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Bellvue business faces fine for hitting gas line

May 15, 2007 By

An eastern Iowa business has been ordered to pay a $5,000 civil penalty after one of its bulldozers hit an underground gas line. Iowa Attorney General spokesman, Bob Brammer, says the problem in Bellvue could have been avoided.

Brammer says the person failed to call "Iowa One Call" to locate gas lines before digging. The bulldozer hit a three-inch gas line which caused an explosion and fire and the operator was severely burned. Brammer says the damaged pipeline left people in the nearby town without gas. He says it’s a "classic example" of why you’re required to use the one call center before digging.

Brammer says the J.J. Scheckel Heavy Equipment Corporation of Bellvue was ordered to pay the civil fine for the incident that happened in 2005. Brammer says the penalties for failing to call can be up to 10-thousand dollars if a gas line or hazardous materials line is struck, and up to $1,000 a day for an electric or phone line. Brammer says the violations don’t happen very often, but the Attorney General will take action when it does happen.

Brammer says almost all the actions result in civil penalties and injunctions. Brammer says it’s something the public needs to know about, and the legal actions sends the message that it needs to be taken seriously. Brammer says the One Call service operates 24 hours a day, every day, and should be used by anyone who plans to do some digging. He says it’s a quick and easy service to use. 

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Northwestern baseball team two wins away from NAIA World Series

May 15, 2007 By

The Northwestern College baseball team is two victories away from a trip to the NAIA World Series. The Raiders won their last three games to win a regional tournament over the weekend in Sioux City. Next up is a visit to Bellevue of Nebraska later this week for a super regional.

Northwestern coach Brian Wede says there was a lot of excitement as they played consistently well through the weekend. The pitching staff has been a strength all year and it was this past weekend. The Raiders yielded only five runs in their last three games combined.

Wede says they have two seniors and two juniors and they knew going in that would be an advantage, and they pitched well. Northwestern and Bellevue will play a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to the World Series.

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Willian Penn softball heads to NAIA National Championship

May 15, 2007 By

For the second time in three years the William Penn softball team will head to Decatur, Alabama to play in the NAIA National Championship. The Lady Statesmen advanced over the weekend by winning a regional in Illinois.

Penn coach Mike Christner led the school to the 2005 national tournament, a team that was led by his daughter and current assistant coach Steph Christner. He feels this is a better team than they had two years ago, as he says the earlier team lived on Steph’s pitching.

There are a few players left from the 2005 club and they have some experience to know what to expect. The tournament opens on Friday with the first of two days of pool play.

Three years ago they decided that every team would get a chance to play four games, so top two teams in each five team pool go into a final eight double elimination. Among the teams in the pool with the Lady Statesmen is third ranked Point Loma Nazarene of California.

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Nineteen projects win rural development energy loans, grants

May 15, 2007 By

The state director of the USDA’s Rural Development office, Mark Reisinger says Iowa projects have won over one million dollars in guaranteed loans and grants from the department’s energy program. Reisinger says 19 projects won awards of one-point-two million dollars, including corn burning furnaces, a bio-mass pellet production facility called Practical Environmental Solutions.

Reisinger says the awards are made every two weeks. He says the funds are available to all states on a competitive basis, and Reisinger says they’ve awarded less than 25 nationwide, with 19 coming to Iowa. Reisinger says the awards will be made up until May 18th for the grant program, and the deadline is July 2nd for the loan program.

Reisinger says he hopes more Iowans will apply. He says any type of energy efficiency program that’s not for a residential home could be eligible in a community of less than 50,000. For more information, you can visit a local rural development office, call Reisinger’s office at 515-284-4714 , or go on-line at: www.energygrantiowa.com .

 

 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Mason City airport to install fence to keep out animals

May 15, 2007 By

The Mason City Municipal Airport is getting a one-million dollar federal grant to build a seven-and-a-half mile fence around the airport’s perimeter. Airport manager Pam Osgood says the grant will also be used to install some new security gates inside the airport’s property.

"Trying to ensure that the airport is safe and secured at the same time," Osgood says. At the end of this month, the airport will conclude its year-long study of wildlife hazards on airport property. "To date, the results have demonstrated there is a need to install an eight-foot, three-strand, barbed wire fence around the perimeter to keep the wildlife activity off the airport," Osgood says.

The main concern is keeping deer off the airstrips. "There have also been sightings of coyotes and different things out on the airfield and we want to make sure that we deter that from occurring because safety is a major issue," Osgood says. Osgood hopes to have the fence completed by this fall. Last year, over 12-thousand passengers took a commercial flight out of the Mason City airport. Osgood says her airport is also "busy" with other pilots flying private aircraft in and out of Mason City.

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UNI study examines loneliness among older women

May 15, 2007 By

American women usually live about five years longer than men, on average, which means there may be a lot of older women who are coping with loneliness. A study is underway at the University of Northern Iowa to determine how some of those women are succeeding in their newly-single lives. Elaine Eshbaugh is a professor of family studies at UNI and runs the university’s gerontology program.

Eshbaugh says, "There are a lot of older women who live alone who, although they miss their husbands and although they may feel isolated at times, some of them do enjoy the independence of living alone. Some of them enjoy being able to watch what they want on TV, being able to decorate their house like they want." She says the goal of the study is to interview dozens of older women in northeast Iowa who live along and find out how they beat the blues.

Eshbaugh says she’s trying to learn more about the differences between the women who are lonely and those who are doing okay and what sorts of things can be do to help more older women minimize their loneliness. She says more women are needed for the study, adding, they’ll be interviewed for about 90 minutes and will be compensated for their time.

Eshbaugh says they’re recruiting women 65 and older who live alone, who were never married or are divorced or widowed, or have a husband in a nursing home. For more information on the study, call (319) 273-6083.

Filed Under: Human Interest
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