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sinrau · 4 years

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A judge ordered an Iowa county Thursday to invalidate 50,000 requests for absentee ballots, agreeing with President Donald Trump’s campaign that its elections commissioner overstepped his authority by pre-filling them with voters’ personal information.

Judge Ian Thornhill issued a temporary injunction ordering Linn County Auditor Joel Miller to notify voters in writing that the forms should not have been pre-filled with their information and cannot be processed. Instead, they’ll have to either fill out new requests for absentee ballots or vote on Election Day.

The ruling marks an initial victory for Trump’s challenges to absentee voting procedures in three counties in Iowa, which is expected to be competitive in his race against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. They’re part of an unprecedented legal battle involving dozens of lawsuits nationwide that will shape the rules of the election.

Republicans said the ruling would hold a “rogue auditor” accountable and enhance voting security, while outraged Democrats called it an act of voter suppression. Miller said he would abide by the order, pledging to void the returned requests and send out new blank forms to voters next month.

At issue was Miller’s decision to send absentee ballot request forms to 140,000 voters in July that were already filled with their personal information, including names, dates of birth and, most significantly, voter identification numbers.

Miller, a Democrat, has said his goal was to make it as easy as possible to vote absentee during a pandemic, as the virus spreads uncontrolled across the state.

Voters had to review, sign and return the forms to request ballots that will be mailed beginning Oct. 5. About 50,000 requests have been returned in the Democratic-leaning county, which is Iowa’s second largest and is recovering from a derecho that devastated the region Aug. 10. The phone system for the county elections office remained out of service Thursday.

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Thornhill ruled that Miller’s mailing violated a “clear directive” from Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who told county officials in July that absentee ballot request forms mailed to voters must be blank in order to ensure uniformity.

Absentee voting, in which voters send their ballots by mail or drop them off at county offices, has become popular during the coronavirus pandemic as a way to avoid the risk of crowded polling places. It led to record turnout during Iowa’s primary in June.

But weeks later, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a new law to make such voting harder. It blocked auditors from using their databases to fill in voters’ four-digit voting identification numbers, which few know and are routinely left blank on the forms.

Instead, the law requires auditors to contact voters by email or mail to have them correct mistakes themselves. Supporters argued that requiring voters to fill out their forms was a step to make absentee ballots more secure.

Miller and elections commissioners in Johnson and Woodbury counties said contacting voters who leave the information blank would have been too burdensome and potentially disenfranchised people, so they mailed forms with that information already filled in. They contended that the law did not block them from doing so.

Trump’s campaign and state and national Republican Party groups filed lawsuits against the three counties, seeking to invalidate all forms returned in response to the mailings. They warned that any ballots cast in response to the mailings could be challenged later.

Thornhill’s ruling, issued after he heard arguments Thursday, is the first so far. Another hearing is set for Friday in Woodbury County, where 14,000 of the absentee ballot requests have been returned. A hearing in the Democratic stronghold of Johnson County, where thousands more have been returned, is planned for next week.

Thornhill, appointed by Democratic Gov. Chet Culver in 2009, ruled that the Trump campaign and Republican groups had legal standing to bring the case. He found that they demonstrated a likelihood of being harmed, noting that not all Iowa counties have the money to send out pre-filled absentee ballot requests.

He found that Trump and the GOP would likely prevail on the merits, saying Miller’s decision to populate the forms sent to voters went against Pate’s directive and the intent of the new law.

Thornhill acknowledged that extraordinary remedial measures will have to be taken under his order but that Miller’s “words and actions show he was aware of the risk he was taking.” He said voters will not lose their right to vote and still have time to acquire absentee ballots in another manner.

The secretary of state has alleged that the mailing violated a law intended to protect personal information stored in government and corporate databases, and asked prosecutors to investigate.

It argues that Miller had no legitimate purpose to access voters’ identification numbers and share them with a vendor that processed the mailing. Attorney general’s office spokesman Lynn Hicks said the office hasn’t decided whether to open an investigation.

Assistant Linn County attorney Elena Wolford argued that the state’s directive was invalid and not binding on Miller, who has broad authority to administer county elections.

She called the mailing an attempt to expand voting access during the pandemic and said Republicans had not shown any injury, saying their argument that it could encourage voter fraud was hypothetical.

She warned that an injunction would hurt voters who are expecting to receive absentee ballots and taxpayers who would be forced to pay for additional notifications to be sent.

