(SIOUX CITY)–Sioux City Police are searching for the driver of a pickup truck which struck two young people on bicycle Saturday afternoon.
Authorities say the two juveniles were struck about three Saturday afternoon as they were crossing the intersection of Van Buren and 43rd Street. This is in the Leeds area of Sioux City.
Both young people were injured. One rider had a leg injury and the other had a leg injury and head injuries requiring hospitalization.
The driver of the pickup truck did not stop and was last seen driving east on 44th Street. The vehicle is an older light-blue and white Ford or Chevrolet full-size pickup truck with rust on the lower panels. The pickup may have damage to the front driver side quarter as a result of the accident.
(SIOUX CITY)–Donors for the Siouxland Community Blood Bank are being honored for major gallon milestones.
Terry Johnston of Sergeant Bluff was recognized for achieving 40 gallons of donations last year. A regular platelet donor, Johnston is also an employee of the Siouxland Community Blood Bank. Johnston works in the Laboratory Department.
Michael O’Brien of South Sioux City reached 35 gallons of donations in 2009. The milestone for an Akron man, Robert Popken, was 25 gallons.
Fourteen people achieved blood donations of 20 gallons including Mark Bohner of Le Mars, Kenneth Alesch of Remsen, Gary Draayer of Sioux Center, Norman Eason of Alton.
The Siouxland Community Blood Bank joined operations with the Blood Center of Iowa last month to become LifeServe Blood Center.
(ORANGE CITY)–Inspirational service is the way the effort of the music department secretary at Northwestern College is described.
Nora Verburg received the Staff Recognition honor for 2010. As the “Staff Recognition for Inspirational Service” award winner, Verburg received a $500 honorarium funded by the Alumni Association, a plaque and a luncheon to share with her coworkers.
The honor is given to recognize staff who consistently provide outstanding contributions by going above and beyond what is expected, personify a strong Christian commitment and distinguish themselves as an inspiration to the campus community.
Verburg, a resident of Middleburg, graduated from Northwestern in 1988 with a music degree. She has taught at Christian Schools in Hospers and Inwood and is in her ninth year on the Northwestern staff.
(SIOUX CITY)–A free, public recycling day for electronic items is planned in Sioux City next weekend.
Beta Zeta Mu, the Western Iowa Tech Community College chapter, is offering the free electronics recycling.
The opportunity to dispose of unwanted electronic items is open to all members of the Siouxland Community and is being facilitated by Goodwill Industries. There is no charge for this service.
All electronic items will be accepted for recycling except major appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, washers and dryers.
The items that may be accepted are to be brought to the Parking Lot 2B on the Western Iowa Tech campus Saturday, May 22nd from 9 a-m to 2 p-m.
Recycling will be offered for Le Mars residents next month. Electronics will be accepted at the Le Mars City Hall Parking Lot on June 3rd and 4th from 9 am til 4 pm, and on Saturday, June 5 from 9 am til noon. This is part of the City of Le Mars Cleanup Days.
PERRY, Iowa (AP) Hundreds of relatives and friends are remembering a slain Marine as a hometown hero during a funeral at his former high school.
Residents filled Perry High School’s gymnasium Saturday to honor 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Joshua Davis. He died of injuries May 7 suffered during a gunbattle with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
Davis was captain of the school’s wrestling team and a football player there.
First Sgt. Brandon Eckhardt told mourners that Davis responded to enemy gunfire with a machine gun to protect his comrades.
Pastor Deb Parkison told Davis’ parents to find joy in their loss, saying they “raised a mighty hero.”
Davis will be buried at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery in Adel.
COLFAX, Iowa (AP) A one-car rollover crash in Jasper County has left a 45-year-old man and two children injured.
The Iowa State Patrol says the car was on Highway 65 north of Colfax Saturday afternoon when the driver lost control.
The car went into a ditch and rolled several times.
Peter Bol, 4-year-old Zakeria Bol and 6-year-old Thon Bol, all of Urbandale, were transported to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. Their conditions weren’t immediately available.
It doesn’t appear that the car’s 32-year-old driver was injured.
Authorities say the cause of the crash is under investigation.
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) An Iowa mother remains in critical condition after a car crash that killed two of her young children.
Heather DeJoode (DUH’-jodee) had another surgery Friday to repair facial fractures she sustained in the May 6 accident in Ankeny.
Her husband Troy says she’s in critical but stable condition at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. She’s been unconscious since the crash.
The DeJoodes’ 5-month-old daughter Claire and 5-year-old son Carson died after the accident. The family donated their organs.
Troy DeJoode says a third child, 3-year-old Chase, has been released from the hospital and is recovering with family.
Authorities say the family was struck by a pickup truck that blew through a stop sign in Ankeny.
BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) Friends have been searching for a 32-year-old Davenport man who went into the Mississippi River while being chased by police.
Bettendorf police say Matthew Haessler was driving a stolen car on May 8 when officers tried to pull him over.
They say he refused to stop and led police on a high-speed chase into Illinois.
Authorities say he was heading back into Iowa across a bridge in Moline when they used stop sticks to get the car to stop.
The sticks deflated the car’s tires, and police say Haessler got out and fled on foot. He climbed onto the railing of the bridge and either fell or jumped into the water.
Bettendorf police Chief Phil Redington has defended officers’ handling of the situation. Police have suspended their search of the river.
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WEST UNION, Iowa (AP) Three businesses in downtown West Union have been destroyed by fast-moving fire.
Firefighters were called to the area by passers-by at about 5 a.m. Saturday and spent much of the morning battling the blaze.
Officials say an Edward Jones insurance office, Shangri La Energy and Body Therapy and Miller Insurance in the downtown business area were destroyed.
West Union fire Chief Roger Gamm says the fire started upstairs and quickly spread.
A firewall kept the blaze from spreading past the building that the three businesses were in. He says nearby structures sustained minor smoke damage.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) More than 200,000 small nonprofits across the nation are days away from losing their tax-exempt status because they haven’t filed a new form with the Internal Revenue Service.
The deadline for the IRS form is Monday, and the National Center for Charitable Statistics estimates 214,000 nonprofits that report $25,000 or less in income haven’t filed that form. Churches are exempted.
If nonprofits file late, officials say it could be months before their tax-exempt status is restored. People who donate to those charities still could deduct expenses because there was no way to know about the change.
Bobby Zarin of the IRS says the new requirement is intended to better track small nonprofits and make information more available to the public.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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