en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/623765 Comments by glorose http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2010/03/10/iowa-not-likely-to-couple-with-federal-tax-code#IDComment61307384 The City, County, and State officials have been complaining that the Federal government hasn't been doing its share to help flood recover. I think its hypocritical for any of them to turn around and not do their share. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:22:19 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2010/03/10/iowa-not-likely-to-couple-with-federal-tax-code#IDComment61307384 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2010/03/10/eastern-iowan-lawmakers-seek-to-waive-tax-penalties-interest-for-2008-disaster-victims#IDComment61305662 The City, County, and State officials have been complaining that the Federal government hasn't been doing its share to help flood recover. I think its hypocritical for any of them to turn around and not do their share. The only idea that the local government can come up with is extra taxes to help cover flood recovery let's be real. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:17:32 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2010/03/10/eastern-iowan-lawmakers-seek-to-waive-tax-penalties-interest-for-2008-disaster-victims#IDComment61305662 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2010/03/08/cedar-rapids-to-demolish-286-flood-damaged-homes#IDComment61303221 That's 3900 affected it didn't say that many were damaged beyond repair. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:09:15 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2010/03/08/cedar-rapids-to-demolish-286-flood-damaged-homes#IDComment61303221 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2010/02/08/block-by-block-looks-for-new-homeowners#IDComment56237606 I wouldn't buy one. If / When there are problems you get to try to sue a nonprofit. Forget it. It's bad enough holding a contractor responsible. Some of the volunteers were very responsible and knew what they were doing others only claimed to. I say too many volunteers taking sledge hammers at support bearing walls. People who wanted to just cover up instead of fixing structural damage. The volunteers had to be watched to be sure they actually knew what they were doing. There was plenty of times I was guarantied that the volunteers were experienced only to find out they didn't have a clue, the experienced person was assigned to another house. Who are you going to hold responsible when there are problems. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:40:41 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2010/02/08/block-by-block-looks-for-new-homeowners#IDComment56237606 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2010/02/08/block-by-block-looks-for-new-homeowners#IDComment56235979 I wouldn't buy one. If / When there are problems you get to try to sue a nonprofit. Forget it. It's bad enough holding a contractor responsible. The volunteers were a mixed bunch. Some were very knowledgeable and competent others were not. Some of the volunteers I had did not have the foggiest idea what they were doing but claimed they did. . I had to pay a lot of money to rip out stuff that had been done wrong and then pay to have it done right. Its not a case that I was being picky, its a case that work was not structurally sound. There were too many willing to cut corners BIG CORNERS, to see how much they could get done only to find out every thing they did had to be ripped out and redone. All that money spent on materials that had to be ripped out thrown away, money borrowed, and new material bought . My first experience with volunteers was going over to see a neighbor who had volunteers, She wasn't home but there was dozens of volunteers taking sledge hammers at her support bearing walls. The person supervising them was not there. There were so many times I thought I had made sure the volunteers knew what they were doing only to find out the group was doing 6 houses in town that week and out of 40 volunteers only 1 or 2 of them knew what they were doing and they were not going to be at my house at all. My house had a basement wall move and the house settled several inches on one side. Desk drawers now open all by them self. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:27:19 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2010/02/08/block-by-block-looks-for-new-homeowners#IDComment56235979 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/education/2009/12/22/sally-masons-letter-on-mediacomsinclair-dispute#IDComment49916313 If you must watch channel 2 and fox get an antenna. Buying an antenna and converter box if nessacary is going to be cheaper in the long run then giving in to Sinclair. The increase in rates again and again will soon add up to more then the price of an antenna. Fri, 1 Jan 2010 08:54:24 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/education/2009/12/22/sally-masons-letter-on-mediacomsinclair-dispute#IDComment49916313 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/12/30/iowa-attorney-general-to-fcc-don%e2%80%99t-let-sinclair-yank-its-stations#IDComment49915966 I don't understand how sinclair gets away with all this. As far as watching their channels I've quit. They shows I like I can watch on line when its convienent which is so much better. As far as their news it use to be great. That was before they started the muckraking trying to sinsationalize stories. News should be fair and objective. If I want Jerry Springer I'll watch that if I want the news I want fair and honest Fri, 1 Jan 2010 08:47:05 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/12/30/iowa-attorney-general-to-fcc-don%e2%80%99t-let-sinclair-yank-its-stations#IDComment49915966 http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/78177612.html#IDComment45868312 