Judge voids 50,000 absentee ballot requests in Iowa county

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manualstogo · 5 years

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For just $3.99 Released on March 3, 1965: Eye Creatures from outer space frame a young boy and his girlfriend for murder. Genre: Comedy Duration: 1h 20min Director: Larry Buchanan Actors: John Ashley (Stan Kenyon), Cynthia Hull (Susan Rogers), Warren Hammack (Lieutenant Robertson), Chet Davis (Mike Lawrence), Bill Peck (Carl Fenton), Ethan Allen (unknown), Charles McLine (old man Bailey), Nathan Wyle (Colonel Harrison), Bob Cowan (Corporal Culver), Tony Huston (Culver's Sergeant), Jonathan Ledford (unknown), Shirley McLine (diner waitress), Bob Brown (unknown), Donna Lindberg (Harold's girlfriend), Larry Tanner (unknown), Gordon Bulow (unknown), Jody Daniels (man in diner), Travis Wayne (unknown), George Edgley (elderly detective), Bill Thurman (Seargeant on guard duty), Hillman Taylor (unknown), Edwin Cherry (unknown), Peter Graves (narrator of the U.S. Air Force briefing film), Robert Bob Kelly (U.S. Air Force General) *** This item will be supplied on a quality disc and will be sent in a sleeve that is designed for posting CD's DVDs *** This item will be sent by 1st class post for quick delivery. Should you not receive your item within 12 working days of making payment, please contact me so we can solve this or any other questions. Note: All my products are either my own work, licensed to me directly or supplied to me under a GPL/GNU License. No Trademarks, copyrights or rules have been violated by this item. This product complies with rules on compilations, international media, and downloadable media. All items are supplied on CD or DVD.

#vintage #theater #theatre #film #classic #movie

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theissuecollector · 6 years

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John Culver, Liberal Congressman From Iowa, Is Dead at 86

John C. Culver, an influential liberal who represented Iowa in Congress during the Vietnam War era, died on Wednesday at his home near Washington. He was 86.

His death was confirmed by Jim Larew, a longtime friend who was a top aide to Mr. Culver’s son, Chet, when he was governor of Iowa from 2007 to 2011.

John Culver, a Democrat, won praise across the political spectrum for his independence.…

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democratsunited-blog · 6 years

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Iowa awaits Democratic presidential hopefuls – but pickings are slim | US news

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=6103

Iowa awaits Democratic presidential hopefuls – but pickings are slim | US news

At the Iowa Democratic party’s Hall of Fame dinner, in June, Washington governor Jay Inslee told a room of activists nibbling crab rangoon and meatballs about his distant family connections to the state – and his newfound love for it too.

Two years out from a presidential election, in the state that holds the first nominating contests, such events were once the norm. In 2002 and 2006, midterm years under a Republican president with no frontrunner to challenge him brought Democratic hopefuls flocking to the Hawkeye state.

In ’02, the top Democrats in the House and the Senate, the previous vice-presidential pick and a handful of senators and governors all took the flight out to Des Moines in the summer months.

In ’06, John Kerry and John Edwards, the party’s ticket from two years before, worked dinners and speeches separately, even campaigning for the same state Senate candidate two weeks apart. Three other sitting senators showed up.

Democrats now anticipate the most wide-open presidential field in modern history. But in Iowa, presidential hopefuls have been slow to show. Few bold-faced party names have appeared, leaving campaigning in the state mostly to backbench congressmen and other underdog candidates.

Twelve years ago Rob Sand, the Democratic nominee for state auditor, managed a statewide campaign. “It may still be too early to tell comparatively if there is less involvement,” he said of 2018, though he did remember that there were “definitely more presidential aspirants being present and assisting candidates in 2006”.

Things were different then. For example, candidates could not tweet to their followers about campaign stops. Twitter had not been invented; nor had the smart phone. Something else had not been invented: a Trump presidency.

If you’re out there promoting yourself and doing things only beneficial to you, you’re actively doing a disservice

Anonymous Democratic operative

Donald Trump has broadened the focus of the entire Democratic party, away from single candidates seeking the limelight and towards a sort of collective pushback. As one operative who works for a Democrat mooted as a 2020 candidate put it: “If you’re out there promoting yourself and doing things only beneficial to you, you’re actively doing a disservice to yourself.

