keep him on the payroll until June 30, and Spade will work as a consultant as needed. The extra pay will cost MTA about $25,000.

Transit authority officials have launched a search for a new director, who could be hired within the next three months, Five robberies reported on Sunday, Monday After a lull in robberies in Des Moines in February, five were reported on Sunday and Monday. Three people and two businesses reported robberies. A Des Moines teenager was accosted by a group 'i Voting records show Andrea McGuire has often been registered with the GOP in the past decade. By THOMAS BEAUMONT REGISTER STAFF WRITER The woman whom Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Blouin has tapped to be his running mate was a registered Republican for most of the past 10 years, according to Polk County voter registration records. Andrea McGuire, a Des Moines physician, has been a registered Des Moines Court papers allege she faked her death to dodge fines and a warrant.

Now she has new troubles. By JEFF ECKH0FF REGISTER STAFF WRITER Bad driving turned out to be the death of Kimberly Du. And then things for her got worse. Du, 36, was arrested and tossed in jail Friday after Polk County said. "And they'll say, 'I'm going to But science teacher Kevin Lau-ridsen said most students didn't really listen.

All students received yellow sheets to keep track of their own attendance, but some of those forms ended up in the trash. Students with the worst attendance were required to sign contracts to show they understood the consequences of their actions. Not all students have been penalized for violating the district's policy, which says seven absences is the point that should lead to intervention, including possibly being dropped from class. "I've turned in 10 of them who have exceeded six absences but have yet to see anybody show up Democrat since January of last year. But the 49-year-old chief medical officer for American Republic Insurance Co.

has changed her party affiliation five times since the Polk County auditor's office began keeping computer records 11 years ago. Since 1995, McGuire's party affiliation was listed as Republican for roughly 82 years, the records show. Blouin aides declined to comment on McGuire's voter registration, but Democratic activists have described McGuire as a solid Democrat who has at times motorist is authorities discovered that she was alive. Court papers allege that Du, of Des Moines, faked her death in December to escape fines and an outstanding warrant on traffic charges. Du's demise had first been reported to court authorities in a Dll Dec.

15 letter, purportedly from her mother, that Bennett, himself a 1994 appointee of President Clinton, forcefully objected to past press reports that made a presidential link. Bennett also bristled at newspapers' references to his previous work as an attorney for the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, implying that the characterization insinuates a political agenda. il if risen and jailed Attendance problem: Fred Briley, left, said in December there was only so much he could do to keep his son, Dylan Inman, from skipping classes at Lincoln. "What am I supposed to do? Clock out of my job and go sit in the classroom?" endorsement of the state's largest labor union federation and as Culver has stepped up his attacks on Blouin's commitment to core Democratic positions, such as a higher minimum wage and abortion rights. Former rival Patty Judge, Iowa's secretary of agriculture) agreed last month to be Culver's running mate, should he win the nomination.

Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, is not seeking a third term in November. Reporter Thomas Beaumont can be reached at (515) 286-2532 or tbeaumontdmreg.com the Polk County attorney's office determined that the obituary never appeared on the newspaper's Web site and that Du's funeral had never happened. Du, in jail on a $50,000 bond, faces up to two years in prison for allegedly forging her mother's name on the letter to the court. She's to be arraigned in court next week, assuming good health.

Reporter Jeff Eckhoff can be reached at (515) 284-8271 or jeckhoffdmreg.com for certain types of defendants. Bennett initiated contempt charges in 2004 against a Larson prosecutor who had repeatedly challenged his decisions, but dropped the matter after he was accused in court documents of improperly intimidating the attorney. On Tuesday, Bennett told a group of 70 people that he has rarely been recognized as a liberal in the "hundreds" of instances in which he has increased prison sentences for criminal defendants. "When I give a defendant a much higher sentence than what the guidelines call for, I never once see it prefaced (in the newspaper) by, 'Judge Bennett, former ACLU Never once," he said. Bennett oversees the northern district of Iowa from Sioux City.

Reporter Bert Dalmer can be reached at (515) 284-8136 or bdalmerdmreg.com CjjJd rju dads tool) A i i rClCI DUCsCII MO. fACS, FAAP Prompt Care for Emergencies UUJ DOUG WELLSREGISTER FILE PHOTO RECORD AND NEWS SERVICES of teens in the 2100 block of Southeast Caulder Avenue about 9 p.m. Sunday. Police said the teens "swarmed" James Riddell of Des Moines and took his pants, wallet and shoes. Two other people also were robbed, as was a Wendy's restaurant at 850 E.

