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No plans for redesign of Iowa’s 12-year-old license plates

May 25, 2009 By

The governor of Nebraska last week unveiled new license plates for vehicles registered in that state. Nebraskans get a new license plate design once every six years.

Iowa, by comparison, keeps a design in circulation much longer and Governor Chet Culver has no plans to change the current design of Iowa license plates.

"With everything else going on right now, that’s not at the top of the list," Culver says.

Iowa license plates feature a white background with a landscape featuring both city buildings and a farmstead. A small patch of blue sky is along the top of the plate and the lettering is blue. The design has been in use since 1997.

After nearly 12 years, Governor Culver’s in no rush to change the design. Culver told reporters he may discuss the topic with the director of the Iowa Department of Transportation. "It’s something that I might talk to Nancy Richardson about," Culver said.

For a decade, from 1986 to ’96, Iowa’s license plates were a plain but bold blue with white lettering.

In 1983, after much controversy, state officials dropped the idea of putting the phrase "Iowa: a State of Minds" at the bottom of the plate. At the time, the head of the Iowa Transportation Commission said the phrase made Iowans look "pompous."

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Eagle Grove men arrested for allegedly shooting at police

May 25, 2009 By

Two Eagle Grove men were arrested after a deputy sheriff and a police officer were allegedly shot at early Saturday morning in Eagle Grove. Twenty-eight-year-old Jeremy C. Dayton and 31-year-old Brian J. Bromley are being held in the Wright County Jail on a bond of $50,000 each according to Sergeant Rick McDaniel of the Eagle Grove Police Department.

McDaniel said a deputy from the Wright County Sheriff’s Department and an officer from the Eagle Grove Police Department were on a traffic stop when they were fired at by a person or persons in the 400 block of South Cadwell just after two o’clock Saturday morning. Dayton is charged with intimidation with a dangerous weapon, assault on a peace officer, interference with official acts and discharging weapons within city limits.

Bromley is charged with conspiracy non shooter charges of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, assault on a peace officer, interference with official acts and discharging weapons within city limits. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts

Psychological healing part of tornado recovery

May 25, 2009 By

The events surrounding the one year anniversary of the deadly tornado that hit Parkersburg and New Hartford include honoring the eight people who died in the storm, and healing for those who survived.

Parkersburg resident Valerie Thorn has organized everything from a 5K run to a memorial service at an elementary school. Thorn says her goal was to allow there to be spaces of time where people to be together as she says there still needs to be healing among residents.

Thorn says,"People still see each other in the store and say, ‘were you home’, that’s the question ‘were you home?’" The run is being called an EF5K run, taking note of the E-F-5 rating of the tornado that killed six people in Parkersburg and two in New Hartford.

The pastor of the Parkersburg and New Hartford United Methodist Churches, Betsy Piette agrees people are still healing. Piette says dark storm clouds could still cause concern for people who survived the storm and seem to be fine on the outside.

She says people who have been through floods and tornadoes need to understand that their bodies are going to react that way from some time, and as long as they say things will be alright, they can make it through it.

The tornado also damaged homes near Dunkerton and Hazelton in northeast Iowa. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Human Interest

Officials from disaster-struck schools offer advice

May 25, 2009 By

Aplington-Parkersburg High School visible in background of tornado debris. Officials from four Iowa school districts that were struck by disaster last year are offering some sage advice to other educators around the state.

Advice from school officials who waded through flood damage or picked through the aftermath of a tornado is included in a new "toolkit" that’s being distributed by the Iowa Association of School Boards.

The association’s Megan Hawkins says natural disasters occur so infrequently, the details of how to react aren’t at the forefront of people’s minds. "When the disasters struck last year, our staff right away started fielding questions from a lot of school districts and A.E.A.’s about everything from what funds they could use to recover, different policies, all kinds of things," Hawkins says. "That really showed a need for some kind of tool to be out there for schools."

Hawkins and others spoke with officials from Cedar Rapids, Dike-New Hartford, Waverly-Shell Rock and Aplington-Parkersburg school districts. They learned it was lucky last year’s tornado happened on Sunday, when students weren’t inside the high school building in Parkersburg.

"In Parkersburg, for example, the area where they had been told was a safe area, if there had been students in the school and that tornado struck, they would have been in the hallway," Hawkins says, "and the tornado ripped right through that."

The "Lessons Learned" toolkit suggests school officials bring in engineers to make sure the "safe zones" where students go in safety drills are indeed the safest place in the school if a tornado or other disaster were to strike.

"That’s one thing we really want to get out to people is things like that," Hawkins says. "You need to know to ask these questions and really prepare better."

Aplington-Parkersburg superintendent Jon Thompson says the damage to the school shows students and staff should stay away from the gymnasium if there’s another tornado.

"The big steel beams that support the ceiling structure actually not only collapsed, they moved great distances and where they landed was in some of our safe areas," Thompson said during an interview featured on the Iowa Association of School Boards website.

The disaster guide for schools also recommends setting up a system to preserve student records at another, site away from the school, in case the paper records or computer discs with digital student records are damaged or destroyed. In addition, Hawkins says teachers need to help keep an up-to-date inventory of what’s in their classroom.

"Ideally, you want to have inventories of every area of your school, but…some insurance experts…were finding, really, is that a lot of teachers just get wrapped up in things and they don’t keep a good inventory," Hawkins says. "Same thing happens sometimes with other out-buildings or your concession stands or your stadium equipment — that kind of stuff. It really is key to know exactly what you have."

Teachers who bring personal items into the classroom need to check to see if that stuff would be covered by their homeowners policy.