“There has to be the right balance of showing up in early states and delivering results. It can’t be about you and it has to be about promoting the Democratic party and helping to find message.”

Several more local factors may have helped keep Democratic contenders away. The first was a gubernatorial primary that was expected to be competitive enough on its own. The second is Iowa’s unique campaign finance disclosure timeline. Any contributions made after 15 July will not need to be disclosed until only two weeks before the elections in November, making later visits attractive. Thirdly, Iowa’s own legislature is no longer closely balanced, as it was in 2006. Both chambers are controlled by the Republicans, making state races far less a priority for either national party.

Rising star Jason Kander says he has no national ambitions but has been noted making subtle moves in Iowa. Photograph: Orlin Wagner/AP

The pace is starting to pick up a little. In the coming weeks, Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Governor Steve Bullock of Montana and congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio are expected to visit again.

The impact of such possible presidential candidates is not simply measured by how many hands they shake at county fundraisers or how many television ads they air. In 2006, potential candidates embedded staff on state campaigns. Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold placed staffers, paid by their political action committees, in key races. The Edwards campaign in waiting played an important role in support of Chet Culver’s successful run for governor.

This year, the most notable public expenditure by a national figure has been an in-kind donation of office space from Jason Kander’s organization, Let America Vote, to Sand, the Democratic nominee for auditor. Kander, formerly secretary of state in Missouri, recently announced he would run for mayor of Kansas City, dropping any potential national ambitions. But Iowa Democrats still noted that staffers were being placed with candidates in an under-the-radar way.

One presidential hopeful has been much more active than anyone else. John Delaney, a member of Congress from Maryland, has not only formally announced his candidacy, he has crisscrossed the cornfields of Iowa. So far, he has made 12 different visits and held events in 72 of the 99 counties.

Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley speaks to workers at his Iowa campaign headquarters in Des Moines in February 2016. Photograph: Dave Kaup/Reuters

John Davis, a senior advisor to Delaney, told the Guardian: “We have made a very concerted effort to run a real caucus campaign and start early. John knew early going into this that people didn’t know who he was and [is seeking to] correct that while trying to support as many Democratic campaigns as he can.”

When the field expands to hold 15 to 20 candidates, Davis said, “talking to folks and having these meaningful conversations is how you get people to stand up and be precinct captains in 2020.”

Delaney, who is funding himself, has been buying TV ads in Iowa, something no other candidate has done so early. The result is that a poll taken in the spring had his name identification among caucusgoers above 50% already. Jake Oeth, state director for Martin O’Malley in 2016, observed that the former Maryland governor never reached that level, even on caucus day after tirelessly covering the state.

Delaney’s unique approach may simply indicate that as 2020 approaches, candidates are going to experiment. Pete D’Alessandro, one of Bernie Sanders’s top strategists in Iowa in 2016, pointed out that conventional wisdom about the caucuses is that “you have to do the small event with 20 to 25 people sitting around the table”. But with Sanders, he said, “we didn’t do one of those events”.

D’Alessandro thought that in the 2020 race, there would be “half a dozen clearly divergent strategies” for how to win the state.

After all, of the potential candidates who were most active in Iowa in the summer of 2006, only John Edwards even eventually ran for White House. Hillary Clinton did not visit once while Obama only made three brief late visits in the fall. If potential 2020 candidates are looking for a new playbook, they will not be the first to do so.

Read full story here

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aryburn-trains · 4 years

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Interstate over the Iowa by steve55126 Via Flickr: Iowa Gov. Chet Culver's campaign special departs Iowa City crossing the Iowa River on the Iowa Interstate behind "Rock Island" 513 on Nov. 1. While the special was neat and Culver was pro-rail, he lost the election to former Gov. Terry Branstad. At least he got a last day of train riding in! November 1, 2010

#campaign train #iais #iowa interstate railroad #cri&p #rock island railroad #2010 #trains #passenger train #history #iowa city #iowa #dining car #diner #business car

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yeskraim · 5 years

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Iowa caucus results delayed due to ‘quality checks’

West Des Moines, Iowa – The results of the Iowa caucuses, the first voting contest of the US 2020 presidential election season, have been delayed “due to quality checks”, the Iowa Democratic Party said late on Monday.

“The integrity experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the [Iowa Democratic Party] is reporting out three data sets for the first time,” the party said in an emailed statement, adding later that there was “simply a reporting issue” and there had been no “hack or intrusion” with the app the precincts were using to report results. It was unclear when exactly official results would be announced.

