Waterloo Courier (Newspaper) - January 8, 1988, Waterloo, Iowa r In short supply Stores are experiencing a shortage of a popular video game ridge B1 IOWA FEATURES SPORTS Crime falls In Cedar Falls Serious crime In Cedar Lights camera Iowa's ringing neW film Twin inked Twins baseman Gary signs a year million Waterloo Saturday's Mostly sunny continued cold A2 C 1988 Waterloo Courier Inc 32 pages 4 sections 35 McKinley expects quick decision after IBP visit By PAT KINNEY Staff Writer Waterloo should know whether it will be the new home of an IBP inc operation very shortly after company officials tour Waterloo according to Waterloo Mayor Bernie McKinley IBP officials will tour prospective sites for the facility next Friday and a company decision can be expected shortly thereafter McKinley said Thursday Advance people from the company may be arriving in town earlier in the week he said McKinley also said IBP is interested in and would be offered and five-year tax ment incentives and a reasonable sewer rate He said no other grant assistance has been discussed He noted however that the com- pany still feels a strong commitment to Manchester the original proposed site of the operation After a tour of IBP slaughtering operation in Storm Lake Thursday McKinley said he's IBP discussions may speed Mary return to City Council ings AS convinced a similar operation would be an asset for Waterloo I was impressed I really McKinley said upon returning to Waterloo after touring the Storm Lake plant I did not see what I've heard I did not see the slave labor kinds of things It was a very friendly employee attitude The thing that most impressed me was how clean it said McKinley who noted he's an animal husbandry graduate of Iowa State University You wouldn't know it was a plant if you stood in front of it He said there were no odors inside or outside the plant McKinley made his comments after returning from IBP quarters in Dakota City Neb where PROPOSED TANNERY SITE PLAN COURIER MAP City officials to look at tannery site plans By PAT KINNEY Courier Staff Writer Site plans for Albert Trostel Sons tannery in northeast Waterloo will be reviewed by city officials over the next couple of weeks If plans are approved construction of the tannery will start this spring and the plant will open in September Site plans for the company's plant have been filed with the city for approval and will be discussed Monday by Waterloo's Plan Programming and Zoning Commission at its regular meeting If the commission approves the plans they will be presented to the Waterloo City Council probably on Jan 18 Although no formal public hearing on the site plans will be conducted the zoning commission and council meetings are open to the public and notices will be sent to nearby erty owners said Don Temeyer Waterloo planning and development director The plant will be designed for processing hides in the first stages of leather making It will complement the operations of the Albert owned Eagle Ottawa Leather Co in Grand Haven Mich according to a company news release The plant is mated to cost million to build It initially will employ about 70 people Future plans call for the facility to be enlarged to square feet and the work force increased to 200 em- ployees company officials said The site has capacity for a foot plant Project design and documentation for the plant is being handled by Harm project architect of GMB Architects and Engineers of Grand Haven Mich GMB Architects will assist Albert Trostel and Sons Co with analyzing construction bids preparing contracts with contractors and on-site checks on construction progress Albert Trostel Sons in late No- selected Waterloo as the site of the tannery culminating an month effort by community officials and leaders to bring the tannery here False alarms White coat hypertension studied By MIKE WOODS Toledo Blade I More patients diagnosed with pressure or hypertension may be ied due to a phenomenon called white coat hypertension a form of high blood pressure that occurs only when long have recognized the phenomenon but until now there has been little information available about its prevalence Anew study released today challenges the traditional explanation that 1 white coat hypertension is due to patient anxiety about coming into Continued on page A3 col 1 We explored the problems at IBP Wherever they have problems they do want them cleared up They want to come in here Waterloo with a new image Mayor Bernie McKinley a delegation from Waterloo made a presentation to company officials Part of the trip included the tour of the Storm Lake plant McKinley said members of his delegation were unrestricted as they spoke with line workers at the plant about their working conditions Before his trip to Dakota City when asked if he thought IBP would be a good corporate neighbor for the citizens of Waterloo McKinley said I'm not going to make a judgment call on and said he was going to Dakota City