Iowa Perpectives: Monday: Newsfive 11/20/78

Good evening and welcome to Monday a news 5 special report, I'm Twyla Young and I'm Phil Wilson We'll be here every first and third Monday to examine some important issues profile unusual people and look at some interesting events Tonight we're going to be looking inside to Iowa jails Following the progress of a flock of wild geese and checking up on an unusual battle of the bands In case you had any doubt that America uses an appalling amount of the world's energy consider this Our air conditioners today consume as much energy as all the energy used in China Just air conditioners now add to that we're increasing our use of energy at a startling rate If the current trend continues each of us will use twice as much energy by the year 2000 Where is it all going to come from and what role will nuclear power play in meeting the energy demands of central, Iowa That's the subject of tonight's first report. We Americans have an insatiable appetite for energy These are some of the ways we use it and waste it Our use of energy involves every segment of society and each segment is using more each year In 1850 almost all our energy was supplied by burning wood and by using the power of water Since then both sources have declined in importance the huge growth has been supplied by fossil fuels coal oil and gas But supplying and burning enormous quantities of fossil fuels today is causing serious problems And if we keep on at the present rate in the next three decades our demands for energy will triple Can we supply these demands it may be impossible? consider one part of the problem generating electricity Demand for electricity is doubling every 10 years This means we'll have to build as much generating capacity in the next 10 years as we have in all our history How will I Owoh which receives 98% of its energy supply from other states cope with rising energy demands? Increasingly it is turning to nuclear power But nuclear power plants haven't always been reliable several weeks ago I was only nuclear plant was shut down after it was discovered that leaks had developed in the reactors cooling pipes The plant remains closed and officials of Iowa electric and power Operators of the reactor refused to let us take pictures inside the building But the planted pelo supplies only 15% of the electrical needs of the state far more important to central Iowa is the Cooper nuclear reactor at Brownsville, Nebraska it supplies 50 percent of the energy used by Iowa Power and Light Company the largest electric and gas utility in the state The television set you're watching gets part of its electricity from nuclear power What would happen here in central, Iowa if the Nuclear Station in Nebraska shut down? Well that would call for? Substituting electric power from some other source there would be several alternatives Chances are we'd look very quickly to the cheapest electric Capacity available from some other utility company in a nine state area because we are tied together through a grid system And do that very quickly obviously trying to get the cheapest capacity available to meet that need and of course Hope that the facility would be back as soon as possible The use of nuclear power has prompted widespread protests by Environmentalists among their concerns the question of how to safely dispose of radioactive nuclear waste Which has a lifespan of tens of thousands of years the costs of? Isolating the radioactive wastes from the biosphere for many thousands of years what it means in terms of people to watch over and Maintain this type of integrity to see that it does not leak into the environment Dr. Paul barkas an engineering professor at Iowa State University is among those who believe Radioactive waste can be safely buried underground And he contends there are other acceptable methods of storing nuclear waste one of these is burial in the deep ocean trenches That is the Mindanao trench Tonga Philippine Trench in the Japan trench which extend down 37,000 feet Below sea level and which are being carried under the continent of Asia by movement of the tectonic plates? But the public at large is not so easily persuaded in a random sampling We took most people didn't know what to do with nuclear waste, but they know they don't want it around them Imagine they could ship it off to the moon Be okay And I haven't thought too much about that I know we have to do something. What's your feeling about the problem of disposing of radioactive nuclear waste? Well now that can be a bit of a problem Well, I don't want any in our very badly The controversy about nuclear power plants and their wastes isn't likely to cool down anytime soon in the meantime Nuclear energy is supplying electric power to many American communities Cities and towns that could be hard-pressed to find enough energy from a shrinking supply of fossil fuels But the hope for the future lies elsewhere Still a distant dream and far from this planet Oh, I think solar energy is going to be the energy of the future very much, so because Because of our finite supply of fossil fuels here on earth We'd like to thank Churchill films and the film production unit of Iowa State University for bringing us some of our pictures climate Earlier this month a killer fire struck in Des Moines, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions, surrounding that tragedy Saw, this light smoke coming out of the top of the building over there about 9:30 Yell at my boss Richard Higgins Told Isis junctures on fire he looked over there. He stood sure enough. It is so we called the fire department at about that time The fire just shot right out of the door and the black smoke just covered the entire store That was two weeks ago yesterday on that quiet Sunday morning When only a few people had reported to work at the Merle hay Yonkers store hours before it was to open It literally burst into flames the blaze burned on for hours Then word spread that the firefighters had come upon bodies It was the next day before the worst was known in All ten people had died it was the worst fire tragedy in the history of Iowa's capital city It took several days for Des Moines even to grasp the tragedy itself it was a week of memorial services and cleanup a Week of reassessment for other members of the retail community and a week of silence from