Who are the 2020 US Democratic presidential candidates?

US election 2020: What are presidential primaries and caucuses?

US elections 2020: When are the debates, primaries, conventions?

As Iowans eagerly awaited the results, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg appeared in their respective campaign headquarters to reassure their supporters.

“We know one thing: we are punching above our weight,” said Klobuchar, the first of the 10 candidates participating in Iowa’s caucuses to address the delay.

Warren told her supporters that they may not “know the results from tonight, but tonight has already shown that Americans have a hunger for big structural change”.

Attendees sit in a gymnasium during a caucus in Des Moines, Iowa [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Both Biden and Sanders told those gathered at their respective headquarters they had a “good” feeling about the results.

“When those results are announced, I have a good feeling we’re going to be doing very, very well in Iowa,” Sanders said.

“We feel good about where we are, so it’s on to New Hampshire,” Biden said, referring to next week’s primary in the northeastern US state.

Buttigieg, speaking later in the night, said: “Tonight, Iowa chose a new path … to say that the time has come to turn the page and start a new chapter”.

‘Inconsistences’

Without the results from nearly 1,700 precinct sites across the state, it is still anyone’s game. Polls going into Monday night’s caucuses indicated Sanders and Biden leading a still crowded field of candidates, followed by Klobuchar, Warren and Buttigieg.

Iowa, a Midwestern state, kicks off the presidential nominating contest every four years. In 2016, 171,000 of the two million registered voters attended a caucus. The state Democratic party leadership and campaigns are hoping for much higher numbers this time around, especially given that the country is deeply divided along party lines and its opinions of the current president.

The Republicans also held caucuses across the state, with current President Trump declared the winner early in the night.

Attendees sit in a gymnasium during a caucus in Des Moines, Iowa [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

In a first this year, raw numbers from all precincts will be released for both rounds of caucusing, as well as the final overall results. That means the public will be able to see exactly how less-popular candidates did across the board. In the past, only final numbers were released. That change appeared to have contributed to the delay of Monday night’s results, leading to confusion and frustration across the state.

“We found inconsistencies in the reporting of three sets of results,” IDP Communications Director Mandy McClure said in a statement.

“In addition to the tech systems being used to tabulate results, we are also using photos of the results and a paper trail to validate that all the results match and ensure that we have confidence and accuracy in the numbers we report,” she added. “This is simply a reporting issue, the app did not go down and this is not a hack or an intrusion. The underlying data and paper trail is sound and will simply take time to further report and the results.”

Newly-naturalised citizen navigates ‘exciting’ caucus

The delay was somewhat of a sobering moment in what had been an electric night for Iowans at different caucus sites.

Moneer Alazzawi participates in his first Iowa caucus [Teresa Krug/Al Jazeera]

Residents of Precinct 118 in West Des Moines began its caucus with cheers as supporters of several of the US Democratic presidential hopefuls gave one-minute speeches.

For 15 minutes, caucus-goers moved around the room, grouping up under signs for their first-choice candidates, including one woman who remained committed to caucusing for Cory Booker, who dropped out of the race last month.

“I just love Cory,” said Kathy Ferguson, who turned down requests to join other candidates’ campaigns that were struggling to meet the minimum viable 15 percent.

According to the precinct leader, there is no official list of candidates, so any name can be voted on.

For Moneer Alazzawi, who became a US citizen late last year, the entire experience was exciting.

“This is really cool. I’ve never done it before, not even in Iraq. When we used to vote, we never caucused,” Alazzawi told Al Jazeera.

Moneer Alazzaw, far right, caucuses for Bernie Sanders [Teresa Krug/Al Jazeera]

When time was called in West Des Moines, the results showed viability for Warren, Klobuchar, Buttigieg and Sanders – whom Alazzawi decided to caucus for. Neither Biden nor entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who placed fifth and sixth, met the viability threshold.

Another 15-minute round was called and supporters from other campaigns once again networked through the crowd, trying to convince the few supporters of US Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Senator Michael Bennett to join their group.

Yang’s group disbanded after holding on up until the last minute. Biden’s group, with help from former Iowa Governor Chet Culver, was able to swing enough supporters from other non-viable camps to squeak out a fourth-place win and hit the viable threshold. Sanders came out on top as the clear winner of precinct 118.