"Teachers bring in all kinds of their own stuff into the classroom and it really just depends on their policies, if they’ve got homeowners that will cover that," Hawkins says. "And if they don’t, it’s important that they ask that question of their employers — their school district — to make sure that they’re covered somehow."

The Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Cedar Rapids was also heavily damaged by flood waters and officials from the A.E.A. offered their advice to the Iowa Association of School Boards. Hawkins says the advice covers about a dozen different areas.

"Everything from how to keep student records safe to how to deal with volunteers and donations — and even the emotional and personal impact for students and staff," Hawkins says. "We really tried to make it all-encompassing, so we really hope people will find it useful."

You can see the toolkit for yourself here.

A paper copy of the "Lessons Learned" toolkit has been sent to every K-12 district, all 15 area community colleges and the Area Education Agencies in Iowa.

 

Filed Under: Education, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Weather

Northeast Iowa remembers one year anniversary of deadly tornado

May 25, 2009 By

Debris in Parkersburg in the aftermath of the 2008 tornado. On this date one year ago, a mile-wide tornado dropped from the sky in northeastern Iowa and carved a long path through several communities, killing eight people, injuring dozens and leaving a wide trail of destruction.

Parkersburg Police Chief Chris Luhring says this Memorial Day holiday is particularly poignant for his recovering community, which lost six of its residents and about one-third of its homes and businesses to the violent storm.

"We have special services every year on Memorial Day that are done by our American Legion and this year, Governor Culver will be the keynote speaker," Chief Luhring says. "This is all staged in the same area where our Veterans Memorial building became a very, very important asset that we kept after the tornado. It wasn’t completely leveled."

Today’s service caps a weekend full of events in Parkersburg which aim to express gratitude to those who have helped — and are still helping — residents to rebuild their homes, businesses and lives. Luhring says he’s hoping some of those vital first-responders will respond — again — today in Parkersburg.

"We’re hoping the medics, the firemen, the police officers, National Guardsmen and women will show up and just allow people to tell them thank you face-to-face," Luhring says.

"Maybe some of those volunteers will meet up with people that they helped in the immediate aftermath, too." He says the community will never be the same as it was before the monster storm, but in many ways, it’s being rebuilt better and stronger.

Organizers of today’s events believe the one-year mark will help residents to recognize how far they’ve come in the rebuilding process. Luhring says the final ceremony is this afternoon.

"At about 4:30, there’ll be a community service, a remembrance service for those who lost their lives," Luhring says. "It’ll probably be a solemn time as far as the remembrance is concerned but at 4:59, we’re going to be ringing the church bells of Parkersburg and just remember the exact time that the tornado struck." For more details, visit the Parkersburg website .

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Launch of www.countthekicks.org

May 25, 2009 By

Five Iowa women who lost their babies to stillbirth or infant death are launching a new phase in their campaign to encourage pregnant women to keep track of how often their unborn baby kicks.

Janet Petersen of Des Moines is one of the leaders of the "Count the Kicks" campaign.

"On June 4th, we’re going to introduce the educational materials that we’ve created that we’re hoping to get in every health care provider’s office that delivers babies so that all parents in Iowa have access to information about how to count the kicks in the last trimester," Petersen says.

Petersen’s group has created a colorful pamphlet for doctor’s offices. It includes the testimonial of a woman who noticed her unborn baby wasn’t kicking very much, called her doctor and an exam discovered the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck four times — so an immediate c-section was performed and the baby was saved.

"Most people don’t realize that stillbirths still occur fairly frequently. One out of every 150 pregnancies in the United States ends in stillbirth," Petersen says. "One way that we can help prevent stillbirth is by counting the kicks and if there is any significant change in fetal movement, calling a doctor or medical provider right away to make sure that your baby is o.k."

Petersen is the mother of Grace Elizabeth, who was stillborn in 2003. Four other Des Moines-area women who experienced the stillbirth or infant death of a daughter joined with Petersen to found a volunteer organization to try to help others learn the warning signs. The five are now launching this "Count the Kicks" campaign and they’ve developed a chart to help pregnant moms track their baby’s movement in the womb.

"You know, even in some of the pregnancy books, they I think misinform people by saying there’s not as much room for a baby to move," Petersen says. "But babies do move all the way through pregnancy and it’s just important to track how your baby moves. Some babies move a lot and some babies don’t move that much, but to know the patterns that your baby is showing."

You can find the "count the kicks" chart on-line at www.countthekicks.org .

About 18 months ago, First Lady Mari Culver and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz recorded public service announcements that encouraged pregnant women to "count the kicks" in the last trimester of their pregnancy.

"One thing I know about Iowans is we’re not complainers and we hate to bother our health care providers, but this is one thing that we really do want expectant parents to call their providers, if they do notice a significant change in the movement of their babies because it could alert them to a problem that they can fix," Petersen says.

Petersen is a state representative and in 2004 she shepherded a bill through the legislature which created a stillbirth registry in Iowa. For the past five years, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control have been reviewing the stillbirth statistics from the state of Iowa and the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

"Now it’s time for them to start looking to see what are the common threads…Is there a difference between urban areas (and) rural areas? Young (and) old?" Petersen says. "…We’re also hoping to get more states involved because the more data that we have, the easier it will be to find those common threads."

Last year there were 26,000 stillborn babies in the United States.

Petersen and the other four women who are part of the "Count the Kicks" campaign will host a fundraiser on June 4th to finance their volunteer effort. Learn more on-line at www.countthekicks.org .

 

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Human Interest Tagged With: