Monday: Newsfive: April 2 1979

good evening and welcome to Monday news 5 special edition I'm Twyla Young and I'm Bob Pyle Phil Wilson is off tonight for a person who has had a job and has never had much trouble finding one the unending discouragement of hunting for one is difficult to imagine it is that discouragement and lack of expertise in dealing with the system that is at the heart of what is called the hardcore unemployed we'll take a look at that tonight and did you think that the days of the village smithy were over well not quite although longfellows hero under his spreading chestnut tree might not recognize the 1979 incarnation of the breed we'll meet bill Mora tonight town blacksmith a heart attack or some other kind of seizure would you know what to do knowing could mean the difference between life and death maybe for someone close to you and a special report for Monday Micheal Mahoney looks at CPR a special kind of training that saves lives Polk County has an unemployment rate of 2.8% now although if you are among that 2.8 percent you might not agree with this statement one representative of a Polk County business says that two point eight percent is so low as to be essentially no unemployment at all but that's an average figure for the whole county there are groups of people in Polk County who have more than an average amount of trouble finding work they are often called the hardcore unemployed 24 year old Malcolm Bragg went to work seven years ago as a heavy vehicle painter a year ago he was laid off he now has a saleable skill but he doesn't have a job bragg has a wife three kids and bills to pay but he doesn't have an income he receives unemployed father's benefits and rent subsidies from the state with them he can barely buy food and pay the rent if he were to take a job which paid minimum wage his benefits would go down his rent would go up and he would be faced with transportation costs to and from his job all told he would end up with less available money than he has now how's it make you feel you hear things read them in the paper here people say I'm on TV radio that people if you really wanted a job you could find one or if you really wanted to work you'd take whatever was available well you like my family family that I got you really just can't take anything that's available because you know you can't live off of it it's not enough money I don't know I guess other people would just have to try and get out there and try and find one you know see how hard it really is Bob Jackson makes it his business to find out precisely why people like Malcolm Bragg can't get an adequate job in this case he thinks it's because Bragg has no high school diploma application here Malcolm and from what you have told me is that with your experience as a painter and the number of years that you have been painting I feel and I don't know whether you feel or not that we may have to do something else along with that experience that you have to be sure that you will be able to get in and get an interview and get the exact attention one that we need and in reviewing your application I noticed that you did not finish high school Jackson is chief organizer record keeper phone caller job hunter and cheerleader for an organization called jobless United this is Trinity United Methodist Church on des moines near Northside it's a pretty unusual spot to find an employment agency but then jobless United is a pretty unusual employment agency jobless United set up shop about a year and a half ago in this unused room donated by the church as an organization it grew out of an effort by the National Council of Churches to push for full employment legislation and to form grassroots organizations of the unemployed in Des Moines the local full employment coalition the parent group decided that the best way to work towards jobs for the chronically unemployed and under employed was to develop a job hunting system especially for that group that within the next week we can arrange for some schooling and hopefully that we will be able to find some on-the-job training for you are either find some employment for you at least part-time half a day and then you'll be able to go to school the other half again what do you think about that I don't say I have been looking for a lot of jobs this is des moines near Northside it is an area of high unemployment even though Des Moines overall unemployment rate is impressively low there are parts of this town mainly those parts with a high concentration of minorities that have an unemployment rate that that soars to as much as six percent many of these people are called the hardcore unemployed when the term hardcore unemployed then defined by most individuals they say that it is people that don't want to work there are people that are not looking for a job and they just want to beat the system job is United definition for hardcore unemployment as individuals that are gainfully seeking employment and has knocked on from fifteen to twenty five and floors doors seeking gainful employment and have not been able to find it jobless United is an organization of some 200 persons most of them unemployed who meet from time to time to discuss their common problems in trying to find work jobless United is also the employment agency style efforts of Bob Jackson you have to say all that in Florida on the skill that you have and I knows is rather tough sometimes the many jobs you and they tell you I'll call you don't call us I'll call you that I'm sure I make you kind of angry because you know I was treated the same way but one thing that I do know is that you have to keep the faith and we have to keep it plugging in wherever there is something available and we are going to get this job done with it Jackson says that discrimination is still a big problem in des moines but he says that particularly among the minority unemployed there are other major stumbling blocks to getting steady work and making out an application for a job you must be able to complete that application thoroughly so when the employer our personnel person reviews that application they will at least see that the person is thorough nothing at least knows something about themselves number two we've had the problem of transportation people have been able to get certain jobs but they've been located in such an area that they have not been able to find transportation there maybe the most important job Jackson has is helping to change his clients attitudes about job hunting and about themselves one of the things we do here with javis United is try to change that attitude because for an individual to get a job he or she must be able to sell themself What's it feel like to keep looking for a job we get pretty angry every time to go to a job or something to tell you well we'll call you or something like that makes a person you know feel that you're tired or looking for a job or something you know