While political observers usually look to the top three candidates who emerge from the Iowa caucuses, many say the top four candidates are significant.

The post Iowa caucus results delayed due to ‘quality checks’ appeared first on Gadgets To Make Life Easier.

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iowamedia · 4 years

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Ex-Iowa Governor Urges Reynolds to Rethink COVID-19 Policies

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver is urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to back off policies that he says will force employees to be in unsafe workplaces that have had coronavirus outbreaks.

Culver says in a letter to Reynolds that workers shouldn’t have to risk illness or death or face the loss of their unemployment benefits. He warned that her policy choices “will affect Iowans’…

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gold2558 · 7 years

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Sent from my iPhone ________________________________ Count your blessings, Proclaim your rarity, Go an extra mile and Chose wisely your power of choice Can this be true, didn't the water go down?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - After Katrina, the media blamed the lack of response on the Bush administration's dislike of black people. Can we then conclude from the lack of media coverage and response by the Obama administration that Obama doesn't like white people? See Below: Where are the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and North Dakota and helping the folks affected by the floods? Where is good old Michael Moore? [cid:[email protected]] Why is the media NOT asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved this problem? ......Asking where the FEMA trucks and trailers and food services are? [cid:[email protected]] Why isn't the Federal government moving Iowa people into free hotels in Chicago and Minneapolis? [cid:[email protected]] When will Spike Lee say that the Federal government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines? [cid:[email protected]] Where are Sean Penn, Bono, and the Dixie Chicks? [cid:[email protected]] Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes, cases of beer and television sets? [cid:[email protected]] When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa ... because that's what God wants? [cid:[email protected]] Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of shootings at rescuers, of rapes and murder? [cid:[email protected]] Where are all the people screaming that Barack Obama hates white, rural people? My God, where are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Oprah, and Ray Coniff Jr? [cid:[email protected]] How come you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again? Where are the gov't. bail out vouchers? The government debit cards? [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] [cid:[email protected]] More people died in these floods then from Katrina...how come the media doesn't report that? There must be one hell of a big difference between the value of the people of Iowa and value of the people of Louisiana. HERE'S THE REAL TRUTH: THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF THE MEDIA, AND SOON TO BE GOV'T. CONTROL OF INTERNET, CELL PHONES, RADIO AND ALL COMMUNICATION AS WELL AS THE PRESENT NETWORK NEWS ON TV. WAKE UP, AMERICANS... WHOMEVER CONTROLS THE MEDIA CONTROLS THE COUNTRY! THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE "ARMS" THAT IS NOW IN PLACE TO ACCOMPLISH THE TAKE OVER OF YOUR COUNTRY! Pass this unedited, un-doctored, factual information forward ..... to get Americans thinking, the media WON'T! [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png]<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> Virus-free. <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient> www.avg.com

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itsworn · 7 years

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The Iconic Ike Iacono Dragster From 1958

This is one of the longest continually run dragsters of all time; the infamous Ike Iacono rail, originally featured on HOT ROD’s January 1959 cover. That’s one of its HOT ROD connections, but a more important one is that former HOT ROD editor Pat Ganahl restored and owns this magnificent piece of history. What started as an 11-year-old boy’s attraction to the orange dragster in HOT ROD led to him ultimately acquiring the still-running rail almost 30 years later, then putting it on hold for another 20 before bringing it back to its 1959 cover status, with help from some amazing friends and craftsmen.

Acquired from former owner Tom Taros in 1988, Pat had been after it for years. Built for a stab at the very first Bonneville meet in 1949 by Laird “Lefty” Pierce, with Ford flathead power and an aluminum streamline body, it was a homebuilt effort from the remnants of a Miller Indy racecar back when such provenance meant nothing. Purchased by 17-year-old Raul “Sonny” Balcaen in 1953, he configured it to its unique identity by swapping out the Ford for a 302ci GMC straight-6, also banging out a new body from magnesium with a hand-formed aluminum nose. The body featured doubled, riveted edges, and was young Balcaen’s first attempt at gas-welded metal fab.

Ike Iacono in his Jimmy-6 dragster sitting at the almost unrecognizable Pomona Fairgrounds drag strip, from July 1958. Notice the unusual multi-piece steering linkage hooked to the Franklin steering box. Also note how clean and tidy the rail is. Iacono was interested in safety way before racing organizations started requiring things like scatter shields and chrome-moly roll bars, all of which can be seen here.