Don't bather trying to appeal. My Phyco X after several other failed attempts stole my truck drove it around the block and parked it in front of my house backwards. Then he called the police and reported it. So I got a ticket for Parking against the flow of trafic. He left a lovely voice message on my phone bragging and laughing about what he had done. I appealed the ticket and got no where even with a tape of him laughing about what he had done. I was informed if I took it to court and won I would stile have to pay the court cost which was more then the ticket. No exception pay the ticket or pay the court costs Sat, 5 Dec 2009 01:33:14 +0000 http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/78177612.html#IDComment45868312 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2009/11/24/cedar-rapids-flood-debris-collection-ends-tomorrow#IDComment44875145 what do you mean 12 months too late their are lots of flood victims still working on damaged homes. Not only do they have to pay to have the junk haled away or pay to dump it there-self they want to increase the dumping fee. Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:59:01 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2009/11/24/cedar-rapids-flood-debris-collection-ends-tomorrow#IDComment44875145 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/public-safety/2009/11/20/man-tasered-after-attempting-to-grab-cedar-rapids-officers-gun#IDComment44122072 Hay have some of you forgotten a nut case that the police/ sheriffs office dropped off at a mental word asking that they be notified before he was released. Not only were they not notified before he was turned lose the guys first act on getting back to town was to go over to the hi-school weight room and shoot the coach. I believe if he is under arrest then they have to notify them. That being the case then he should be arrested Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:03:43 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/public-safety/2009/11/20/man-tasered-after-attempting-to-grab-cedar-rapids-officers-gun#IDComment44122072 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/blogs/news-hawk/2009/11/11/childrens-notes-in-buried-glass-jars-may-detail-alleged-sexual-abuse-by-iowa-man-missouri-brothers-and-father#IDComment43891556 That is not much of a bail considering what they are charged with. There most not be much evidence yet. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:25:51 +0000 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/blogs/news-hawk/2009/11/11/childrens-notes-in-buried-glass-jars-may-detail-alleged-sexual-abuse-by-iowa-man-missouri-brothers-and-father#IDComment43891556 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/city-room/2009/11/14/mayor-elect-corbett-wants-homeowners-dealing-with-city-hall-in-buyouts-to-have-access-to-an-advocate#IDComment43890614 The advocates at the Recovery Center are useless. I've gone to them repeatedly and they haven't done one single thing to help. They made lots of false promises but that's it. The mortgage help hot-line was also useless. The bank helped them self to part of my FEMA money then told the mortgage help hot line that I had no mortgage. I told them I had prof that the bank was lying. There response was sorry we cant help you because the bank says. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:08:58 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/city-room/2009/11/14/mayor-elect-corbett-wants-homeowners-dealing-with-city-hall-in-buyouts-to-have-access-to-an-advocate#IDComment43890614 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/blogs/news-hawk/2009/11/10/woman-drives-into-1500-gallon-aquarium-at-tampa-airport#IDComment42776525 Well I guess that's one way to go fishing. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:55:35 +0000 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/blogs/news-hawk/2009/11/10/woman-drives-into-1500-gallon-aquarium-at-tampa-airport#IDComment42776525 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/11/10/linn-county-auditor-wants-to-sell-land-to-put-property-back-on-tax-rolls#IDComment42775879 Many of these Parcels of land are to small to build on. Many of these Parcels originally, before the City set limiters (on how wide and long a property had to be or how far from the property line and from the curb you had to be to build) on lot size you had to have before you could build homes on. Once the original building Burnt down / was destroyed they could not rebuild on that location. On my block there is 7 - 8 more houses then could legally be built on it today. Who wants a lot that is too small to build on. So far as the drainage ditches I don't like the idea of tiling them out so you can build on them and sending the water down hill to those of us that are near the river. That practice of tiling out wet lands so you can build on them is part of the reason the flood of 08 was as bad as it was. They have been tiling them out all along the river, sending all that extra water down to the river. I live outside of the 500 year flood plan and I got flooded 4 - 41/2 of water on my first floor. Were as we probably still would have had flooding in 2008 it probably wouldn't have gone much beyond the 100 year flood plain if they hadn't done all this tiling out. I'll bet about half of these parcels have reasons why they can not or should not be built on. