(LE MARS)–Lighting, lower speeds and sidewalks are possible solutions to improve safety near the Plymouth Life Care Facility.
A resident of the county-owned property leased for residental care services died last week. Police indicated the person intentionally walked onto Highway Three east from the Plymouth Life property.
Parents of teens who were in a vehicle involved in the accident asked for help Tuesday when they met with the Board of Supervisors.
Cheri Nitzschke of Remsen asked about ways to protect those on the highway and at Plymouth Life.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Nov2010/plylife1111710.MP3{/audio}
Supervisor Don Kass described the teens as innocent victims.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Nov2010/plylife2111710.MP3{/audio}
Another parent, Mark Kunkel of Remsen, suggested ways to alert drivers.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Nov2010/plylife3111710.MP3{/audio}
Mike Porter administers the residential care facility and said he looks to ways to provide a safe environment. He pointed out that one in 10 individuals with the illness that the resident who died last week had commits suicide. Porter on Monday was successful in relocating a mailbox away from the highway to prevent residents from walking to the highway mailbox or hiding near it.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/Nov2010/plylife4111710.MP3{/audio}
County officials will ask the Iowa Department of Transportation to lower the speed limits. The lighting issue involves the City of Le Mars.
One injury after accident in southwest Le Mars
(LE MARS) One person was injured in a two-vehicle accident investigated by Le Mars Police at a southwest Le Mars intersection.
Authorities report 21-year-old MIchael Ritz of Le Mars was traveling west on Third Street Southwest approaching the intersection with Fourth Avenue Southwest. 53-year-old Becky Schoenrock of rural Le Mars was driving a sport utility vehicle north on Fourth Avenue Southwest and met Ritz’ pickup truck in the intersection.
Schoenrock was taken to Floyd Valley Hospital by Le Mars Ambulance for injuries that were not reported as incapacitating.
The accident was reported around 7:30 Saturday morning.
CR schools offering whooping cough vaccine
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Cedar Rapids schools will offer whooping cough vaccines as the bacterial infection continues to spread across Iowa.
So far this year, there have been 427 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, in Iowa. That’s double the number of cases a year ago. The Linn County Health Department says the number of local cases has more than doubled in the past week, to 26 this year.
The Gazette says the health department will use federal stimulus money to give free vaccines to any Cedar Rapids middle school student. It’s an optional program.
The vaccines will be administered in December. By offering it at school, health officials aim to make to make it easier for parents to immunize their children and keep as many people as possible from getting sick.
Fired UI lawyer: I’ve been passed over for jobs
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) A University of Iowa lawyer fired for his handling of an alleged sexual assault by two football players says he has been passed over for jobs at the school.
In legal papers filed this week, Marcus Mills says he has applied for several university positions for which he has been qualified since his termination in 2008.
He says he has been told by Vice President Doug True he will not be considered for employment, but he has not been told why he has been “disqualified.” True declined comment.
Mills is suing several university officials alleging he was wrongly terminated and defamed, among other claims.
UI President Sally Mason fired Mills and Dean of Students Phillip Jones after they were criticized for missteps in handling a sexual assault of a student-athlete by two former football players.
Illegal hunting probe involves Iowa coach
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) An assistant wrestling coach at the University of Iowa is under investigation into illegal hunting.
The Des Moines Register reports Wednesday that Iowa conservation officers seized hides and hunting equipment during a search of buildings at Mike Zadick’s home on Nov. 10.
The newspaper says Johnson County District Court records show that Zadick is under investigation for harvesting wild animals out of season and without a license, which is against state law.
Iowa associate athletic director Fred Mims says the university is aware “that something was going on.” He declined further comment.
Zadick was a three-time All-America wrestler at Iowa, and earned a spot on the 2008 Olympic team.
Mason City rejects adult clubs idea
MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) There will be no adult clubs in downtown Mason City.
The Globe Gazette says the City Council on Tuesday voted 6 to 0 to drop the idea of allowing so-called gentleman’s clubs as a way too boost the downtown area.
Councilman Max Weaver, who proposed the idea, sided with other councilors in the unanimous vote.
About 100 people turned out for the meeting, and many voiced their opposition.
Pastor Wendy Abrahamson of St. John’s Episcopal Church said expanding adult entertainment would feed a sex industry that already has a foothold in Iowa.
Crews respond to fire at historic Iowa theatre
WASHINGTON, Iowa (AP) Firefighters are trying to put out flames at a historic downtown movie theatre in a small southeastern Iowa town.
Firefighters responded to a report of smoking coming from the second floor of the State Theatre in downtown Washington at 9:20 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Crews remained on the scene more than an hour later.
Authorities say firefighters who responded saw smoke and flames. There are no reports of injuries, and the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are unknown.
The Washington Chamber of Commerce says the theatre was originally built as an opera house in 1893 and is now owned by Des Moines-based Fridley Theatres. Washington is a city of 7,000 located about 35 miles south of Iowa City.
“Megamind” was playing there this week.
Remains from lost graves in Dubuque to be reburied
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) A funeral home is preparing to rebury human remains found in a forgotten cemetery at the site of a condominium project on a bluff overlooking Dubuque.
More than 900 graves have been discovered at the Catholic Third Street Cemetery since a man and his dog found a bone in 2007. Many of the dead were buried during a cholera epidemic in the 1840s.
The discovery halted the condo project.
The Telegraph Herald says after three years of work, many of the more intact bodies seemed to have located. Archaeologists are now uncovering smaller remains.
Pat Leonard of Leonard Funeral Home and Crematory is the superintendent of Mount Olive Catholic Cemetery, where the bones will reburied. The first processed remains are back in Dubuque and will be reburied this week.
Meth lab found in port-a-potty in Iowa
.CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Cedar Rapids police say a suspicious smell coming from a port-a-potty turned out to be leftovers from an illegal meth lab.
KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids says police discovered the remnants on Saturday after responding to a call about the smell.
Officials say someone dumped noxious chemicals into the potty.
Police called a lab clean up company to clear up the hazardous materials.
No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made
Bridgestone announces 425 job cuts, restructuring
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Inc. is cutting 425 jobs nationwide and moving two unit headquarters to the Music City.
The Tennessean reports the restructuring was announced on Tuesday. It includes relocating the headquarters of its Bandag new and retreaded commercial tire unit to Nashville from Muscatine, Iowa, by next summer. The company will also relocate the headquarters of the Bridgestone Americas Original Equipment tire unit from Lovi, Mich.
The company says all the current Bridgestone locations, including Muscatine and Lovi, will continue to house important operations.
Company spokesman Dan MacDonald said 25 positions were eliminated at the Nashville headquarters, but there will be a net gain of about 100 jobs there with transfers from other sites. There were no cuts in the manufacturing plants.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