The Mercedes silver dragster ran both stock and 12-port heads with three or five-carb induction. On gas, its best times were low 10s at 136mph.But the rail was known to have set 4-banger records in 1955 fielded by Ed Donovan and Frank Startup running a Fargo four-port head topping a Model B Ford block. Pat says around this same time it was seen with a Hilborn-injected small block Chevy V8, establishing its versatile pass-around workhorse status. Also at this time it received the first Donovan double-disc clutch. After shattering its Model A Halibrand quickchange, Balcaen upgraded the rail with Hilborn injection, a 1937 LaSalle transmission, and V8 Halibrand quickchange rounding out the drivetrain. In 1957 at Colton the dragster hit 151mph at 9.6-seconds. Also during this period Iacono was having much success running his 1933 Ford coupe, helping to develop the first Wayne 12-port head ever made in the process. He was consistently hitting over 130mph in quarter-mile blasts, but slowly feeling the need to go even faster.

By 1957 Balcaen was working for Jim Hall in Culver City, with the dragster collecting dust in a far corner of the shop. Hearing the car was for sale, Iacono paid $1500 for the engine-less rail, spending the next six months filling over 120 holes in the chassis and reconfiguring the roll cage. It also received its George Boskoff aluminum tail. Refinement and an exceptional display of craftsmanship and detail marked Iacono’s ownership, with aircraft fasteners and scattershields for both the bellhousing and rear being just some of the attention paid to both safety and craftsmanship. Resplendent in the bright orange and black the coupe was known for, and with the coupe’s GMC-6 now housed in the rail’s rails, Iacono was rewarded with “Best Appearing” and also Top Eliminator awards in its first showing at Pomona, with a 10.83 et at 126.93mph fastest run of the meet.

Top Eliminator awards were given for the fastest car at each meet, regardless of class. Competing against the stout V8s and twin-engine cars of the day, Iacono was piling up Top Eliminator awards from virtually every meet he attended. And then in late-1958, it was recognized as significant enough for HOT ROD to feature it and place it on the cover.

Pat has always had an affinity for Chevy straight-6 engines and variants forever, so it was serendipitous for him to end up restoring and owning one of the most famous racecars featuring the GMC version of the Chevy-6. This 320ci Jimmy features a 4 1/8 Bore and 4-inch stroke, with 10 ¼:1 compression. Bob McKray in Mission Viejo, California, gets the nod for building the engine. The valve and side covers are Don Ferguson castings from the Wayne original patterns.

By the end of 1959, the stronger Hemis and lighter Olds and Chevy V8s were gaining on the Jimmy, and so in 1960 Iacono parked the dragster to dive into his new tune up and brake service business located near the LA Harbor in San Pedro, California.

A young Tom Taros started working at Iacono’s shop in 1961, and soon convinced his boss to take the old rail to Lions Drag Strip, tip some nitro, and let Tom see what he could do with it. Hitting almost 160mph in the low-9.7s that first race, it would become a consistent 10.50 winner, which was timely as e.t. bracket racing was just unfolding in southern California. It wasn’t long before Tom was racing the digger every weekend, presenting Iacono with a winners check on Monday.

It took a few years to finally convince Tom Taros to swap my dragster for his straight across” – Pat Ganahl

Within a year Iacono got an offer for the GMC 12-port he couldn’t refuse, and so the dragster was again idle until a friend of Taros’ loaned him his small block Chevy engine. Back on the strip, the LaSalle trans and quickchange could not withstand the launches and higher rpms of the V8, and so Taros installed a narrowed Pontiac rear end and 4-speed he massaged. A new pickle green color and Taros-fabb’d fuel injection system, along with Iacono retiring and handing ownership of the rail to Taros, it was the beginning of a whole new chapter in the dragster’s storied life.

Taros built an ever-faster series of small block Chevys, improving his fuel injection system while experimenting with nitro. He ran the “Green Pickle” across the Southland at Irwindale, Lions, Orange County, and Palmdale for the next 25 years. With nostalgia racing taking place at Fremont in the mid-1980s, Taros still had an outlet to continue experimenting to see how much faster he could go as one strip after another closed down operations.

