Forty-six movie theaters throughout the state will show a new movie trailer during the month of October to highlight the problem of domestic abuse. It starts like any other movie preview, with the dramatic music and the “voice.” But the two-minute message is aimed at those in the theater who may be the victim of abuse, or know someone who is. The number of Iowa’s Domestic Abuse Hotline is shown at the end. Iowa Department of Public Health director Mary Mincer Hansen says the trailer will be seen on 167 screens. Hansen says domestic violence is leading cause of injury-related deaths to women who are pregnant, and as abuse escalates it can result in serious injury and even death.Eric Tabor, the chief of staff for the Iowa Attorney General, says victims and their families and friends need to hear the message.Tabor says Americans go to movie houses to laugh and cry at American culture, and she says trailer shows domestic abuse is not an acceptable part of American life and it needs to be stopped. Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson says in the past seven years, at least 61 Iowa women were murdered by a husband, boyfriend or intimate partner. The trailer was shown in Wisconsin theaters a couple of years ago, and the only complaint registered came from a man who said he had the right to hit his wife, and wanted his money back. State officials estimate that as many as 40-thousand Iowa women suffer abuse in the home. The number for the Domestic Abuse Hotline is 1-800-942-0333. State officials estimate about 80-thousand Iowans will see the trailer during its month-long run in 46 Iowa theaters.Participating theaters are Algona Theatre, Atlantic Theatre, Boone Theatre, Story Street in Boone, Sierra Theatre in Jefferson, Carroll Theatre, American Theatre in Cherokee, Vista Theatre in Storm Lake, Strand Theater in Creston, Lyric Teatre in Osceola, Coliseum Theater in Lamoni, South Central Iowa Theater in Leon, Showcase Cinema in Davenport, Viking Theatre in Decorah, Paramount Theatre in Oelwein, Fox Theatre in Fort Madison, Center Theatre in Grundy Center, Metropolitan Theatre in Iowa Falls, Fort 8 Theatre in Fort Dodge, Clarion Theatre, Humota Theatre in Lake City, Capri Theatre in Webster City, Village Theatre in Knoxville, Castle Theater in Manchester, Plaza Theatre in Marshalltown, Temple Theatre in Mt. Pleasant, Plaza Theatre in Muscatine, Cinema 6 in Iowa City, Campus Theatres in Iowa City, Coral Ridge Mall Theaters in Coralville, State Theatre in Washington, Penn Center Theatre in Oskaloosa, Grand Theatre in Perry, Cinema 5 in Sioux Center, Spencer Theatre, Grand Theater in Estherville, Riveriera Theatre in Emmetsburg, Springwood Theatre in Akeney, Copper Creek 9 in Pleasant Hill, Paramount Theatre in Indianola, Sierra 3 Cinemas in West Des Moines, Billy Joe’s Pitcher Show in West Des Moines, and the following Des Moines theaters: Silver Cinemas, Varsity Theatre, Merle Hay Mall Cinema, and Nova 10 Cinemas.
Harvest moves ahead
As September slips away, Iowa farmers are bringing in the corn and bean crops. The weekly report from the State Agriculture Department says the recent rains arrived too late to help the crops finish maturing, but they have helped green up pastures needed for grazing. The corn harvest did get underway, with 10 percent of the crop picked — slightly ahead of last year’s progress of nine percent but slightly behind the five-year average of 14 percent harvested. The report says 20-percent of the soybean acres have been harvested — which is ahead of last year’s progress of 14 percent but right at the five-year average.
Three charged with burning bridge in Black Hawk County
Three Cedar Falls men are charged with setting a railroad bridge on fire. The Skyline train bridge north of Cedar Falls was damaged by fire September 12th. The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department arrested 18-year-old Ryan Cauwley, 19-year-old John Paar and 18-year-old Dustin Diemer. Cauwley and Paar are charged with second-degree arson, reckless use of fire and violating the county open burning ban. Diemer’s charged with reckless use of fire and violating the county open burning ban. All three turned themselves in this morning.
