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Bones of woman found in barrel, called homicide

May 12, 2006 By

Authorities in western Iowa’s Pottawatamie County announced today (Friday) that skeletal remains have been found north of Council Bluffs. Officials say the bones were found May 6 in a fifty-five-gallon barrel located in secluded area.

Pottawattamie County Chief Deputy Jim Matthei says mushroom hunters discovered the remains last Friday (May 6th) in a secluded area. Authorities took the barrel to the Iowa State Medical examiner’s office where it was noted the body had decomposed to the point where only the bones were left in the barrel.

Matthei says a forensic anthropologist was called-in the examine the remains, and declared they’re the bones of a woman who was somewhere between age 24 and 32 at the time of her death. She’d have been five-feet six to five-feet nine-inches tall, he says. At the time of her death she had short, straight brown hair and wore size-11 jeans. The woman was most likely Caucasian, but may have had some African American ancestry also.

The examiner said it appears the woman had a physically active occupation or regularly engaged in extremely rigorous activity. Matthei says her death has been ruled a homicide. A forensic expert will be called-in sometime next week to examine the teeth, and to try and narrow down her age.

In addition, clothing that was found in the barrel and other items will be examined to try and find an approximate date of manufacture so they can further narrow down the time of death. The Chief Deputy says similar tests will be conducted on the barrel, to determine by markings and patent numbers when it was manufactured.

Matthei says the barrel containing the body was found out in the open, but was likely not noticed because at one point it may have been in, or under, water. Matthei says they thin the barrel was dumped in a place that was wet at the time, years ago, and can tell it’s been wet for a long time even though the place where it was found is now on dry land. The barrel had rusted through in a couple of spots.

Bluffs officials say the body is not that of Tracy Tribble, a woman who disappeared from her home last week.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Marshalltown police prepare for immigration demonstrations

May 12, 2006 By

Marshalltown police are preparing for demonstrations Saturday from two groups expressing opposing views on immigration policy. Marshalltown Police Chief Lon Walker says a Latino group organized out of Des Moines will demonstrate and the other group is made up of members from area veterans groups.

Walker says the plan is the Latino group will use the courthouse square and will not be allowed on the sidewalk or street. Walker says the other group will be on the other side of the street on the sidewalk with police officers in the middle between them to “a clear buffer zone to prevent any kinds of confrontations.”

Chief Walker will be coordinating the security efforts with his department and the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. He says they don’t anticipate any problems, but Walker says “you never know what can spin off from these kinds of situations, because emotions run high on both sides.”

Demonstrations are scheduled to start around 10:30 A.M. Saturday morning and last until about 1:30 P.M.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Fallon says Maytag loss shows development strategy not working

May 12, 2006 By

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon says while he feels “terrible” for the Maytag workers who’re losing their jobs in Newton, the plant’s closure is another sign that the state’s economic development strategy is misguided. “It’s clear to me that spending 24 million dollars in taxpayers’ money over the past decade has done nothing to keep those jobs in Newton,” Fallon says. “In fact, it looks to me like we’ve done nothing but enrich the out-going CEO with a severance package of 19 million dollars.”

One of Fallon’s competitors is former Iowa Department of Economic Development director Mike Blouin and Fallon has been a frequent critic of the Iowa Values Fund, the state’s multi-million dollar grant program for new or expanding businesses. Fallon says because of NAFTA and other trade agreements, the U.S. manufacturing industry is moving jobs to cheaper-labor countries, so “throwing” state taxpayer dollars at manufacturing companies is a waste. “We have to be honest with ourselves. There’s only so much we can do to tinker with a free-market economy,” Fallon says.

The state should instead focus on helping small businesses grow, according to Fallon. “I read about a gentleman working at Maytag who’s trying to start-up a salsa business. We ought to help him with that. There’s a market for that,” Fallon says. “There’s so many things we could do, but the problem is they don’t get that big press coverage. Little things that end up adding up to a big impact are what really matter.”