Jonker officials about any and everything concerning the fire But by early last week life was pretty much back to normal in the rest of Merle hay shopping plaza merchants there were eager to get on with the Christmas shopping season and without being unseemly about it to encourage customers to come to Merle hay to shop their stores and try not to think about the absence of the Huge Jonker store and the tragedy there At the Jonker end of the mall though the tragedy was turning into a mystery Days had passed with investigators and firemen sifting through the rubble looking for clues as to how the fire started But as one observer said they're finding things. They just don't know yet what they mean one of the questions that has been repeatedly raised concerning this fire is the lack of Automatic sprinklers in the Yonkers Merle hay store all those sprinklers are required in such stores now they were not when this store was built 19 years ago and Yonkers has not been required to install them more recently since the building has not undergone major remodeling since it was built That's the law However the economics of the situation probably entered into a decision not to install the sprinkler system as well One person involved with commercial sprinklers systems in Des Moines says that it would probably have cost about ninety thousand dollars to install sprinklers in this building when it was built To add sprinklers to a building like this today would cost somewhere in the vicinity of a hundred and eighty thousand dollars However it has been estimated that the investment in sprinkler systems can be recovered in five to ten years in insurance savings alone Other stores in the mall are protected by sprinklers the Sears store built at the same time as the Yonkers was Originally built with a sprinkler system Sears officials say that because of the demands of their insurance carriers and their own policies most of their stores fire protection systems including sprinklers generally exceed the standard of local fire codes Sears is not the only major department store in the Des Moines area so covered though indeed the Yonkers store at Merle Hay mall was apparently the only one that was not although some people involved in fire protection systems have speculated privately that sprinklers in the Yonkers store might have slowed the fire to the extent that One or two of the victims could have been saved Most agree that the fire spreads so quickly that any system would have been nearly useless in controlling the blaze Still the question why Why in this day of sophisticated construction practices? advanced fire alarm and protection systems and thorough safety codes can such a thing occur Is it possible to build a fireproof building? Well there may be a fireproof building If we're just talking about the building However when you start moving contents into it. Well. There is no fire proof contents, so this requires you put a big fire load in a fireproof building and you can have a enormous fire inside of this building There has been talk of a nearby gasoline leak causing the blaze or at least making it much worse than it might otherwise have been There have been any number of theories advanced all of which according to Williams are being checked out none of which Satisfy the investigators and that brings us back to the mystery. What caused this fire The simple answer is that no knows and we may never know each day We cover more area of the store in our investigation, and we're making progress this way however progress in Finding cause we haven't come up with anything as yet Sometimes investigations go on two and three years However not continually like this one is because of the fact we lost ten lives here, and we've had a great monetary loss We're spending Continual time on this until we come up with some kind of an answer we find that we can't get an answer there's always that possibility in any fire where there's been so much conservation of the contents and part of the building that The evidence that you're looking for or the origin of fire you're looking for is impossible to find Jonker officials still not talking about the disposition of their Merle hay store or how they intend to employ the 400 individuals who used to Work there although it does appear that most of the full-time employees at least are being placed at Jonker stores in the Des Moines area Twice since it looks like Yonkers wasn't in any apparent violation of the fire codes Do you think this is looking like it might lead to any changes in the regulations well though? It's too early to tell yet of course There's been no official noise been made about that subject yet and we haven't seen the public outcry and about fire codes and their enforcement that we saw after the Coronado apartment fire a year and a half ago that killed five people in Des Moines And even if there are some changes to be made it probably will be sometime yet before we even know what those changes are Well now we're going to take you to another part of the state to the marshland of north central Iowa where a project is underway to save and restore an important part of our natural environment there's desire for people to see wild geese because they stir the motions of most people you know it's really a Great experience to see a flock of geese traversing the sky or whatever and you know what to see a brew to Gosling's Rewarding and I think that the public if we have that ability and opportunity it's money well spent Richard Bishop is talking about giant Canada geese this enormous game bird is like its relative the regular candidate goose But it's half again as large some weigh more than 16 pounds giant Canada geese used to be plentiful in the Upper Midwest But over the years the large free flying flocks dwindled and eventually so everyone thought they disappeared altogether But what you see here is part of the result of a 14-year program to bring this spectacular bird back from the brink of extinction The giant Canada Goose was once an Native nesting species here in a prairie country when the settlers first came to to Iowa when they first come to this rich prairie country they found giant Canada geese nesting on all these marshes and they used them for eggs to eat and and their young and the adults for food and continued drainage of wetlands in this area for