with no tions Thursday night after his return McKinley said he'd seen enough to make a judgment and would need no further investigation We explored the problems at IBP Wherever they have problems they do want them cleared McKinley said They want to come in here Waterloo with a new image He said the employees have full fringe benefits employee bonuses and employees are paid a week for 48 hours work The com- pany is projected to employ between and workers at its new plant To me those are good jobs and I'm McKinley said He noted Waterloo's adequate er capacity work force and previous experience with a are assets for the city Although IBP will be considering a number of sites in Waterloo McKinley did not hold much hope for the old Rath Packing Co structure They want to be at a site they can expand That may present a problem with the old Rath McKinley Welfare reform proposals will get their share of attention this year By RON De CHRISTOPHER Courier Staff Writer Welfare reform is headed for i starring role in the 1988 session of the Iowa Legislature and it appears the State will have to spend money tc save money An interim study committee recommends a million legislative package designed to help people get off welfare and become productive members of society Estimated savings if lawmakers follow the recommendations would amount to million according to figures from the Senate Democratic Caucus With the estimated savings new funding needed for the fiscal year beginning next July 1 would amount to about million A budget deal struck last week between Republican Gov Terry Branstad and Democratic leaders in the Legislature included an ment to increase spending for measures with an eye toward eventual savings Recommendations that will be mulled after the Legislature con- venes Monday include increased day 1988 LEGISLATURE Second of three parts care subsidies and extended Medicaid benefits to people ing jobs both of which would help welfare recipients be able to afford to rejoin the work force Branstad who supports the im- proved day care and Medicaid benefits said a coordinating council of six state agencies assembled a very effective welfare program that has reduced the welfare rolls THE COUNCIL includes agencies from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Development with Branstad envisioning welfare reform and development being closely re- lated As the economy improves we're in a better position to help people help he said Four specific recommendations for this legislative session and the estimated cost include the Making day care subsidies able to families earning up to 150 percent of the poverty level with the current cutoff 125 percent of poverty level million Allowing the state to extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant women and children from the current four or nine months to 15 months million Establishing a grant program for human service agencies to address education job training and other social needs of families destined for long-term welfare dependency million Establishing a grant program for See LEGISLATURE Continued on page A2 col 2 said They have to think about the future Although active consideration by IBP of Waterloo only became public this week McKinley said former Rath president Emmet McGuire had been talking to IBP officials at least since late fall McKinley said he has been aware of the discussions between McGuire and IBP for a couple of months I've said before our citizens can do more economic development than all the economic development people in the McKinley said If we get IBP it's because of Emmet McGuire McKinley also noted that IBP had looked at Waterloo previously Last month IBP spokesman Gary Mickelson denied rumors the com- pany was considering Waterloo in- stead of Manchester for the plant But he said people in six com- contacted IBP about ing the pork plant in their city cause of delays in Manchester Cold connectons Despite the recent cold weather some outdoor work must go on Workers from left Jack Schulte Rick Muller and Jim West check electrical Courier photo by DEAN HOPKINS for the new traffic signals being Installed at the intersection of Kimball avenues More cold weather Is expected this weekend Unemployment Percent of work 8.0 Jobless rate hits lowest level since 79 WASHINGTON AP The civilian unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in December its lowest since July 1979 the Labor Department said today as the omy created 3 million new jobs last year Some Americans found work in December raising total em- ployment to 115.5 million and ping the jobless rate 0.1 percentage point from November The number of unemployed people dropped by to the department said Meanwhile the number of called discouraged workers those who have given up the search for a job in the belief they could not find one fell by to in the fourth quarter of 1987 Those workers See JOBLESS Continued on page A3 Col 1 INSIDE Celebrity Dally