After building a Fuel Altered for a series in HOT ROD in the early 1980s, Pat had gotten the nostalgia race bug and commenced building an A/Fuel dragster teamed with iconic engine builder Gene Adams and Hilborn master Don Enriquez to reincarnate the old Adams and Enriquez A/Fuel dragster. Reconfiguring an old Woody Gilmore 180-inch chassis, Gene supplied the Hemi, and Don drove and helped tune. They even won back-to-back March Meets proving to be an unbeatable combo. As the nostalgia zeitgeist multiplied, Pat continued to chase the ever-escalating safety rules changes instituted by various nostalgia overlords. While Taros continued to race, he fell behind the safety changes, hitting speeds of 200mph with virtually 100-percent pop in the antiquated and outdated dragster. He was running a fine line between getting caught and getting hurt, or worse.

From HOT ROD’s 1958 photo shoot for the January 1959 issue, Iacono and neighbor friend roll the iconic rail into the sun for Eric Rickman at Ike’s dad’s home garage. By the end of 1959 Iacono was seeing less success with the six as V8s, and in some cases twin-V8s were taking over. He parked the dragster in 1960.

Eventually Pat ran out of both time to devote to the A/Fueler, and money. Pat’s desire to give up racing, and Taros’ desire for quicker times finally converged, resulted in them swapping dragsters. It took a while for Taros to see the merits in giving up his old digger, but to continue his addiction to drag racing and love of chasing ever-increasing speeds he needed a better vessel.

About to embark on a re-launch of Rod & Custom magazine, Pat had no time to build anything other than an audience. He knew he wanted to restore the old dragster to its HOT ROD cover status, but for the next 20 years he did little more than score various pieces to put it back to 1959.

Pat preparing to fire up the dragster for the first time in front of his Glendale, California house before teardown for final paint and assembly. He finished the restoration in 2012 after 20 years of on-again, off-again spurts of activity. Pete Eastwood had new rails bent after determining the originals were too warped and damaged to repair, but the rear kickups, front crossmember and body attachment hoops are all original.

In a strange occurrence we’ve seen over and over with vintage dragster restorations, slowly the parts used on the car originally that have scattered over the decades slowly found a home back with the car they came from. And so the first ever 12-port Wayne head, the original Hilborn injection components, and other small pieces ended up right where they started. Big items like the one-year-only 1937 LaSalle transmission, NOS government surplus 302ci GMC short block, new Vertex magneto, quickchange, and countless small parts slowly came together as the years progressed.

Eventually Pete Eastwood in Pasadena, was contacted to replace part of the wasted frame, engine, and trans mounts; make an adaptor motor plate and motor mounts, narrow and mount the rear end, and other fabb’d pieces needed to make it a roller. Bob McKray refurbished the Wayne head, making custom valves and seats, and then assembled the Jimmy. Don Enriquez rebuilt the fuel injections system including the pump originally on the car in 1959, and a batch of small stuff came from Keith Young that included the original Chet Herbert cam used in the car, the original Iacono handmade water neck, and he loaned Pat the original Wayne front cover to have copies made since finding another one was impossible. Joe Umphenour, Bill Jenks, Bill Akin, Doug Robinson, and Derek Bower all contributed either un-obtainium parts or invaluable services in the restoration.

By 2006 it was completed, with Pat finding places few and far between to be able to run it, which he does as often as possible. On 50-percent nitro he’s hovering at the 150mph mark.

So after all of these decades—almost seven, this singular example of what drag racing is and where it came from still plies the quarter mile, a lasting tribute to all of those involved both with the dragster itself but also all of those participants that created these racing machines from scratch in an effort to have some fun and thrills racing in a straight line.

Among the safety enhancements are a bellhousing and rear end scattershields, visible where the handbrake is attached. Pete Eastwood made the “ball protector”, shifter and linkage from photos, while Derek Bower fabb’d the pedal and steering mounts; and also the mounts for the 1920s Franklin steering box. Pat says he made few accommodation concessions for his 6-foot 5-inch frame, but the steering wheel has been raised from its original location. Upholstery by Gabe’s in San Bernardino.

AN hoses are as Iacono originally built the car. That Wayne water pump is a casting from the original on this car, now owned by collector Keith Young. Pat had a few extras cast up, machined them, and also fabb’d the idler pulley. The Hilborn pump was a prototype with no serial numbers purchased from Al Teague, who ran it on his12-port GMC dragster in the 1960s. He had purchased the pump from Iacono back in the day. The degreed crank pulley is also a genie Wayne part.