agriculture and the use of the Young and for eggs for food find depleted the population, and what we're really doing is If you want to put it that way we're writing or wrong to nature And we're bringing these birds back and re-establishing them in their natural nesting areas and the birds have responded This is Rice Lake in far north central, Iowa's marshland the Iowa Conservation Commission has four sites in this part of the state We're breeding pairs of giant Canada geese Formed the backbone of the Commission's restocking program this 10 acre pen sits inside a hundred and twenty square mile refuge There are artificial nests built here and during the winter food and protection for those wing clipt birds who live here year-round The young are allowed to fly free outside this refuge they can be hunted just like regular Canada geese Canada goose hunting is popular in this part of the state And it's one of the reasons that the Commission has embarked on this program It will increase the opportunity for Iowa sportsmen to harvest a Canada goose if you don't protect them Then you're not going to keep them around long because they're very vulnerable on the breeding grounds But if you give them some type of protection like we have here at Rice Lake and we do it I have it all the other goose walks an area That's closed that they can leave the marshy areas and go out to feed without being shot at all the time You'll protect enough of the birds to make the flocks go and to success of this program You know been shown out northwest Iowa has been you know it's great and we do harvest and a number of birds of the giant Canada geese over there But the population is still expanding probably greater rate than what our habitat can handle I think that's probably why we're seeing some of the birds go to, Minnesota to give you some idea of just how large these birds are a duck hunter might expect to bag a Drake Mallard that weighs about Two and a half pounds a pheasant hunter would probably be very happy with a three pound bird And if you shot an eight or nine pound regular interior canada goose you would probably be very happy But if you were going for a mail giant Canada goose you could expect a bird that weighed 13 pounds or so yeah They're a big tremendous berth especially when you go to grab one - banding or something in the wintertime when we were driving these birds up - To check them for band numbers, and we weigh them and take some measurements and we also Clip on some of the birds or pull their clip primaries, so they'll be able to fly come spring and man sometimes They'll hit you with their wing bone and boy They'll catch you on a wrist or something when your hands are cold or in your nose and oh if it feels like they just broke you, but they can be rather rather ornery and But you realize how big and powerful they are when you try to handle them the Success of the program means that eventually these breeding pens with their wing clipped adults and their special wintering facility can be phased out But Bishop says there will always be the refuge to Protect these growing flocks when they breed and to insure that whether you're hunting or just enjoying the sights and sounds of these birds There will always be a chance to see them. How do you like? I Can't tell you the answers that they're just a majestic Bert I think I think everybody today's enjoy just watching those birds it thrills you when you see them take off their I think they probably represent the pristine Wilderness area because we work on the other subspecies of interior's up in the Hudson Bay coastline and it is just quite an experience to walk across that tundra up there or not many, white men have been and the home of the Ancestral home of the regular, Canada Goose, and it's just you know it's quite a thrill to see them going through the area And it's nice to have Meera Nile They are beautiful birds indeed and huge When we return we'll visit the Polk County Jail to see how it compares with one of the more modern jails in the state Culligan systems can cut energy bills for your business save water save gas Save electricity a major example only 1/8 inch of scale in boilers heaters and pipes can cost you 16% wasted energy culligan stop lists and other kinds of energy waste call for a colleague in water survey Save money and energy nearly every Iowan has a Culligan man Find yours in the white pages of your phonebook and call If you've ever owned an extraordinary suit you'll understand what we are all about that formula Clark a beautiful suit happens from the inside out The fabric the cut the tailoring when the quality's there It shows So when you buy a suit at Forman and plan? It's because you don't need to settle for less Recently Polk County voters turned down a ballot proposal to build a new county jail to replace the crumbling structure in Des Moines it lost By only a handful of votes and failing to get the necessary 60% majority tonight, we'll visit another jail nearby that represents a dramatic contrast Saturday night at the Polk County Jail a woman is being booked for aggravated drunkenness and assaulting a deputy The booking occurred as we were paying a midnight visit to the jail We'd hope to film some of the intense activity that usually takes place here on a lively Saturday night as it turned out it was Exceptionally quiet the woman was the only person booked between midnight and 4:00 a.m. But it gave us a chance to get a first hand look at the jail and to understand what the recent ballot Controversy was all about it didn't take long to realize that the jail is a dump There's the main support beam There's the park coming away the frosty these lesbians are coming and falling apart and separating maybe One inmate is no stranger to the Polk County Jail He's been here twice before and has spent time in eight other jails Say the conditions are worse than any of the other jails there was in The jail was built in nineteen seven although the building's been condemned several times it stays open because there's nothing to take its place It was built to house 146 inmates, but it's often overcrowded Jeopardizing the safety of prisoners and personnel the way the jail is built. We have to put felons of various degrees together Some cases misdemeanors and felons are together The tough guy and in the passive area in some cases gets put