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Waterloo, Davenport and Boone to welcome home soldiers

May 15, 2009 By

Families and friends in three Iowa communities are preparing to welcome home Iowa National Guard soldiers from a tour in Iraq. Iowa Guard spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood, says the soldiers will arrive home on Saturday.

He says the 120 soldiers are from Company B of the 248th Aviation Support Battalion from Boone, Waterloo and Davenport. They have been in Iraq for the last year.

Hapgood says Saturday’s ceremonies signal an end to this mission ands are designed to allow the families and communities to welcome home the soldiers and let them know how much they care about them. He says it’s also a chance for the senior leadership of the guard to publicly acknowledge the soldiers and the work they have done.

Hapgood says the time soldiers are away has changed. Hapgood says it used to be the rule that soldiers would be on the ground in the combat zone for one year, now the rule is they are gone for one year, so the time that’s used to prepare them to go overseas is counted in their tour.

Hapgood says the return of these soldiers leaves between 350 and 370 soldiers from Iowa still in a combat zone, with a majority of those in Iraq.

The homecoming ceremonies are set for 2:00 Saturday at the Waterloo Army Aviation Support Facility and also at the Davenport Army Aviation Support Facility. The other ceremony is at 4:30 in Boone at the Des Moines Area Community College Gymnasium. Hapgood says the ceremonies are open to the public and you are encouraged to attend. 

Filed Under: Military Tagged With:

Casey teen charged with making false report in shooting

May 15, 2009 By

The Guthrie County Sheriff now says this week’s shooting of a teenager in Casey was accidental, not a drive-by as the victim claimed. An investigation into the incident has revealed the 17-year-old male "victim" of the shooting provided false information to law enforcement.

The teen admitted to sheriff’s officials he fabricated a story about a drive-by shooting, after he was accidentally shot with a pellet gun at a residence in Casey. His story changed after a 15-year-old male and his mother came forward, and the teen confessed to what actually happened.

The 17-year-old had claimed he was walking down a street in Casey on Wednesday afternoon when he was shot by an unknown assailant in a vehicle. He was charged with providing false information to law enforcement, and the alleged shooter was charged with serious assault. Additional charges are still pending.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Graduation ceremony set for home schooled students

May 15, 2009 By

While seniors in Iowa’s public school system will walk down the aisle for graduation in the coming weeks, over 100 students who got their schooling at home will have their own graduation ceremony Saturday.

Barb Heki, a spokesperson for the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators (NICHE), says this is the 14th year they’ve had a ceremony. Heki says their first graduation ceremony was in 1995 and they had seven graduates. She says they progressed to 111 graduates in 2009.

Heki says the home school graduation is a little different from public school ceremonies, as the parents join the student on stage, and the student’s achievements are read.

She says it’s a highlight for the parents and graduates to celebrate together all the years and things they accomplished in education and character development. Heki says students from all parts of Iowa take part in this ceremony, and it is one of several honoring home school students.

Heki says there are individual home schooling support groups across the state and several hold their own graduations, so some in this ceremony will also have a hometown graduation ceremony too. Heki’s four kids were homeschooled and she says there are number of reasons why parents decide to do so. For the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators the top reason for home schooling is religion.

"Because what’s being taught at the public schools is the exact opposite of some of the biblical teachings that we want our kids to learn," Heki says. She says they also are able to do a lot of entrepreneurial endeavors and give the kids a lot of hands on experience, which Heki says leads to less wasted time for kids.

Heki says two former home school students set up and run the graduation ceremony. The ceremony is Saturday at the First Federated Church in Des Moines, and is open to the public.  

Filed Under: Education, Religion

Nurses association president talks about health care reform

May 15, 2009 By

The president of the Iowa Nurses Association says health care reform must include efforts that encourage Americans to take steps to avoid obesity which can lead to diabetes and heart disease. Iowa Nurses Association president Ginny Wangerin of Clive says nurses value a "wellness perspective" that focuses on better eating habits and more exercise to prevent the onset of some chronic diseases.

"It’s critical that we understand what’s driving the increased costs in health care and a significant piece of that is the prevalence of chronic disease and the high costs of treating those chronic diseases,"she says. "And we’ve not done enough in terms of health promotion and disease prevention over the years."

Wangerin sees 2009 as "different" from 1993, the last time an effort was undertaken to enact major health care reform at the national level. "If nothing else, the efforts at that time really started people thinking and very often before we really embrace the need for change, we have to sort of struggle with those concepts and decide that the status quo really isn’t good enough," she says. "And so I think that we are definitely in a different time."

Wangerin says Americans are "acutely aware" of where they’re spending their money during this economic downturn, and the skyrocketing cost of insurance has built broad support for action on health care reform. "The willingness of people to say, ‘We need to do something and, even though the economy is tough, we need to make that investment or we will end up being worse off than we are,’" Wangerin says.

Senator Tom Harkin invited Wangerin to speak at a hearing in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Wangerin, a part-time professor in the University of Iowa College of Nursing, holds a masters in nursing. Her term as Iowa Nurses Association president ends in October. 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government

George Wyth park in Waterloo back open after flood

May 15, 2009 By

George Wyth State Park during flood. A popular state park in Waterloo is now accepting campsite and lodge reservations for the first time in nearly a year.

The campgrounds, lodge and a host of other facilities at George Wyth State Park were closed on June 4th, 2008 because of record flooding.

Park manager Lori Eberhard says the park is located in a flood zone, so high waters aren’t too unusual, but last year’s flooding buried everything under at least a-half-foot of water. "Everyone of our facilities that park users use were affected," Eberhard said. "We had facilities, such as the lodge – which has never had water in it…had six feet of water in it."

Campsites at George Wyth will reopen on Sunday, while the lodge will be available to park users again on Monday. Eberhard says the depth of the flooding is still hard to believe. "It was pretty surreal and just unbelievable. It was hard to see it in pictures because it was just hard to fathom that much water," Eberhard said.

Flooded restroom at George Wyth State Park. The lakes, boat ramps, playgrounds and bike trails opened after the waters receded.

But, workers have spent 11 months cleaning and sanitizing restrooms, replacing electrical systems, pumps and roads.

Three park shelters at George Wyth are still without restroom facilities and the beach will likely remain closed through this summer.

Eberhard says the beach’s infrastructure was basically wiped-out.

"That was the most heavily hit facility. Water washed out around the foundation and washed out some sidewalks. Water was up to the roof of that building," Eberhard said. She’s hoping the new beach will be open by Labor Day. The flood damage at George Wyth State Park is estimated at nearly $500,000. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:
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