Euclid Ave. Hometown Cash Advance, 1335 E. University was robbed at gunpoint about 10 a.m. Monday. Supervisor announces he will seek re-election Polk County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith, a Democrat who represents northeast Des Moines and its surrounding suburbs, announced Tuesday that he will seek re-election later this year.

Hockensmith, 49, has represented the county's 3rd District since 2003. He served as chairman of the board of supervisors in 2005. Hockensmith, a longtime union representative known for giving regular talks to community groups, cited his support of business growth in eastern Polk County as one of his top achievements. The Polk County primary election is scheduled for June 6. Thus far, Hockensmith has no announced opposition.

Thieves drain cash from two motels Two Des Moines motels took a bath early Monday. At 12:10 a.m., a man approached the front desk of the Heartland Inn at 1901 Hackley and told the desk clerk there was a water leak on the third floor. The clerk left to investigate and upon returning found that $135 had been taken from the cash drawer. An hour later, a clerk at the Super 8 Motel, 4755 Merle Hay Road, was told that a room should be checked for a water leak When the clerk returned to the front desk, he found a drawer had been pried open and $500 missing. The rooms were fine.

Des Moines police reported no arrests. in prison on each count. Holliman, who said he helped Millsap make the decision to shoot the dogs, blamed a Fremont County dispatcher who failed to communicate clearly with Millsap. He was "told by a deputy and the dispatcher that it sounded like the dogs 'needed the big Holliman said last month. Millsap removed the dogs from a rental home after the landlord complained about the mess they were making.

After consulting with the mayor and then with a veterinarian through the dispatcher, he allegedly took the dogs to the country, destroyed them and threw them into a ditch. Reporter Jared Strong can be reached at (515) 2B4-8065 or jstrongdmreg.com Conservative judges are the activists, top Iowa arbiter says included a printout of a death notice from DesMoinesRegister.com. District Associate Judge William Price threw out the arrest warrant the next day. Documents say courthouse clerks didn't discover the dearly departed's lie until Des Moines police issued two tickets to Du, for speeding and driving with a suspended license on Jan. 4, nearly a month after her supposed Dec.

5 death. A subsequent investigation by "We don't wear some of those yellow bands on our arms saying, What would Senator Grassley Bennett said, referring to the Republican from Iowa. "Every judge, to the best of their ability, sets that aside, and they call it the way they see it. All of our judicial philosophy is shaped by our entire life's history. "I think that using 'Clinton appointee' or 'President Bush appointee' is a code word, just like 'judicial activism' is a code word for something (people) disagree with." Later, Bennett declined to elaborate on his accusations, or to identify the judges who he felt were making laws from the bench.

Bennett was recently embroiled in a running confrontation with a Bush appointee, U.S. Attorney Charles Larson, over the judge's decisions to reduce prison terms Dos your BENNETT, from Page 1 Bennett said. "I'll debate anybody, anywhere, anytime on that issue about who the judicial activists are in the federal judiciary. They're not the Clinton appointees or the so-called liberal justices, I'll guarantee you that." HEIRIlOOMS Hamburg mayor charged in dog-shooting incident i men OTDnno fi Ear Infections? Tonsillitis? Sinus Infections? Are they missing school? Are you missing work? Call Peter V. Boesen, Des Moines' Original Pediatric Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon! Give your children the exemplary care they deserve.

Call Dr. Boesen, the original and most experienced area physician with the specialized pediatric ear, i ByJARED STRONG REGISTER STAFF WRITER The mayor of Hamburg was arrested Tuesday on multiple animal abuse charges, nearly two weeks after the town's police chief was charged in a dog-shooting incident. Terry Holliman is charged with seven counts of animal abuse in Fremont County, stemming from a Sept. 15 incident in which Hamburg Police Chief Nick Millsap shot seven dogs and puppies and crushed the head of one puppy when it didn't die of the gunshot, said Sherry Sedlak, an assistant Pottawattamie County attorney appointed as a special prosecutor in the case. Millsap was charged with seven counts of animal abuse Feb.

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