Wiegmann is one of four players currently on an N.F.L. roster who played for Thomas at Aplington-Parkersburg High School. Wiegman was asked what Thomas would say about the gathering on the football field to honor him. "First of all, he wouldn’t like us standing on his field right now," Weigman said with a laugh, "he would be, just get on with your life..take care of you families, definitely go to church and be Christ-like and a man of faith." Wiegman says it "blows you away the type of man that he was." Weigman says it was hard to sit through the vigil in Thomas’ memory. He says sitting in the stands and listening to the clergy was tough and he says every time he saw pictures of Thomas tears came to his eyes. Weigman says everyone will get through this. Weigman says it’s hard to describe the impact that Thomas had on the school and the community. "It’s amazing what the impact this guy had on people’s lives. Every football coach could say the same thing, but there was just something special about this guy, that he went over and above what anybody could think of doing," Weigman says. He says Thomas tried to make the lives of others better and says there’s not enough time to express all the things Thomas did for them. Weigman says he’s been in contact with some of the other N.F.L. players who went to Aplington-Parkersburg, and says they are going to try and make it to Thomas’ funeral Monday. 
Denver Broncos center Casey Wiegmann was one of the nearly 2,500 people who attended Wednesday’s candlelight vigil for Ed Thomas.
Former player Wiegman talks about coach Thomas
Hospital says it was not asked to notify police of Becker’s release
A Waterloo hospital released a statement today that says officials were not asked to notify police when Mark Becker was released from their facility. The 24-year-old Becker is accused of killing Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas Wednesday, the day after he was released from the hospital. Covenant Medical Center issued this statement on Becker’s release: We initiated an internal review early yesterday and declined public comment in order to provide the most complete and accurate information possible. The Division of Criminal Investigation publicly disclosed Mr. Becker’s recent hospitalization and evaluation yesterday at a news conference. Had the record indicated a request to contact law enforcement at the time of discharge, we would have honored the request by making the notification. Our review shows no evidence of this request, so notification was not made. It is always our goal to work cooperatively with law enforcement and carry out requests for notification as we have done many times before. Care delivery and patient discharge are governed by complex Federal and State laws and regulations that were followed by Covenant Medical Center’s professionals. Discharge, in this case, was to a third party. As the community seeks to make sense of a senseless tragedy, we will support the needs of law enforcement as we always do, while living up to our legal requirements regarding the confidentiality of our patients. Becker has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
Heavy winds damage crops in northwest Iowa
Heavy winds and hail ravaged corn and soybean crops in northwest Iowa’s Sioux County on Wednesday night, near the town of Craig. Paul Sogn, an agronomist with the Farmers Coop Society, says while the corn was badly damaged, some of the soybeans may come back. He says much of the corn was defoliated and the stalks were bruised. Some of the beans were badly damaged but he says some may still be able to recover. Sogn says there may be an outside chance for some replanting of soybeans, but time is running out on that. He says we’re right on the border now and there have been some cases where beans were replanted but he says that’s "kind of pushing the limit." Sogn says before the storm hit, the crops in that region were looking average to above-average.
Grundy Center woman charged with leaving child in hot car
University of Northern Iowa campus police have charged a Grundy Center woman with child endangerment for leaving an infant alone, locked in a hot car. The two-month old child was discovered in the back of a Chevy Tahoe, parked at the UNI soccer fields, just after 8:15 Monday night.
The vehicle was locked and the engine was not running. Officers were not able to locate the parents and broke a window to remove the child, who was taken to a Waterloo hospital. The temperature at the time was 88 degrees. Officers said the baby’s face was red and the child appeared to be trying to cry. The baby is now doing fine.
Officers charged the infant’s mother, 32-year-old Jessica Ann Noltensmeier, with child endangerment on Wednesday. She was released from jail after posting bond. According to court records, she admitted she left the vehicle at about 6:30 p.m. to get something to eat.