Iowa expert heads to Minnesota to respond to crisis
A member of Iowa’s crime victim assistance division has been called to Minnesota to set up a crisis response team after a school shooting. Last Wednesday, a high school Freshman in Cold Spring, Minnesota allegedly short and killed a 17-year-old senior and critically wounded another student. Alison Walding of Des Moines is now in Cold Spring, managing a six-person team trained to help communities cope with extraordinary trauma. Iowa Crime Victim Assistance division director Marti Anderson, Walding’s boss, says Walding has years of training and has responded to several other crises both in Iowa and abroad.Anderson says oftentimes when there’s tragedy like that in a community, it helps to have someone from outside come in to help with the crisis. Walding will oversee a school psychologist called in from Atlanta and four Minnesotans who’ve been trained in crisis response. Anderson says there’ll be meetings with students, faculty and members of the community. Anderson says there’s an additional layer of shock when something like this happens in a rural communities, because folks don’t think such traumas happen there. Anderson says it’s important to give everyone a forum in which to grieve.Walding is expected to return to Iowa Wednesday night.
Three year old missing persons case is active again in Tama
The investigation into a missing-persons case in Tama has gained new energy, three years after it hit an apparent dead end. Police chief Dan Wilkens says the boyfriend who lived at the time with 23-year-old Cora Okonski at a rural Tama County farmhouse reported her missing more than 3 years ago. The chief says she was reported missing in April 2000, and while police have followed up reports of locations and sightings, they’re now checking on new information that led them to a location on highway 21. Chief Wilkens says last week they tried a new tactic, and put an ad in the local paper asking for information in the cold case. They’re looking for any evidence that will lead them to the woman. Wilkens says the ad brought response, and information that has now led officers to search a rural home on Highway 21 five miles north of Belle Plaine. a home that belongs to relatives of the former boyfriend of the missing woman. He hopes they’ll find something there that will lead investigators to her. Neighbors say officers searched all day Monday at the rural property, but they aren’t giving specifics about the leads they got. Dan Wilkens just took over the job of Tama police chief a week ago.
Program seeks to connect consumers and farmers
A program called “Get Yourself a Farmer” has nothing to do with dating and everything to do with connecting consumers with local farmers, farmers’ markets, food outlets, orchards and meat markets. Robert Karp, executive director of Practical Farmers of Iowa helped design the Get Yourself a Farmer directory. It includes operations in the C-S-A program, or Community Supported Agriculture. A farmer basically sells shares in a harvest for the coming year, and Karp says the shares may sell for between 100 and 300-dollars, then the consumer gets a bag of fresh produce every week during the growing season from that farm. Laurie DeGroote and her husband grow organic vegetables in Butler County. DeGroote says this is the first time they’ve operated as a C-S-A and sold shares in their various crops. DeGroote says one advantage is having the crop sold up-front and not having to sit and bake in the sun for hours at the farmer’s market, watching the lettuce wilt. Harriet Goodman, of Cedar Falls, is a C-S-A shareholder and says the program works well for her from the consumer’s standpoint.Six years ago, only one or two farming operations used the C-S-A format. Now, there are more than 50 statewide. For more information on the program or to download a directory, surf to the website “www.practicalfarmers.org”.
Des Moines company files bankruptcy in wake of lawsuit
A Des Moines company accused of deceiving more than 200 home buyers and sellers has filed for bankruptcy. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller brought suit against the Woolford Group in August to freeze their assets and bring in a third party to run the company. He accused the company of buying homes with the promise of finding a buyer quickly, and then not following through. Miller says keeping the company going wouldn’t work as it was more than four million dollars in debt. He says as they looked as it they saw it could not continue as a business and says they’re concerned that there’s not enough money to pay everyone. Miller says now that the company is bankrupt, they can continue the lawsuit against the individual owners. He says they’ll go after the personal assets of Rod Woolford Senior and Rod Woolford Junior who owned the company. Miller says with a private law firm handling the case, the state will try to help individual home buyers and sellers reach agreements. He says the agreements depend on the state of the house, the gap between the selling and purchase price, and the willingness of the mortgage holder to help out. Miller says the lawsuit involves some 250 properties — mostly in Polk County.