you can't just stop what's ahead for the next six months what do you see the future holding for you in the next six months or time hope a job yeah really open job yeah I think if I go ahead and get this GED yeah I won't have too much problem finding you know something in my field Jackson claims about a 90% success rate among the people he actually sends out on job interviews but he usually works with his clients for quite a while getting the more training building up their confidence finding them transportation in the like before he actually sends them to a prospective employer and by the way Bob anyone who needs any more information about jobless United should call in des moines the number two eight eight four oh five seven thank you very much twelve oh the age of the horse and buggy has passed leaving behind only memories of the day when the horse was the nation's major form of transportation with the passing of the horse many businesses catering to the beasts of burden died out one such business was the blacksmith's shop when the automobile and tractor came on the scene many smithy sold their shops leaving the business for good the reason many of the old timers got out is because they felt they couldn't make a living being blacksmiths Dilawar doesn't agree he bought the Laurel blacksmith shop last July and he says he hasn't had a dull moment since oh yeah we've had as high as 20 25 in here waiting in line and sometimes it gets kind of hectic people get a little impatient but we used to get to work down for him right away laurels blacksmith shop came close to being a thing of the past several years ago blacksmith ernie snore decided to get out he sold a building to paul gone of Laurel God not being a blacksmith needed someone to run the shop so he put Louie thought was the best man for the job in charge that man was Bill Boyle when God decided to sell this shop Moore was happy this was his golden opportunity to be boss at doing what he enjoys most which is working with iron when I was about eight nine ten years old my uncle he was a while there he worked in the shipyards and then he was welded for the county seemed like it just build up from there because we could though you take some piece angle irons and no car air in and make a tractor out of it or you could make just about anything you wanted to if you ask someone to envision a blacksmith they would probably conjure up a picture of a big man standing over an anvil pounding a horseshoe for the most part that pictures obsolete at 250 pounds bill Moore is still a big man but instead of working with an anvil and a hammer he's working with a blowtorch in the stead of horseshoes it's tractors and hog sheds I will use hey for instance say they've got it now and they've got the baler down if we don't get a fixed Nick comes rain they could lose it all or if we don't get their corn picker fixed why they could lose it due to bad weather and then we have a lot of hog confinements around here that it's constantly repair on to keep the business profitable more had to expand he became what he likes to call an odd job man for all seasons the busiest time of year is spring and fall and last year we didn't he it was busy all year long seemed like it and went from planting and making hay and mowing weeds and time we got that done it went into Tom - season December January and February we have to fill in with bale trailers or making feeders or something of that nature to aid mourn his work he brought more equipment instead of just hot coals a forge and a hammer more shop now sports a lathe drill press and a power hacksaw on any given day of mors six-day week he could have 20 people walk through his door with every odd job conceivable yeah probably the greatest one and one we cater to most is a farmer because he's the one that that needs the most help because his is more complexed and it's more variety of things and it's more of a do-or-die thing because a lot of pertains to animals and weather factors I'd say we probably do cater to farmer more than we would somebody off the street many times these jobs are tough but that doesn't keep more from tackling them it's hard work not ours and but I guess my greatest satisfaction is you can go down the road I've got about a roughly about 40 mile area that I've got people in and I go down pasture place and I can see that they've got a good crop and I think back well had a hand in it well there's just a lot of people around I'm one them that doesn't have a welder and I think we'd have to look for someplace else to get our work done and and there's a lot of things that he can make that you just can't buy without seen anything against the president farmer I think he's becoming more of a operator than he is a repairman and he to depend on someone else to do his service work and to do is repair work good many of them that find themselves in trouble didn't have someplace that was reliable that they could go and have this work done for them they expect that hire at though well it gives a person a place that's real close to your work to get parts and and they also will these new combines and everything you you need some help lots of times and rather than run to your implement deal which is quite ways away you can come in here and and get things fixed Moore's business is good right now he's the only odd job man in a 40 mile radius now a lot of farmers as well as town folk respect his work but what about the future is it going to be a prosperous one Moore's attitude is hopeful and I see a pretty good future and it's it's rough now but everybody's having it rough bill would you recommend a friend to go into the blacksmith business you bet it's very satisfying it's challenging and it's never the same thing each day there's always a variety and what's the proper equipment you can sit down and belt you anything you want to build and very satisfying Twila even though bill loves its work he says he's looking forward to the day he can turn his business over to an associate so he can devote more time to his hobby which is collecting antique blacksmith tools sort of a busman's holiday yeah well coming up next we'll take a look at what can and cannot be done if someone near you has a heart attack or some other kind of seizure when michael mahoney looks at CPR in this age when physical fitness is in more concern is being directed towards good conditioning and proper care of our bodies that concern has been translated into renewed interest in emergency techniques things like CPR what is CPR in a special report for Monday Michael Mahoney tells us about it and how not knowing about it could prove to be very costly imagine yourself at work one day a colleague looks ill starts to stagger and finally collapses it's having a heart attack would you know what to do the chances are you wouldn't and because of that and person on the floor perhaps a friend would die because his friends couldn't help him when he