And Fallon says increasing state support of public education at all levels is another component of economic development because it will improve the workforce. “You know, more than anything I think most businesses want a high-quality workforce. They want to use their business intelligence to gain a profit,” Fallon says. “You can only throw so much public money at them and that’s not going to ever match what they’re going to accomplish with their own intelligence.”

Fallon says if he’s elected, he’ll also try to ensure that the state’s ethanol plants and wind turbines are owned by Iowans and Iowa companies, not out-of-state investors. “Those kind of things are going to create jobs and an economy that will stay in the state and not just pack up and move somewhere else,” Fallon says.

Fallon is praising Governor Tom Vilsack, a fellow Democrat, for creating a 10-million dollar fund that will help retrain Maytag workers and aid startup or expanding businesses in Newton. Fallon made his comments during taping of the Iowa Public Television program “Iowa Press.”

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Train derails near Fort Madison

May 12, 2006 By

A Burlington Northern train derailed west of Fort Madison about 2:30 this morning in southeastern Iowa, spilling coal but apparently causing no injuries. Railroad officials say one of the cars hauling coal may have developed a “hotbox,” a wheel-bearing problem that’ll lock up the wheels.

That made 20 to 25 cars loaded with coal derail, and another ten were off the rails but upright near the grade crossing where they derailed. Officials say the train was hauling about 140 coal cars at the time it happened, and they brought in heavy equipment to right some of the cars and to clean up a big mess of spilled coal. Officials say they may have to reroute other train traffic onto tracks through Quincy and Beardstown, Illinois.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Architects meet in Des Moines

May 12, 2006 By

Some 225 architects and community leaders are meeting in Des Moines today (Friday) to brainstorm over ways to make Iowa’s cities “cooler” — to prevent young people from moving away and to make older people happier and healthier. Kevin Monson, president-elect of the Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects, says Iowa needs to reinvent itself.

Monson, an architect in Iowa City, says “We need to change in order to stop the erosion of our population. We need to change to improve the prospects of our young people staying here and also that it’s a good place for our retirees to live and play as well.” The one-day conference is called “Designing Cool Communities,” and Monson says it’s devoted to exploring options to make Iowa cities and towns more livable and more inviting.

He says there’s historically been a migration out of Iowa over the last 40 years and architects and community leaders can reverse that by designing and creating buildings and communities that provide a higher quality of life, an economic vitality and by promoting “smart growth.” By that, he says communities should encourage people to walk more, to be closer to their businesses and homes, and to live healthy lifestyles.

Monson says several Iowa communities are examples of smart growth already, including Coralville, Burlington, Storm Lake, Charles City and Decorah.

Filed Under: Human Interest

Half million dollar donation will help Storm Lake dredge project

May 12, 2006 By

A 500-thousand-dollar anonymous donation to the Lake Preservation Association will help pay for dredging on Storm Lake. Association vice president Margaret Redenbaugh says the gift will ensure they reach the goal of dramatically improving water quality in Storm Lake for generations to come.

Redenbaugh says they hope to use the gift to leverage more giving and to demonstrate they’re a partnership dedicated to raising the needed money to do the job right. Association president Gary LaLonne was thrilled with the six-figure donation and says it will enable work on the big project to continue.

The gift brings total private fund-raising to over one-point-three million dollars. The dredging project has also received considerable funds from the state and federal governments, along with the cities of Storm Lake and Lakeside and Buena Vista County. This year’s dredging work is expected to cost about 900-thousand dollars. The dredging project began on Storm Lake in 2003.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Recount shows Alburnett bond issue failed by one vote

May 12, 2006 By

Linn County election officials have confirmed that a seven-point-two million dollar bond issue in the Alburnett School District was defeated by just one vote. Voters went to the polls on May 2nd to decide the issue and following a canvass of the vote, it was determined the bond issued failed with 460 “yes” votes and 307 “No” votes, or 59-point-nine-seven percent voter approval.

The issue needed 60-percent approval to pass. A recount Thursday afternoon confirmed the total and that the issue failed by just one vote. The bond would have paid for an addition at the high school that would have housed seven classrooms, as well as an elevator, making the facility handicapped accessible.

Filed Under: Education
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