Other than the hood sides all of the body panels are original, though while the historical record indicated everything but the nose was magnesium, only the belly pan is actually mag. All paint is by Pat, including black frame. The front end including crossmember and tapered Model A spring was fabb’d by Balcaen in the 1940s. Iacono made the aluminum friction shocks.

Doug Robinson at Horsepower Engineering in Pasadena, recreated the headers, surrounding a Ronco Vertex magneto. The aluminum Wayne Horning head is the first ever 12-port he cast. A McGurk roller cam and lifters bump stock GMC steel rocker arms and Isky V8 valve springs and retainers on stainless steel valves. Cam drive is a Cloyes aluminum gear set. A stock GMC oil pump hides inside the 228 GMC “Flat” oil pan, with trap doors fabb’d by Pat.

The cast aluminum Moon pedal was drilled and polished by Pat to recreate Iacono’s original go pedal, with Derek Bower recreating the mounts and linkage.

The new Moon vertical water and fuel spun aluminum tanks recreate the originals seen in vintage images, with the drilled mounts by Bower. Hidden behind the water tank is a vintage fuel filter that took a bit to track down.

Pat was also lucky to get Ike Iacono’s original racing helmet, but it was so beat up that he chose to restore it to the same condition as the car, with Von Dutch striping recreated by Lil’ Louie in San Bernardino.

A great shot from 1966 at Lions in Long Beach of the Green Pickle version of the Iacono dragster, as owned and driven by Tom Taros. At this stage a Taros modified 4-speed and Pontiac rear end back the Taros built small block Chevy. Taros ran a succession of small blocks for the next 25 years featuring his own fuel injection setup made from a tunnel ram and two flow-through 4-bbl. carbs. The wire wheels and magnesium rears were the last ones Iacono ran in 1960. Taros worked at Iacono’s shop until 1972, which explains the lettering.

The post The Iconic Ike Iacono Dragster From 1958 appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/iconic-ike-iacono-dragster-1958/ via IFTTT

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democratsunited-blog · 6 years

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Democrats see boost in voter registrations ahead of June primary races

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=5240

Democrats see boost in voter registrations ahead of June primary races

The latest report shows more than 24,000 Iowans registered to vote as Democrats last month.

The increase was likely fueled by the Iowa Democratic Party’s statewide primary for governor and Democratic primaries in three of the four Iowa congressional districts.

The last time Democrats saw a voter registration increase of this magnitude in the month of June was back in 2006. Democrat Chet Culver won the party’s competitive gubernatorial primary that year, en route to winning the governorship that November.

Republicans had just one statewide primary in June. for secretary of agriculture. Republicans gained about registered voters last month.

By the end of June, nearly two million Iowans were registered voters according to a report form the Iowa . The majority of Iowa voters — nearly 695,000 of them — are independents and are registered as “no party” voters. Republicans have a roughly 24,000 registration edge over Democrats statewide.

The two Iowa congressional districts that basically cover the eastern half of the state have a voter registration edge for Democrats, while the fourth district that covers northwest and north central Iowa has a significant Republican voter registration edge. The third district that covers the southwest quadrant of the state is basically a draw, with nearly an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.

Republican Rod Blum of Dubuque is seeking reelection in the first congressional district. That’s where Democrats hold a roughly 23,000 voter registration edge over Republicans. Abby Finkenauer of Dubuque is Blum’s Democratic challenger. While incumbents are heavily favored to win congressional race, this contest is often listed as a toss-up by national rating agencies.

The Cook Political Report uses the phrase “leaning Republican” in its rating of the third district race between Republican Congressman David Young of Van Meter and Democrat Cindy Axne of West Des Moines.

Republican Congressman Steve King’s district has about 70,000 more Republicans than Democrats. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City is the Democrat who’s challenging King’s bid for a ninth term in the U.S. House. Democrat Dave Loebsack of Iowa City is seeking a seventh term in congress. He faces a rematch with Republican Christopher Peters of Coralville in the second congressional district. It leans Democratic, with about 23,000 more Democrats than Republicans.

Independent voters are the largest block of voters in Iowa’s first, second and third congressional districts. In the fourth district, Republicans even outnumber independents — by about 20,000.

There were about 11,000 registered Libertarian voters in Iowa at the end of June.

Read full story here

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