Cedar Falls police are investigating what they’re call a “suspicious” death. Officials are saying very little about the death of 38-year-old Margaret LaPole. Her body was found late Tuesday afternoon by her husband in their garage. Authorities originally thought LaPole had committed suicide, but later labeled her death as suspicious. An autopsy by the state medical examiner turned up no clues as to what caused LaPole’s death. Police are now hoping toxicology tests reveal more about the case.
Harkin says Iraqi prisoner hearings are needed
September 9, 2004 By
Congress is opening new hearings today into the abuse of prisoners in Iraq, as retired military officials are calling for an independent investigation of the scandal. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says the hearings -are- needed as, even months later, all of the facts still aren’t known.Harkin says “We’ve got to get to the bottom of what happened and whether this is the result of just a few individuals who ran amuck or was it because of top-down policies approved at the highest levels of the Department of Defense.” Harkin says the U-S has to “clean up our act.” He says the public may be tired of hearing about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, but the truth must be known.The retired military officers sent President Bush a letter saying the country -quote- “cannot ignore that there are now dozens of well-documented allegations of torture, abuse and otherwise questionable detention practices” in Iraq. The group claims Pentagon investigations lack the needed power to find out what happened.
Fire hits Kalona
September 9, 2004 By
Fire damaged some buildings in the southeastern Iowa town of Kalona. The Washington County public safety center received the call of smoke in the apartments next to the Reifs Family store in downtown Kalona. Four families have been displaced by the fire and the Red Cross has been called in. No one was injured and the cleanup has already began. Four area departments help fight the fire and the cause is not yet known.
U-of-I study shows diluted smallpox vaccine effective
September 9, 2004 By
As part of the war on terror, University of Iowa researchers took part in a study that found the smallpox vaccine -can- be diluted and still retain its potency. Dr. Patricia Winokur , a U-of-I professor of internal medicine and lead author of the study, says the results are very encouraging.Dr. Winokur says “This is exactly what we want to hear. We have a vaccine for emergency purposes. There is work going on today to try and develop a less side effect-ridden vaccine but we do have protection if we need it tomorrow.” While the vaccine was diluted tenfold, the side effects were still prominent. They’re temporary — things like fever, fatigue and a sore arm. Winokur says the U.S. has a limited supply of smallpox vaccine and this research shows what we have will be plenty to go ’round.Smallpox could be a very lethal killer in the hands of a bio-terrorist. Winokur says the disease was eradicated globally nearly three decades ago, but this research was ordered after threats arose that the long-gone disease might be revived by criminals. The U.S. population was vaccinated for smallpox until 1972 and it was discontinued as the risk was very small. It was eradicated globally by the late 1970s. The study’s findings appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
DNR studies illness at state beaches
September 9, 2004 By
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is conducting a pilot project to determine if swimmers get sick from the water at state beaches with high bacteria levels. Janice Boekhoff is overseeing the project — and says they’ve been asking swimmers at three state beaches to report if they’ve been sick. She says we’ve never had a documented case of water-borne illness in Iowa and she says they’re wondering if there really are cases out there. She says the E-P-A sets the bacteria standards and those are based on “point sources”, such as a sewer pipe. Boekhoff says the E-P-A has not studied “non-point” sources, such as rainwater runoff from fields that might contain manure. Boekhoff says they believe the high-bacteria problems at Iowa beaches are caused mainly by those non-point sources, and the E-P-A concerns about illness may not be the standard to use. She says you can get sick from those non-point sources, but the level of illness may be much different than we think, and she says that’s what they’re trying to find out. Boekhoff says they’ve been asking for information from swimmers for three weekends, including this past Labor Day weekend. She says it’s just meant to be a small pilot project and they’re hoping from this project to get a full blown epidemiological study. The beaches in the pilot project are: Backbone State Park in Delaware County, Pleasant Creek in Linn County and Rock Creek in Jasper County.
Kerry visits Iowa today
September 9, 2004 By
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is to hold a “town meeting” in Des Moines today to discuss health care policy. Yesterday afternoon, in advance of Kerry’s appearance, Kerry backers held a news conference in Des Moines to attack President Bush for announcing a 17 percent increase in the premiums elderly Medicare recipients pay.Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says that premium increase will cost Iowa’s seniors 64-and-a-half million dollars. MIller says that “very, very substantial increase” comes as Social Security benefits increase only three percent. Miller says it’s another example of how President Bush’s domestic agenda is out-of-kilter. Miller says the President has decided tax cuts are “where it’s at domestically” and health care “can take care of itself.” Miller first endorsed Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, then when Lieberman dropped out, Miller endorsed Kerry before the Iowa Caucuses in January. On the republican side today, President Bush’s daughters will campaign for their father in three Iowa college towns today. Jenna and Barbara Bush will speak at the UNI Student Union later this morning, then make a mid-day stop in Iowa City before appearing in Ames this afternoon. None of the events are open to reporters.
Morningside opens against Northwestern
September 9, 2004 By
Morningside opens up its home schedule Saturday night by hosting Northwestern College. The Mustangs opened with an impressive victory at Hastings of Nebraska last week but coach Steve Ryan says his team has an even tougher challenge against the nationally ranked Red Raiders. He says their defense is fantastic and they have everyone back on offense from the team that went 10-2 last year. He says he thinks they’re the best team in the conference.Ryan says the Mustangs have a lot of confidence after last week’s victory but need to avoid mistakes early. He says if they get a fast start it’ll give them some faith early in the game against a good team.Ryan says it will be an exciting night for several reasons, Northwestern is one of only two Iowa schools in the conference, and he says it’s their first home game since the school purchase the stadium.
