Governor Ray To Lie In State At Capitol Building
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Former longtime Iowa Gov. Robert D. Ray will be the first person in 63 years to lie in state at the Iowa Capitol.
Ray’s body will be brought Thursday afternoon to the Capitol. His
funeral will be Friday.
Ray was born in Des Moines, was educated in the city and served as mayor after his tenure as governor.
Recognizing his ties to the city, a motorcade transporting Ray’s body to the Capitol will first pass locations important to him, including the governor’s mansion, Roosevelt High School, Drake University and Des Moines City Hall. The motorcade will arrive at the Capitol about 4:30 p.m., and a wreath-laying ceremony will begin at 5 p.m.
The five-term former governor died Sunday at age 89.
The last person to lie in state at the Capitol was former Gov. William Beardsley in 1954.
Man Dies After Crane Falls On Him
CHESTER, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a northeast Iowa man died when a crane boom fell on him.
The Howard County Sheriff’s Office says the boom collapsed Wednesday afternoon in Chester. The sheriff’s office says 57-year-old Timothy Brandau was working at his business when the boom fell on him, pinning him to the ground. He was pronounced at the scene.
What caused the boom to fall and other details about the incident have not been released. A deputy who prepared the incident report and Iowa safety regulators didn’t immediately return calls Thursday from The Associated Press.
Dept of Transportation Hears Feedback Against Proposal To Close Rest Areas
(Ames) — The Iowa D-O-T has gotten a lot of feedback on the proposal to close down some state rest stops. The leader of the D-O-T Highway Division, Mitch Dillavou, recently updated the Transportation Commission.
The D-O-T released a draft plan last month that ranked the 38 full-service rest areas and listed 11 that could possibly be closed in the next 20 years.
The D-O-T asked for public input on the idea and Dillavou says so far most people don’t like the idea of closing any rest areas.
The proposal has gotten a lot of attention since it was first revealed by Radio Iowa and other media. Dillavou made his comments after being asked about the issue during a workshop with the Transportation Commission prior to their regular meeting in Ames.
Commission chair John Putney of Gladbrook says he’s heard from a lot of people about the plan.
Putney says he’s also heard a lot of support for the rest stops.
The D-O-T plans to continue taking public input through September of 2019.
A study on the availability and need for truck parking will be done by that time and be used along with the public comments to determine how the D-O-T will proceed with the rest stop proposal.
Construction Mistake Causing Delay For Highway Ramp
AMES, Iowa (AP) – A construction error is delaying completion of a new exit ramp for northbound Interstate 35 motorists at Ames.
Iowa Transportation Department engineer Scott Dockstader told station KCCI that support beam piers for the new westbound exit onto U.S. Highway 30 were built too high. Workers have to jackhammer off the tops and pour new concrete to the correct height.
Dockstader says the human error likely won’t disqualify contractor Minnowa Construction from future Iowa projects. He says “all projects are complex, so we have issues with all contractors across the state.”
Co-owner Keith Bruening acknowledges the company mistake and says Minnowa is trying to determine how the human error happened.
Minnowa, which is based in rural Harmony, Minnesota, must forfeit $5,500 for each day the project is delayed. There is no additional cost to Iowa taxpayers.
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New Insurance Policy
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa law approved this spring in the Republican- controlled Legislature would allow the conservative and politically powerful Iowa Farm Bureau to offer health plans that skirt requirements of the Affordable Care Act.
But several months after a ceremonial bill signing, few details are available about how the plans will work for people with rising health insurance costs.
It represents another attempt by GOP-controlled states to chip away at some of the federal rules imposed under the 2010 law championed by former President Barack Obama.
National health care experts have reacted skeptically, arguing it
could be a moneymaker for the Farm Bureau but won’t help people most in need.
An official for insurer Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which is helping run the plans, denies that they’ll provide skimpy coverage.
Man Admits To Stealing Trade Secrets
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa man has admitted stealing trade secrets and transferring some to his new employer.
Court records say 55-year-old Josh Isler, of St. Ansgar, pleaded
guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids to theft of trade secrets and making false statements to the FBI. His sentencing date hasn’t been set.
The records say that while Isler was working as a technical service account manager for DuPont’s ethanol fuel enzyme division in August 2013, he downloaded hundreds of electronic DuPont files after accepting a job with an unnamed DuPont competitor. The documents say he transferred some of the
DuPont information to his new employer.
The documents also say he lied to FBI agents when he told them he had not downloaded the files.