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:44:11 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/11/10/linn-county-auditor-wants-to-sell-land-to-put-property-back-on-tax-rolls#IDComment42775879 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2009/11/06/flood-buyout-funds-approved-for-cedar-rapids-other-cities#IDComment42302850 Can we get a list of these property. So I can see if mine is on the list. If they know it's 852 properties in Cedar Rapids then they have a list somewhere. Sat, 7 Nov 2009 05:50:42 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/flood-recovery/2009/11/06/flood-buyout-funds-approved-for-cedar-rapids-other-cities#IDComment42302850 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/10/20/roosevelt-class-learns-about-pool-school-history#IDComment39628858 I remember Wilson was supposed to a pool also. When they were originally built they were High Schools. I think the 4 old middle school / junior highs were originally high schools. I remember the story about the drowning. The story I heard was veg about which one of them that it occurred at but the ones that had finished pools were supposed to have been covered over with a reg. gym replacing them and ones that were not finished yet were never finished, Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:21:26 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/10/20/roosevelt-class-learns-about-pool-school-history#IDComment39628858 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/10/15/disability-payments-can-take-years-to-be-approved#IDComment38934445 Its terrible trying to collect SSDI. I have been trying for 3 1/2 years already. There have been times when I was literally in intensive care with odds of surviving the night in the single digits (less then 5% of surviving the night) and I would get a letter or phone call from the worker handling my case informing me that yet again Social Security had determined I was not disabled but able to work.. Most of them Family or Friends intercepted for me. So I did not actually see until after I the doctors decided there was a chance I might live. javascript:%20postComment(0); Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:20:58 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/2009/10/15/disability-payments-can-take-years-to-be-approved#IDComment38934445 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/local-news/2009/10/07/cedar-rapids-city-council-discusses-how-to-spend-local-option-sales-tax#IDComment38322171 I think its ridicules to be planning on how to spend "extra money" while flood victims are being tied up in red tape and told this or that doesn't qualify. I was told my home was re-habitable " go and repair it and send us the receipt" Now that I'm getting close to getting done, they are saying they didn't realize this or that also needed to be fixed when they inspected it, that its going to cost to much to fix all the stuff they over looked so I have to come up with money from thin air to cover it. I'm disabled so there is no getting a lone for the rest. These are things that have to be fixed, like the sewer. I've had problems with the sewer ever since the flood. All that silt and crap that went down the drain had it so clogged only a trickle could get through after each time they snaked it of used pressure to try and bust through it. Then a week or two with literally tons of water sitting on my soggy soft yard swishing back and forth with the waves causing the ground to shift so the pipes no longer quite matched up. As a result several times I discovered raw sewage ankle deep. After over a year of this they tell me the back yard and pips all need to be dug up and new pipes etc. put in. So what does Jump Start say first they say its not flood related, all the experts say yes it is. Then its they say when they inspected the house to see if it was repairable they didn't list it so they aren't covering it. I finally convince them this is part of fixing the plumbing which was on the list. Then they say the house has cost to much to repair. Either I give up on fixing the home and walk a way with nothing FEMA and Jump Start already spent and still no home I make thousand appear out of thin air so I can pay to fix it my self. Un- met need has already been spent several times over on other things they wouldn't cover. I know several others in the say boat. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:03:22 +0000 http://oldgo.gazlab.com.php5-15.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/local-news/2009/10/07/cedar-rapids-city-council-discusses-how-to-spend-local-option-sales-tax#IDComment38322171 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/public-safety/2009/08/05/funeral-services-set-for-iowa-city-shooting-victim#IDComment29619072 Presumed Innocent until proven guilty. Ever since I first hear the News account of this whole thing I have found something wrong with the whole idea that simply because John Deng isn't around to tell his side of the story its assumed he is guilty and the other person in involved is Innocent. It seams Medieval to me like "Trial by Combat" where the winner was innocent or telling the truth and the other knight was lying / guilty. At least this article left a tiny sliver of a possibility that it wasn't all his fault. I wounder how much of it had to do with the fact he was homeless? Did the press assume that meant no one was around to care Thu, 6 Aug 2009 01:28:06 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/public-safety/2009/08/05/funeral-services-set-for-iowa-city-shooting-victim#IDComment29619072 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/the-back-pew/2009/07/16/work-or-religion#IDComment29445173 Let them wear their head dress's Let them wear their head dress's No one says I can't wear my cross or a religious metal. They don't even require that I put it inside my cloths. Heck I've known teachers to leave a Bible sitting out on their desks and around the class room. I you ask me unless its part of a social study's class and you have a variety of religious books out then that is proselytizing not wearing something like a scarf or head covering. Tue, 4 Aug 2009 19:26:20 +0000 http://gazetteonline.com/blogs/the-back-pew/2009/07/16/work-or-religion#IDComment29445173