She was watching one of her older children play soccer and returned to the vehicle as paramedics arrived at the scene. UNI officials say a judge denied a request from the Iowa Department of Human Services to remove the child from Noltensmeier’s home.
Harkin talks Supreme Court nominee, tobacco regulation
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin met Tuesday with President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
Harkin says he’d be very pleased if Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic justice on the nation’s highest court.
"She’s an extremely impressive individual, very bright and really knows the law," Harkin says.
"Based on everything we know right now, she’s a superbly qualified person to serve on the Supreme Court. I do support (the) timetable to begin hearings in the Judiciary Committee on July 13th so the full Senate can vote on her nomination before the August recess."
When Sotomayor was nominated to a federal appeals court in 1998, Democrat Harkin voted "yes" on her confirmation, while Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley voted "no."
President Obama signed a bill into law this week giving the FDA new powers over tobacco companies, legislation Iowa Senator Tom Harkin first introduced more than a decade ago. Harkin says he co-sponsored the original incarnation of the bill in 1998 and says it’s passage "was a long time coming."
"What the bill will do is, it’s going to give the FDA the authority to regulate and to get information on all the ingredients that go into tobacco," Harkin says. "We’re also going to, FDA’s going to put different warning labels, they’re going to be huge warning labels on packs of cigarettes now and other tobacco sources."
Harkin attended the White House Rose Garden ceremony on Monday. He says the new law will allow federal regulators to obtain and publish complete lists of everything cigarette makers put into their products — and what smokers put into their lungs.
"For example, we know that tobacco companies now put ammonia in tobacco which heightens the absorption of nicotine," Harkin says. "The FDA would never allow, for example, Kraft Foods to put ammonia in their macaroni and cheese." Harkin says he chose to highlight Kraft as its parent company is Altria, which also owns tobacco giant Phillip Morris.
In a release this week, Harkin said: "This bill is about standing up to the power of Big Tobacco, standing up for our children and fighting back against the number-one cause of preventable death in this country. This law will spare millions of Americans the ravages of completely avoidable disease, disability, and death."
Men who died in northwest Iowa plane crash enroute to South Dakota
Investigators have new information about the small plane that crashed in northwest Iowa Tuesday, killing the three Wisconsin men who were aboard.
Aaron Sauer, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board or NTSB, says it looks like the plane tried to land in a corn field prior to crash landing.
He says there’s a 100-foot track from where the plane touched down to where it hit the ditch embankment, killing all three passengers.
According to Sauer, the men were — as suspected — on a hunting trip. He says they left Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, on the way to South Dakota sometime on Tuesday. Exact timing is uncertain because no flight plan was filed. A handheld G-P-S recovered at the crash site may provide some flight path details.
Sauer says there was no emergency call made before the crash.
I-JOBS Board expected to release at least $45 million for flood projects
The legislature set aside $46.5 million for ten flood recovery projects and a new state panel just reviewed eight of the proposals.
The new I-JOBS Board will meet Monday in Cedar Rapids and is expected to release the money for at least seven of the projects.
The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids would get $10 million dollars. Another $10 million would go to build a new "Human Services Campus" in downtown Cedar Rapids for 10 nonprofit agencies.
The other $25 million would be split equally among five projects, like rebuilding the Cedar Rapids Public Library; restoring the Paramount Theater; constructing a new building for Linn County that would house agencies like the V-A and rebuilding the Public Works Building that houses the mechanical and electrical systems for the City of Cedar Rapids. The fifth project would help move more customers off the downtown Cedar Rapids steam system that was heavily damaged by last year’s flood.
The City of Elkader submitted its plan for building a new fire station, but the I-JOBS Board asked the city to provide more details for spending the half a million dollars that’s set aside for the project.
The legislature also set aside a million dollars for building new fire stations in Palo and Charles City, but neither of those cities have submitted formal applications for the money. September 1, 2009 is the deadline for getting those applications filed.
