109th Medical Battalion stands at attention to begin the ceremony

Hundreds of friends and family members braved the weather and the partially plowed roads and parking lot to say goodbye and wish the civilian soldiers well on their deployment to Egypt. However, not everyone was fortunate enough to conquer the elements left in the snowstorm’s wake. Spc. Robert Otto was held up in traffic on Interstate 80 and missed the entire ceremony after a 90-minute commute from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City. A number of accidents and an earlier closing of the interstate had reduced traffic to a slow crawl.

Fortunately, Otto made it in time to join his family after the ceremony. Otto, a unit-supply specialist, joined the military during his senior year in high school. “I joined the 109th right after they came back from Iraq in 2004. I joined to serve my country and to receive the college benefits,” Otto said. “And right now, I’m ready to go.”

Spc. Otto (center) takes a moment to pose with his family: Exie (mother), Joseph (brother), and Terry (father)

Otto’s mother, on the other hand, was less eager for him to go, but she understood why he wanted to go. “I have the typical mother anxieties,” Exie Tobin said. “Although, better Egypt than Iraq.”

The 109th was joined by two other units, the 209th Area Support Medical Company and 67th Troop Command, as part of the Multinational Force and Observers peacekeeping mission, which will deploy to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt after a brief mobilization at Fort Lewis, Wash., where they will be stationed for two to three months before final deployment.

The members of the 109th Medical Battalion will command and control three companies providing logistical, medical, aviation and explosive ordinance removal support to all 11 Multinational Force & Observers contingents. The mission of the MFO is to supervise the implementation of the security provisions of the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace and employ best efforts to prevent any violation of its terms.

The 109th was last activated on Jan. 24, 2003, and served 14 months before returning in March 2004.

In addition to friends and family, local dignitaries attended the ceremony, including Iowa City Mayor Regina Bailey and newly elected Iowa City council member Mike Wright. Neither Gov. Chet Culver nor any of Iowa’s congressional delegation were in attendance, but Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood read a letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley, and 2nd District Rep. Dave Loebsack’s aide, David Lesch, read a letter on his behalf.

A review of where the most presidential candidate appearances have taken place seems to confirm the notion that Iowa will be a key battleground for both Republicans and Democrats in 2008.  Iowa has had over 1,200 candidate appearances since January, more than double the number of the next-most-traveled state, New Hampshire.

Despite all of the attention, an overwhelming number of Iowans have not settled on a candidate to support.  Although many are leaning for one candidate or another, private campaign polls show that up to 80 percent of caucus-goers predict that they could change their minds about the race between now and January.  Polls have tended to show either a Clinton or an Edwards lead in recent weeks, but generally no leads are outside the margin for error.  And a Newsweek poll released today shows a narrow lead for Obama among likely caucus-goers, so it isn’t time to write any of the top three off.

Among the so-called “second tier,” Gov. Bill Richardson and Sens. Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, have all built momentum in Iowa of late.  Richardson has kept himself in double digits in Iowa polls, Biden has racked up an impressive number of state legislative endorsements, and Dodd has transferred more resources here, claiming to have almost 60 staffers on the ground.

The biggest surprise of the week came from Edwards, who announced that he would accept matching funds from the FEC for his campaign.  FEC rules will prevent him from spending as much money on media in Iowa as he might have otherwise, although campaign manager David Bonior told me he expected the state-by-state spending caps would not be an issue.  Still, Obama and Clinton are likely to spend significantly more than Edwards here.

On the Republican side, many presidential candidates were invited to a dinner hosted by the socially conservative Iowa Christian Alliance, known for carrying significant influence in the Republican caucuses, Saturday evening in Des Moines, although only one obliged.  Former Sen. Fred Thompson will be making his first appearance in front of the group.

But Rudy Giuliani wasn’t invited.  Steve Scheffler, organizer of the event and kingmaker among Republicans in the state, said “I think a lot of our base would rather wander in the wilderness for eight to 12 years than to vote for [Giuliani].”

Finally, the celebrities have also started coming to town.  “Sexy plumber” James Denton, star of the ABC series Desperate Housewives, is making a swing through Iowa for Edwards this weekend, and The Last King of Scotland’s Forest Whitaker will campaign on behalf of Obama next week.

A certain type of little green bug has recently been devastating populations of ash trees in parts of the upper Midwest, and now Iowa officials are concerned it may be on its way here.

The emerald ash borer is a destructive pest that has been chomping its way through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and has also been found in Maryland and Canada.

State officials in Iowa are so concerned that it may make its way here, they have proclaimed next week "Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week," May 20-26.

Adult emerald ash borers are a metallic green color and are usually slightly less than one half inch long. The larval form of the bug destroys the wood of ash trees, and can be difficult to spot before it's too late.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Iowa Department of Natural Resources director Richard Leopold are planning a big press conference on Tuesday, May 22 to get the word out about the invading bugs.

According to the Ag Department, there are 25 million ash trees in Michigan alone that are dead or dying as a result of the damage caused by the green beetles. Here in Iowa, we have a population of about 15 million urban ash trees, and nearly 50 million rural ash trees, all at risk of being munched by the emerald ash borer.

One of the ways the pests have traveled is by hitching a ride on cut firewood that is transported by campers. The Iowa DNR is warning campers to not transport firewood from other states into Iowa.

According to the Ag Department, areas that are currently infested by the emerald ash borer are now under federal and state quarantines, but campers that are unaware of the problem could unknowingly transport infested wood.

 (Photo/David Cappaert of Michigan State University and courtesy of www.forestryimages.org)