Authorities Release Additional Information Regarding Truck Rollover Accident
(Hinton) — Additional information has now been released relating to that overturned semi truck and tanker that detoured northbound traffic on Highway 75
for the better part of Thursday. Plymouth County authorities say the driver of the overturned tanker truck was 58 year old Ronald Vande Kieft from Kirkville, Iowa. The truck was heading southbound on U-S Highway 75 between Merrill and Hinton at about 5:00 a.m. Thursday morning when the driver had fallen asleep and drifted onto the inside shoulder.
The driver says that when the truck had left the roadway and entered the shoulder area, he was able to keep the truck under control, but the tanker- trailer did not recover from the shoulder and dragged the entire unit into the center median causing the truck and trailer to overturn. As a result of the accident, the truck and trailer tipped causing total damage to both units. The
The total time Highway 75 was being detoured was 9 hours and ten minutes.
FORMER ANTHON RESCUE SQUAD CLERK UNDER INVESTIGATION
State Auditor Mary Mosiman has released a report on an investigation of the Anthon, Iowa Rescue Squad that shows over $100-thousand dollars of improper use of credit cards and the organization’s money.
Mosiman says the investigation focused on former secretary/treasurer Kristine Roggatz.
The State Auditor was called in after the city and rescue squad staff was contacted by a collection agency regarding a Capital One credit card established in the organization’s name which they were not aware of.
Moisman says there were 19 cash withdrawals made at A-T-Ms and purchases from phone service providers, online vendors, and retail vendors.
The audit covered a period from January 2009 through December of 2014
Mosiman says there was a lack of oversight, and it was something that could be easily taken care of by the organization.
Copies of the report have been filed with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Woodbury County Attorney’s Office, and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.
Radio Iowa
PARENTS SUE MEDICAL EXAMINERS FOR CHILD ABNORMALITY
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Supreme Court says the parents of a severely disabled child can sue medical providers for failing to warn of fetal abnormalities that would have caused the mother to have an abortion.
Friday’s ruling marks the first time that a wrongful birth claim has been recognized in Iowa. The opinion notes that 23 other states allow such lawsuits.
The case involves a boy born with cerebral palsy and other impairments that require frequent doctors’ visits and make it unlikely he’ll ever walk or speak. They allege that the mother was assured after an ultrasound that “everything was fine” with the fetus even though doctors had found the head was abnormally small.
The court says parents should have the opportunity to make informed decisions about whether to terminate a pregnancy.
MURDER VICTIM FROM 1984 HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa medical examiner’s office says new fingerprint technology has led to the identification of a man whose body was found in Des Moines more than 33 years ago.
The Polk County Medical Examiner’s Office says the Latent Print Unit at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, was able this year to match a thumb print taken from the badly decomposed body. Officials on Friday said the unit called Iowa officials Thursday to say the body was that of 39-year-old John Clifton Downey.
Within hours, Iowa officials were able to find and notify Downey’s next of kin in another state.
Downey’s remains were found beneath brush along a trail in Des Moines on Feb. 28, 1984, and determined to be a homicide. The investigation into who caused his death continues.
