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State receives more money to hire workers to rebuild

July 6, 2009 By

Iowa’s been awarded another $11.6 million in a national emergency grant to help hire people to rebuild following the natural disasters of 2008. Kerry Koonce of the Iowa Workforce Development Office says the state originally received just over $17-million and 993 people were hired to do the work.

Koonce says you have to be in a county that was originally declared eligible for FEMA assistance, and that included 85 of 99 counties. She says the workers do a variety of projects in those counties. Koonce says they’ve rebuilt damaged dikes and damns in southeast Iowa, worked in parks cleaning up and clearing trees, they’ve also worked in Cedar Rapids on flood recovery projects.

Koonce says the workers gain from the program in a couple of ways, as each individual can make up to $12,000 in wages. Koonce says the wages are significantly higher than what the people would make on unemployment, and they are also learning new work skills at the same time.

Koonce says the new money will allow them to hire more people. Koonce says there are people ready to go, but they are always looking for more people to fill the positions. If you are interested in the program, you should go to your local workforce development center.

Koonce says they will be able to hire just over two-thousand people overall with the new money. 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Meth use falls, but meth lab busts are up

July 6, 2009 By

The use of methamphetamine is falling in Iowa when compared to cocaine, but the number of meth lab busts is again on the rise. Brad Thompson, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, says, "Methamphetamine is definitely down a little bit compared to cocaine but at the same time, it’s still very prevalent and still a lot of cases can be made there."

He says some people think meth cases are picking up because more meth lab busts are being reported around the state, but it’s still not a very significant increase statistically. Thompson says cocaine busts are on the rise in Iowa. Cocaine has never gone away, Thompson says, "Even when methamphetamine was prevalent, cocaine was always there, it’s just that cocaine is still very prevalent and actually surpassing methamphetamine as it relates to seizures."

Meth lab busts in Iowa fell in recent years after new restrictions were placed on the over-the-counter sale of allergy and cold medications containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,

Rock Valley man dies in tractor accident

July 6, 2009 By

A northwest Iowa man died after he was pinned under a farm tractor eight miles northwest of Rock Valley on Sunday. According to the Sioux County Sheriff’s office, 65-year-old Leo McDyer was using a farm tractor to haul a loader bucket of dirt when it appears the farm tractor started to slide on loose rocks and gravel.

The tractor rolled as it entered a small, wash-out gully. Authorities say McDyer was thrown from the tractor and pinned under it. The accident was reported about two o’clock Sunday afternoon when it was discovered by a friend staying at McDyer’s home.

 

Filed Under: Agriculture, Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Man accused of killing A-P coach pleads "not guilty"

July 6, 2009 By

The former Aplington-Parkersburg football player accused of killing A-P coach Ed Thomas last month is pleading not guilty to the crime.  Twenty-four-year-old Mark Becker of Parkersburg is accused of first degree murder for shooting the coach in the football team’s weight-lifting facility on June 24th.

Becker has filed a written plea of not guilty.  Becker has also filed a plea of not guilty to a series of charges related to a crime spree that happened the weekend before the murder. Becker bashed a home in Cedar Falls with a baseball bat, rammed his vehicle into a garage, then led police on a high speed chase.

Becker was admitted to a Waterloo hospital for psychiatric evaluation and his release is the subject of debate. Police say they asked to be notified so they could charge Becker in connection with the weekend crime spree. Hospital administrators insist their staff had not been asked to notify authorities when Becker was released.

Susan Flander, an attorney who supervises the public defender’s office in Mason City, has been assigned to represent Becker in court. Becker is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail in Mason City.

Becker’s criminal record includes a 2005 drunken driving conviction. In 2008, Becker pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and misdemeanor serious assault and served four days in jail. This past January, Becker was arrested and charged with drug possession. A sheriff’s deputy says he pulled Becker over during a traffic stop and found a glass meth pipe and a digital scale.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Human Interest Tagged With:

New fine in place for underage gamblers

July 6, 2009 By

A $500 fine is now in place for minors is caught on the gambling floor of an Iowa casino. The President, Iowa Gaming Association , Wes Ehrecke, hopes the fine will make people think before they try to sneak in and gamble. He says they hope it heightens awareness so that anyone under 21 will not try to get in and gamble.

Ehrecke says some people might not realize the legal gambling age, and hopefully the new fine will make them wait until they hit the age that makes them eligible to gamble. Casino operators pushed for the fine, as they were being punished by gambling regulators when a minor was caught, but the minor faced no consequences.

Ehrecke says the casinos can be fined up to $20,000 if a minor is caught gambling. "Certainly we take it very seriously, trying to check I-D’s of anyone that looks under 30. But sometimes in this age with false I-D’s and the like, people do get in," Ehrecke says. Ehrecke was asked if the $500 fine is enough to be a really deterrent.

Ehrecke says the gambling industry suggested a higher amount, but the legislature felt this amount was the right one to go with. "We think that’s at least a good start and hopefully this will be a good added deterrent," Ehrecke says. He says casinos now have signs posted pointing out the fine so people are aware. The new fine began on July 1st.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Recreation & Entertainment Tagged With:

Earwigs flourish in recent weather

July 6, 2009 By

Earwig While mosquitoes are already out in full force across much of Iowa with the recent rain and heat, a creepy-crawler insect is also appearing that may be new to many people.

Entomologist Phil Pelleteri says earwigs look rather vicious, with what appears to be big pinchers, but they’re fairly docile.

Earwigs are having a good year in the lush weather, tiny creatures he says often spend their evenings chomping on marigolds. Other than munching on plants, he says earwigs really don’t do much harm. Pelleteri says there is a way to avoid the bugs.

“I always tease people, if you make your back yard a sand box, you will not have earwigs,” he says. “But if you like to grow plants and whether you water them or let Mother Nature do it, those lush conditions with mulch and whatnot are exactly what earwigs like to have.”

Many Star Trek fans are downright disgusted by what the fictional space-cousins of earwigs can do in the movies, but Pelleteri says one bright spot is, the earthly versions aren’t really good indoor bugs. “If they get in the house, the good news is they won’t breed indoors, they won’t hurt anything, they just kind of freak people out,” he says.

Caulk water faucets and everything else, door frames and windows so they don’t squeeze inside. The name “earwig” comes from an old tale that the little bugs can burrow into the brains of people through the ear and lay their eggs. Not true, according to Pelleteri. 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation

Cedar Rapids police discover stolen car at accident scene

July 6, 2009 By

Cedar Rapids police working the scene of a one-vehicle crash that killed a man wound up arresting a woman driving a stolen car. On Sunday morning, a 61-year-old Cedar Rapids man driving on Highway 30 in the Cedar Rapids area was killed when his pick-up went off the road. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the truck.

Police parked two squad cars as a barricade in order to divert traffic off Highway 30 and around the wreck. Two officers were directing traffic, too, but according to cops the driver of a white 1993 Buick Century "decided the flashing red lights did not apply to them" and drove around the squad car barricade — toward the accident scene.

The driver, 39-year-old Cheryl Marie Rosenberg, then realized her error and stopped. Police discovered she was driving a car that had been stolen from Quincy, Illinois. According to cops, when asked why she failed to stop for the flashing red lights or the two officers who told her to stop, she said: "I’m not from around here."

Rosenberg is from Hawaii. She’s been charged with second-degree theft, failure to comply with a police order and driving without insurance. 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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