Hinton Fire Department Responds To Two Grass Fires
(Le Mars) — The Hinton Fire Department had to have its holiday interrupted twice yesterday as it responded to two different grass fires. The first grass fire was reported at about 5:00 p.m. The fire was reported at 26797 West Harvest Lane. The second alarm came in at about 11:00 p.m. That fire was located at 22807 County Road C-80. In both cases, fire officials were on the scene for nearly a half an hour.
Search Crews Look For Man After Boat Capsized
(Storm Lake) — Search crews are looking for a 28 year old man from Hawarden after his boat capsized yesterday afternoon at Storm Lake. The capsized boat had two occupants that had been fishing at the time of the incident. One of the occupants was rescued by another boat that was in the immediate area. The missing boater was not wearing a life vest at the time he slipped beneath the water. Search operations are being conducted by the Buena Vista County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Storm Lake Fire Department, Storm Lake Police Department, and the Buena Vista County Regional Medical Center Paramedics. Others assisting with the search efforts include : Plymouth County Search and Dive Rescue, Carroll County Search and Dive Rescue, and the Denison Search and Dive Rescue. As of midnight, search efforts were discontinued due to high winds on the lake. Recovery operations will resume this morning. The name of the victim is being withheld until notification of family members.
Des Moines Vacant Warehouse Catches Fire
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Authorities say a Des Moines warehouse that caught fire was packed with housing debris, and may contain asbestos and other hazardous materials.
Firefighters arrived at the vacant warehouse shortly before 5 p.m. on Thursday. Firefighters wore respirators inside the building.
District Chief Joe Giudicessi says the cause of the fire was unknown. The building has been vacant for several years and has no gas or electric services.
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Man Dies From Go-Cart Accident
LAKE DELTON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin police say an Iowa man who hit his head after losing control of his go-cart has died.
The accident happened Wednesday about 5:15 p.m. at Alligator Alley Adventures Go-Kart Track in Lake Delton.
Authorities say the 45-year-old lost control of his vehicle and struck a wooden post along the track. Witnesses say there were no other go-carts near him at the time of the crash.
A medical helicopter was called in. But a doctor declared him dead at the scene about 45 minutes after the accident.
The man and his family were visiting Lake Delton from the DeWitt area. His name has not been released.
Wellman Residents Need Bottle Water
WELLMAN, Iowa (AP) – Residents of a small town just south of Iowa City have been advised to drink bottled water until repairs can be made on a broken water line.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says a line burst Thursday in Wellman.
The water is now bypassing the reverse osmosis system used to reduce nitrates. The department says repairs are being made and that the water has to be tested to make sure it’s safe.
Officials say that nitrates in drinking water are particularly concerning for infants less than six months old. They also note that boiling the water won’t reduce nitrates and isn’t a safe alternative to bottled water.
Two Businessmen Fighting Federal Fraud Charges
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Two businessmen are disputing an indictment alleging they fraudulently qualified for federal contracts meant for disabled veterans’ businesses in order to win $23.4 million in construction work in Nebraska and Iowa.
Ram Hingorani and Ronald Waugh pleaded not guilty this week during appearances in federal court in Des Moines to a 32-count indictment that includes charges of fraud and money laundering.
Hingorani’s business, Midwest Paving, and another that both men operated, Midwest Contracting, are also charged.
The indictment alleges the men conspired to use Midwest Contracting to win 45 contracts from the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense under the government’s program designed to help
small businesses owned by service-disabled veterans. The work was done for the VA in Des Moines and Omaha and at Offutt Air Force Base.
Grinnell Doctor Agrees To Stop Treating Patients
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa doctor has agreed to stop treating a version of Lyme disease that many physicians suspect doesn’t exist.
Dr. Jeffrey Piccirillo of Grinnell will also pay a $10,000 fine as part of a settlement with the Iowa Board of Medicine.
Piccirillo has gained attention for using powerful antibiotics to treat patients who believed they had “chronic Lyme disease.” Patients often attribute their aches and fatigue to the tick-borne bacterial infection, even though standard tests don’t detect it in their bodies.
The board said Piccirillo diagnosed and treated people for Lyme disease without proper evidence that they were infected, and used treatments not recognized by national authorities. He also was
accused of engaged in an improper sexual relationship with a female patient.
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Appeals Judge Retires
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Larry Eisenhauer, chief judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals, has announced his plans to retire.
Eisenhauer will retire effective Sept. 30.
The 66-year-old Eisenhauer has spent 28 years as an Iowa judge and was named chief judge of the appeals court last year.
Eisenhauer, of Ankeny, was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2001. The Kansas native served two years in the U.S. Army before graduating from Drake University Law School in 1974. He practiced
law privately before serving as an associate juvenile judge between 1985 and 1993, when he was elected Polk County District Court judge.
The governor will appoint a replacement from a list of three candidates submitted by the State Judicial Nominating Commission.
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Iowa’s Wooded Acres Decline
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forest service says that tree cover in Iowa is declining for the first time in nearly 40 years.
2013 marks the first time since 1974 that Iowa lost more woodland acres than it has gained.
Wooded space has dropped by roughly 40,000 acres in Iowa.
Officials say the decline is likely because of increased agricultural and urban land usage.
Iowa had an estimated 6.8 million wooded acres before being settled. Just three percent of the state is currently covered by woodlands.
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