needed it the most there are ways to stop those situations from turning tragic and most people know that but the sad part about it is the fact that while they may know about it they don't take any steps to do it until it's too late to some extent that's changing more often the scenario takes place the more businesses and institutions realize the importance of knowing what to do how to do it and when you're watching a CPR training class a session where people learn the rudiments of CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR is a technique designed to help keep a disabled person breathing and a medical emergency many functions of the body automatically stop and CPR clears a path to the lungs in order to restore breathing and re-establish a heartbeat making sure that the heart and brain get enough air and blood to continue to operate well these people are learning could save someone's life what other people are missing could cost someone their life Ballard Community High School and Huxley it's a small school where last year's student Danny Edwards died of a seizure he died because nobody knew how to help him the situation occurred in the afternoon about 2:30 in our last our study hall I went into a seizure or convulsion patient had a grand mal seizure and that an airway needed to be opened and no one at this time knew how to open an airway the teacher that was in there was a coach and you know recognized a situation is serious we didn't know whether it was an epileptic seizure we didn't know exactly what the problem was the boy was unconscious not responding shortly after that the medic team arrived from Mary Greeley hospital and they got a patent airway started closed set chest massage and gave medications and monitor him on our cardio scope and transported to the hospital didn't do any good I know it didn't if somebody had been able to perform a CPR technique on Danny Edwards would he be alive today if someone had known how to open the airway then chances would be improved that he would have survived principle hints in this school district learned of the value of CPR the hardest way possible and the scary part about that is that while now many schools are teaching CPR just as many are not and those are the ones that are inviting a replay of the Danny Edwards tragedy well Mike you're right it's in the minority as far as those number of school districts who are currently involved in CPR training whether it's through their phys ed class health classes and so forth what we're trying to do now is generate interest within the school systems so that more of them will take the time to find out how they're primarily their upper grade level students can be trained I think a lot of school districts in the state of Iowa need to do more than have this first date instruction i think they need training life support people in each of their 10 I think as a state we probably have a ways to go in that there is some training now taking place in the schools children are learning mouth-to-mouth resuscitation early on later on in their education the rudiments of CPR will be taught to them and the State Department of Public Instruction has encouraged school districts to train at least their teachers and preferably the whole student body on how to use CPR and how to save someone's life but for some reason a number of school districts don't think it's important I suppose it's like anything else Mike with so many things going on in this day and age people involved in so many things that sometimes it may get lost in the shuffle and our job primary job is to promote CPR training and the importance of it through the process such as own WI and by doing that we feel that you know okay it doesn't take that much time and if it could be someone's life particularly a member of someone's own family or a teacher or an acquaintance something like that it would be well worth the effort the Iowa Heart Association is providing schools and businesses throughout the state the opportunity to teach their people the technique of CPR in order that they may be able to make the most use of those valuable moments before an ambulance arrives and for those institutions that elect not to take advantage of that there is one factor remember Danny Edwards died here but he didn't have to this is Michael Mahoney for Monday while some schools may be lacking their emergency capability Michael tells us that there are many CPR training programs going on all over the state and that they are very popular in fact he says if you want to take the training you expect to wait about two months by the way some of you of some of the film that you saw in Michael's piece was from a film called pulse of life produced by pyramid films we got it from the story County hospitals and we thank them very much for it well do indeed before we leave you this evening we have a special sure sign of spring for you it's a peek at the spring migration of waterfowl and travel north by way of the Missouri River on Iowa's western border the place de soda Bend National Wildlife Refuge the time spring migration but the hundreds of thousands of geese and ducks that pass through here on their way back north to their nesting grounds are not the only spring migrants at DeSoto Bend there are the faithful who come from miles around to feast their senses on the sights and sounds of wild waterfowl refuge manager George gage says that although the totals are not in yet for this year last year during the special spring migration week some 8,000 people visited the refuge many of them returned this year to look at those little bufflehead adducts and bobbing in the oxbow lake that is de soda bend or to watch the Merganser streaking overhead or to catch a glimpse of one of the noble bald eagles that winters here some of the visitors also saw one of the largest winter fish kills they've ever had at the soda bend the hard winter thick ice heavy snow robbed the lake of most of its oxygen killing much of the fish population gage says that may be a blessing in disguise most of the fish were so-called rough fish they were carved for Buffalo and the like and with them gone they may be able to restock de soda bend with game fish but most of the refuge visitors were not looking at the water they were looking up to see the stars of the show the geese some two to three hundred thousand snow geese pass through the area and they are a sight to see refuge manager gage tells us that birds are not the only wild attractions at DeSoto Bend he says that towards the end of April the woods are full of some of the best mushrooming places you could ever hope to find so I may take my bucket and head back over there the next couple of weeks it was a great idea Twila that's Monday News 5 special edition for this evening thanks for joining us Phil Wilson and I will be back here in two weeks on April 16th I hope that you can join us then for Bob Pyle I'm Twila young good night