together and in this place It's a survival of the fittest the the strong dominate the weak by any Criteria the Polk County Jail fails to measure up to modern Jail standards. It's falling apart. It's unsanitary and unsafe At best it is barely manageable, and at worst. It is a disaster In contrast the story county jail in Nevada built ten years ago to replace the aging Structure that it housed prisoners since before the turn of the century The story County Jail has been cited as one of the best jails of its type in the state Iowa Penal authorities have recently inspected the jail gave it a score of 382 points out of a possible perfect score of 399 Only provides the comforts who say a Holiday Inn But nevertheless it's far better cleaner and more secure than the antiquated facility for Polk County of course it's relatively new and we try to keep it clean have good food and The management where the people work here We think try to do a good job with the people Incarcerated here in addition to prisoners from storey County The jail houses federal prisoners primarily because the jail is judged to be secure Persons charged with crimes in Boone County also are brought here because Boone has no jail For this story County has paid twenty two dollars a day per prisoner The jail has a series of closed-circuit TV cameras to monitor inmate activity it Also has a room for attorney-client meetings and a locked elevator to transport prisoners directly to the courtroom The inmates we talked with prefer to be elsewhere say on the beach at Acapulco But their comments on jail conditions. Generally were favorable. How does this compare to other jails? You've been in this is a it's a lot cleaner better better sales another jail about prokaryotes well I don't know what the other jails in our like I'm Kentucky, but other jails. Generally are worse than this right Although conditions are tolerable escape attempts are not unknown here. We've never had any escapes There's been a lot of attempts taking the light fixtures out a few times But when they find out there's bars wallet over the top there isn't any place to go Aside from security and improve conditions a modern structure doesn't in itself assure that things will run smoothly according to lieutenant beavers there's a very human element at work that is vital their harmonious relations if you treat a man like a man and that of an animal they return the respect Phil since the bond issue in polk county for a new jail failed What are they going to do now? It's uncertain Twila But there is some effort being made to get federal funds to perhaps at least pay for part of it a new jail well We'll see what happens there so many times when we watch television or listen to the radio We forget that some other things are taking place as well for one thing while we are being entertained somebody is making money in Des Moines There is a race on between two radio stations that most people didn't even know about two years ago reporter Micheal Mahoney has checked into the Situation one station on the am band and one on the FM Mahoney says it's truly a battle of the bands There is a battle raging for the hearts and minds of a part of the Des Moines radio audience But it's not the usual fight because this confrontation Involves a piece of the audience some people do not feel are important at Chicago on FM 95 kg Gio feeling stronger every day Before that we heard blue collar man sticks from their latest LP called Pieces of Eight Started things off that set with prism and the title cut of their latest album called see forever eyes this morning They used to call stations like this underground radio or progressive because it does not play top 40 songs forte was album cut But that era ended and it had been replaced by something that jocks. Call a raw album oriented radio 60s are over That that approach to radio to music Was especially good for the times in the late 60s and early 70s, but the idea of underground radio is dying out? It's becoming much more commercial Mike Meacham the program director for Casey PC one of a handful of a low water stations in the country on the am band For two years Casey 14 as it's called has had the segment of the market to itself until this summer This is album Rock FM 95 kg geo, Des Moines. The goals are to make everyone comfortable with this station whether you're you know 35 years old and you like Boston or you're 18 years old you like sticks to get a little of everything in there for you by most standards O'Brien in the format on FM 95 should have the upper hand often the types of people who listen to album rock have relatively sophisticated Sound systems systems that often include an FM tuner so the music can be played in stereo As long as we continue programming what people in this? Particular area like we don't anticipate any trouble and the fact that we're stereo doesn't hurt at all the only Disadvantage I can see that we've had trouble with is our Signal our research through our research we found that there's very little difference between AM and FM listenership anymore now these two stations are locked in a fight to the death they are in a Radian period that will play a big part in determining whether or not Des Moines market can support two stations of This kind definitely for both AOR stations and tons can be both books are going to be very important I would say that the second book of the spring book would be more likely to decide any Changes you're not gonna stay in this format forever If it's not a lit right if it doesn't go over with the public we will be a punk country or something something I don't know Both these stations think that the Des Moines market can support them both at least for a little while the both O'Brien and Meacham are Quick to point out that if the hardrock format turns out to be a loser they drop it in a minute Which is interesting because try as they might to convince the listener that they're there for the music if the rating points and the bucks disappear so with the station This is Michael Mahoney for Monday And that's Monday news 5 special report for this evening. We'll be back here again, December 4 Hope you can join us then by the way Twila I'm doing a series on energy including solar energy that will be on this week during our nightly news well We'll be sure to what for millet philomene good night