May 21, 2012

Nebraska man shot by trooper after chase

An Iowa State trooper shot a motorist in Council Bluffs Tuesday afternoon following a high-speed chase. Authorities say the incident began during rush-hour when a Pottawattamie County deputy spotted a Nissan 350-Z driving erratically in the southwest part of the city.

From there the car headed east on the Veterans Memorial Highway. Officers blocked traffic on the South Expressway, a little less than a mile north of Lake Manawa, but the Nissan weaved its way through traffic at speeds of up to 75 miles an hour, and attempted to thread its way through two eastbound lanes, where it hit at least three vehicles before crossing over toward the westbound lanes, where it became stuck in recently watered sod.

A handful of police officers surrounded the car, screaming for the driver to stop, but he refused and continued to rev the engine and spin the tires. Captain Shane Antle with the Iowa State Patrol, says Trooper Tim Sieleman — standing about four feet from the driver’s side of the Nissan — fired into the vehicle after the driver — identified as 31-year-old Matthew Loth, of Plattsmouth, Nebraska — refused to turn off his car and turned it toward the trooper in a "threatening manner."

Loth was shot twice. He was treated at an Omaha Hospital before being turned over to Nebraska authorities. Loth was expected to be extradited to Iowa later today. Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber says a warrant was issued for Loth on suspicion of attempted murder, because he allegedly tried to run over county sheriff’s deputy, Corporal Aaron Pattee.

Officers also dragged a passenger in the Nissan, Carolyn Ferrel of Council Bluffs, out of the car before placing her under arrest.  

Cedar Rapids man killed after being robbed of $1

Witnesses say a Cedar Rapids man died Tuesday afternoon after he was robbed of one-dollar and hit over the head with a pipe. The victim, Jerry Hurt, was 46.

Police responded to a report of a serious assault and found Hurt in the road. He was transported to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he died. The attacker fled on a bicycle. Freddie Coleman is Hurt’s nephew and says he’s stunned by the daylight attack.

Coleman says: "The reason this happened, I just don’t know. I can’t believe it. One of my loved ones is gone and I’ll never see him again." Police says the suspect is a black male, medium height, medium build, late 20′s to early 30′s, wearing a dark shirt and shorts, riding a B-M-X-style bicycle.

While investigators are still looking for a motive, family members said it was over money, even though they said Hurt only had a dollar on him. Cynthia Vaughn is the victim’s sister. Vaughn says, "If it was over a dollar, why? A dollar won’t buy too much of nothing and if it was over a dollar I’d have given him ten."

Police are encouraging witnesses to come forward and call 800-CR-CRIME. If the information leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a reward up to $1,000. All callers remain anonymous.  

Rebuild Iowa Commission looks at ways to help homeowners and businesses

The Rebuild Iowa Commission has identified housing and small business assistance as two of the most immediate needs of Iowans hit by the flooding and tornadoes. Commission member Mark Wandro says it quickly became evident the need among home and business owners.

Wandro says he talked with a 73-year-old business man just this past weekend who got a Small Business Administration loan for 5.9 percent, which is about one percent cheaper than the market rate for loans. But, he says the man would be 103 years old by the time the loan matures. Wandro says he would support waiving the state sales taxes on items purchased to make home or business repairs.

The commission is also urging the Department of Natural Resources to beef up water monitoring in the wake of this summer’s flooding. Commission member Brent Halling of Perry says one short term suggestion is to temporarily boost the staff at the D.N.R. to allow them to take more water samples.

Halling says that would assure the public and give them good information on the water quality. Halling, who also serves as deputy state Ag Secretary, says there are several wastewater treatment facilities that still need repairs after being inundated with floodwater.

The commission just completed a two-day work session and will make a final report to the governor on September 2nd. 

New Briar Cliff coach hopes to turn football program around

A new coach hopes to get Briar Cliff a win their season opener this weekend. After serving as the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Tom Rethman is trying to rebuild a Charger program that was 0-11 in 2007, the school’s fifth season of varsity football.

Retham says the number of wins had gradually progressed up until last season when things fell apart. So he says they just need to take care of the little things and build the program and the wins will come. Rethman says to be competitive the Chargers will need to be fundamentally sound.

He says their depth is not where it needs to be, but the team is working hard and he told them to keep at it and worry about the wins and losses at the end of the season. Briar Cliff opens Saturday at Grand View which will be playing its first varsity game.

 

Fort Dodge voters approve new aquatic center

Voters in Fort Dodge approved plans Tuesday for a new aquatic center. Unofficial returns show the vote was 61% in favor to 38% against. The bond needed at least 60% to pass.

The center is to be built on the northeast side of Fort Dodge at a total cost around 8.95-million dollars. The city will borrow the funds for the project. The center will feature an eight-lane lap pool with diving well and slides, a shallow pool for young children filled with water toys and a bucket that pours water on bathers, a splashdown pool with three large slides plus a channel called the Lazy River.

The center will open in late 2010 and replaces the Expo Pool of Fort Dodge.

 

Man switches from hurricane help to Iowa help

Flood recovery in Cedar Rapids. Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast three years ago this week. A western Iowa minister who’s led a half-dozen mission teams to Mississippi to rebuild homes lost in the massive storm was forced to abandon this summer’s planned trips to the Biloxi area due to Iowa’s widespread flooding and the need for help here.

Pastor Arley Ellingson says there’s a twinge of guilt at not continuing what he started down south. Pastor Ellingson says, “There’s always that guilt because we talked to friends down there, we talked to people we’ve gotten to know and you’ve have to tell them we’ve got a disaster in our own back yard and we’re just going to have to bypass them this time.”

Instead of venturing a thousand miles south to the Gulf Coast, the Methodist minister from Onawa has taken his Iowa work crews east across the Hawkeye State to flood zones in cities like Cedar Rapids and Elkader. Ellingson says he’s tentatively planning to head back to Mississippi once the chill winds of winter start whipping in Iowa.

Ellingson says: “My hope is that come January, we might be able to go down there again because of the situation up here. I think it’s going to be a little bit tougher to work up here. You may not be able to get to some places because it’s winter. Down there, we’ll be able to do a lot more work, it’ll be warmer, there’s just a lot more things that could be accomplished.”

Some of the work his team has been doing includes “mucking out” Iowa houses that were flooded in June and left with a thick coating of stinky mud inside. Ellingson says he’s encouraged so many Iowans are volunteering to help fellow Iowans to recover from the floods, in addition to mission teams from across the U.S. pitching in.

“We were talking to some people in Cedar Rapids there from Connecticut and their church has committed to two trips per month for two years,” Ellingson says. “For a single church to make that kind of a commitment is quite a wonderful and almost miraculous thing.” For Iowans who would like to get involved in the flood relief effort, he suggests contacting your nearest church, Red Cross office or visit the website of the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church  . 

Gymnast’s parents still getting used to all the attention

Doug Johnson watches as his daughter acknowledges cheers from the crowd. They are now the parents of one of the most famous teenage girls in the world, but Doug Teri and Johnson seem to be still a little surprised at all the attention.

They are the parents of gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson and father Doug says their lives have changed dramatically in the last two weeks.

Doug Johnson says it has changes a lot, "It’s been really weird," but he says the changes have been for the good. Teri Johnson joined her husband and daughter for a welcome home ceremony in Des Moines Tuesday that drew some seven thousand people. Teri says all the attention to their family still hasn’t sunk in.

"Kind of unbelievable, but I mean it’s very cool, I mean who wouldn’t love this,come on, this is nice" Johnson asked,"It’s nice that there are this many people who appreciate what I love. This is good." Doug Johnson says it was nerve wracking watching their daughter compete on the world stage, but says they did get some time to spend as a family in China.

He says they had a great time and saw a lot of things on the days Shawn wasn’t competing, including the Great Wall of China, which he described as "awesome." Johnson was asked if his daughter did a back flip off the Great Wall.

"Well actually no, but she did do a handstand– we got pictures of that," he explained.

Doug Johnson was asked if he wants to go through it all again in London in four years when their daughter will be 20. "No I don’t," Johnson said as the crowd laughed, "but uh, she hasn’t decided yet. Hopefully she’ll decide one way or the other here shortly and we can either go for it, or she can relax a little bit."

Teri and Doug Johnson Teri Johnson was shown on TV breaking down in tears after Shawn won the gold in the balance beam, and said watching the performance is something she has to do second by second. She seemed to be hesitant as well to go through it again.

"If she wants to, I’ll be there for her again," Johnson said to cheers of the crowd. Shawn Johnson will lead the pledge of allegiance at the Democratic Convention in Denver Thursday before going on a nationwide tour with her fellow gymnasts.